The Beginning Of Our Path (ON HIATUS)

Chapter 17: Love is Complicated

This chapter is a bit shorter, really sorry. I do apologize, it was late, but I wanted to find a certain rhythm because this is an important chapter I'll be referring back to. Anywho, things are finally going somewhere. This might have been more of a slow burn, hopefully it was a good balance, I didn't want to rush it or be agonizingly slow.

Enjoy my lovely readers!

Sister Lily POV

"Sister Lily, what is love?"

My little boy grew up . . .

"You know I love you, right?" Asta blinked and titled his head.

"You do??" He exclaimed, getting so close to her face they almost touched. Sister Lily pushed him away. Still has no sense for personal sense though . . .

"But not like that. I love you like a mother loves her child. Because I raised you, I'm your legal guardian. Right now, why did you ask me that?" Asta picked up a four leaf clover, tracing the petals.

"Because it feels strange. Whenever I'm around Noelle, the person who was kidnapped, I feel weird. Like I want to hold her hand and keep her safe. Even though she's more than capable to keep herself safe." Sister Lily picked her own four leaf clover, smoothing out the petals.

"Did you ever feel like that with me?" Sister Lily asked, stealing one of the anti-magic user's leafs. Asta frowned.

"No . . ." The water mage took the stolen leaf and placed it on hers, making a five leaf clover.

"You see, there are different kinds of love, like the love for your favorite color or food." Sister Lily explained.

"The love for your family is important, but that's different too." Sister Lily bent down and retrieved her fallen bluebell in her other hand.

"What do you mean?" Asta asked, selecting a larger silvery rose, avoiding the thorns.

"You don't want to marry Yuno, Father Orsi, or Recca do you?" The young Black Bull made a face, scrunching up his nose. He shook his head.

"Then there you go. Friends is also a separate kind of love." The nun grabbed a handfull of bluebells in her hand, bunching them into a bouquet.

"So Noelle's my friend?" Sister Lily almost laughed, but she stopped herself, taking in the boy's curiosity.

"Nope," the water mage answered, popping the 'p'. She selected several clovers from the grass as well.

"There's a fifth love. A love where you would do anything for that person. You want to help them, cuddle them, save them, give up anything for them, maybe even die for them." Asta's eyes widened, the stem of the grey rose snapping as his grip tightened, the thin stringy green fibers barely holding the heavy flower.

"So . . . I love Noelle?" Sister Lily giggled into her bouquet of flowers before nodding.

"All you have to do is tell her, and your feelings will change. They won't go away, but they won't be uncomfortable or strange, and it will be natural to love her."

"And what if she doesn't like me back?" Asta asked, harmfully plucking off the rose's numerous silver petals one by one. The nun blinked before biting her lip. She didn't expect him to be so pessimistic, especially with his preservant attitude.

"Will I just find someone else to love?" Sister Lily sighed and rearranged the flowers and clovers in her hand, drifting toward her garden, Asta following.

"You know, I used to love green. It was my favorite color," The short teen was surprised and the quick change of discussion, but said nothing of it. She was smart, and unless she really wanted to avoid that topic, it would help him. Hopefully. Sister Lily gestured with her green stash of clovers.

"But now, I like blue," Sister Lily explained, sneaking clovers into Asta's headband. "The love for colors switches back and forth, you might like potatoes one day and hate them the next, and despite your valiant efforts, friends do come and go." She spread out the bluebells into a heart shape in her hand.

"Family isn't easy to keep up either. But heartbreak is one worst things. The one that you cared for and loved and looked to- doesn't love you back. It hurts and you can't move on. At least not immediately." Asta began to shiver. Love was harsh, the nun knew.

" And although you seem to think you have been heartbroken by me, if you truly love someone, with everything you have, you might not love again. A broken heart is heard to remedy." The water mage saw Asta deflate, quite a bit at that.

"Then why- why would you even try to love?" Sister Lily smiled softly, and tapped the young boy's nose.

"Because its such a wonderful thing, so beautiful, people are willing to sacrifice for it. You mustn't give up, Asta." The maiden picked a lighter Impatiens, admiring its beauty.

"I will always support you, no matter what choice you make," The kind woman smiled, her blue eyes fitting in with the rest of her colorful garden filled with autumn reds, sunset oranges, sunny yellow, vibrant greens, seafoam blues, and deep night purples.

"You are the one five leaf clover in a world full of three's. A darker force yet to be truly discovered." The woman of the cloth plucked a rare flower, a Helleborus. It had astounding beauty, a rare black flower that was literally named after the 'abyss of Hades.' It was said to be extremely poisonous and deadly, but discovered to be an incredibly useful remedy.

"And your girl of choice seems to be an odd treasure found where trash was thought to lie." Sister Lily intertwined the two, swirling the smaller, whiter plant in a swirl. When she was done, it looked like two tear drops, interlocking in a circle. Love could be destruction and creation, both good and bad. She was certain Asta would have an . . .  interesting life. And if this girl ended up with him, it would be an interesting balance on each other. 

"You may be a demon, but she is the opposite."

White and black,

Good and evil,

Light and dark,

Yin and Yang,

The Angel and the Demon.

Mmmm foreshadowing . . . . >:) Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! If there is ANYTHING you want me to fix, include, or omit, tell me! Like I said before, I don't bite unless you disturb my ship.

Thank you for reading, I hope you will continue to read this fanfic, even though it's not that good. :D