Hydrangea Rain - Flowers Without Petals

The sun is high in the sky. It is very warm and the air is humid. The leaves rustle softly in the summer breeze. The Town Market is full of merchants and citizens exchanging and purchasing goods. Laughter and conversation fill the air. With her back against the wall of a building near the Town Market stands Chara. She's wearing a simple white gown with her short hair tied in a small ponytail. She quickly taps her foot onto the ground, nervously.

Last evening came out of nowhere and a lot had happened. From everything that had happened inside the tavern, to what happened outside with Stella. A lot was on Chara's mind, and she couldn't help but physically shake from what might follow. Right now, she chooses to stop thinking about the outcome of losing the only support she had for her family outside of the apothecary and instead decided to focus on the day ahead of her.

She is supposed to meet with Stella today. Up until last night she saw her as royalty; someone with no problems. She always seemed out of reach, almost as if she was on top of the staircase of society. But something happened that night, something that changed her way of thinking. Stella seemed closer to her, as if she took a few steps closer to her to meet her on the bottom. This sequence of events and feelings led them to confess their love for each other.

After waiting for what seemed to be a while, a young woman wearing a long beige silk gown with lace trimmed edges approaches the Town Market. She has a white linen bag over her shoulder. Her gorgeous blonde hair falls off her shoulders and her face is covered by the shadow of a straw hat with small red flower petals on it. She lifts her hat upward to reveal her starry light blue eyes; they dash around the Town Market looking for someone. After a few moments, she spots Chara standing alone nearby. She approaches her slowly, trying to surprise her.

"Hey...?"

Chara, suddenly taken aback, gets super flustered. Her cheeks are bright red, and her eyes snap to the person who sneaked up on her; it was Stella. Stella put her hands around Chara and hugged her closely. Stella's disguise made her laugh, since it didn't really hide her that well unless you weren't paying attention. The two laugh and start walking through the Town Market. Stella seems to be very happy and joyful, while Chara is still a bit shy and quiet.

"I didn't know you got up that early...do you go to the forest everyday?"

"No...only sometime. June is usually when the prettiest flowers bloom though. I like going into  the forest just to see them, even though I don't pick some." replied Chara. She feels more comfortable talking to Stella now, since they are talking about topics she has prevalent interest in.

Stella stays quiet for a moment before responding, "That makes sense. You don't want to take the beautiful ones from nature."

"You should take me with you sometime! I don't get out of the walls that much...only with my father." she said pensively, almost with regret in her voice, "If that's okay, of course. I wouldn't want to interrupt your peace!"

Chara spoke quietly and a bit surprised, "Right, yeah. That works. We can go some day. I can show you a lot of the nature around the capital. There's a bunch to see for those who look hard enough."

"Nature is beautiful...I'm glad that we live next to the sea. Even if I don't really get out much  since I never learned to swim well." Stella laughs to herself, and covers her mouth with her hand.

Chara jumps in joy, "Really? Me neither! But the waves are so relaxing. Sitting at the beach late in the evening or early morning is so peaceful!"

"Oh, now that makes me feel better that I'm not alone. I've always felt alone when my family and relatives go to the beach, especially my cousins who are younger than me, they all swim together. Even my brother..."

Slightly taken aback by the mention of Stella's brother, Chara remembers him well and asks carefully, "Oh, His Highness knows how to swim? I can kind of imagine that, splashing around everywhere..."

Stella rolls her eyes back and walks closer to Chara and speaks quietly so only she can hear her, "Oh, forget him. Austin is the bane of my existence. Every time he visits, he always makes some mess. My father told me Austin learnt to swim when his parents threw him in a lake..."

Chara looks a bit scared after hearing what she said, but Stella pats her on the back and laughs it off. They continue walking through the Town Market, passing by a few stands. At this moment, Stella remembers she wanted to give something to Chara. She takes out a small pouch out of her bag and gives it to Chara. She tells her not to open it until she gets home, and that there is a message inside that will explain the sudden gift. Chara is confused but humbly accepts her gift anyway.

They approach a section of the Town Market filled with stalls full of colorful flowers. There are all sorts of colors, from brighter reds and pinks to timid yellows and blues. Stella grabs Chara by her arm and pushes her towards the colorful stalls. She seems really excited, while everything is happening a bit too fast for Chara.

"Look! Look! They're so pretty!!"

"How come you know so much about flowers and plants, Chara?" asked Stella curiously, despite feeling like she should know the answer, "You are like a book of knowledge! I could tell from our little conversation just now. You know a lot."

"Oh...it's just due to the apothecary. My mother has lots of books about plants and herbs and I had to study them carefully. So I just know a lot of useless stuff..."

"Right! The apothecary! That makes sense. And, it's not useless!" she confronts Chara on her self-doubt, "I saw you helping people with your knowledge. If anything, your knowledge of all the benefits of flowers is very important! More important than my knowledge of flowers..."

Chara's eyes light up, upon hearing that Stella might be familiar with her world as well. Stella continues, "My professors make me read a lot of boring books and then they ask me questions about them. Discussing things like meaning...or reason why something happens...or symbolism behind an action or description." she grabs a purple star shaped flower from one of the stalls; smelling it and holding it close to her face, "Flowers are so complicated. Each flower changes the meaning, and so does its color...it gets confusing quickly."

Chara is amazed by how much Stella knows about flowers, even if their knowledge is not shared. This is a whole new world for her; one which she hadn't stepped in. She feels small again just before her inner thoughts get interrupted by Stella's enthusiasm:

"I know! We should get flowers for each other! You pick some flower you're gonna get me...and I'll pick one for you! That sounds fun." she smiled back to her. Chara quickly agreed and they went their separate ways in the flower shop to find a flower for each other.

Chara's mind quickly filled with thoughts of which flower to get for Stella. There were so many options, so many colorful flowers...she couldn't decide. She knew she had to clear her mind and focus on finding a solution. She thought of the only thing she could in this panicked state...thinking about which flower looked the nicest combined with having a great use in medicine. She knew what she had to do, and she began looking. After browsing for a short while inside the left wing of the shop, she found yellow, pink, purple, blue and red carnations. She knew the flower was used for general uses and that they recommended it often so she decided it's the perfect flower. She bought a bouquet of red carnations and started walking back to where they decided to meet.

On the right wing of the flower shop, stood Stella. She did suggest this little game to play with Chara, but she didn't have any flowers in mind. This, however, didn't trouble her much. She walked confidently and browsed the various flowers, trying to pick the best one for Chara. Not only did she want to find a beautiful flower that would fit Chara's quiet nature, but she also wanted it to be a nice gift in meaning. She thought for a bit what kind of flower would suit her; or rather the intentions behind the gift itself. Carnations struck boldly in her mind: the perfect gift to show love and affection. With her sights on the prize, she quickly bought a bouquet of red carnations; albeit carefully to not ruin her disguise.

Chara stood just outside the shop, hiding the bouquet she bought for Stella behind their back. She stood upright and tried to take a glance at which flowers Stella got her, but Stella hid them well behind her back and smiled towards Chara. When they got close to each other, they began counting down from five. After revealing each other what bouquet they got for the other, they began laughing really loudly in the center of the street. They got each other a bouquet of red carnations. Stella's laugh echoed through the street as little tears began falling from her eyes as she was laughing. Chara couldn't stand upright anymore and began slapping her knee trying to contain her laughter. After giving each other the flowers, they hugged really tightly. As the sun was beginning to set they decided to return and walk out the Town Market.

They planned out what they were going to do tomorrow and when, and it was time to say their goodbyes. They waved goodbye to each other, with the bouquets in their hands and proceeded to go home. As Chara walked through Aloe Road, she couldn't stop smiling and thinking about the day she had. She had experienced joy she hadn't felt in a long time, and couldn't wait to be with Stella again. Approaching her home, she remembered the little pouch Stella gave her earlier. She sat on the ground with her back against the house and leaned the bouquet against her so it wouldn't fall on the ground. She could feel that the pouch was heavy, with something inside it. She slowly opened it, revealing the little note on a parchment of paper that Stella left for her.

"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday at the tavern. I know this isn't much, but I hope you can manage for some time. I had an excellent day with you today, and can't wait to see you again next time."

Chara quickly looked inside the pouch, finding many gold and platinum coins inside. She realized Stella must've felt terrible about Chara losing her job, and felt like she had to compensate her as she felt it was her fault in some capacity. Chara teared up looking at the pouch and counting the coins, their value exceeding way over the amount she would get paid for several weeks of work at the tavern. She clutched the bouquet with her left hand, and the pouch tightly to her chest with her right, and walked inside her home.

To be continued.