12. Uncharacteristic Cocoa and Cloves

Flowers

It started with a locker shrouded in violet Hydrangea blossoms. They rained down on her feet when she pulled open the door, and beside her, Kim looked startled, staring at the colorful petals. Looking away from the scented confetti and over at her weapon partner and inquired, "What's all this about?"

Jackie gazed into her locker, unable to think of a reason why flowers would adorn the usually plain inside, and she shook her head dubiously. "I don't know."

The next day is was Amaryllis, hanging in intricate webs across the front and inside of her locker. The more she stared at the red petals, the more mystified she became. It was nice, she'd admit that, but it'd be even nicer if she knew the occasion. Her birthday wasn't until another two months, Valentines Day was a ways off, and she really hoped it wasn't some prank of Black Star's.

On Wednesday she opened her locker slowly, wondering what pleasant decorations she would take home to join the rest of the flowers she'd stuck in a glass vase. Her eyes widened when light struck the white and red flowers hanging inside, and the aroma of roses seeped delicately into her nostrils.

"Why do I smell roses?"

Jackie jumped, slamming her locker shut in a hurry before she spotted Maka Albarn a few feet away, hoisting her own backpack over her shoulder. "Oh, I've been getting flowers since Monday and today it's roses."

"That's nice," the scythe meister exclaimed with a smile. "What other kinds of flowers?"

"On Monday it was Hydrangea blossoms, a really nice violet color, Tuesday was Amaryllis, and today, roses."

"That's an interesting selection," Maka murmured thoughtfully, holding her school books close to her. "I wonder why those ones. Who's sending them to you?"

"I don't know," Jackie answered with a shrug, opening her locker again and gently picking out the roses. "There's no note or anything."

"Typical, if it's a guy," Maka scoffed, earning a slight grin from her classmate. "Well, I should get to class. Good luck finding out who your admirer is."

"Thanks."

When she opened her locker on Thursday, she was a little disappointed to find it empty. She hadn't realized it, but she'd been looking forward to her beautifully arranged locker every morning. To find it so bare was a bit of a let down.

With a sigh, Jackie headed to her first class, still pondering why flowers had come to her at all. Perhaps it really had just been a joke of Black Star's. It certainly wasn't very funny, especially if he was just trying to get her hopes up or something.

Stepping through the door to Class Crescent Moon, Jackie almost gave a startled shriek when something was placed onto her head. Grabbing at the mysterious crown and turning on her heel, Kilik Rung stood behind her, arms raised up in defense. Looking puzzled, the weapon stared down at what she had pulled from her hair, finding it to be a wreath made of Verbena flowers.

Everyone in the class had their eyes on the meister and weapon as Jackie inquired slowly, "You? You've been giving me flowers all week?"

With a grin, Kilik shook his head, replying, "Sorry, but it's not me. I just had to deliver these. Your real admirer, oddly enough, doesn't know how to confront you. He says there's a hint in the flowers, though. You should figure it out."

-/-\-|-/-\-

"A hint in the flowers?" Maka inquired during lunch after Jackie had relayed the encounter. "With the colors, maybe? You're sure there wasn't a hidden note or something you missed?"

The weapon shook her long, dark hair, thinking deeply. "I didn't miss anything. I'm stumped."

The scythe meister across from her shrugged. "Another clue tomorrow, I guess."

On Friday, a carpet of Ageratum lay across the desktop where she usually sat. Everyone around her grinned knowingly, and it wasn't until she spoke to Maka later in the day, she found out the scythe meister had discovered the identity of her admirer as well. It seemed like she was the only one who didn't know, and no matter how many times she badgered the terrible-at-keeping-secrets-Black Star, apparently the student body had been smart to leave him in the dark about everything as well.

In the girl's dormitory where she lived with Kim, the kitchen was beginning to look like a florist's shop, though the girls' didn't mind the pleasant aromas that woke them every morning.

Saturday wasn't a school day, so she wasn't really surprised when flowers didn't make themselves known to her. She was a little disappointed, yes, and she was hoping another colorful and wonderful smelling gift would come soon, but throughout the entire morning, no flowers came.

For the rest of the day, the dormitory was pretty quiet, though she'd get looks and little grins here and there. By noon, she was actually getting concerned from her lack of gifts for the day. She was expecting some sort of big reveal when her admirer finally made himself known. Surely, if she hadn't yet received an explanation, there were still plants to come.

During the evening when the sun was setting low in the horizon, Kim grabbed her weapon partner by the shoulders and cried, "Let's go on a walk."

"Right now?" Jackie inquired as she was wheeled towards the door of the dormitory. "I guess so."

"Great, we'll come to," Tsugumi Harudori agreed, skipping after the older girls as Meme Tatane and Anya Hepburn followed with vigorous nods.

Jackie raised an eyebrow at the sudden company, wondering if her meister was okay with it, but Kim looked content, even a little excited. What's going on…?

They walked past one of the many public swimming pools in the city, the one Jackie had helped Kim clean when they'd first met. On their way past the busy pool, Black Star and his partner Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, as well as Liz and Patty Thompson leaped out, exclaiming, "Hey, you guys going on a walk?"

"Sure, you want to join?" Kim asked, smiling broadly and Jackie whipped her head back and forth between her suddenly social butterfly meister and the three sopping wet students who joined their little group.

On their way past an ice cream stand, Maka and her partner Soul Eater greeted their friends and somehow ended up walking along with them. The same happened with Death the Kid, Kilik, and Pot of Fire and Thunder while walking past Death City's biggest antique shop.

By that point, Jackie knew it wasn't a coincidence, and when Kim slyly suggested they all stop for a drink at Death Bucks Café, the lantern weapon knew they had to be reaching the end of their true motives.

When they stepped through the door, Jackie gaped in shock. Strung up in florescent rows along the walls and tables were numerous Ranunculus flowers. They sat in vases at every table as well as at least three to four students from the Academy crammed around every one, watching Jackie and her newly acquired entourage with big smiles.

"Oh, no," Jackie breathed, taking a step back and glancing nervously at Kim. "All these flowers I've been getting are a bit extreme… I'm not about to be proposed to, am I?"

"No!" Maka laughed from beside Kim, urging Jackie forward and sitting her down at the center table in the room. Jackie looked around at her friends for clues to what was about to happen, but they all disappeared to their own tables.

A commotion from the kitchen had Jackie frowning as Black Star and Oxford rushed back and forth behind the open curtain over the door. They appeared to be arguing with someone, and finally Black Star rolled his eyes and grabbed at the unknown figure before sending them forcefully through the kitchen door.

Jackie's eyes widened in bewilderment at the person who scowled back at Black Star's snickering before turning towards her table. He walked slowly with the same serious frown on his face he always wore, and he sat down in front of her, nodding once.

"Harvar?" Jackie inquired, looking astonished. "You've been sending me flowers?"

The weapon of Ox nodded once, releasing a long sigh that had Jackie wondering if he'd been bullied into it. It wasn't until she noticed his fingers tapping nervously on the table, she realized he didn't know what to say.

"Why is everyone here?" the lantern weapon asked, deciding to veer away from the flower topic, if only a little.

Harvar shrugged, looking around at everyone through his red tinted glasses before saying, "Ever since we got you and Kim back from Arachnephobia, everyone's been pestering me about how I treated you guys during that mission."

"I don't remember," Jackie murmured softly.

"That's probably for the best," Harvar replied with a nod. "It was Ox's idea; he told me to give you flowers or something to make up for it. He said something about jealousy running rapidly through his veins and warned me not to do anything that would be anything better than what he would do for Kim."

Jackie smiled slightly before breaking out into soft laughter, earning a rare smirk from Harvar. When her giggling died down, the lantern weapon inquired, "I thought you said there were clues in the flowers?"

"Think about it."

Jackie flinched when Maka's chair suddenly scooted itself over to her own, and the scythe meister beamed at her. "I figured it out just before Ox told me Harvar was your flower sender. Think of the names of the flowers."

The dark eyed weapon looked back on the names of her gifts, a sudden idea coming to mind.

"Hydrangea blossoms," Harvar said quietly. "H."

"Amaryllis," Jackie added with nod. "A."

"Roses on Wednesday," Maka murmured with a smile. "R."

"And when you look at all the names," Black Star's boisterous tone called before the assassin was suddenly leaning over the table with a displeased Ox behind him, "you'll find that all the names will spell Harvar. Rather mushy, don't you think?"

"It was Ox's idea," Harvar spoke up, waving his hands dismissively. "I agreed to it because it sounded… alright, I guess."

"I liked it either way," Jackie exclaimed, smiling brightly at Harvar. "Whatever happened in Baba Yaga's Castle, I think I could forgive with all this. Thank you, Harvar."

The dark haired weapon looked away from the demon lantern with his almost permanent frown but his cheeks were turning a pale pink.

"Congratulations, Jackie," Kim snickered evilly, jabbing a thumb at the red faced Harvar. "You're probably the first person who's successfully gotten a blush out of always-stoic-Harvar!"

The Demon Lightning Spear remained silent, stubbornly keeping his gaze anywhere but his friends' faces and Jackie smiled.

From where he still sat sprawled across the table, Black Star shook his head with a snort. "Mushy…"

-/-\-|-/-\-

A/N: This one-shot isn't my favorite and I would've changed it if I had other ideas. I hope you guys like it, even if I don't.

Thank you, CatKkit, who gave me this suggestion. Harvar isn't exactly a favorite character of mine, and when asking my friend for ideas for this pairing, I described Harvar using… interesting words. . The awkward flower theme of this one-shot was given to me by my friend, the hyper-active, secret weapon I use against writer's block. It never fails.