Wendy opened her eyes and found herself staring at a white ceiling. What? She thought dazed, My ceiling isn't white...

The passive lifted herself up, feeling jittery and confused. A splash of red at her right caught her attention. Her uniform. She glanced down at herself and blinked. White. She was wearing white.

The details of the night before came back into her head and Wendy sat back, closing her eyes. No...I don't want to remember...oh Alioe I don't want to think. But she remembered anyway. She brought her knees up to her face and pressed her forehead against them, trying to take deep breaths.

Enough. No crying. Enough enough. But she thought this almost with the hope that she would cry. Because the tears wouldn't come. All she felt was...well...strange.

Cordelia had worked at the infirmary for years. She never got to do anything interesting but at least she had the sense that she was helping people. When she saw that Wendy was awake, she walked over, sniffling quietly.

"Hi Wendy." She whispered, looking older than her 19 years. "I heard what happened. I'm sorry, can I get you anything?"

A glass of water, something to ease the pain? Tock, even a damn cleaver to the skull of the boy responsible for this.

Wendy opened her eyes, looking down at her sheets and blinking back-- emptiness? There were no tears. She shook her head, keeping it pressed to her knees and not looking up for awhile. After another few moments she let out a shaky sigh, "Sorry...I... I'm not tired... I shouldn't even be in here."

Everything was painful. She didn't want to be here...she needed to get out of this place...out of this world. Her hands had unconsciously clutched at the sheets and her teeth had clenched.

She smiled tightly at Cordelia, "Maybe some water..."

Cordelia smiled wanly. "I'm not sure how long they'll keep you here. The head nurse is a bit of a... She's not friendly."

Cordelia shook her head as though shaking out a bad thought. Her voice was soft and gentle, hearing it for long periods could be grating and more than once she had been struck for "sounding annoying".

"I'll get you your water." She said with a friendly pat on Wendy's arm.

She stood up and quickly disappeared from sight, moving about the infirmary with the grace and silence of a ghost. It was eerie.

Fowler had never been to the infirmiry before, mainly for the simple reason of never being infirmed. He walked silently through the halls, in the direction he'd been pointed by at least four students and one maid. There was only one thing on his mind. Well, quite a few things in fact, but they all involved the events from the previous day.

He had been in the cafeteria when everything happened. He'd seen it all, heard it all, felt it all...it had happened so fast! One moment, the boy and Wendy were walking with stacks of trays, and the next...Fowler shook his head. He didn't want to think about it. Nobody deserves that, ever, no matter who they are.

Wendy...

That afternoon, Fowler had run from his room with an experiment he'd been working on. It was his most special thing, something he'd never shown to anybody, never talked about to any of the other students. But now...now somebody will know.

Fowler reached the Infirmary and tapped lightly on the door. His friend was sick, and he had come to visit.

Cordelia paused on her way back to Wendy to open the door. Even now she knew that she'd be punished for making a galdori wait.

"Hello Sir." Cordelia said in her rustling voice. "Is there anything I can do for you? If you need to lie down there are beds over there."

Cordelia indicated to over where Wendy was, not sure it was a good idea for the girl to be near gollies right now. There was no were else to direct him, unfortunately.

The boy shook his head, and blushed slightly. He was never going to get used to people calling him sir. "N-no, th-thank you, M-m-miss. I'm h-h-here to s-see my fr-fr-friend W-wendy. I h-h-have s-someth-thing t-t-to t-tell h-her."

He looked up at the woman who had opened the door. "M-m-may I s-see her? P-p-please?"

Cordelia hunched slightly, as though her body was preparing to do something she was not going to enjoy.

"Normally I would say yes, Sir." Her eyes were like pools of water, hiding secrets in their depths. "I would rather if I could ask her permission first. If she says yes, you are welcome to come over."

Cordelia walked quickly over to Wendy, handing her the glass she'd been carrying.

"Do you mind if that boy comes to talk to you?" She asked softly, not sure what to do if Wendy said no.

"Boy?" Wendy asked in half a daze, taking the water and staring at it as if she wasn't sure how she'd come to have it. "Yes-- Yes, of course. He-- yes of course he can."

Cordelia nodded at Wendy. "Alright, I'll be nearby if you need me."

She turned to Fowler and nodded at him, backing away subserviently.

"Th-th-thank you, m-miss."

Fowler approached Wendy's bed quietly. This was a place of rest and recouperation, of course. But she was his friend, and he wanted to make sure she was alright.

"W-w-wendy? It's F-fowler. I c-c-came to s-see if y-y-you w-were okay. I...I w-was th-there y-y-yesterday and...I..." The boy's eyes began to water a little, thoughts of the previous afternoon flooding his mind with fears and terrors beyond comprehension.

"I j-just w-w-wanted t-to s-see h-how you w-w-were."

Wendy attempted a smile, but it was really more a jerking of the muscles than a smile. "Not...too good, Fowler." she said softly, staring at her hands as they picked at the sheets. "I'm sorry you were there yesterday."

And she was. She didn't want to think about it, or her reaction but-- it hadn't been pretty. And for a boy to experience her friend's death. Then again, perhaps this will make the lesson stick. For some.

The boy frowned, looking at his hands for a moment before meeting Wendy's eye. "I'm n-n-not. It w-was t-t-terrible, b-but I w-w-would n-never h-have th-thought of wh-wh-what I did o-otherw-w-wise." Fowler picked at his fingernails; there was still a bit of dirt under them. He'd done a lot of digging the night before.

"D-d-do y-you th-think y-y-you'd b-be able to l-l-leave s-s-soon? I...I h-have s-someth-thing t-t-to show y-y-you." I just hope you like it.

Wendy nodded, "I think I'd like to leave right now...it all depends on the nurse, I suppose." She sat up, "Cordelia. Could you get me my spare uniform? I...I think I'd like to go now."

I need to get away from that dress... She glanced at it again and felt her arm hairs stand up.

Cordelia smiled at Wendy, worry and weariness seeping through.

"Of course, Wendy." She said, posture like that of a kicked dog now that Fowler was in the room. "I'll be right back."

She disappeared from the room so quietly that it was hard to believe she'd been there at all. Then just as quickly she was back again.

"There is a changing room behind you." She said, opening the door and showing her the way in.

She looked at Fowler with a vague fear in her eyes, not sure whether she should offer him anything. He may have had a stutter but the years she had spent in Brunnhold had made her afraid of all the galdori, no matter how unassuming they seemed.

"Thank you, dear."

Wendy got up stiffly, barely registering the ache that had begun yet again on her back and sides. She clutched her gown to herself and moved into the dressing room quickly, changing into her uniform. She opened the door as she was tying a white scarf to her head, "Am I allowed to leave? Does the matron want me to do anything today?"

The questions were so ordinary that Wendy felt a little dazed saying them. Almost as if everything is completely normal.

Cordelia clasped her hands together, wringing them slightly. "You can leave, she said you should have the day off. No one's getting any work done either way."

She pitched the last words low so Fowler would not hear them.

Fowler watched the other girl as she left the room, and a sad sigh escaped his lips. The passive servants at home might have been passives, and they might have been servants, but they were never treated as animals. It hurt his feelings to have someone afraid of him simply because of his race. The girl returned shortly and gave Wendy her uniform. Fowler saw the way she looked at him, and he blushed, lowering his eyes and face. He played with his hands, not knowing what to say or how to go about saying it.

Fowler stood, waiting for his friend. The other girl said something in a low tone to Wendy, something he couldn't make out (meaning it most likely wasn't meant for him, and his Mother had taught him better than to eavesdrop anyway), but allowed her to leave.

Fowler walked over and took Wendy's hand. Looking up, he smiled a sad smile. "C-c-come on, W-w-wendy, I h-have a s-s-surp-prise for y-y-you. It's in the E-e-east G-g-garden." The boy led the girl towards the door, but paused for a moment to turn and wave at the other, quieter passive lady. "Th-th-thank y-y-you, m-miss," he said, and bowed his head politely, before leading Wendy out the door and down the hall.

Wendy glared at the ground, "I should say not." she muttered in a gratingly furious voice.



"The East Garden? You shouldn't go there alone, Fowler...It's dangerous. You know that yourself from what happened the last time." The passive murmured absently, pausing for a moment when the room stretched and got brighter until everything was back to normal.

"Next time take Vala, or me. At least until you're older." Her mother hen instincts always seemed to take over when someone much younger than herself was present.

The boy tugged lightly on Wendy's hand, and smiled sadly. Yesterday still hurts. "I w-w-wasn't in f-f-far. J-just en-n-nough in to g-g-get to the g-g-good d-dirt."

They walked on in silence for a while, until they had exited the building and wandered through the grounds. It was quiet outside, hardly a voice could be heard that didn't belong to a songbird in a tree somewhere. Finally, they reached the garden entrance and Fowler stopped his walking. "W-w-wait h-here, and cl-cl-close y-your eyes."

Wendy obliged with a smile, half wondering what flower Fowler had managed to grow that he wanted her to have so badly. It's sweet of him.

Fowler let go of Wendy's hand for a moment, just long enough to go behind a bush and retrieve a small sign. He'd hidden it there last night, in case anyone came along and decided to be mean.

Returning, he took Wendy's hand again. "K-k-keep y-your eyes cl-cl-closed. N-no p-p-peaking." Fowler led Wendy to a spot agaist one wall, to the side of the fountain. It was secluded, but not completely out of the way. Just enough to make it private, should the situation deem it necesary.

Before the two was a miniature garden, built up with purple and blue flowers interspersed between sections of pink and red. The flowers formed a half circle around a small mound, out from which could be seen a cutting from a rosebush. A small bud and a few leaves could be seen, but the plant itself was barely a foot tall against the bricks.

Fowler took a deep breath and tugged on Wendy's hand. "Ok, y-y-you c-can open y-y-your eyes n-now."

Wendy stumbled a little as Fowler led her and then tugged on her hand.



Wendy opened her eyes and immediately gasped. For a long moment, she was silent.

"Oh." she murmured finally, surprised. "Oh Fowler. It's beautiful."

There are no words, really.

The garden was perfect. It wasn't exactly orderly-- there were no neat rows all evenly spaced out. There was chaos with some sort of order to it. It just fit into the east garden. It was free of weeds, and looked clean, and careful. Fowler had really put a lot of effort into this.

"I don't know what to say. You did this?"

Her eyes were caught by the plant in the very center. It hasn't grown yet but it will! There is still hope for it, among all this wilderness.

Fowler's freckles dissapeared into a deep blush that spread quickly across his face. Nobody had ever appreciated his gardening skills before. His parents had tried everything to keep him away from the dirt and plants, but he usually ended up covered in soil by the end of the day no matter what.

"It-it's n-n-not f-fin-nished y-y-yet. J-j-just one m-m-more th-thing."

Fowler held out his hand, aiming at the rosebud, and began chanting the flawless monite for Grow. He'd done it quite a number of times before, but usually to work on his experiments. This isn't for me, he thought. This is for Wendy. This is for Pascaul. This is to remember.

Fowler's field was normally a skittish thing, reflecting the everyday indiginities that he endured and survived. As soon as he began to focus on magic, especially plant magic, it bloomed. Wendy could feel it, expanding and calming like a beautiful rose. Fowler could feel the energy pouring through himself, filling him with the scent and taste of water.

The flower bloomed, revealing a true rose, not a metaphorical one. The petals were delicately lined in yellow and white. A stunning, perfect hybrid.