-- PROLOGUE --

He noticed her first, the flowers second.

It should have struck him as some sort of warning sign, a clue to what she would eventually come to mean to him. That in a rainbow of vibrant colours, shocking pinks, oranges and purples he’d noticed her first. A tiny figure in white, seated quietly on a bench, in a garden. That it was a garden he didn’t even notice until he’d finished studying her. Where he came from you didn’t see too many women out on their own. Women in the city had more sense than that. But maybe it didn’t matter out here, so far away from anything really urban.

Pretty girls didn’t sit on benches, in gardens.

At least that’s what he would have said a week ago. More specifically, the thought would never have crossed his mind in the first place. There were no pretty girls, benches, or gardens where he came from.

He barely even noticed he was walking slowly towards her, as though pulled steadily by some unseen force. The bench was small and so was she, but his rather large frame forced them to sit fairly close to each other. Closer than strangers would usually sit.

She didn’t say anything.

Had he expected her to?

Don’t know…

Random thoughts raced through his mind as he hunted for something to say. He tilted his head to glance down at her, watching her stare straight ahead as though deep in thought. She looked unreal, wrapped in a flimsy white cotton dress, her pale hair floating around her face on the breeze.

Like an angel…

He was barely even aware of thinking it, before her voice cut into him suddenly.

“How do you know…” She began hesitantly, her voice low and husky. “How do you know… which flower is the prettiest?”

He blinked, wondering if he’d heard her right. It was hard to tell if she was serious or not since she still hadn’t even glanced his way. And her voice, soft and husky betrayed not the slightest hint of emotion.

“There were some children playing here before…”

That distracted him too. Children, playing outside? Alone? He’d never-

“And they started arguing over the flowers, about which was prettier. I did not understand the basis upon which they were making these decisions. Although each seemed quite adamant, quite convinced that the one they had chosen was correct.” She turned her head slightly towards him, pale grey eyes meeting his for the first time and he almost flinched.

She looked…

Empty…

The stray thought washed over him and he pushed it quickly aside. She looked young and perhaps a little naïve but- but there was something else too. Something about her that looked lost.

He shrugged. “Maybe they were all right.” She blinked and it seemed a shame to him that those perfect eyes were hidden, even for the briefest of seconds. “You can’t measure beauty…”

“I see… then some sort of- of personal value judgment is required.” A thought seemed to strike her and she looked suddenly excited. “Then there is no one right or wrong answer.”

He shook his head.

“I see...” She mumbled, before turning her head to stare at the flowers again.

He was just about to ask her what her name was when she stood up. Disappointment washed over him at the thought of her leaving, but she didn’t move far, just took a few steps towards the flowers and stared at them intently. She dropped down to her knees in front of one bright red cluster of them before standing up again and moving on.

He watched her for a while and it was a testament to his military training that his expression gave nothing of his inner confusion away. He couldn’t remember ever having had a stranger conversation or encounter. He moved slowly off the bench and headed to where she sat crouched beside a large flower box.

“This one.” She said, turning her head to look up at him.

He followed the finger she was pointing and realized she was indicating a small, white flower.

When he said nothing she looked a bit confused. “You did say that there was no right or wrong answer…? Therefore, I believe this flower is by far the prettiest. Can you tell me its name please?”

Flower names weren’t exactly his specialty but… “It’s a trillium.”

“Thank you.” She murmured politely, reaching out her hand to pick it.

“What are you doing!?” He snapped instantly, bending down quickly to stop her from breaking the flower’s tiny stem. “You can’t pick those, they’re protected.”

She looked up at him confused and a little concerned by his sudden outburst.

“They’re the official flower of this region, it’s illegal to pick them.”

“Oh.”

He stared at her hard, his hand still clenched around her wrist, their faces millimeters apart. He barely noticed, he was too busy wondering how she could possibly not know it was illegal to pick certain flowers. The Interplanetary Police Force were all too willing to arrest anyone, for anything these days. The IPF worked on commission and even something as apparently insignificant as picking flowers illegally could still turn them a tidy profit.

He released her hand with a shrug and sat back. “I’ve seen people go to jail for less.”

She didn’t say anything, just outstretched the arm he’d grabbed and stared at it. Several long red welts were starting to show on her skin. Painful looking out lines of…

Fingers…

He groaned inwardly, feeling like a jerk. There’d been no need to grab her so hard. Now she’d probably race out of the garden and-...

“Thank you. My father had warned me not to pick any but I thought he was simply being difficult.” She leaned back on her heels beside him. “Were you on your way somewhere? You seemed to be in somewhat of a hurry when you entered the garden.”

He was surprised she’d noticed… He could have sworn she hadn’t been paying attention at all-…

“Damn!” He snapped suddenly, squinting up at the sun. He was late.

“That’s a bad word.” She pointed out reprovingly, sounding like a child.

“Ya.” He agreed, shooting to his feet he headed quickly out of the garden. Despite already being half an hour late he probably would have stayed to talk with her. Except for the obvious fact that she wasn’t the type of girl he normally bothered with. She was young, polite and… nice… way too nice. He didn’t look back but he could feel her eyes watching him go, as though she were trying, by the sheer force of her will to pull him back to her.

Making his way around the maze of potted plants and splashes of rose bushes, he knew he couldn’t go back.

He hadn’t even noticed the flowers.

END PROLOGUE

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Author’s note: Yes, I am reposting this. “But why LinsieElisa?” you may be asking… I have decided to put three of my stories together into a trilogy and some revamping was needed for that to work. So if you would like to read this in order… Please check out “H20” (completed) first, then “Destine” (in progress) and then lastly, “Elysian Sky” (coming soon). Actually… don’t read “H2O” yet as I haven’t made the changes that need to be done… or do read it… I’ll stop babbling.

Enjoy! And as always, please review if you have read. This will be cross-posted on my livejournal account, link can be found on my profile page… REVIEW! (I hope to do one chapter a day… I HOPE!!!)