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Prophet Destiny
Blossoming Seeds
Part I: A Gift and a Masterpiece
The sun rose one day at Sithro Village. Its humble-sized residence and exposure to spacious nature environment emitted a peaceful atmosphere. The clear, cloudless sky had somehow placed special emphasis on this particular day, especially for two young children that met at a local meadow.
One was a girl with long, wavy, pale blonde hair and bright, earnest eyes that shone like prisms. Her attire consisted of a casual short-sleeved cream long white dress.
The other was a boy with short, raven black hair and gentle ruby eyes. He wore maroon turtle-neck robe with matching loose-fit pants. He appeared to have his hands behind his back, fiddling with something in his grasp.
The pair stood opposite of each other and exchanged pleasant gazes.
“Well, I’m here as you asked, ready to see this special something you promised today. What is it you wanted to show me, Gades?” the cheerful girl asked.
The ruby-eyed boy took an awkward step forward, then gave a simple nod.
“Yula…tomorrow… will finally be day you get to leave this place with your family to finally explore the world… like we always dreamed of doing. I wanted to do something special, not only to honor our nearly-fulfilled dream, but so that you’d have a memory of home to carry with you.” the boy began.
The girl called Yula nodded back, then slowly approached her dear friend with a slight blush in her cheeks.
“That’s quite nice of you, Dear Gades. What sort of gift is it? Did you find it, or craft it somehow?” she asked.
“Actually, both.” Gades answered back immediately.
“Both?” Yula repeated.
Gades nodded once more.
Slowly, the ruby-eyed boy begun brining his arms into exposure.
“For some time now, I’ve thought about what you like… things you’ve eyed in admiration… that which might be precious to you… I wasn’t too sure what would be best at first, but then I remembered how fondly you looked at the white lilies.” He continued.
With a widened smile and a growing blush, the young boy finally revealed his hands to display a wreath of white lilies before Yula’s very eyes.
The plae-blonde girl gasped in amazement as she took an awkward step back.
“This… is...”
“Handmade “jewelry”, I guess. I picked a few yesterday and tried my best to string it together into a necklace. I thought the flowers would suit you, somehow…” Gades explained.
He then proceeded towards the stunned girl and placed it around her neck. The sudden application resulted in a look reminiscent of a lovely young flower maiden.
Yula gently held part of her gift in her palm and looked at it curiously.
“You… put a lot of work into this, didn’t you? I’m touched…” Yula softly replied.
Gades then brought a hand behind his head as his body trembled from humility.
“Y-you’re welcome…”
His eyes then scanned the flower maiden curiously.
“...it really does suit you.” Gades added with a shy smile.
Yula’s face brightened as she heard the compliment.
“Thank you.” Yula answered gratefully.
Gades then averted his eyes and started to reach for something in his right sleeve.
“Still… I think there’s something missing…” he muttered as he continued rummaging through his thick sleeve.
Yula blinked.
“There’s more?” she thought to herself.
After finally grabbing a hold to what he sought, the raven-haired lad further bridged the gap between the girl and himself.
At the same time, Yula’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Huh?!”
The startled maiden stared as Gades took a closed hand and reached for her hair, which brought them even closer together. Finally, the boy slipped on something close to her ear, then stepped back.
In deep awe, the young artist witnessed the new masterpiece he created.
And while Yula took a moment feel the added lily in her hair, she looked back to see the overwhelming fascination in Gades’ eyes. She immediately clutched her chest, completely at a loss as to how handle the pounding.
“Wh-what… what is this feeling?” Yula’s clouded mind managed to register.
“….Wonderful…” Gades uttered breathlessly.
Yula’s eyes perked up as it picked up on that one word.
“…r.-really?” she asked in a shaky, quelled voice.
The young maiden’s voice immediately snapped the boy out of his daze.
“Did I say that out loud?” Gades thought in a panic.
Physically, he responded with a few quick nods.
“R-really… I just wish you could see yourself right now… maybe you’d understand better that way…” he said aloud with shakiness of his own.
Yula’s mind flashed back at her friend’s expression of captivation. She didn’t quite understand how, but so much had been said to her with that one expression.
With all her discomfort faded in an instant, the young maiden inched closer to her friend with a serene smile.
“No, I don’t think that’s necessary… I’ll trust in your honesty, as usual…” she answered calmly.
Yet this sudden expression of peace caused something deeper to stir in the boy’s heart.
“Did she actually look more grown-up now? But… how does she do that? And why around me more than anyone else?” he thought.
His eyes then focused on the very flowers he had adorned her with and realized something in shock.
…Flowers wilt, then die.
Gades bowed his head in deep regret.
“…I’m sorry…” he uttered shamefully.
Yula looked rather perplexed at the youth’s sudden sorrow.
“…For what?” she asked.
“…Your gift. I…I just realized, you won’t be able to hold onto it forever… it’ll wither away eventually, and you’ll have to get rid of it. I should’ve realized that. I---“
After a brief chuckle, Yula snatched Gades’ nervously clutched hand and held it close to her chest.
“It’ll be fine, don’t worry!” She assured him in a confident tone.
This time, it was the boy’s turn to be shocked.
“What?”
“It doesn’t matter how long these flowers will remain fresh. I’m well aware they’ll have to wither away eventually… what matters is right here and now! You’ve offered me such a great gift and have made me beautiful with it. What I have here to treasure the most is this memory, and you’ve given me a really wonderful one. Thank you.” She explained.
Time and time again, the boy has come faced to face to this side of his cherished friend. It was a side that he considered one of her greatest strengths, and a side that inspired and encouraged him. It was a side of her he valued dearly.
“I see...” he uttered understandingly.
“But you know, even if I can’t salvage the necklace, I’m sure I’ll be able to keep the lily in my hair for a long while.” She grinned.
Gades blinked.
“Huh?”
Yula then took out a small, simple booklet.
“That’s… your poetry book with the few blank pages scattered about, isn’t it?!” Gades exclaimed.
Yula nodded.
“I believe those few empty spaces were left there for a reason… to store precious memories and preserve things for future study. My father explained to me once that you can store flowers in a book by “pressing” it between pages, and it should remain preserve. Of course, it’ll still age and wither, but I’ll still be able to hold on to the “memento” in some intact form.” Yula shared.
Gades gasped in awe.
“Is that so…?” uttered hopefully.
Yula nodded back.
“You worked hard to make this for me, right? I think I should at least honor your effort by holding on to what I can. Besides, I think I may like my head flower the best.” She answered with a playful grin.
Gades was immediately taken aback Yula’s girlish expression.
“H…huh? What? Why?” he babbled.
Yula well concealed the embarrassment she felt when Gades nearly caressed her in the process of decorating her hair with the flower.
“I just feel something really special attached to this one lily.” Yula teased as she ran a hand through the portion of her close to her special flower.
Gades could only stare back in puzzlement for awhile, but a small smile eventually formed on his face.
Soon enough, the pair exchanged pleasant grins and laughed together as the day went on.
It was their final day together in Sithro Village, but it was a day they made their most memorable one…
 Chicken Yuki · Fri Sep 28, 2007 @ 08:31pm · 1 Comments |
