"What's this?"

"A daisy."

"Why are you giving me a daisy?"

"Because I want to." She smiled brightly, tilting her head, holding that single daisy up with both her hands.

A little uncertain, I took it from her.

"I got a job."

"Seriously?"

That was... faster than I thought it'd be.

"Yes. At a florist's. It's a huuuuge shop, you know. They do home delivery and also accept orders for weddings and parties. They'll give me a training first. They'll teach me all sorts of things. Like how to take care of different flowers and plants, what meaning every flower has and how to arrange flowers and stuff. I'm very excited."

She looked just like she sounded. Extremely happy.

.

.

.

At first, I was a little nervous when she invited me for dinner. But she said her parents wanted to meet me and for some reason, I didn't find it in myself to turn her down.

Her family was very… family like.

She kept bickering with her father about the smallest things and her mother looked like she was having fun watching them. The three of them set the table together and finally, we sat down for dinner.

"I can't believe my daughter has such a handsome boyfriend," her mother commented.

"Stop it, Mum," Sakura's face was red and I felt my cheeks heating up too.

"What do you mean you can't believe? Are you trying to say our Sakura isn't good enough for him?" Her father rescued us from the embarrassment.

"What? Where did that come from?"

And they kept going on about small things like that. Keeping the atmosphere very light and friendly. Before I knew it, I had relaxed completely. In a way I couldn't while in the presence of my own family.

After dinner, Sakura said she'll make coffee and went to the kitchen.

That was when her mother spoke.

"Thank you."

At first, I didn't get what she was talking about. I just stared at her in confusion.

"You see, that girl has had it hard all her life. When she was just five, one day she came to me crying asking if she could colour her hair. Her cousins didn't want to play with her and called her a 'weirdo' because she had a strange hair colour. I knew where it came from. Many in our family didn't like the fact that we had adopted a 'random' kid just like that. It wasn't about her hair colour. They simply didn't like her and never accepted her as a member of the family. It got bad to the point that in the end, we stopped going to family gatherings. When we moved here from Suna because of the ever worsening political unrest there, she was only eight. And she faced a lot of discrimination. Because she was an outsider and she looked different. Since she was a little girl, she has always been treated by people like she didn't belong. But as she grew older, she stopped telling us about it. Because she realised it upsets us. That kid, she has a kind heart."

I remembered her words from the day we first met.

'I don't like it when people look down upon others for stupid reasons.'

So, it was because she had been looked down upon for stupid reasons all her life.

"She's a little…" I chose my words carefully because I could tell she absolutely adored her daughter, "She can make some drastic decisions at times. Hasn't there ever been a time when you regretted having adopted her?"

"Not once." Was her mother's immediate response. "We were having problems conceiving. We had money and consulted the best doctors. And yet there was no result. So we did the only thing we could. We prayed. We prayed to God to bless us with a child. And then, one Sunday when we went to the church, we found out that someone had abandoned a baby on the steps the previous night. And we immediately knew God had finally listened to us. He had given us a child. It wasn't how we had thought it would be. We hadn't really considered adopting because we knew that idea won't be welcomed in our family. But that's how God is. He grants our prayers but makes sure to test whether we really are worthy or not. That was why, we never had any doubts. The adoption process was a hassle and took some time but we knew she had been sent for us. She was meant for us."

To be honest, I've never been the religious type. I didn't really believe it was an elaborate plan by some divine being sitting above the clouds. But at least I understood Sakura was loved, really loved by her parents.

"Of course there are moments when she's a little difficult to deal with. But people have that type of problems with their biological children too. Do you get along with your parents all the time? I'm sure there are times when you get into arguments with them."

"Well..."

'Not really' was what I wanted to say. Because I wasn't one to actually go against my parents. Even if I didn't like it, in the end, I always listened to them. My brother was somewhat rebellious. But not me.

"There's nothing wrong about it. Different people see things differently. Even if it's your own blood, they are their own people. And you have to respect that. Even if your kids come from you, they're all God's children just like you."

I had had enough of her praising God at every opportunity she got.

"So you weren't angry when she dropped out of university just like that?"

"Not angry," this time it was her father, "But worried. It would've been good for our image, yes, had she finished her degree. But it's not about us. Is it? It's about her. When she got into university, she was studying sincerely. We saw it. It's not like she never even tried and then one day decided she was going to quit. She did her best and in the end, if she decided it was more than she could take, what can we say? We just want her to have a good life for we won't be here to support her for ever. She's still young and most importantly, she's trying. It's not like she's sitting at home, doing nothing. I was quite surprised by how fast she found herself a job. For now she looks really happy and enthusiastic about her work. Let's see how things go."

"All her life, I taught her that it's okay to not fit in, to not look or act the way everyone else is doing. And that's what she's doing. She didn't drop out to hurt us, she did it because she thought that was what's good for her and she knew in the end, we only want her to be happy."

Her mother's words made me realise that maybe that was where she got the confidence to make such a drastic decision just like that. Because she knew her parents will understand.

"That kid is a little stubborn and can do things many won't. But she never means bad. She stays true to herself and loves with all her heart. Because she doesn't do things for the sake of doing it. When she does something, it's because she really wants to do it. You're still very young and I don't know what turn your relationship will take in the future. But I just want to tell you that our daughter might be a little different but she's good at heart."

.

.

.

They were understanding and supportive. However, when we decided to move in together, Sakura's parents, just like mine, weren't very pleased. But while they tried to calmly talk their daughter out of it, my father insulted Sakura, whom he had never met in his life, in every possible way. And that was where things went a little too far. Had he asked me to wait, had he tried to reason with me, I might've had changed my mind. But he simply told me to break it off with 'that crazy hippy girl' or he'd kick me out. Several of my friends were living on their own, some with their girlfriends. They worked and supported themselves. After all, not everyone was blessed with a father who had money to spare (and use as a means to control people).

I didn't say anything, found myself a job thanks to a friend and one day, I left home to move in with Sakura who had just moved to her new apartment.

Note: Please note that the core story for this fic is from the book I mentioned before. The Witch of Portobello. What I'm doing is adding stuff and making things more elaborate. It was fun getting a chance to use my own experience of dropping out of uni.

Anyway, please try to be kind to people even when you don't agree with them. Because everyone is fighting their own battles.

Lots of love,

June ❤️

[05.03.2020]