Mute By Choice: The Silent Wolf

Interlude 2 - A Dahlia Tradition

November 7, 1980

"Purple dahlias? Really, James?" a woman with long dark hair and purple eyes uttered, chuckling softly under her breath.

From a short distance, she sat with two other people, by a see-through table, watching her daughter poke— play with her new ally on a large patch of pretty purple flowers.

"Don't look at me, that was all my boy."

"Right, because a barely half-year-old babe would know how to plant a garden."

The pretty redheaded woman sitting between her and the man she spoke with giggled softly, sipping at her little cup with her pinky raised ever so slightly.

"He's not lying, though, Ella. James showed him that picture you'd sent us of her while we were looking through that flower catalogue my mum had sent me for flower gardens, and he instantly pointed at the purple dahlia."

"That's my boy, a hopeless romantic," the man uttered proudly.

"Just like his father," another voice suddenly spoke up, instantly catching Ella's little girl's attention.

She turned slightly in search for the owner of the voice and let out a giggle, clapping her hands as she rejoiced upon seeing the familiar woman with the pretty golden eyes making her way over to her. The woman wasn't often around, but Ella's little flower really loved it when she was. She was a lot like her mother; kind, caring, warm and gentle, and so much fun to have around.

"And I'm not the least bit ashamed of it."

The adults shared a laugh when she was suddenly distracted by her ally poking at her cheek with a finger nearly as chubby as her own, if not a little more; they must feed him a lot. She groaned softly before turning her attention to him, glaring at the attention-seeker.

"Wha?" she complained.

"Dah!"

She frowned. Was he trying to say her name? That's not how we say it! Then again, she wasn't one to talk; even she couldn't pronounce it.

"Dah!"

"No," she said, copying the flat tone she'd often hear her mother use with her father.

"Dah!"

"No."

His large, bright green eyes widened and suddenly became watery.

"Now, now, parvus dahliae, none of that."

The girl's frown disappeared almost instantly as her face lit up with the brightest smile, another soft giggle gurgling from the back of her throat. The teary-eyed boy glanced up at her, utterly lost it seems, his previous burst of anxiety at the girl's snap swiftly melting away as those comforting golden eyes stared kindly down at him.

"Hello, there," she greeted him brightly, wiping a smudge of chocolate from his cheek with her thumb.

The little boy gurgled a little giggle at the tickling sensing her brush of a touch had brought him.

"Well, aren't you a cute one, parvus prasinus," she chuckled.

The boy frowned suddenly, shaking his head. "Haw!"

She gave him a teasing grin. "Really?" He nodded fervently, his attention averting only slightly when his fellow toddler humphed in irritation, displeased that he had taken the woman's attention from her. "I don't know, you look more like a parvus prasinus."

The little boy had no idea what those words meant. Then again, he barely knew what anything meant; he was still learning.

"Why do you insist on talking to them as though they understand everything," the boy's mother called out to her.

"You mustn't underestimate children, Lily," the woman replied, amusement twinkling in her golden eyes as she watched the little green-eyed boy clumsily pluck a purple dahlia from the ground and give it to his companion. "Just because they can't speak yet, does not mean they don't understand."

His mother had once said that this particular flower represented perfection in the eyes of the one who gifted it to a certain someone. Now, he didn't know what half, if not what any of those words meant, but when he gazed at his purple-eyed companion, he felt it right to gift it to her, even if she would most likely forget about it five seconds later and throw it away.

"Would you look at this," the woman chuckled once more.

As the women smiled on at the adorable exchange, the man hollered behind them in utter disbelief; "My son's got himself a soulmate!! How did he even do that?! It took me seven years!!"

Ella smiled at them all, fondly. "Some people are just meant to be."

The girl had glanced over at them, curious. Mate...

Her gaze averted back to the boy sitting beside her, tugging at her curls, and stared at him wonderingly, the boy instantly looking back up at her when he felt her gaze upon him, both feeling a simultaneous strange warmth flooding through them.

A glow.

Everything seemed to swirl, unhinge and reform inside and around them as they mutely gazed into each others' eyes, mouth agape, awed by the sudden rush of feelings they could not comprehend, but one word came to mind, seeming to define the very thing.

Mate...

... whatever that was.