Vivi glances around the flower shop, taking in the bloody reds, cheerful oranges, sunny yellows, and sky blues that decorate the interior like random splashes of paint. It's too...bright. He wrinkles his nose, his face settling into a scowl.

Stupid Moritz. If he hadn't shown up at the mansion, Vivi wouldn't have launched fireballs at him, burned down the garden, and gotten whacked on the head by a tearful Anzu screaming "Mama's roses!" He also wouldn't have been threatened with a slow and painful death (courtesy of Yamabuki) if he didn't buy replacement flowers first thing in the morning. He could've slept in if it weren't for him!

Stupid Moritz.

"Welcome!" A girlish voice chirps from over the counter. "What kind of flowers are you looking for?"

His eyes flit over to the voice's owner. "I want –" He inhales sharply.

A girl with a smile as beautiful as a flower looks up at him. Hana's smile.

Vivi stares at the girl, dumbfounded, his mind grasping at straws. How...? Hana is dead – has been dead for more than a decade! Why is she...?

The girl waves a hand in his face. "– okay, Mister?"

Vivi blinks and his heart gives an uncomfortable squeeze when the girl – Hana, his Hana – leans over the counter, eyes wide with concern.

"What? Oh, I'm fine." Vivi hurriedly points to the bucket of flowers beside the counter. "I'll take a bouquet of roses. The red ones."

Hana nods with a cheerful "Got it!" and immediately throws herself into her work, grabbing the roses from the bin and arranging them neatly on the table. But then she slows down and stares at the flowers with a bit of wistfulness, looking like she doesn't want to part with them.

"You seem a little young to be working at a flower shop," Vivi starts.

He leans across the counter, his fingers itching to touch Hana's which are picking out colorful ribbons on the other side of the linoleum tabletop. He doesn't act on the urge though and just grips the edges of the counter.

"Hana is fourteen." She grins and thumps her chest proudly. "Mama said I could help out after school."

Mama, Vivi thinks a little glumly. Of course this Hana would already have a family. It's not like he could kidnap her from her current life, but then again...he doesn't need force to win her over.

"Here you are, sir." Hana hands the bouquet to Vivi, all smiles. "That'll be twenty five dollars. Is there anything else you'd like?"

"No, that will be all," Vivi says absentmindedly. Without much thought, he plucks a rose from his bouquet and pushes it behind Hana's left ear. "Miss" – he makes a show of glancing at her name tag – "Hana, I think you look nicer with a flower in your hair."

Hana's cheeks turn a rosy pink, a shade that puts the flower in her hair to shame.

Vivi chuckles and closes her gaping mouth with a slight tap under her chin. "See you around, Hana."

With a dozen roses in his hand and a smile on his face, Vivi departs.

It doesn't matter that Hana doesn't remember him. What matters is that Hana loved him once and she'll learn to love him again.

He'll make sure of it, no matter how long it takes.