• Ian grinned happily to himself. He and Rufus were having a good day. The shop had been making some profit with all of the customers that flooded in. Just a moment a go he had sold a pair of Charcoal Cat items to an eager young Gaian and now had to move on to another buyer wanting a bunch a of Block accessories. Maybe tonight, Rufus would stop badgering to get better fish.
    The bell on the store door chimed as a handful of gold coins were dropped into Ian’s hand as he finished serving the shopper. Turning to face the new customer, he said, “Welcome to Barton Boutique, what can I do for you…oh? Hello, Rina.”
    He was about to turn to another customer when he noticed the expression on her face. She was frowning. A frowning Rina was never a good sign. “Are you all right, Rina?” he asked.
    Rina looked up at him, startled. Recovering, she plastered her usual smile on her face, “He he! I’m perfectly okay, kitty! I just came to visit… that’s all…”
    As she trailed off, the corners of her mouth faded back into the melancholy of before. Ian was certain something was wrong. Telling Rufus to man the shop, he led the young girl outside and sat her down on one of the crates that always littered the area of Barton Town. Bending down to Rina’s eye level, he asked once more, “Are you all right, Rina?”
    “I,” she murmured, wondering if she should try to cover it up again before deciding against it. “I think Leon’s mad at me. For about a week now, I’ve been doing my usual visits with him, but he doesn’t say a word. Usually, we start our game of tag as soon as he sees me, but he just ignores everything I say and continues staring straight ahead. What did I do, Ian!? Should I stop visiting? No, I can’t, because Leon’s my friend and oh so much fun to play with! I don’t know what to do!”
    Tears had sprung up into the brunette’s green eyes as her voice rose with every syllable. Ian was at a loss for words. He’d never seen Rina so worked up about anything that wasn’t a trivial matter. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he said in soothing voice, “I don’t think Leon is mad at you, Rina. Maybe something’s happened that he doesn’t want you to know about? What happened the day before he started ignoring you?”
    Wiping away the salty droplets gliding down her face, she stared up into the midday sky as she tried to remember the other day. “Well, I came by as usual with a whole bunch of daisies in my arms. (They’re such wonderfully colorful flowers.) I wanted to make a flower wreath and try to put some color on Leon’s drab ol’ armor. (It was so icky from all those times he’s accidently fallen when he was patrolling.) I was ‘It’ as always, cause Leon started running. He can run really fast even when he’s wearing all that metal. I chased after him, but some of the daisies fell. So, I went to pick them up when…”
    “When?” Ian urged, gently.
    “I was attacked by one of the Animated,” she muttered in a barely audible voice. “A flamingo had wandered over to where I was and started scratching me with its plastic claw-thingies. I wanted to get away, but I couldn’t leave those flowers. I’d picked them especially for decorating Leon’s armor. As soon as it happened, it stopped. Leon had come and destroyed it with one of his rings. He had asked if I was all right, and I had smiled and said that I’d start weaving him his wreath. He was silent as I picked up the rest of the daisies. When I got up, he had already walked back to his post. Instead of working on the wreath, I went back to my shop. The next day, I decided to try again, but he ignored me then and still is now. Is Leon mad at me for not making him a wreath with carnations? I know how much he likes those…”
    “I don’t think he wants flowers, Rina,” Ian said. He knew just what Rina needed to do.

    The next day, Rina once again made her daily visit to Leon. She was carrying a basket with a red cloth hiding its contents. As soon as she saw he armored friend, she ran right up to him. Knowing he would still ignore her, she still began to chatter anyway as she set down her basket. Holding her hands behind her back she, smiled up at Leon’s unmoving face.
    “Isn’t it a beautiful day?” she asked. “The sun is shining. The birds are chirping. And a Gaian is trying to hit her goof ball towards her next flag over there. Hey, look, Leon! She’s coming over here!”
    The Gaian wasn’t just coming towards them. She was running towards them because a few Lawn Gnomes were nipping at her heals. Being a newb, she didn’t stand a chance against the more powerful biters. Leon made ready to attack them as soon as she ran past, but Rina put an arm in front of him to block his way. With a huge smile, she revealed her other hand as the newb took cover. A flash of violet and the silhouette of a moaning feline ghost caused the gnomes to turn tail, waddling back to their fort to safety. Thanking Rina profusely, the Gaian scampered back to the safety of her home in the Towns.
    Leon’s mouth hung open as Rina turned to him. She grinned brightly up at the surprised man as he stuttered, “Wh…where’d you g…get the Scaredy Cat ri…ring?”
    “I win!” Rina shouted with delight.
    “Eh?” Leon uttered, confused.
    “But weren’t we playing a game this whole week?” she asked innocently. “You were trying to see how long it would take me to get you to talk. Right?”
    “What…?”
    “So I made a plan,” Rina continued. “I figured that I had to surprise you into talking. (You know you’re surprised face looks really funny.) This ring that Mr. Kitty gave me sure did the trick. Look Leon, it matches my eyes. And another thing is that I can protect myself from the Animated! Isn’t that great?”
    The words “protect myself” registered into the guard’s head, and he realized what Rina’s sentence was veiling. He had ignored her to stop her from always coming into the dangerous parts of the Village Greens, but now she’d found a way to bypass that plan. Shaken out of his thoughts, he realized that Rina had still been talking and was now uncovering what was in her basket. She faced him, and he saw the wreath of carnations and daisies that rested in the crook of her arms.
    “I know how much you like carnations, but I couldn’t waste those daisies that I’d picked. So I made this. (It’s a lovely mix of both. Isn’t it?)”
    “Rina…”
    “Can you wear it, please? I think it would match nicely with your armor.”
    Instead of trying to reply, the corners of Leon’s mouth turned up slightly as he bent down to receive Rina’s gift. At this, the girl’s smile grew wider, and she gingerly placed the wreath on his head.
    From afar and hiding behind a bush, Ian and Rufus sat side by side as they peaked through the foliage at the pair. A smile graced the half-blooded man as he watched. Rufus looked up at his friend in confusion.
    “Ian, what are they doing?”
    “Making amends,” he replied simply. They continued to watch as Rina exuberantly took more flower wreaths out of her basket and threw them onto Leon’s armor again and again and again…
    The End