From Across the Sea (Attack on Titan/OC) [ON HOLD]

Chapter 28

For Angharad, summer usually meant that there was a mass bloom of wildflowers, and new flowers meant that Faye would teach her younger sibling how to weave them together into a crown one could wear on their head. It didn't take Angharad long to learn, she was always a fast learner, succeeding at just about everything she did, and she rarely struggled with any new concept or lesson. When they were done, the two younger sisters, would rush to place their flower crowns upon Grisha's head, and despite his protests, he would be filled with mirthful laughter at the youthful shenanigans of his sisters.

Each year after Faye's murder, Angharad would continue to weave together the malleable stems, carefully caressing the brightly colored petals as she placed the crown on her own head. The first summer after her sister didn't come home, she tried to give the flower crown to her older brother, but Grisha had pushed her away, and left her standing by herself as he walked home. When Zeke was born, she would often sit with her young nephew in her lap, allowing him to touch the soft petals as she weaved together the wildflowers.

Angharad hadn't made a single flower crown since arriving on Paradis.

For Layla Jones, she never learned how to make flower crowns. But she did often spend her summer days on the island running through the overgrown blooming fields with her mother, both women sharing the same vibrantly colored hair. Her mother would calmly pick one of every flower in the field, creating a one of a kind bouquet as she gathered them gently in her hands to bring back home with them later on. The flowers would be placed in the only vase they had in their home, sitting proudly on the kitchen counter just below the window by the sink.

Layla remembers her mother fondly as she gazes out over the fields outside Scout HQ. The redheaded woman walked out into the middle of the field, and slowly knelt in the tall grass as she gathered a handful of the various flowers that grew there. Footsteps echoed from behind her, and she could hear whoever it was taking soft careful steps as they avoided crushing the flora beneath their feet.

"What are you doing?" It was the voice of her commanding officer. Lieutenant Angharad knelt in the grass next to Layla, reaching down to run her fingers over the flowers too.

"My mother used to gather wildflowers from the fields near our house when I was little. She used to create her own bouquets, and they would sit in our kitchen for weeks until the blooming season was over." Layla turned her eyes to see Angharad smiling softly back at her.

"Have you ever made a flower crown?" She asked.

"No," Layla shook her head. "My mother didn't know how, and I could never figure it out." Angharad gathered a handful of her own flowers before she stood and calmly turned to head back towards the tables in the shade of HQ. The blonde woman held a hand out in front to the redhead.

"Come on. I'll show you." Angharad lead Layla over towards the picnic tables, gently setting down her handfuls of flowers and taking a seat across from the younger woman. She picked up a few flowers, looking for one with the longest stem to start the crown, and then a few others. "Start with the flower with the longest stem, that will be the best starting point. And then you just take the rest of the flowers, lay them next to the starting flower, and weave them together like this." Layla watched as Ang wrapped the second flower stem around the first before pulling it through the loop. "You don't wanna pull on the stem too tightly, otherwise it will break."