Chapter Three: Oversight

Hardly two weeks passed before Sassette saw Roesia again. There was something about her, and that first meeting, that perhaps Sassette should have known she would see her again sometime.

"Goodness, it's a human," Vanity exclaimed in warning, stopping Clumsy and the two smurflings tagging along from going any further.

"What's that lady doing out here in the forest?" Snappy whispered.

When "that lady" turned slightly to the side, it allowed Sassette a better view of her face.

"Oh… That's not just any human," Sassette said, and began to venture forward.

"Sassette, no!"

"What are you doing! Papa Smurf wouldn't approve of you just walking up to a strange human like that!" Snappy scolded her.

Sassette ignored them. "Roesia?"

Roesia was abruptly startled out of her reverie. "Oh, Sassette… What are you doing here?"

Sassette turned back to the other smurfs. "See? Roesia's no stranger. I met her at Pappy Gargamel's funeral."

Roesia smiled. "How have you been doing?"

"I'm feeling a bit better now. And as for your other question – we oughta ask you the same thing! Why are you just sitting here in the forest?"

"I'm new to these parts," said Roesia, "And I've decided to start exploring the surrounding area. It's beautiful, really… I like nothing better than to sit and observe nature in my spare time."

"Gosh, are you – were you a – a friend of Gargamel's?" Clumsy asked nervously, to which Roesia shook her head.

"She never met Pappy Gargamel," Sassette explained as the others came over, all of them still eyeing Roesia cautiously. "Roesia… goes to a lot of funerals, to help out. She's a… funeral attender."

"How morbid," Vanity remarked distastefully, and Sassette gave him a look.

"I see you have some more friends," Roesia said, shielding her eyes slightly and looking at all the smurfs standing together.

So the group all met Roesia, and told her about how they had been in the middle of a game and were all versing another team. After chatting for a little bit, they bid her goodbye and returned to their game in search of the opposing team. Roesia had made it quite clear that she would likely be hanging out in the forest for some time to come, and she was right.

Coming across Roesia in the forest became a semi-regular occurrence for the members of smurf village after that. Sometimes, some smurfs sought her out specifically, just to say hello, as she'd largely settled in one specific area of the forest. Naturally, Papa cautioned everyone to be careful, especially about what information they revealed. Everyone did their best to not mention any important information accordingly, just to be safe. Roesia didn't seem to mind – she seemed to mostly be about small talk anyway. No one gave any indication of where Smurf Village might be, and Roesia never asked.

If we come across her by chance, it seems there's no harm in talking a little bit or saying hello… To not do so would be rude, was Papa's line of logic. Although it's probably best not to specifically seek her out if we can help it. He warned against doing this, although the occasional smurf would still drop by while they were running an errand. It was nice to have a new friend, after all, and Roesia seemed quite lonely there all by herself.

Sometimes, though, Roesia must have been in an off-mood and didn't seem very interested in chatting. Or she would just seem… disinterested altogether.

"Must have caught her on an off day," Tracker, and a couple of other smurfs, would say.

Jokey, Hefty, Painter and Dreamy decided to stop by and see Roesia before heading back to the village. They even made sure to approach her from a different direction each time to help further prevent any chances of her finding the village. Jokey and Hefty led the way, as Painter and Dreamy had not been this way to meet Roesia before.

"Hello!" Jokey called.

Roesia's face lit up when she saw them. "Oh! Hello! And who is this?" she gazed down at Painter amiably.

"My name is Painter," Painter said in his usual thick accent.

"Oh, that sounds great! Does that mean you like to make beautiful pictures?"

"If I did not, then my name would not be Painter," he grinned.

Roesia laughed.

Dreamy smiled too. "It's lovely to meet you Roesia, I'm-"

"I'd love to see one of your paintings. What do you like painting the most?" Roesia asked Painter.

Painter replied, Dreamy going unheard. He tried again.

"Hi Roesia!" he jumped up and down a little bit. "Nice to meet you!"

Roesia finally caught sight of him and she looked genuinely taken by surprise. "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there."

"We thought we'd stop by with some new faces," Hefty told her. "Everyone's heard a lot about you."

"I'm flattered," Roesia told them, and the conversation went on for a little bit, Roesia getting to know Painter and catching up with Jokey and Hefty.

"It sounds like you've all got quite a bit going on," she said.

"Oh, and me!" Dreamy piped up. "Me too, I have a lot going on."

Roesia nodded pleasantly, absentmindedly. "Of course."

They left soon after that, Dreamy feeling rather dejected, although the others hadn't seemed to notice anything wrong.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Harmony reassured Dreamy later when he described the meeting. "Like, she was the same with me. Didn't seem interested in my music at all."

I think it would be stranger if she was interested in your music, Dreamy thought to himself, but refrained from trampling on Harmony's feelings.

"To me, it's like she only seems to care about Sassette and Snappy," Nat said from nearby. "I guess because they're the ones who met her first, and maybe because they're both younger too… Slouchy and I kinda gave up on visiting her."

"She really is quite lovely," Smurfette was speaking now. "You probably just caught her on an off day. Or maybe your interests just don't align with hers. She's always happy to talk about flowers with me."

Whatever it was, Dreamy wasn't inclined to go and see her again.

A/N: thanks to all reviews so far! It's much appreciated.