Orchid Chapter 7 - The Loyal Garden
#7 of Orchid Volume 1
[Darcy's Letter - Pride And Prejudice (2005)] - https://open.spotify.com/track/4dDfNb1bV4luNlLIWOo9SO?si=66fb9ec3c0c6456a
Lazaro
I already knew that he wasn't going to be in the cliffs when I came back to see him. But I still came in the hopes that he would be there. Of course, he wasn't. There was only the stone where he would sit upon and gaze in the distances.
The sky was clear, except for white clouds that only passed through once in a while. I hoped that this meant he was doing well, if I remembered that the sky resonated with his feelings. The thought of him doing well without me hurt so wrongly, but I was happy for him still.
Even in his absence, I wanted to find him. I probably couldn't convince him again to let me persuade his mother to give us a chance. Yet I wanted to try again, even if it's impossible. But even if I couldn't, I wanted to have one last conversation with him. To let him know that I'll continue to love him even as his mother stops us, and that he'll be the only one in my heart is the only thing I could do to be unplagued by regrets.
In the distance, there was the cliff. I suddenly remembered what we did in that place. Our dances in the ending twilight...
Maybe, just maybe, he'd be there.
Orchid
I heard my name ring past the wrought iron gates of the mansion. His voice, as sweet as honey, as refreshing as a swim in the rivers.
I hid the flute that he gave me here, somewhere in the mansion. If mother took away my love's most prized gift, I would be but an empty husk where a soul would be.
I stood up immediately, listened no longer to my head that cried for plenty that I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Instead, I listened to the rapid beats of my heart fluttering at the call of my name.
And... and he was there. Truly there, beyond the metal barrier. He gazed at me with widened eyes past the gates' gaps, slack jawed just as I stood.
"Orchid!" His voice was desperate, a tight low as he pushed the gate open and pulled me to his warm embrace.
That familiar scent of sweat, thicker than it usually was, combined with the cold, cold forest touch of his arms behind my back.
"I thought I was never going to see you again," he said. I buried my face on his neck, and it rumbled with every word he spoke.
"Me too." My voice was a whisper, tired from crying and crying again from the inevitable end of our togetherness. I just wanted to sleep in his embrace instead.
"Orchid, please. Let's talk this out. One last time. I really, really don't want us to be away together like this. Give me a chance to convince your mother."
I agreed. Just a few moments with him. Let me indulge in those moments.
"All right."
I led him to the mansion's balcony, rested my head and arms to the metal railings as Lazaro stood beside me.
"Orchid, do you love me?" I felt his arms wrap around me, his weight falling down upon me gently.
"I always did."
"Do you love me now?"
"I still do."
"But do you want me to be with you?"
"I do," I sighed, seeing birds just fly out in the skies. "And I want us to continue loving each other."
"So why do you want us to stop when you haven't given me a chance?"
I paused...
"Is it just because of your mother? Is there something else that you wanted to tell me?"
I brought my head down low to the floor, felt his warm hands on my stomach. "It is truly because of Mother. She... she is terrifying."
"You know of my stubbornness, Love. You know of what I said already, of what I'd do just for you."
I gave in. He was right. The thought of giving him up entirely sorrowed my heart deep, much more cutting our ties just so he could live.
He did, after all, have a point. If we both had a chance, however slim, in being together, then he would take it. No matter the cost.
And if he would take that chance, then I shall too.
It is time for me to face my mother, once and for all.
"Once Mother comes home, I will talk to her before you. By then, hopefully, she will be convinced."