Chapter Five - The Darkness of Night

"That's a good idea."

As though in a dream, I walked down to the garden by his side. It was both extremely magical and extremely suffocating, walking down the garden paths. I didn't know whether I should allow my arms to swing freely--too un-lady-like--or to keep them still--just really stiff--as we slowly went forwards, side by side.

"The flowers and stuff are really nice around here," I commented, desperate to break the silence.

'The flowers and stuff'? Oh no...

"They are," the boy nodded happily, as though I'd made a valid but not blandly obvious statement.

"You like plants?" I asked tentatively. It was an unnatural interest for a guy, but since he liked photography...

"I do. I have several potted cacti." He sighed. "Saa...I wonder if they're growing all right."

Under the darkness of night, I snuck a short, shy glance at him, a slow blush of admiration creeping up my face. How caring and sensitive, that he should think about his potted plants even while he was away from home. How...romantic.

"Ne, look." He pointed. I turned my gaze off his profile and onto a few lone lilies in a small lily pond. "They're very elegant, aren't they?" I said with a hint of eagerness in my voice.

"They are," he agreed. "I think..." He took out his camera and faced me, his head tilted gently. "Would you mind posing for me again?"

The problem was, I was far from being a professional model. We tried having me sit on the pond-side rocks, or standing gazing earnestly at the stars. None of it quite worked. In the end, he suggested that I stood with my back to him, and then suddenly turn when he counted to three.

When the first snapshot came out, he studied it, nodded and said, "Perfect. Would you mind doing another?"

I didn't mind. I felt as though I could pose for another thousand photos, had he asked. I repeatedly turned and turned until he'd gotten a sizable pile of pictures on his lap. At the end, he looked at them, satisfied. "Maa," he held one out cheerfully. "This one is for you."

His first present to me.

And may there be many more.

I took it carefully with numb fingers. I felt him move beside me to examine it together, his slow breathing filling my ears. The image of my in the picture, bathed in moonlight, almost didn't register.

"You made me look much better than I actually do," I murmured, half in rebuke and half in appreciation.

His soft chuckle tickled my skin. "I can't make anyone look good unless they're like that already."

He, being so close, could feel the heat of my cheeks, I was sure.

"I think you're beautiful in the photo."

His face was almost painfully close to mine, and in the dim light, it appeared to draw closer still. As our lips seemed to edge nearer, my eyes closed upon the sight of his, still fixed on the picture...

"Maa, let's move on, shall we?"

My eyelids flew open again, and saw him already ahead of me, smiling back expectantly.

Shaken, relieved, my heart pounding, I followed silently.

Disappointment lay heavily on my chest. But still I clutched the photo he had given me, and didn't let go even when we parted for the night, or even as I slept, my hand firmly clasping it under my pillow.