[FIN] One Step at a Time

[Suudonym]

Luke paused as Rosie did, following her gesture - not that he required a gesture to know what she was indicating, as vibrant as the display was. The suggestion was met with a slight confusion, though the question to follow, offering elaboration, abruptly quieted his disposition. His eyes turned to the colorful array. "Candles," he said. "Most memorial rites are associated with candles." He thought that perhaps he should explain further, that at the funeral the number of candles lit is representative of the age of the deceased or that the year of the anniversary matched the candles used, but no such words approached his thoughts. He wasn't especially fond of the reminder that they would eventually have to go back there to fulfill the reason they'd come to Grande Ile in the first place. His hands clenched loosely. "Flowers are okay too…"  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Candles?" She had seen it before, families with candles burning as they stood over them in silence.
Leaning back away from the flowers, the blond straightened her back to over at him.
"... I'm sure we can find a place that has candles too." She offered.  

[Suudonym]

He nodded briefly, "Candles aren't so important now, since it's not an anniversary…" The idea of all these rites and traditions suddenly and with great clarity struck him as exceptionally silly. Someone precious to him was dead, and he was here to acknowledge the birthday that she couldn't have. How was it that tradition was so important in a matter like this? The thought drew his eyes over the flowers once more, bringing them to rest on the vibrant form of a stargazer lily, a shape and color that stirred old memories. He leaned slightly in front of the bundle of like flowers, observing it in nostalgic reverie. "There was one of these in the garden," he said. "Or maybe more, I'm not sure." A pause, a hesitation. "She used to stop and look at them, so I thought she must have liked them. She was always frail and used to get put on bed rest a lot, so I picked one and brought it in for her. She scolded me, though - retrospectively I can't exactly call it scolding, but it felt like it at the time. She said I shouldn't pick the flowers from the garden because they'll wither."  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Oh," Rosie blinked. "Okay so the candles are for anniversaries." a slight nod and a tilt of her head. "Whats the tradition for? Or, what do the candles mean?"
This kind of made her realize how little she knew of Grand Ile Traditions and culture. Sure she got the basics like everyone, but there was still a lot more she knew she didn't have the first clue on. Candles at a funeral for one.

She couldn't be sure on what the flowers name was, but she had been it on occasion before. A lily, that was for certain, and beautiful one.
"How long ago was that?"  

[Suudonym]

He drew and exhaled a quiet breath, "At a funeral, the number of candles is the same as the person's age. Family and friends stay at the display and talk about memories and things until all the candles are out. For anniversaries, it's one candle per year that's passed, and you talk about things that have happened since." Some kind of forced family reunion, perhaps, or at least that's how the description had always seemed. Having not witnessed it himself, he couldn't pretend to know for a fact.

"A long time," he answered, "when I was younger. Maybe 11 or 12…"  

[Blood_Goddess]

Listening with growing polite interest as he explained the tradition, “That actually sounds like it’s very lovely.” She admitted when he was finished.” The use of the candle is beautiful.”
Gathering at an anniversary to talk wasn’t a new concept to Rosie at all, but Grand Ile seemed to have a nice take on it.
Everything in Grand Ile was beautiful, as she always said.

A smiled that showed she endeared the image of a young pre-teen Luke trying to cheer his mother up, make her feel better.  

[Suudonym]

He shrugged noncommittally, unable to offer much comment on the subject. Objectively, it was probably a very thoughtful and meaningful tradition. From the perspective of one involved, however, it all felt terribly and morbidly resigned. Maybe that was the point, though; pining after someone who couldn't by any means exist in one's future likely wasn't a very emotionally comfortable way to live.

Somewhat self-conscious under the warmth of her smile, Luke straightened from observing the flowers and raised a hand to the back of his neck. "I wonder if they're hard to grow… Doesn't seem right to bring them already cut."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Well, that was an interesting thought, Rosie had to admit, growing the plants around the grave instead of leaving the flowers.
her eyes widened a little at the thought, before his question brought a slight tilt to her head.
"That's a good question... I don't know." She admitted "Hattie is the one that usually takes care of the garden at home, but... she's not here. um... oh!"
She perked up, reaching to her hip where she pulled out her gear "I've got the next best thing though."
Turning the device on, Rosie opened up a search browser on it, muttering the words as she typed them.
"Are Stargazer lilies hard to grow?..."

Falling quiet as the search loaded, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she waited, tapping on a few of the links that popped up and skimming through them.
"According to a few sources the Stargazer lily is one of the easier lilies to grow, and, its a hardy breed too- oh~ and there are some guides on how to plant them too."
She lifted her eyes away from the screen toward Luke, turning to gear around to show him what she had read if he was interested.

"What are you thinking?" She asked curiously"That you might want to try planting some by your mom?"  

[Suudonym]

He watched as Rosie proceeded through her thoughts, turning his curiosity to the screen that was angled towards him to look over what she had discovered. He frowned thoughtfully, a hand at the back of his neck, "I don't know… I've never done anything like that." True, the guide she had found looked simple enough, and her words were optimistic, but he couldn't help but feel doubtful of his ability.  

[Blood_Goddess]

She lowered the gear back into her hands, folding it between her fingers to address Luke.
"I'll help you." she told him, whole heatedly encouraging his idea. "Its something you can learn, and it will make the gesture that much more meaningful."  

[Suudonym]

It was something to fill the time, at least, as they wandered the city in search of a place that would offer what was needed for such an endeavor - stopping in at various locations for food or browsing. It felt a little strange to dedicate so much effort towards a sudden whim, but it was, after all, his mother's birthday. The early evening found them back at the graveyard, a small hole carved into the ground by a nearby Jolteon's paws. The bulbs were carefully covered and watered, and Luke leaned back on his heels to survey the work they had accomplished. As far as he knew, that was correct. "I wonder if they'll grow," he said absently, recalling from the packaging that it was outside of the ideal planting season for stargazer lilies.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie's hand gently stroked down the back of her Vaporeon as the water type finished lightly watering the aria the bulb had just been planted. the light jingle of jewelry clicking decently as the older pokemon turned her golden eyes onto the two trainers.
"Vapor" She cooed lightly to the boy, nudging his dirty hands with her nose lightly misting them to show she could clean them off.

Rosie, who had been watching Luke plant the bulb was settled on her knees by him, though as they finished up she let her gaze move instead toward the stones that engraved the names of her friend's mother and brother.
"So now, if all goes well, she'll have a beautiful flower growing."  

[Suudonym]

He nodded, raising his eyes from the disheveled earth to Vahy'n, accepting her offer graciously. His attention traveled then to the graves that marked the resting places of half of his family. To the mother that always worried needlessly, he extended thoughts of appreciation for her years of love and care during her life, of explanation of the danger he had become embroiled in overseas, and of assurance that it would all work out okay, though, because he had the support of the most amazing friends he had ever known. To the brother that gave up everything for his sake, he extended thoughts of gratitude for the second chance he had been given and of apology for the night he had nearly given it back.

He was silent for some time as these thoughts turned and tumbled in his head, his expression placid but distant. Eventually that silence was interrupted by the sound of footsteps down the path abruptly coming to a stop.  

[Blood_Goddess]

The silence in the presence of loved ones passed was familiar and calm, Rosie contributed no sounds to it as she sat with polite awareness.
She didn't know these people very well, and could instead only wonder just what kind of wonderful humans they really were, and what they meant to Luke.

A soft smile feathered the corners of her lips as she remembers the things Luke had said about his mother, finding herself wishing she could have met her in person, she sounded like a beautiful soul. And Asch... still so much kindness despite the life he had been forced to lead, still such a good brother in the very end.
I knew you were a good person Asch, I wish we could have seen it sooner.

Silence was broken, bringing the blond to glance around instinctively at the sound of the footsteps.  

[Suudonym]

Rem's ears raised in sudden awareness of the sound, and where the footsteps failed to draw Luke's attention, her sudden movement succeeded. He followed the Jolteon's gaze down the path, finding, of course, that his father was standing there. Luke met the man's gaze only for a moment, wearing an expression of disappointment, before pushing to his feet and offering a hand to help Rosie rise, "Let's go." He wasn't going to subject her - or himself, for that matter - to his father's ravings a second time.

"Wait." The politician apparently wasn't inclined to let his son walk away again. "…Luke, wait."