Thanks for the reviews, peeps. Alright, last chapter...

Enjoy.

Midori Fujiwara

Two died.

I had one left. And even that one didn't look too good.

I looked over all the dead flowers and petals, those that I hadn't thrown away since the day before.

They gave off a sickly sweet smell.

He'd love only me until they were dead, apparently.

I sighed deeply, and felt myself lean my back against the wall. My tailbone hit the floor again. I didn't feel it, just like all the other times when I had been driven awake in the nightmares.

I haven't had a good sleep in a long while.

I was tired, and I was alone.

He was my outlet, I realized.

I lost him.

I had never experienced any lack of him—we were practically entwined our entire lives—and I would have never imagined it so painful.

It was ridiculous, this whole rose thing. This couldn't have been correlated with the roses.

A petal fell onto the floor, landing next to my foot.

My eyes glazed over.

I called in sick later.

-XIII-

One rose. One rose….one….just one...

I was jerked awake by a phone ring, realizing I had collapsed on the floor.

I hesitated before picking up.

There was silence on both sides of the line for the longest time I could have imagined, but I knew from this that he had called.

After seconds, minutes, hours, I don't know—he spoke.

"You know, Lieutenant, you can tell me anything. I don't really want to talk. I just want to hear what you have to say."

I froze, not understanding.

He continued, "I don't care if you're ignoring me, I still want—"

"Your flowers are dying," I said.

"…is that what got you all depressed?"

I said nothing.

There was some silence before he continued.

"Lieutenant, one of them is fake."

I froze.

I started to reach for the vase.

"I thought you of all people would have noticed that," he said.

I touched the last rose. I felt the plastic stem, the petals that wouldn't come off.

Tears made their way out of my eyes.

"Lieutenant?"

He must have heard me crying.

"Are you okay, Lieutenant?"

I continued to cry.

"Lieutenant?...Lieutenant?...Lieutenant, I'm coming over there right now if you're not answering."

I lay the receiver on the table, dropping onto the ground again.

I laughed as I cried, throwing the rose off to the side.

I laughed for the longest time, something I hadn't been able to do in the longest time.

Quick end. :)

Any final thoughts?

Midori Fujiwara