Chronological markers: this scene fits like a deleted scene from The Umbrella Academy, saison 2, episode 7, around 17:50 (when Ben possesses Klaus at Kitty's mansion, just before he heads off to the orchard).
---
Thursday, November 21 1963, 1:03 pm
"Are you going to plant them somewhere else?", Jill asks me.
In the middle of the Mansion's kitchen garden, not far from the orange trees of the orchard, I'm organizing the equipment I'll need for this early afternoon. A few garden tools, a bag of potting soil, and the transportable planter that she and I prepared together.
"Yes, they're for planting outside a friend's house..."
Under the wide blue November sky, Jill contemplates the daisies I've added to the three chrysanthemums, grown from Wayne Wilson's seeds.
"They're a symbol of benevolence," she tells me, "and a nice attention for your friend."
I smile at her.
"They don't need much water, the few rains will be enough. Because he... won't be able to water them."
Jill touches her earlobe, and smiles adorably with her bright white teeth, under her glasses.
"I'm sure they'll bring him lots of joy".
For months and months, I've been working to bring the contents of the old gardener's satchel to life. Now, Kitty's garden - which has literally become Jill's since the 'Children' have returned - is adorned with an infinite array of colors. Dahlias blend in with asteraceae and marigolds, growing beautifully under the care of the Flower Power hippies. Today, I'm going to complete my mission. And I'm going to offer the old ghost his favorite flowers, as I understood from the notes in his little notebook. Jill leans on her spade.
"You've prepared the soil for the turnips," I notice as she wipes her forehead over the wide rectangle of soil, now ready to be planted.
My heart aches a little this morning, even though I'm trying to experience it differently from the terror I felt in 2019. This time, I'm contemplating the Apocalypse - the one Five has announced for tomorrow - with a form of serenity. Maybe the turnips Jill will plant today will never come out of the ground. Or maybe - on the contrary - nothing will happen this time.
"They'll be delicious," I say, and this word in itself is an affront to fate.
I smile at her one last time, and push my little cart down the path. I've chosen to walk in the sunshine, and reach Wayne Wilson's house on foot, through the back alleys that wind between small gardens and warehouses. I greet Faiza, who hobbles gracefully in her tiffany-blue Moroccan dress. To think I once took Xanax to cope with the end of the world. Today, I don't even feel nervous.
As I make my way back up towards the Mansion, I find myself better understanding why. If Reginald Hargreeves really does have a 'grand plan', if he's so confident that we're going to 'work together' in the future, then we're not going to die tomorrow. I'm sorry to be reassured by this old bastard's despicable attitude. But if there's one thing I've got to learn to keep from losing it, it's to see the positive in the midst of the manipulations he's wreaking on our lives. And by the way, another of those 'positive things' that happened to me because of him is currently walking down the steps of the back terrace of the house.
In his Texan shirt and sixties jeans, Klaus looks better than he did last night, that's for sure. I'm not sure I approve of Ben 'possessing' him without asking for his consent. The way he felt defiled and violated reminded me of some pretty dark hours of the past. I'm grateful to Luther and Diego for giving us a lift: quite honestly, I couldn't have teleported him over such a long distance, and night buses are far less convenient than those in The City, in our time.
But he looks fine this morning, even though I know he hasn't slept to avoid lowering his guard, lest Ben do it again. He even looks surprisingly fresh, as he gazes out over the garden as if for the first time. I frown. He seems to be holding his head straighter than usual, walking more straight and fluid... and above all, he's much... so much less flaily. I stop my step on the gravel, my hand on the cart handle.
YOU ARE READING
A bend in space-time (Season 2) - The Umbrella Academy
FanficWhat if, through the whole story of The Umbrella Academy, Klaus had had someone to have his back? I chose to insert an OC - Rin - into the plot of the series, appearing almost only in deleted scenes. This fic is not a self-insert nor a OC-centric fi...
