Roses
Ace likes roses.
They're all so beautiful yet dangerous. So elegant yet there is a hint of innocence. They bloom and attract others, by scent and sight alone.
But seeing a flower you love leave your throat is something that will leave you in fear.
Ace stares at the red petals on her hand. She reaches out a finger to touch them.
It's real.
She holds onto her breath, thousands of thoughts running through her mind. Then tears starts to fall and she starts sobbing.
Surrounding her are rose petals, one's that are red as rubies.
A sign of her unrequited love.
~~~
Ace is no idiot.
She knows that she's sick. And that this is a serious disease. Just the thought of it makes her guts twist and turn. If she ate something earlier, she would have definitely throw it up right now.
Hanahaki Disease.
A disease that makes someone throw up flowers that grows in their lungs. All out of unrequited love.
And Ace knows that there are only two endings for one carrying this disease.
One, be dead and buried six feet underground.
Two, be alive yet have your emotions be taken away.
She blinks the tears away knowing how her time is running faster than anyone. She'll die either way.
(There is another ending- the happy ending. One where your love is reciprocated and the flowers leave you.
But Ace knows it's impossible. That it can never happen to her.
Because it's him.
Because it's her.
She tries very hard not to cry one more time.)
~~~
Yuu was the first one to find out.
(Of course- OF COURSE! That one person who is too kind and worry to much have to be the one to find out about it. How cruel... What a cruel joke)
They stared at her, their yellow eyes carrying varying emotions. After a heartbeat, they rushed over to her side. Patting her back as she coughs up more petals, more roses, more red tainting the cream colored floor.
Once done, they helped her throw it away. She stayed silent the entire time even when they're far away from the place, even when they're inside Ramshackle dorm.
They gave her a cup of water before sitting down. Then they started questioning her. About what happened. About what is wrong.
She didn't want to tell them but when she saw the worry and desperation in their eyes, she did.
She told them about her disease. What it is exactly and how it affects her. All the details. And they listened. Ace felt a weight being lifted when she told them about it.
The pressure was lifted but the petals stayed.
And Ace is sure that it will always stay like that.
~~~
It's like fate is playing a trick on her.
All of her close friends, one by one, found out about her disease. Deuce, Epel, Jack, and Sebek.
Their reaction varies. Some panicked, some were aggressively worried then there were some who were absolutely calm and understanding.
But the final question was the same no matter who found out about it.
" Who is it?"
Ace never had the courage to tell them. And they left it at that.
~~~
It's getting worse.
Ace is no longer coughing up petals but roses in full bloom.
And her friends knows.
Deuce and Yuu cover up for her when she needs to cough it out during classes. Jack and Sebek carry her whenever she feels too weak to move. Epel reserves a table hidden far away from the crowd. They all make sure that no one knows or grow suspicious.
She feels guilty, burdening them with a secret so dire. However she is thankful. Though she can never say that for all that leaves her lips are roses.
~~~
It's the weekend and all she does is lay down on her bed. She feels absolutely sick today.
" Ace!" Riddle enters her room about to scold her for abandoning her duties. It all dies in his throat when he sees what a mess her room had become.
The curtains are not letting a single sunlight enter. Clothes are scattered and her items are all in the wrong places.
Then there is her, bundled up by blankets.
"Ace?" He approaches her bed and she raises her head. " Are you sick?" It takes her awhile before she nods.
" Fever?" A shake of the head.
"Stomach ache?" Another no.
" Can you move?" She seems to hesitate before slowly shaking her head.
Riddle sighs and runs a hand through his hair. " Alright. You're excused for today. I'll ask Trey to make you some light soup and Cater to bring you some medicine just in case."
He then slowly pats her head, a gentle smile on his face. Ace sucks a deep breath, it's beautiful. Then she feels her heart ache and lungs burn.
" Take care and get well." He leaves and closes the door.
The moment Riddle walked out, Ace immediately reaches for the trash bin beside her bed.
She coughs and heaves. Petal after petal and rose after rose. She coughs. She gags. She even chokes before coughing up so badly again.
It never seems to stop.
And it hurts.
The flowers are pushing through her throat. Wanting to leave her lips, they scratch her insides. And her lungs cannot breath. It burns and gets scorched. It can never hold such objects inside. A human body shouldn't even have flowers inside.
She throws it all up but it never seems to end. She can feel her throat getting marks. The final rose finally leaves her lips and she heaves. Taking in deep breaths, she blinks the unshed tears away.
Blood.
There's blood.
Time seems to still before everything went downhill.
She screams and starts tugging on her hair. She trashes around as tears flood her eyes and start streaming down. She scratches everything she can reach. Her arms, her chest, her stomach and her neck.
Eventually, her aggression seizes and all that's left is a small weeping girl curled up into a ball. She's no longer the strong and brave Ace but the young girl named Alice.
' I'm dying.'
The room seems to get colder and it's getting hard to breath.
' I'm really dying.'
And Alice have never felt so scared and hopeless.
~~~
(When Trey and Cater entered her room, it looks like her fit didn't even happen. But if they noticed her puffy eyes and disheveled appearance then they didn't mention it.)
(Alice silently hoped that they did)
~~~
Alice, besides everyone's assumptions, does dream of a happy ending. Of a love so endearing. Of kisses and smiles that seems to speak enough. Of thousands of stars that bless a couple's night and of vows said under the moonlight.
She also dreams of a death so painless. A death where she feels no regret and have lived her life to her best. Of a death at the end of her lifespan surrounded by her love ones. Her friends, her family and her husband.
It's quite cruel how fate decided to take all those possibilities from her just for falling in love with someone unreachable.
And using her beloved roses as a symbol of her downfall.
~~~
She collapses on the garden, under a starry night. Her breathing getting shallow as no oxygen fills her lungs. Only roses and thorns exist.
She continues to cough up roses even when it feels like there is nothing left. 'How ironic.' Alice thinks, 'to die by roses in a garden of roses.' She tries to laugh but nothing passes her lips but red petals, red roses and red blood.
She looks at her final rose. The one that shines so much like rubies, one so covered in red. She reaches for it with the little strength she have left.
' This one...'
'Is for him...'
And everything went black.
~~~
( "Ace!")
( "Ace!!")
( "Alice!!!")
~~~
Ruby eyes seems to flutter open.
Ace wakes up to unfamiliar yet familiar scenery.
The smell of freshly picked flowers.
The slightest bitter taste in her tongue.
To the warmth of a hand.
To silent sobbings near her.
And to see a man she never expects to see.
" Ri-"
" You idiOT!!" Riddle screams before choking as tears flow down his face. His trembling hands tightly grasping hers.
" Why... Why didn't you tell anyone!!" He sobs. " Why didn't you tell me?" He whispers and she can't seem to use her voice.
Riddle puts her hand near his face. " You could have died... You almost did..." And Ace can feel the piercing guilt come through. " We could have lost you..."
Then amethyst orbs meets ruby. "I could have lost you."
Ace can't breath and no, this one is no longer of her disease. But it's of shock and realization.
" I'm- I'm sorry..."
" Why didn't you tell me?" He asks, his eyes never leaving her.
" Because- " Why did she not tell him?
" Because I was scared..." Ace mutters.
" That... That I was really not fit for you. That if I tell you how I feel... I'll only get the confirmation that I am not good enough for you."
She silently laughs.
" Of course I'm not! I'm not smart nor talented. I can't seem to stop making you feel so stressed. I'm not very ladylike nor polite. I'm just..."
Her voice wavers.
" I'm just not good enough to be loved by you as much as I love you."
Silence have never sound so loud in her ears. Ace casts her head down, no longer having the strength to look at him.
But Riddle's soft hands cups her cheeks, raising it gently to look at him. He's too close, she can feel his breath on her lips. His eyes staring at her with so much love she can never dream of.
" Was that how I made you feel?" He whispers. " That you are not good enough? For me?" Then there is a small smile on his pretty face.
" Well that's not true." She can feel his thumbs caress her cheeks.
" You are more than good enough for me."
Riddle gives a small peck on her nose. " You are smart and talented. You prove that so many times, to others and to me. You may break the rules but it does not stress me. It's actually quite endearing. And I fell in love with who you are, the Ace of Hearts."
Riddle's giving her butterfly kisses on her face before backing away with a smile full of love. One that is directed at her. One that is for her.
" I love you, Alice Trappola. My queen."
Alice feels tears prick her eyes and Riddle wipes them away before leaning down.
He kisses her lips and she kisses back.
She no longer feels roses blooming in her lungs but rather a gentle and genuine love living in her heart.
She never felt so alive.
When they pulled away, their foreheads touch and their smiles never left.
" I love you too, Riddle Rosehearts. My king."
And they kiss again, no longer fearing for unrequited love. For it is clear, that their love for each other is returned.