She stood in front of that ivy-covered house separated from the street by a black ironwork fence. It was a plain rectangle covered in more greenery as it was the height of spring. The most eye-catching aspect of the home was the bright white windows and intricately carved wooden door that peaked through the vines. The roof was flat and only faintly shaped. A plain piece of real estate that didn't bother to stand out amongst its neighbors. Discreet and comforting.

A woman stood outside the home. She dressed in expensive jewelry though her outfit was simple and relaxed. The jewelry in question was minimalistic in design which allowed her beloved engagement ring to stand out, as if out of place. Except, she wore it with confidence and without regard for those who thought it belonged to someone else. Someone who would dress to impress. No, this was a woman who would dress to please only herself.

The woman approached her. The engagement ring adorned hand took hold of her small face. She pointed it up to fully regard her like a horse breeder would a prized mare. She muttered something about her looks, a hint of disapproval in her eyes. This caused the mare's eyes to blaze as she pushed away from the breeder's touch. This caused the disapproval to intermix with expectation.

"My name is Camellia and by the end of the year you will be my new granddaughter," she announced in a steely voice. "I don't expect much from a child that has no connection to me. How far will your hubris take you, Amaryllis?"

----

Somewhere over the Northern Pacific Ocean. 2007

Amaryllis awoke with a sharp breath as she had awakened from a nightmare. The lighting in the jet was dark except for a lone light in the corner of her blurry eyes. She turned to look at it and focused her tired brain on identifying the cause of the light. She pushed her body to a sitting position which caused the sleeping body of Mimosa to shift uncomfortably as she sought a new position to sleep in.

She watched her sister squirm like a newborn for a few moments before her body relaxed back into the seat. Amaryllis had an amused smile on her face as she observed it. It reminded her of an old memory. A memory of something that was yet to happen.

A painful sensation lanced through her chest as she recalled another version of her sleeping sister. Amaryllis had been a self-centered child and it had turned worse as the years progressed. Mimosa was very giving to those around her and all she wanted in return was a little appreciation and respect. Instead, Amaryllis had scorned her in front of others and belittled her for any slight mistake.

"This is how many times you've broken my heart."

Mimosa had told her that on her seventh birthday. A large heart-shaped card filled with torn heart stickers.

"It's okay because we're sisters. Sisters don't get along much, so it's okay."

The first time she spotted those heart stickers had been after she kicked Mimosa out of her room. The girl had been so afraid because of a nightmare that she slept in the hallway outside of her room. Amaryllis had fallen over the sleeping form of her sister and had yelled and kicked her.

She had been a bitch. Tears sprang to her eyes as a wave of self-hatred overwhelmed her six-year-old body.

"Are you okay, Ren?" A faint voice called from her left. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Amaryllis turned to the source of the voice and met the eyes of Remi. He looked with a mixture of discomfort and concern. Was he uncomfortable with her crying or the fact that she might have had a nightmare? She rubbed her eyes and tried to hide her tears.

"Nothing, Mr Remi," she called with a cheerful tone though her voice came out in a croak. She felt her frustration mount as her voice choked. There was nothing for her to cry about. Nothing that bore repeating, at least.

Remi heaved a deep breath as he gestured for her to come over. She blinked her eyes at him in confusion. He wanted her to come over to him. He was even gesturing towards the empty spot next to him as her mother slept across from him.

Remi had only ever offered her a look of concern before ignoring her outbursts and eventually her in general. What was different this time?

Amaryllis couldn't just ignore him or leave the situation. She was stuck on a private jet with only herself and them. There were no private areas on the jet except for the bathroom and it was too immature of her to hole herself up there for several hours. She pursed her lips which caused her hesitation to appear more like unwillingness on her small face.

She dragged herself from her seat and sat next to him. She kept her gaze firmly fixated on the pattern on her jean skirt. There was a long moment of silence as she felt Remi's gaze fixated on the top of her bowed head.

"Ren, can we talk?" He asked in a pleasant tone. She dared to glance up at him. He didn't look as uncomfortable as he did early and nothing in his posture suggested he was lying. Did he just want to talk?

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Okay," she responded and turned her body to face him. Amaryllis had a feeling she resembled an attentive student to her least favorite teacher. Remi's expression faltered as she continued to look up at him. He was the one who wanted them to talk, so he should talk.

He cleared his throat as he finally clued in to her silent order. "I saw that something upset you and I wanted to talk about it."

Amaryllis felt shame blossom in her chest. She had nothing to be upset about. At least nothing that deserved him going to such lengths to make her feel better. "Nothing." It truly was compared to other things she could reasonably be upset about.

Remi let out another sigh as he looked at her. The look in his eyes betrayed his exasperation at her answers. "I would listen. Sometimes that's enough," he repeated and stressed the simplicity of his statement to her. Like someone who spoke slower because they thought the other party didn't understand.

She gave him an annoyed look and felt her earlier shame shift to anger. She didn't want to explain herself because there was nothing for her to explain. Nothing that he could understand. She died at the age of sixty and woke up at the age of six. Decades filled with regrets and realizations that she did nothing to act upon. How could she explain that to him, to anyone?

"And what? It doesn't change anything!" She snapped and crossed her small arms. "You would listen and fix nothing!"

He blew out another breath. "Fine, you don't have to talk." He dragged his laptop across the table in front of him towards her. "I want to tell you something."

She slowly uncrossed her arms as she peeked at his laptop screen. It was a brilliant flower arrangement that had only two colors white and pink and one flower, the camellia. It reminded her of something she saw in her past life. Amaryllis couldn't remember where she had seen it, but it brought a sense of nostalgia and sweetness to her heart.

The disgruntled expression on her face softened as she looked at the flowers. It seemed a bit strange for a man like Remi to keep a picture of a flower arrangement as his wallpaper. In her memory, Remi was a man who was good at two things. Accomplishing his goals and putting her in her place. To be frank, he was a cold snake towards those he didn't like.

A cold snake didn't keep images of a flower bouquet without a good reason. "Why these?"

Remi rested an arm on the table in front of him as he looked at her from the side. "What flower are these?"

She sent him an annoyed expression as he promptly ignored her. He was the one who wanted to talk, not her. Amaryllis heaved a loud breath and observed the flowers like she was trying to figure it out. She waited for a few pauses before she turned to him with an innocent flower. "These are known as the camellia, tsubaki, chahua, alkamilia, or sejenis bunga."

Remi stared at her with a blank expression though his brows twitched. He had requested a rather simple question and had expected an equally simple answer. It bothered him that she surprised him when he considered the men he had watched over his Tsubaki and by extension her as well. There had been no mention of her skills in English nor her knowledge of multiple languages. He only recognized three of the five she gave and that was enough to upset his perspective of her.

She looked at him with a smug smile as the glint in her eyes taunted him. I answered your question, so start talking mister.

He cleared his throat, "These are the flowers that represent both my mother and yours. The two most important women I've met."

"Your mom?" she answered promptly.

"Yes, my mother. She doesn't like you and she hasn't even met you yet. The only reason she likes your mother is that she is Mimosa's mother. There is no reason for her to like you because you aren't related to me," he explained in a grave tone.

Amaryllis felt her heart shake at those words. She had expected something like that considering the first time around she met the woman, but the knowledge that she only tolerated her mother because of circumstance surprised her. It had always seemed like her mother and Camellia stood firmly behind Mimosa while she tried to tear them all down.

However, it wasn't like her mother to expose her emotions in public. There would have never been a moment for her mother to confide in her as she was determined to punish everyone for her issues.

"Then let me go home," she determined as she stared up at him. "If she hates me, let me go home!"

Amaryllis would never fight a losing battle. She had hoped to change her relationship with Camellia and Obelix Fontaine, but she had been at a disadvantage no matter what she would do.

"I won't and neither will your mother," Remi responded which caused her to clench her hands.

"Why?! She hates me! I bet you hate me too!" She hissed in as loud a voice as the sleeping jet could handle. There was nothing that could be accomplished by scaling mountains without the right equipment. "Let me go home after you take my mother away!"

Remi looked at her trembling body. She was such an idiot, letting the enemy see her weak. He took a sharp breath and she flinched expecting him to scold her.

"I won't because I want you to be with Mimosa and your mother. I want my daughter to have a sister and my wife to have her children," he expressed and laid a hand on her head. "So, I'm here for you, Ren."

Amaryllis felt like someone struck her with lightning. He wanted her to be with them. Had he always wanted her to be with them?

She looked at him with a lump in her throat and her entire body trembled with suppressed tears. "Even if I hate you, hate mom, hate Mimosa?"

"Even more so," he smoothed down her hair and tried to calm the trembles in her limbs, "because I need you to know. I care about you as I care about my daughter even if you hate all of us."

It was that easy. He made everything so easy with just those words. Remi was her spotter as she scaled the mountain. He was watching her back even if she didn't want him to. He was just like Mimosa. Almost too generous for his good because all he asked in return is a little appreciation, a little respect. The kind of person who lets people have a mile for an inch as long as he gave it.

"You're stupid," she declared as the tears slip down her cheeks.

Remi had a dumbstruck expression on his face as she announced his stupidity to him. "Now..."

"But you can care about me," she finished like a queen to her subject.

He let out a bark of laughter as he observed her confident expression. "As long as you know then I suppose I can be stupid."

Amaryllis felt a bond between them for the first time in her entire life. It was a tender feeling that didn't overcome her loneliness for her real father, but it made things a little less daunting.