The theory of flowers

Eight

"Y/n! What are you doing outside?" Arlecchino asked hurrying to y/n, holding an umbrella over her head.

Arlecchino was coming back from the House of the Hearth when she saw a familiar figure walking down the streets. Her head hung low and she slowly walked through the streets unbothered by the rain. She rushed to y/n and held up her umbrella to shield her from the rain.

"Arlecchino?" The woman muttered, slowly lifting her head, realizing there wasn't any rain falling on her anymore.

"Oh my god, you're soaked. You must be freezing," she said wondering how y/n wasn't running to find shelter.

"Uh, y-yeah," y/n said, her teeth chattering as she spoke.

"Come with me," Arlecchino told her, to which y/n only nodded and followed the harbinger without a word.

What's going on with her, the tall woman asked herself.

She led the other woman to her house, not too far from here. Not wanting to pry she kept quiet until they arrived at their destination. She had multiple questions at the ready but opted for a hand on the cheek and a simple question.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"U-um, yeah I'm fine," y/n answered, and Arlecchino knew this was far from the truth but she humored her.

"Is that why you look like you've been crying for the last hour?" She asked, in a playful way not to make her feel any worse than she was already feeling.

"I-", y/n only managed to mutter before her eyes were glossy and her lips turned downwards. She was trying to hold her tears in so desperately because it would only prove further how weak she was. She wanted to be beautiful and strong in front of the harbinger but now she only looked like a crying mess.

"Oh no I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry again. Come here," Arlecchino said, inching closer and pulling y/n in her arms. It hadn't been her intention to make her cry again but now the only thing she could do was hold her. She needed to make y/n feel safe enough to confide in her and trust her. She hated when she didn't have control over the situation, so to see the beautiful girl crying in her arms without knowing who to kill, she loathed it. However, for now, she focused on embracing and trying her best to comfort y/n.

"It's okay, you're okay now. Everything is going to be just fine," Arlecchino said, trying to comfort y/n the best she could. She didn't think she was doing a very good job because the girl was still crying unrelentingly.

Along the way, she had moved them to the bed and as the crying stopped, her breathing slowed and her body went limp. She had tired herself out and eventually fell asleep, something for which Arlecchino was very grateful because she didn't have any comforting words left in her vocabulary. She wasn't known to be the most sensitive and comforting person either so doing this was slightly out of her comfort zone.

The next morning, y/n slowly opened her eyes, a headache making itself known. When she turned her body around to hop off the bed, she realized the unfamiliar setting. Rubbing her eyes, memories came flooding into her mind and she felt extremely embarrassed by the display of weakness she had so openly shown to Arlecchino. She wanted to slap herself for having been so pathetic. Alas, embarrassing herself wasn't the only issue, the main problem she had to deal with was leaving Fontaine.

She only had one full day left here, in the nation of Justice, and she didn't know how to go about it. What should she do during her final moment in Fontaine, the place she had called home for a few years now? Who should she spend the remaining of her day with? She had a few friends but would any of them be free to spend the day with her? What would she tell them?