Honeycomb Hearts

Budding Love

While Blake and Yang talked, Ruby was elsewhere, banging her head against a tree. The day had gone great, Yang had loved it, but she still hadn't found Yang a present! Yang obviously noticed, didn't she? Her own sister, too lame to get her a present! Ruby groaned and continued wading through the forest. Walking aimlessly through the trees usually helped her think, but her mind was still clouded.

"Pull it together," Ruby said to herself, "Think, Ruby! What will Yang still like after using it five hundred times? And what can you get tonight? Can you just order something and tell her, 'Oh, it's coming, just lost in shipping!'? No! She always sees through your lies!" She groaned again and laid her back against a tree. She began to wonder if she even knew where she was. The sun was setting, so she would hopefully see the lights from the town when she backtracked through the forest, but even that she began to lose hope in. All seemed lost.

"Psst!"

Ruby's eyes flew open and she swatted at her ear. Annoying bugs, always out this time of year. She'd definitely wake up tomorrow absolutely covered in mosquito bites.

"Hey!"

Ruby turned – did she just hear someone? It sounded like Penny... why was Penny all the way out here? Was she really gone that long that someone had come looking for her?

"Over here!"

Ruby turned around – that was definitely not Penny, nor a voice she knew. Against her better judgement, she started to wade through the forest towards the voice. She knew this was how people died in horror movies. An innocent girl wanders off from a party and gets kidnapped in the woods by an evil spirit, which possesses her and wreaks havoc on the party. However, instead of a dark spirit, Ruby found herself coming across a bright clearing.

"Closer!"

Ruby heard the voice again. It didn't sound like it was behind her this time, nor in front of her – it sounded like someone was speaking inside of her head. She shook off the thought and broke into the clearing. A porcelain pot sat in the very center, reflecting the moonlight, carrying a bouquet of beautiful blue flowers. Ruby picked up the pot carefully, expecting full well that a ghost was to come flying into her mouth from the flowers, but nothing happened. The flowers were just that: flowers. Beautiful ones too. An idea immediately popped into Ruby's head.

"I can give this to Yang!" Ruby shouted – she turned tail and began to run back to the town.

When she arrived, the party was dying down, and the sun was waving goodbye over the horizon. She broke into the town square and called out to Yang, waving her arm to grab more attention. Only when she reached Yang did she stop to breathe.

"What's up, sis?" Yang asked.

"I... got... your present!" Ruby said. "Happy birthday!" She handed the pot of flowers to Yang, whose eyes went wide.

"These are beautiful! Where did you find these?" Yang asked, "I've never seen flowers like this before!"

"She must have found them in the woods." Kali said. She walked up and eyed the flowers closely, taking a look under the petals. Kali gasped. "Ruby..."

"Yeah?" Ruby asked.

"You did find these in the woods, right?" Kali asked. Her eyes did not waver from under the flowers.

"Yeah... was I not supposed to take them?" Uh oh. This was a haunted flowerpot. A seal to a demon so dastardly it would destroy the world."

"These are amavissets, Ruby. There's a legend that says they only grow around here, and if they're given as a gift, the recipient will have great luck in love for the next year." Kali gently lifted the petals on one of the flowers. "See how there are little hearts at the very end of the stem?"

Yang and Ruby looked closer – just where the stem ended and the flower's petals began, there were small, lime-colored hearts encircling the stem. If Kali hadn't pointed them out, Yang never would have noticed them underneath the dark blue petals.

"Aww, there's little hearts!" Ruby said.

"Did you not see the hearts beforehand, Ruby?" Kali asked, "I imagined that you had known the implications of this gift before you gave it to your sister."

"Oh... uh..." Ruby's mind began to race. She definitely couldn't just say that she heard a random voice in the woods, could she? No, they'd think she was insane! Then again, if these flowers were something Kali knew about, then maybe she would understand the voice as well? Did Ruby even hear a voice? The world began to spin, the streetlights coalescing into a heart-shaped glow.

"It doesn't matter if she knew." Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder, saving Ruby from her racing train of thought. "It's still a beautiful gift." She hugged Ruby tight and held the vase close. The two said their goodbyes to Kali and some other partygoers before they started to take their leave.

"Yang!"

Just before they left the town square, Ghira called out to them. Yang motioned that Ruby could head home, seeing the tiredness in her eyes. The sugar had finally worn off. Ruby turned and walked into the forest while Yang went towards Ghira.

"Hey, Mr. Belladonna. What's up?"

"I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday one last time before the night ended." Ghira looked down. "Oh, and what beautiful flowers you've gotten! Were they a gift?"

"Yeah, Ruby gave them to me. They're amavissets, according to your wife."

"Amavissets?" Ghira's eyes narrowed. He could definitely see the lime hearts beneath the petals. Was Yang truly to be married within the year, then? "Well, what a beautiful gift to have gotten! I assume Kali told you their importance?"

"Yeah, she said I'd have good luck in love for the next year. I'm sure it's just a folk tale or something, but it'd be nice if it does work out."

If it works out? Ghira's eyes narrowed even further. So Yang was already interested in someone before even receiving the amavissets. He thought back to the events earlier in the day. Was it somebody in the town? Yang had talked to most everybody in the party, but she did sneak away for a bit around the time his daughter had also gone missing. And Blake went nights without sleep planning the party for Yang, according to Kali...

"You know, Yang, Blake put a lot of work into putting this party together for you."

Yang tilted her head. "Huh? She said you did all this."

"Oh, no. I was on a business trip up until this morning. I just heard about the plans when I got home, and Blake put me to work hanging up banners and carrying tables. I'd never seen her with such an aura of leadership about her." Ghira chuckled and placed his hand on Yang's shoulder. "It was thanks to her that you had such a good time today."

Yang's face went hot. Blake put it all together? Then why did she say that her dad orchestrated it? Was she trying to hide how much she really cared? Or did she just not want to be embarrassed? Would she even have been embarrassed?

"T-Thanks, Mr. Belladonna. I'll be sure to thank Blake next time I see her as well."

"No problem. Oh, and one more thing..." Ghira leaned down and whispered something into Yang's ear. Her eyes went wide, and her blush was revealed by the moonlight. She stammered another thanks before running off back home, her mind racing faster than her feet.