a/n: just a little one shot. short, sweet. enjoy! and review!

Healing

They don’t understand. That was what was running through my head as I walked down the street that morning. The snow that had been threatening for so many weeks now had finally fallen with a vengeance and I found myself rubbing my hands together to keep them warm for my thin gloves were worn and just that; thin. I was more than aware of the stares that were sent my way as I walked, pretending to not see them. It was more than obvious, the way they pointed their fingers at me and whispered in voices that were audible.

Perhaps they thought I couldn’t hear, but I highly doubted that. They wanted me to hear it. They wanted me to know how much they pitied me. I didn’t want their pity. For the better part of the year I had been receiving gifts of condolences and roses in every shade known to man. They pitied me.

“Who is she?” I heard to my left. I cast a small glance in the direction of the voice to find a man I hadn’t seen in town before staring at me. Nothing new…

“Her name is Faye,” a shop owner said softly. “She has the most tragic tale of this town…”

The man was clearly confused. I turned into the shop owner’s store, greeting him kindly as the little bell tinkled merrily. I stood by the entrance, just listening to them talk for a few minutes while I warmed my numb fingers. The shop owner smiled when he saw me in the window and met the young man’s confused eyes once more. He had the loveliest gray eyes, I noticed.

“Sir, I don’t understand.”

“She’s not really with us anymore,” he tried to explain with a sigh. “She hasn’t been the same for almost a year now.”

I walked away from the window, refusing to hear my life story retold again to yet another person. One would have thought that my story would have grown old after a few months, but apparently not in this town. I could almost understand. It was, after all, a fairly small town that seemed disinterested in the dealings outside of it.

There wasn’t much of a selection in the man’s flower shop. I walked around it lazily, searching for something to strike my fancy. I had never really liked roses so when they started coming in disgustingly large amounts I had learned to detest them. I couldn’t really blame them, though; only a select few people knew of my distaste for roses. The shop owner was one of them, but that didn’t stop him from sending all sorts of other flowers like lilacs and lilies. I picked a single chrysanthemum from a bin and held it to the light. It was white and almost transparent.

I brought it to the counter where the shop owner’s daughter smiled and asked me if I’d found everything. I smiled in turn and told her that I had. She slipped it into a small vase and gave me some plant food.

“Here. Take it,” she said sweetly. “I‘ll cover the charges. My gift.” She handed the chrysanthemum to me with another smile. I smiled weakly in response and took it from her.

I didn’t want their pity anymore. What was in the past, was in the past. It was over. Whether I was over it or not, it was done with. I gazed out the window with a glazed expression in my eyes, I was sure. At least, that’s what I was aiming for. The young man and the shop owner were still out there, conversing about something that didn’t seem to be me. I wasn’t quite ready to face the harsh wind, so I lingered in the store a while, smelling flowers here and there.

The shop owner’s daughter had disappeared into the backroom after she’d rung me out, so the shop was eerily quiet until the bell rang again, announcing the fact that I was no longer alone. I turned slowly to meet those ice gray eyes I’d noticed. I didn’t say anything, instead I let my eyes do the talking for me. He walked towards me.

He smiled at me and I returned it. I saw his eyes move to the flower that I held in my hands. He didn’t say anything right away, he just stood there, staring at me. I shuffled my feet uneasily. I had never really like people staring at me from afar, let alone when they were close enough that I could smell the cologne they wore.

“I… I heard about…”

“I know,” I said quickly. I didn’t really want him to tell me that he knew how he had died. How he had died entirely too early. How he had left me all alone after he promised to be with me always.

“I’m sorry. It seems like he was a great guy.”

“He was.”

He sighed. I know I wasn’t exactly opening up, but… He bowed his head for a moment so that his black hair fell into his magnificent gray eyes. He picked his head back up and shook his hair out of his eyes with a small flick of his head. I didn’t know what to make of him.

“With time,” he started quietly all of a sudden, “all of your wounds will heal.”

I stared at him, unsure what he was getting at. Plenty of people had already told me that time healed all wounds no matter how deep. I hadn’t believed them, but this man…

“I learned that lesson a long time ago,” he continued, gently touching the petals of a pansy with the tips of his fingers.

“I…”

“It’s a hard lesson to learn,” he admitted.

“You… what…?”

“I understand, Faye,” he said to me, withdrawing from the flowers. “It just takes time.”

“But… It’s already been so long…! And I…” I gave up, the tears starting to fall down my cheeks.

He moved forward and enveloped me in his arms, assuring me that it would be okay after all. I wrapped my arms around his waist, letting it all out finally. It had been inside me for so long, never finding a release. He understands. Finally, someone who knows what it feels like to be lost and know where you’re going at the same time. I was here. In this small town, in the small flower shop that everyone knew about.

I was found.

“Better now?” I nodded without a word and his fingers moved to wipe my tear stained cheeks. He smiled again and I found myself pulling away with a blush lighting my face. He laughed softly and it only served to deepen my blush.

“I, um, well, I have to… feed my cat. Yes, I have to feed my cat,” I said, stuttering.

“Before you go,” he said, grabbing my hand as I tried to make a hasty retreat, “don’t forget this.” Cradled in his hand was my chrysanthemum; it must have slipped out of my fingers when I had thrown my arms around him seeking comfort.

“Thank you,” I murmured, taking it from him. His hand didn’t release mine immediately and instead he pulled me closer to him.

“Don’t forget,” he whispered into my ear, sending shivers down my spine, “time heals all wounds. Yours is no exception.”

A slow smile blossomed on my lips. “Yes. I… I will be okay.” His hand let go of mine, but I felt him slip something into my empty hand. It was a business card.

“If you feel like talking,” he explained.

“I’d like that,” I told him truthfully. “I’d like that…”

He waved to me as he walked out of the shop and I just stood there for a moment, thinking over what had just happened. I didn’t even know his name and yet… I brought the petals of the chrysanthemum to my lips. Things were going to be okay from now on. I felt the pain in my heart lessen a little at the thought of someone who’d gone through this before. Yes, things were going to be more than okay.

Everything was going to be perfect.

Owari

a/n: click the button! you know you want to!