"There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart." - Mahatma Gandhi
~~
Their lost friend rests by the foot of the large tree where the little girl observes the growing fledgelings. The mother bird already taught them how to fly and left the nest together. They flapped their wings to the bright sunny sky, leaving the place that once became their home and about to start a new life. Beside Lucas' grave are bouquets of Chrysanthemum, Bell Flowers, Trollius, and Sweet Pea. All of them are Catherine's favourite flowers from their garden. It coloured the mourning bed with some violets and yellows. Catherine is still crying, and snots were dripping out of her nose. Her father dried her face, but it did not help as she looked, even so, like a mess because of her swollen red eyes.
"Promise you will still guard me even if you're up there," she speaks between her sobs then turns to leave, holding Bastian's big hands in her small ones.
"He will." Bastian messed her hair, and they start to head inside their home. Their dinner is now cold at their kitchen table as they began to eat.
Outside their home, the boy with icy blue hair came and visited their place's location. His wounds hid behind bandages, and he has a bouquet of Carnations on his hands. His eyes stop at the dog's grave and silently went there, being too careful not to get noticed. He kneels and put down the Carnation with the other flowers offered and prays. Sympathy and sorry was written all over his face because if it wasn't for him, the dog would still be living. After that, he left silently.
The clock rotated fast, and it is now Catherine's birthday. The poor girl is not worn to have her dog, not by her side, so she just strides alone in the garden all gloomy. Bastian can't figure out what to do and the sight of her being unenergetic than usual is slowly killing him. Catherine sits in front of the garden's flowers trying to distract herself but her mind just can't help but drift elsewhere. Only then, she heard a voice from nearby, "our grace shouldn't look that blue." Catherine was taken aback and roamed her eyes around the area to see where it is coming.
Then, another voice spoke, "do you have problems with blue?" the Delphinium let out an irritated cry to the roses though, Catherine us still clueless where the voices appear.
"Psst! Over here, your grace," a lily let out, and at that moment, the little girl now turned towards them. She was surprised, so she pinched her soft cheeks just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. The bunch of flowers let out a chuckle. "Yes. You can hear flowers, your grace," the lily spoke once again.
Instead of fear, amazement coloured Catherine's face and picks her curiosity. "How..." her sentence stops as she stares at them in wonder. Giggles from the flower's voices were heard along with their sways by the gentle wind caressing their leaves and petals. The interested gaze from Catherine's big mismatched eyes satisfies the beautiful flowers.
"Her Grace, Catherine, is a special one," answers by the red Larkspur. The discovery indulges young Catherine, and her mood lifted in an instant. Their talk took longer as she had asked too many questions. She was smiling, yet there's still a place in her heart that felt vacant without her dog best friend.
~~
The clock strikes 6 o'clock ante meridiem, similar to an ordinary world's afternoon. Bastian's birthday surprise for Catherine will be at dinner, about 11 am so he simply prepared a simple dish by their lunch. Catherine starts to feel bored. The last page of the book she's studying is already finished, and it's now her playtime. Right now, the flowers can't satisfy her boredom, so Catherine strolls down the forest to who knows what direction. Fear hasn't visited her as plants can always lead her home, so she roams and explores without a care where. After long walks, she found an area of fields of white dandelion and a small hill by the centre where a huge tree stands.
She went there and sat on its big roots, then hugs her knees. Little did she know that someone was already there before her. The boy was sitting at the opposite side with bouquets of Tulips beside him. He hears the rustle of grass from her movement and wonders who it was, so he stands up and peaks at the other side.
He stops himself from letting out a surprised cry when he saw Catherine there. She looks lonely and unhappy as she stares somewhere, wholly occupied by her thoughts. The lad went back on the side, making sure he didn't make a single sound and leans back on the tree. Delight fills his chest and at the same time, nervousness. He's been meaning to ask for an apology but too afraid to approach.
Catherine sighs as she noticed that the flowers of dandelion were surprisingly silent compared to the other blooms. Just when she gave up to wait for them to talk, she hears a voice speak and it doesn't seem like it is from the field, "h-hey, my name's Ezio." She felt a touch of petals on her left cheeks, so she looked up to see a boy with pale skin and a light blue hair, handing a pink Tulip to her. His face turned away so she can't get a good look on his face. What she first noticed was the bandages on his arms and a slightly violet shade on his right jaw.
"Th...thanks?" She doesn't know how to respond, so that's all she replied, "mine's Catherine," she likewise introduced herself. The boy who's named Ezio looks like he was about the same age as her. He turns to look at her, and their eyes met. Catherine's mismatched emerald and hazel eyes met with his ocean blue pair of eyes. If looking closely, his eyes have a pattern of a hexagon in it, and it shines as the ever sunny area reflected on it. Catherine accepted the flower awkwardly. "I haven't met you before. And I don't see any reason for you to give me the-these."
Ezio sits down beside her, and a moment of silence passed down between them; thus, an awkward atmosphere was hanging in the air. Finally, he spoke, "I... Just wanted to apologize." Catherine turns to look at him confused, so he continues, "it was my fault that your dog is dead." With those words, a flash of sadness come to her eyes, so she averted her gazes so he won't see. Ezio told everything, and after he's finishes, he was surprised to see her looking down at the field of dandelions while trying her best to stop her cries.
He panics when he thought that he just made everything worse when Catherine spoke, "I shouldn't cry." She covers her eyes with her left arm. "Lucas might get mad at me if he saw me crying after you told me what happened. I shouldn't cry," she continues with sobs between her words. He smiles at her. Ezio doesn't know what to do so he just sat there with her until she stopped crying.
"Your dog is a hero. And he has such a wonderful owner," Ezio says while looking at the dandelions which are swinging by the gentle sunny breeze a few of its seeds flew and dances in the air.
"Lucas must've known that you're a good person. That's why he saved you," she exclaims cheerfully and gave him a wide smile. Stains of wet tears are still visible on her cheeks, but she tried her best to say it merrily. "If that's the case, then let's be friends!" She extended out her right hand for a shake and Ezio looks at it awkwardly. He hesitates but still accepted it gladly.
"Sure. Friends."