It was another beautiful autumn day, though the temperature was warmer than usual, reminiscent of summer. Once she had finished tending to her flowers she took off for the mountains, already quite certain of how she wanted to spend the beautiful day.
Lillian's mood brightened further as she realized what day it was: Thursday. Thursday meant Cam in her mind. Sure she saw him lots of other days, but Thursday was special for them. She'd first Cam on Thursday, walking around at the base of the mountain on the Bluebell side. He spent all of his Thursday and Friday afternoons in that area and seemed to appreciate the company, especially after he realized she was a fellow flower lover. After a while it just became habit for the two to spend time together Thursday afternoons and Lillian always looked forward to seeing her good friend.
Contrary to what many, including Nori, believed, the two florists were merely friends with similar interests. No secret, forbidden, trans-village love, or whatever ridiculous rumors were going around now.
Lillian continued down the mountain path and her face broke into a smile when she caught sight of a familiar purple hat. The person wearing said hat was kneeling beside the river, staring intently into the rushing waters.
She walked up behind him, not wanting to startle him. They had the whole afternoon; she could wait a couple of minutes for him to continue his inspection of the river. As fate would have it though, fallen leaves crunch very audibly when stepped on and Cam turned to face her upon her approach.
"I was trying to be quiet; I didn't mean to interrupt you," said Lillian with a smile.
Cam gave her a soft smile back. "You didn't really; I just thought I saw something," he explained.
"Really?" asked Lillian with a slight tilt of her head, approaching the stream and crouching down next to the shy florist. "Well, let's take a look then." She peered into the water and Cam watched as she knitted her brow in concentration, quietly searching.
"Oh! I think I see something too!" said Lillian, reaching her hand into the cool water and pulling out the tiny object that glimmered on the riverbed.
Cam looked down in interest at what she held in her hand and was slightly disappointed to see what looked like an old, bronze coin. "It's just a coin," Cam murmured, leaning away from the river, no longer as interested.
Lillian frowned slightly at his words. "Yes, it's just a coin, but don't you wonder how to got there?" she questioned, continuing to inspect her discovery.
Cam shrugged. "Maybe it fell out of someone's pocket when he or she was crossing the bridge," he suggested.
"That's boring," said Lillian, shooting him a brief, mock disapproving look.
"Where do you think it came from then? The sky?" he asked.
Lillian chuckled a bit, shaking her head. "That'd be rather interesting, but I was thinking a bit more practically than that," she explained, "you see, I was thinking it was a wish coin."
"Wish coin?" asked Cam, once again interested in the old coin.
Lillian nodded. "You know, from a wishing well, the wishing well in your town to be exact. It might be connected to this river somewhere at the bottom, and I'm sure someone threw a coin in that well at sometime to make a wish. Hence, we found a wish coin."
Cam considered what she said for a moment, and Lillian watched as his thumb found his mouth as it always did when he was thinking. He had an odd habit of biting it whenever he was deep in thought.
"I think Ash fell in the well when he was younger…He didn't say anything about a hole in the side of it," said Cam.
"I doubt Ash was paying much attention to his surroundings while he was drowning," said Lillian with a laugh.
Cam frowned. "I never said he was drowning."
"He was just taking a little dip then?" asked Lillian, her purple eyes glittering with mirth.
"Well…"
"I was just kidding; he didn't seriously jump into the well for a swim, did he?" asked Lillian in shock.
Cam laughed and shook his head, "no, he was reaching in for a doll Cheryl had dropped in and he sort of lost his footing."
"Sounds like him. He'd really do anything for his sister," said Lillian with a small smile, "makes me miss my brother."
It was a bit odd, but Cam took the moment to admire his friend. While he enjoyed her bright cheery smile well enough, it was the smile on her face now that really fascinated him. It was soft and genuine, with a hint of something sad in her eyes. After knowing her for as long as he did-about two years now-he realized it was the look she had whenever she talked of someone she loved and missed.
There was no doubt in his mind that she adored living in Konohana, but there had to be days when she longed for the home she'd left. Sometimes he wondered just how many people she'd left behind. She spoke of family from time to time, and left for about a week last year to visit them, but she hadn't really mentioned anyone else. Every now and then she'd say 'a friend of mine,' and get that same look on her face, but that was it.
…Did she look like that when she thought of him?
Cam felt heat rush to his cheeks at the thought. He was friends with Lillian, but he doubted she saw him in that way. With love, that is.
He sighed at the thought. In all her years of living in Konohana, she hadn't shown any romantic interest in any of the two towns' bachelors, and that included him, though he liked to think she was just a bit fonder of him than the rest. And of Phillip of course.
The outgoing redhead liked to point that fact out often, lording it over the florist's head like it was some sort of trophy. When he first learned of the two's relationship, friendship, from before she lived in Konohana, Cam had felt a twinge of something he was embarrassed to admit was jealousy. He'd asked her about it that very week, in his own roundabout way and she'd laughed, explaining that Phillip-Phil as she called him-was a childhood friend of hers. Her words had soothed his jealous heart, and it was then that he'd realized his feelings towards his friend were more than, well, friendly.
He kept it to himself though. Yes, for over a year he'd kept it to himself, because that's what he was good at. He wasn't brave and outgoing like Ash and Phillip, he was shy and quiet. There were times, like this one, when he wished he could tell her. But in the end, the immense fear of rejection kept his mouth shut.
For now, he could be satisfied with her friendship.
"Cam, what are you thinking about?" asked Lillian, and Cam realized her face was much closer to his now than it was before.
"Hm?" he asked, fighting back the blush that threatened to expose him.
Lillian leaned away conscious of his desire for personal space, but her eyes still sparkled with curiosity. "You were staring into space for a bit there. I thought I lost you to the stars," she said chuckling at her own, slightly amusing joke.
Cam's mouth twisted into his typical small smile in response and he shook his head. "It's nothing."
"That so?" asked Lillian, not convinced.
"Mm," Cam assured her. Lillian remained unconvinced but didn't say as much. She respected the fact that Cam wouldn't tell her every thought that ran through his mind and she, unlike others, didn't want to push him.
The two fell into a companionable silence for a few moments, simply listening to the soft babbling of the brook before Cam surprisingly broke the silence.
"I heard there's a new villager in your town," he said. He wasn't particularly interested in the new person, but he enjoyed listening to Lillian talk. She made the dullest things interesting for him, just like the coin.
Lillian flinched slightly at the mention of the new villager; however, Cam's eyes were on the stream once more, so he didn't notice.
"You must be talking about Mikhail," she said, regaining her composure, "he's a sort of traveling musician."
"What instrument does he play?"
Lillian considered the question for a moment. "You know, I didn't ask him; it seems silly now but it didn't even come to mind."
"Hm…if he's a traveling musician, does that mean he won't be here long?"
"I don't know; I didn't ask him that either."
"…So you don't know him very well."
"No, I don't. I really don't," said Lillian thoughtfully. She wanted to know more about him; she just wasn't sure how to approach him. He was extremely guarded, more so than any person she'd met before, but that only served to intrigue her more.
He was a puzzle to her now, but he was not unsolvable. She would learn more about the mysterious musician. Mikhail, look out!