As They Bloom

12 - The Suitor

The following day passes slowly. Yone sleeps for most of it, finally waking around noon. After he rouses, he wanders up to you and Lillia, both busily gardening away, with bleary eyes and messy hair. The two of you share a look, barely supressing a laugh.

It feels strange to see him so... bedraggled.

"What's so funny?" he asks, kneeling beside you. You sit up on your knees, putting your trowel aside for a moment. Between his nest of tangled hair and sharp red mask, he looks less a man and more an owl.

"Nothing at all," you say with a smile. "You simply look well rested."

He raises an eyebrow, turning his eyes towards the sun. "How long was I asleep?"

"A long time."

"Has Lani come back yet?"

"No." You sigh, turning to look down at the tilled soil, ready to be sowed with new blooms.

He scowls, but it quickly melts away to concern. "I hope we haven't been played for fools. In hindsight, it was quite unwise of us to put our trust in her. Serves me right, I suppose. I should have known better than to make any decisions while so exhausted. I could hardly see straight, let alone think."

"I don't think she's going to double cross us," says Lillia softly. She digs a small hole in the soil and puts a tuber inside, before covering it back up with a handful of soil and a gentle pat. "I recognised her - I've seen her nightmares before." She shudders, as though remembering them unsettles her. "She wouldn't betray us, not after you banished their source."

"I admire your optimism, Lillia." He digs a hole of his own, scattering some 'seeds' within. Neither of you have the heart to tell him they're just pebbles. He carefully covers them up with soil. "I just hope it's not misplaced."

You and Lillia continue to garden together long into the afternoon. Yone, meanwhile, is restless. Waiting for Lani to return puts him on edge, especially as the afternoon starts to melt into night with no sign of her return. You notice that at some point, between his bouts of endless pacing, he manages to find a hairbrush and tame the bird's nest on his head.

Night descends, and the restlessness comes to a head. You spot him by the Mother Tree, inspecting his sword. He runs his thumb against the edge with a dissatisfied look. Blunted, with no way of sharpening it. He looks up from it, his eyes meeting yours, and sheathes it before wandering over to you.

"Will you join me tonight?" he asks you.

"If you need me by your side," you say. He thinks for a moment, before shaking his head.

"No, I should be fine. I wasn't planning on staying long."

But before he so much as steps one foot out the garden, you hear a faint voice calling out from within the forest.

"Are you three there?" Lani's voice is faint, almost completely hidden under the wind and rustling of leaves. "Can you come get me? I don't want to step on one of those things again."

A sigh of relief escapes Yone as he quickly wanders off in search of her.

Moments later he returns, trailed by a familiar face. She smiles at you from beneath a curtain of dark, slightly tangled hair, a basket under each arm. You didn't notice it yesterday, but she is very short – the top of her head coming up around a finger width lower than his shoulder. Granted, he is also an unusually tall man.

"Forgive me for intruding on you so late." Lani wanders over to you and Lillia. "Yue is suspicious." She rolls her eyes, waving her hand as though shooing away a fly. "Said I'm smiling too much all of a sudden, and that it's creeping him out."