I was SO convinced I could do a serious fanfic for once in my life, but then I dug up this half-finished one-shot from God-knows-when and decided to finish it instead. It's like angst…gone horribly, horribly wrong. (I.E.: the romance, the flashbacks every four seconds, the emo-goodness.) Enjoy…or just get depressed.

Popuri: Pink, Flowery Angst

Popuri sighed as she walked through the streets of Flowerbud Village. It seemed like only yesterday that Jack had first moved to this remote island. Yet he still didn't realize how much she cared for him.

"R-really?" a somewhat younger Popuri asked her mother. She was jumping up and down in excitement, causing her fluffy pink hair to bounce as well. "Why would Jack be coming here?"

"To go visit his half-dead grandfather, Popuri," her mother reminded her, still in a caring tone. Her red eyes, similar to her daughter's, showed that she was horrified by her daughter's ignorant question.

The girl seemed completely unaffected by the elderly farmer's terminal illness. "I can't wait to see him again!"

After landing on the lawn of the farm after practically flying there, she saw the boy she was looking for. Of course, he was running out of the shack in tears.

"Jack?" she asked. "It's me, Popur--"

Her cheerful cry was interrupted when Jack pushed her away. She stared towards the path, watching him run further and further away while sobbing.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Wow…" she muttered. "Was I really that oblivious?" Should the idea that she may have matured since then enter your mind, keep in mind that she still hadn't figured out that pink was not a frequently occurring natural hair color.

Popuri continued to walk through the village, not even remotely paying attention to where she was going. All the doors seemed to be locked, and no one was visible—most likely hiding.

However, this couldn't save her from remembering painful events of the past. Events that could be considered angst-filled versions of dreams gone horribly, horribly wrong.

It was the day of the Sowing Festival. The population of the village had gathered, all clutching multi-colored balloons. It was a rather new festival; it was only five years ago that the mayor grew tired of Popuri going "OHMYGODTHISISTHECOOLESTIDEA" nonstop and held the festival. But this time, people had accepted the crazy idea and stopped drinking so heavily.

The best part was that Jack had decided to come. Well, it was either that or working on the farm, and he decided to watch people throw seeds out of giant balloons. Although the elderly potion maker was riding in the balloon as king, she was still hoping that she would be riding too.

"Ladies and gentleman, we present to you, the balloon!" Thomas exclaimed as if the festival was his brilliant idea, hiding his true apathy. "Since Jack is new to here, and since many of you didn't bother coming here in the past, let me explain!

"You see, everyone has a balloon full of random flower seeds. We will then proceed to let go of them. You see, balloons float! Eventually, an aircraft will eventually bust the balloons into several pieces, scattering seeds across the lands. If that's not enough, two lucky people will get to throw things off a giant hot air balloon, too." He took a deep breath after the explanation.

"Remember, to the king and the lucky accomplice he chooses, please don't aim the seeds at some of the underdeveloped island countries near us. The flower seeds are poisonous. Sure it was funny at first…"

Actually, no one found it funny at all. Everyone began to toss shoes at Thomas with whatever hand they weren't holding balloons with at his horrible idea of humor, which nearly wiped Minellia off the face of the Earth.

"Augh, dammit! Okay, okay, let's just get on with it! Choose someone, old dude!"

"I have a name y'know." The good people at Marvelous Interactive say differently, but that's an insignificant detail. The potion shop owner squinted as he tried to identify the people in the crowd. "Oh, how 'bout Stu! He's my favorite grandson!"

"Well, placing a small child in an aircraft that's going thousands of feet above the ground seems dangerous, but what the heck," reasoned the mayor. You only live once!"

Someone in the festival would learn that very, very soon.

It was such a painful memory for her, but Popuri couldn't stop thinking of it. She ran into the corner of the bar and started sobbing. Liquid angst poured out her red, creepy eyes.

"Go! Fly off into the sky!"

With Thomas's enthusiastic cry, the flames were activated, launching the balloons toward the heavens. The crowds, now witnessing the event without having three beers first, were astounded, as they had never seen anything fly before.

They were about to see something else fly through the air, albeit downward at a dangerous rate.

"Look, grandpa!" Stu said, sitting on the edge of the basket. "This is fun!"

The nearly blind grandfather saw nothing wrong with this. "Throw some seeds down there, boy!"

The potion shop owner demonstrated by tossing a handful into the air. Of course, gravity accelerated them at roughly 32 feet per second per second, turning them into deadly killing machines by the time they hit land (or people).

Stu followed his example and tossed some. However, he used so much force that his weak body was hurled along with the plant seeds.

The patrons of the Sowing Festival had changed their minds about the day being a stupid idea.

And then Stu fell on top of Elli's feeble old grandma.

Popuri had to run away from the village. They would no longer accept…er, barely tolerate her anymore after her brainchild festival resulted in a fatality.

In the corner of her eye, she noticed a large boat docked near the beach. Karen and Cliff were both boarding it, Karen because her dad beat her and Cliff because no one liked him and he wanted to die. But those are different angst tales altogether.

The pink haired girl hopped on, despite not knowing where it was going. It was an escape from her old life, and that was good enough. Even if it was headed toward "The Island of Flesh-Eating Insects", as it was cheerfully referred to (that's one of the island's better qualities).

But even in the bleak world (even though it's named Flowerbud Village), there is some hope. Popuri would break free from this horrible place and into a brand new world, thanks to this boat. She and the two others could be happy somewhere else, away from the tragedies of their old home.

And then the potion maker fell from the sky and killed her.