Cautiously, afraid it might come apart in his fingers, Malin reached out and delicately took the flower by the stem. He gently ran a finger along the petal, eyes sparkling.
So this is...life. This is what her power can do. Before, I really didn't have a chance to admire it because we were in so much pain, but...
Ah...my back hurts so bad...
In the excitement, he'd almost forgotten about the severe injuries to his back and shoulder from the squirrels and Shoe's relentless attacks. Still...Cherry Blossom wouldn't protect them forever and they needed to quickly get Life to the temple. He could wait if it meant she'd be safe. Malin was sure he'd die before he ever let Life fall again. It wasn't a stretch to say she was the most important person in his life--she has made things like this flower, after all, and without her the world would never again see such gorgeous displays of nature. So much potential and hope and beauty was contained in just one tiny flower and now, Malin held all of that in his hand.
There it was--everything he had worked so hard for. Everything he had given his whole life to find and protect was sitting right there in front of him in the body of a young child and one small flower. Things were finally going to change. The world was finally going to be full again--full of life.
Ah...
Malin reached up to wipe his eyes, sniffling.
I'm crying.
"Sorry," he muttered, blushing. "I-I don't usually cry, I swear. It's not the pain or anything, I actually kinda forgot about that. It's just...it's just that you're back. ...You're really back. I've waited so long just to see something like this...something this beautiful, this full of hope and potential and...and this world has been so dead for so long. I...I never even knew what 'beauty' was until I met you."
Quietly, the doctor reached out to touch the flower. Malin offered it to him and the doctor took it. The light in his eyes returned at once--Malin wondered if this man had ever seen a flower either.
How many of them had lost this?
"We...we lost beauty," Malin continued. "No, it was stolen from us. Hope, trust, love, magic...all these things I associated with life and with humans for so long, all these things I read about in storybooks and saw in art and longed for so desperately, all of it...it's here. It's here with you, Life. Right here in front of me for the first time...well, ever! And I guess now that I'm...I'm truly happy, I'm realizing that I've never been happy before. ...Until now. Until you."
She's here. She's really here. She's really right here, and I...I'd give my life to keep her safe.
"Oh boo, just f*ck 'er already."
Malin screeched, bright red. "What are you talking about?!"
Bennie shrugged. "Please. 'I never knew what beauty was until I met you!' 'The magic is here with you, Life!' 'I've never been happy until you!' You're so obviously crushing on her, just stick your d*ck in it so we can move along."
Malin spluttered, snatching back the flower from the doctor. Startled, the doctor returned to his work. "Gross, Aunt Bennie! I meant it platonically, stupid!"
"Honey, listen. There is nothing at all platonic about literally anything you just said. You're horny for your grandma. It's fine, we all get like that sometimes. I mean, look at your parents, amirite?"
"It's stuff like that that's the exact reason I hate my stupid parents! S-stop being disgusting!"
And why is my heart racing?! Calm down, stupid, Aunt Bennie's just being a stupid loser and you definitely don't see Life like that at all! You just met her like, two hours ago! Who cares if she's all you ever think about and you'd give your life for her and you used to lay awake at night thinking about what you would do if you ever met her and she smells like roses even if I don't even know what roses smell like and oh my gosh, is Aunt Bennie right?! Am I crushing on my own grandmother?! Gosh, I knew this stupid family's stupid sex genes were going to catch on some day!
No! That's enough! Absolutely not! You are an adult and you respect her as a role model and that is as far as it goes!
Huffing, Malin plopped down on the floor, keeping his eyes locked on the flower. "W-whatever, just hurry up and fix her stupid wounds so we can go!"
"Atmosphere's nice for a good ol' f*ckin'."
"Aunt Bennie!"
"I'm just sayin', kid, if you were gonna fulfill your crazy wet dreams now would be a good time to do it. Ain't like this is my first time seeing that kind of thing. Heck, I might join you, she's cute."
"She's in the body of a FREAKING TWELVE-YEAR-OLD!"
"Ouch, yikes, you're more like your dad than we thought, huh?"
"Go home."