To the Unplanner: While there may be some high school AUs that are still close to canon, that is not the case in this one. There will be no Keyblade War with children soldiers, just very mundane shenanigans of the hormone riddled teenaged years. (Which is why earlier I requested suggestions for such shenanigans, considering I was homeschooled for a good portion of my education, so idk what happens to typical high schoolers.) That isn't to say I won't reference canon events (which includes, but is not limited to, whether Strelitzia gets to meet Anora) but for the most part, they will not happen. Not until I can figure out the high school equivalent of the Keyblade War, of course...

Quick shout-out to my crafty friend H.B. who helped me decide what fabrics Strelitzia would use. When I told her I needed the info for a story, and not because I was going to start sewing myself, I could feel her exasperated 'oh my god' from here.

And so begins the set up to Valentines Day! Which, irl was two months ago, but whatever. I think I want to do something where every 10 chapters, something very important happens- like the school dance, or a play, or something like that. I don't know if all of them will have build ups like this, or even if something will happen on that tenth chapter, but it gives both me and you something to look forward for later on. Right? Right.

Thank you for reading!

If she wanted this to be done right, then she needed to start working on it now. Strelitzia almost whined as she looked over the fabric she had laid out. Why couldn't she just give the new girl a nice flower arrangement? Flowers were always so much more easier to manage than sewing. You didn't need a pattern, or several yards of silk, or have to worry about three different spools of thread that may or may not even match the fabric.

It was too late to go back now though. Strelitzia had given a lot of her plants to Lauriam for safe keeping, and so she could have the room for everything. Her desk had a fold up table crudely placed next to it just so she could measure and cut the fabric. The bamboo stuffing she planned on using had been kicked under the table because there was no other place to place it. She had been smart enough to put her sewing things in her desk's drawers, so that was something.

The one thing Strelitzia found that she was fortunate enough to still have was the original pattern. Ages ago, before she was enrolled at Daybreak Academy but Lauriam was, she had made herself a friend. It had taken a lot of trial and error to get everything just right. At first, the head had been far too big for the body she had made. Then the legs were far too thin, while at the same time she decided she wanted to be able to pose the arms. In the end, the little creature she had created ended up just right. She even gave it a name; Chirithy.

Strelitzia still had Chirithy, thank you very much. In fact, she had it in full view of her workspace. To say Strelitzia was grateful that she still had her original pattern so she didn't have to dissect Chirithy was a mass understatement. On top of how carefully she needed to cut the felt, she would have been apologizing to a toy that definitely could not have talked back.

When the school bell rang for the first classes of the day, Strelitzia almost didn't hear it. In the moment she also realized that she hadn't had breakfast yet. The girl drummed her fingers on her desk as she mentally debated skipping class. She then shook her head and grabbed her things. Maybe she could find a vending machine on her way to class- it would have been better than running on an empty stomach, at least.

. . .

"You weren't at breakfast this morning. Is everything alright?"

Strelitzia looked up at her brother and only offered a kind smile. "I'm fine." she said to him. "I just wasn't paying attention to the time this morning. You don't need to worry about me so much- I was only working on a project for a friend of mine."

But Lauriam looked at her as if he couldn't believe her. "Is it the same friend that wanted chalk the other day?"

"The very same, in fact." Strelitzia smiled. "Do you remember that stuffed cat I made? I'm going to make one for them as well."

"Don't overexert yourself." Lauriam warned her. His frown was unwavering as it was starting to worry Strelitzia. She could never deny that Lauriam did care for her (what big brother wouldn't be?) but there was something in his eyes. Something that boarded on suspicion. But why?

"I won't." she promised. "I planned on doing all the cutting for the main body today. Tomorrow I was going to sew and stuff the head. Wednesday I would do the body, so on Thursday I could paint the markings. It then leaves me a whole week for the extra details."

"You still need to do your schoolwork."

"I will." she then insisted. "Why are you so worried about me? You aren't usually like this..."

For a moment, Lauriam looked away from his sister. "Ever since that new kid came," he then started to say, his voice low, "You've been becoming more absent. You always look like you're staring into space and smiling about something when none of us had made a joke. There are days when you come to lunch late and won't tell me or Elrena where you've been. Now you're going to undergo a project that could take days, maybe even weeks, for a friend you won't even tell us about?" He then let out a heavy sigh and looked her dead in the eye. "Please Strelitzia, take care of yourself. If you and Elrena were in the same house, I would have her check on you."

For a moment, all the girl could do was stare at her brother. Carefully, she put her hand on top of his and gave him a soft smile. "I'll be fine. Promise."

. . .

Felt was great for sewing, and it also tended to be pretty soft if treated right. Strelitzia hummed to herself as she started to use a dark blue embroidery floss for the eyes. This was relaxing when she wasn't cursing the fact that she'd messed up a stitch again. Strelitzia smiled as she finished off the stitch and removed the floss from her needle. Setting the front part of the head down, she carefully pinned the mouth on then replaced the needle with a light gray thread.

There was something in Strelitzia that always made her happy when she worked with her hands. Flower arranging had been one of her oldest hobbies, brought on by Lauriam's own love of decorative foliage. Sewing was something she picked up on later during on of the worst winters in her childhood. There had been so much snow that their whole family was essentially trapped inside, but none of them were afraid. Her mother had been fond of needlepoint work and had used the time to teach her children basic sewing techniques.

Strelitzia didn't have many memories of their mother, and Lauriam would never say what became of her either. Maybe some of the joy she felt as she sewed came from remembering her mother's kind words as young Strelitzia pricked her finger for the tenth time. Or maybe it came from seeing the finished product, and knowing how much work she had placed into it. It could have also been that whenever she decided to sew something, it was for someone special.

A smile crept onto Strelitzia's lips as she started to sew the pink button nose on. Even after three weeks, she still hadn't had the courage to reveal herself to the new girl. Instead, she just watched and admired the other girl's dedication. After drawing her unconventional figure 8, the new girl had started to drill herself on her skating habits; she'd check her balance by following the overall shape, she'd practice weaving in between the symbols she drew, and she'd even skate along the edge of the concrete slab to see how fast she could go before almost falling off the edge.

They never talked, but it still felt like they had become friends. And, if the new girl knew that Strelitzia was watching her, she certainly did not let it show. As Strelitzia started to make a seam from the button nose to the bottom of the mouth, she started to wonder how she was going to give this Chirithy to the new girl. The obvious answer would be to leave it as the concrete slab, just as she had done with the chalk.

But then a fear decided to creep in; what if Valentines was the one day the new girl didn't go to the slab? What if the new girl had a boy in mind that she wanted to impress, and decided to spend the day with him? Strelitzia quickly shook her head in an attempt to chase the thought away; Valentines was on a Friday this year, everyone still had classes. The new girl always went to the concrete slab before lunch. Always.

As Strelitzia started to place the good side of the front part of the head to the good side for the back of the head, she tried very hard to remain hopeful. If the new girl didn't come to the slab on Valentines, how would she be able to give her a gift? It wasn't like they had rooms right next to each other. Come to think of it, Strelitzia didn't even know if they were in the same house either. But then Strelitzia suddenly remembered the school's motto, and in doing so, swore she felt it give her a small amount of relief.

"May my heart be my guiding key..."