Disclaimer:

Don't own Mahoutsukai no Yome. Never did and never will (probably…).

Chapter 2: Daffodils

A bright light filled the area and in its place stood a young girl. Startled by her sudden change in location to the middle of a forest, the girl blinked in surprise at the dirt that laid beneath her bare feet. The last time she could remember she was in a hospital and it had been years since she was last able to stand on her own two feet.

'Where…am I…?' The last thing the girl could remember was the darkness that had coaxed her away from consciousness. Glancing at the white hospital gown she was still wearing she wondered whether this was a dream or if she had finally passed on.

Taking a quick survey of her surroundings, she noticed that she wasn't alone. Mostly old men and women wrinkled with age surrounded her, but when looking more closely she also noticed some people that were not quite as old or even the occasional child.

A blinding flash of a light suddenly appeared right next to her, causing the girl to violently jerk her body away from it. But the light was harmless and soon revealed in its place a sweet little brown haired girl. However instead of her eyes shining like newly polished emeralds, they were dull and lacked any spark behind them.

Concerned by this, the older girl approached the littler one, stopping dead in her tracks when she noticed the girl's stomach. Bile rising up, it was only through sheer will power that she managed to swallow it back down.

Hands (hands that were way too small, too small) were folded in front of her belly, holding back her intestine and other organs that threatened to spill out of her tiny body. Face devoid of any emotion, like a ghost the child followed the rest of the crowd down the road that they appeared on.

Disturbed by such a sight, the girl upon closer inspection saw that there were other people around her in a similar state. Missing limbs, decaying flesh, and third degree burns littered their bodies, however despite being in such a condition, they all passed by her completely unfazed by it all.

Admittedly confused about her situation and also partially morbidly curious about the people around her, she silently followed them down the dirt road. As they progressed further and further, more and more people joined the procession until you could barely even see the ground.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the girl felt the road beneath her feet become increasingly softer, eventually realizing that they were now walking on sand. Her travelling companions eerily silent, it was easy to make out the gentle sound of a river flowing nearby.

As the sound of the river got increasingly louder, the crowd began to thin out once again and the girl was able to observe her surroundings a bit better again. Eyes scanning the area, they quickly were able to locate the little girl they had seen earlier.

Silently walking towards the river, the girl began to wade gently across to the other side. As the water touched her skin, it was as if her stomach was sewing itself back together, soon making it so that you could never tell that it even existed.

She wasn't the only one this was happening to either. As the people around her crossed the river, the wrinkles and burns were seemingly washed away by the time they got to the other side, where patches of red spider lilies awaited them.

Though previously unfaltering in her steps, the young child now hesitated in front of the flowers. However, this hesitation only lasted a moment and she soon plucked one of the lilies and brought it up to her nose to smell.

Once inhaling its scent, her body began to glow and distort until all that was left of her were silvery wisps of light that began to spiral upwards towards the heavens. The girl watched it as it rose higher and higher into the sky, joining thousands of other wisps and soon becoming indistinguishable from the rest.

Having no outward injuries, the water that flowed passed her had no effect other than being soothing to her touch. When she arrived at the other side, she reached out a hand and inspected the blood red flower in front of her.

'This must be in the underworld…' She mused. She was not afraid of death, after all after she had over a decade to prepare herself for it. No, she was tired of it all and if the flower did what she think it did, then she would welcome it with open arms.

But taking a glance at the lights above her, she felt a pang in her heart at their resemblance to the night sky that she had loved so much. She plucked lily but instead of brining it to her face, she placed it in her lap and sat herself down in the sand and silently gazed the souls soaring above her.

In no hurry to move on, she meditated and reflected on the life she had lived. It was true she had no strong attachments or any obligations that was holding her back from moving on, but she did have some regrets.

She never did get to say goodbye to her brother. She knew her death would devastate him, but perhaps it was for the best. He was freed from the emotional and financial burden of taking care of a dying younger sister that would never get better. He would eventually move on…

She didn't get to say goodbye to the kind nurse either. While not very close with her, she wished that she got to thank her for her all her gentle smiles and all the little hard candies that she would sneak to her from time to time, despite the doctors explicitly banning her from them. But the nurse had probably experienced this over and over again, and she was just another face amongst the many that had died in that hospital…She would get over her death soon enough as well…

She thought about all the lost opportunities she had to make friends with the other residents of the hospital, having been so selfish and cowardly. Afraid to get close to anyone that would die soon enough, she had retreated and avoided getting attached to anybody despite knowing that others were just as lonely and lost as she was (that they too were longing for someone to connect with).

The sky blurred above her and her she felt something warm slide down her cheeks.

Plop.

Her brother's gentle smile and soft eyes appeared in her head.

Plop. Plop.

After such a long time of having someone always being a call away, she was finally free from the prying eyes of doctors and nurses. And with no one left to judge her, she finally let the pain and the fear (because she was afraid to go wherever the dead go) built up from over the years come bubbling up to the surface. And with a heart wrenching wail she let it all out.

Too caught up in her own grief (because she was dead, dead, DEAD), she didn't notice the tears from her eyes falling onto the spider lily that laid helplessly in her lap, a snowy white color bleeding through the red that was being slowly washed away by her tears.

And when her voice was hoarse, her eyes bloodshot, and the tears would come no more, she brought the flower to her nose and took a breath.

And like during her last moments being alive, she allowed her eye flutter shut and let the darkness tug her away into its embrace.

Sorry that the chapter is so short, I'll try to make them longer in the future. I know this might be a little bit boring and confusing at the moment, but I promise that the pace will pick up when she's born (which will be next chapter).

Title explanation: Daffodils are one of the first flowers to bloom after winter in the spring, so they are often used to represent new beginnings.

Tell me what you think and hope to see you guys again soon!

-Atelier Bleu