2672/From a Bloom to Another

From a Bloom to Another
Date of Scene:	04 July 2025
Location:	Plot Room 3
Synopsis:	At the end of the wedding night, Izou finds Makoto exiting the Rose Garden.
Cast of Characters:	Zoisite, Makoto Kino

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Zoisite has posed:
It was the crawling lull of the party now. Less music, more gentle chatters. Maybe a couple or two dancing still. Plates empty and glasses with melted ice left on tables. And Izou had been searching about for a while, still wearing his high heels and refusing to take them off. No pain no gain, his legs will look amazing afterwards anyway.

But the main reason he had been walking around the palace entrance was because he had been searching and waiting for Makoto--and something told him to not go into the rose garden.

So when he finally spotted her leaving from the garden's entrance, he beamed and hastily made his way over to her.

"Makoto, do you have a second?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto seems a little surprised when Izou beelines her way - but not unpleasantly so. She greets him with a warm smile. "Of course! I'm at your disposal," she says, spreading her arms a little as though in demonstration.

It doesn't take a keen observer of people to tell that she's in a glowingly good mood at the moment. The joyous atmosphere of the wedding still lingers.

"Since I didn't get the chance to tell you earlier, by the way, you look amazing."

Zoisite has posed:
Oh he could see that glow on her face and his smile reached his eyes. The night had been kind to so many of them, and many were coming close to touching their dreams and finding answers. And having spotted Masato and Makoto dancing earlier in the evening, he could take a very special guess on what would be coming behind all of it.

"Ah, thank you!" Still, he twirled a little on the balls of his feet, ignoring the little aches, to peacock a little for Makoto. "I wanted to be a little special for Kazuo. Just a little." And he was naturally extra. This did not deter him from looking back at the tall sailor however, taking in how she looked in return.

"And you, you're beaming tonight. You look beautiful with how happy you are. That's good. You should be. You did amazing with the cakes, center pieces for the newly weds." A nod, then a quiet but deep inhale as there's a small pause in between thoughts. "I also wanted to say... Thank you. For having come and talked to me back there in Crystal Tokyo."

Features around his eyes soften some. "You and a few others grounded me in place by giving me ears to speak to, and also making me listen. I never got a chance to say it before, so I am now."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"If this is 'just a little' special, I'm not sure if I could handle 'a lot'!" Mako laughs as she says it, green eyes dancing merrily. "I'm sure Saitou-kun was impressed."

Her expression softens when he thanks her and brings up Crystal Tokyo. She tips her head a little as she listens without interrupting, staying quiet while he says his piece.

"You're welcome," she replies once he's finished. "We're allies, right? There was a lot to deal with on that trip... being there to talk things out with each other when things get rough is important."

Zoisite has posed:
"True. Took me a while to see a few outside my circle as that. Even now. Took an incident for me and Minako to become friends. And you... Well, your presence was always in the details. Flowery cookware especially. Good taste."

He glances to the garden, the roses of various colors blooming in a place so abandoned. Ever strong.

"Which, leads me to this." The bouquet was still with him, clutched in one hand as he brought it up. Starlight baby breaths and sparkling petals of dahlias and camellias. His fingers were careful then as he reached in and plucked from the gathered flora a particularly lovely blooming camellia, white as pure as snow, and handing it over to Makoto.

"I'm not blind. A lot of us deserved this bouquet. Gods knowing, I tied it strong to handle the stampede. I was looking forward to struggling with you the most had you decided to join." There's a shimmer in his eyes, the promise of two people with burning passions under their skins. "I want you to have this, in lieu of the one Usagi-chan gave to me." The gesture in itself meant he didn't want to part with it, as it held quite a bit of importance than merely the next to be wed.

"Think of the camellia as the real bouquet."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto's eyes widen. For the space of a breath, and then another, she's quiet, caught off-guard. Her eyes linger on the camellia with the silent wonder with which someone else might look at a priceless gem. She accepts it carefully, cradling the flower with both hands.

"I don't have any complaints about Usagi-chan's decision," she assures Izou with a smile. "Even if it was a little bit anticlimactic, I'm just as happy to pass on the stampede. You deserve it at least as much as anyone else... and I have it on good authority that I don't need the help." A quick glance back over her shoulder towards the rose garden. It's hard to tell in this light, but she might be blushing.

She looks down at the white camellia again. "Camellias are my favorite flower. Did you know that?"

Zoisite has posed:
He blinks up at her in surprised, the silent really written in expression before looking down at the camellia. "I did not know that. I do now." A smile to his words in the serendipitous moment.

"I suppose I could grow more of them in the Shed Garden. I did a lot of work in there for the flowers in the wedding, helping Mina-chan. And of course, for the bouquets. Now that the wedding is done, I'm going to be opening up the spot for others to come and continue adding to it. I plan on putting some minor rules up since I will be leaving one of Masato's bonsai tree's in there for careful observation and treatment, and cultivating some special flowers from Crystal Tokyo's timeline. But besides that, it's open for all gardeners to expand on."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"I should see about bringing down some seeds and cuttings from the gardens here." Makoto muses on this, her expression turning thoughtful. "It'd be good if I could get them back into order... things have gotten overgrown. I don't know how easy it'd be to keep going back and forth, though, so bringing down a part of it to put in the Shed garden would be the next best thing. At the least, I want to come see what you've grown, now that I'm not busy with wedding cakes."

The corner of her mouth turns up in a quick flash of a grin. "I think we've all earned a break for a bit."

Zoisite has posed:
"I think the Shed would be the perfect place to bring in part of the gardens. Let them grow and thrive before planting them out into the new world." And symbolic, in his opinion. A representation of two worlds joining and moving on. As seeds and nature ought to.

He glances down to the bouquet in hand as Makoto mentions what all he's been growing, and there is grin to it as well. "You're correct, we do deserve a break." His greens eyes connecting to hers.

Then tilts his head. "By the way, I've also... appropriated some of Mamoru's roof for another garden. More of a personal project. I was wondering if you'd like to come by some time and take a look?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
"The roof garden?" Immediately, Mako's face lights up with enthusiasm. "I'd love to! Masato-kun mentioned you were going to plant one, a while back, but then with everything else happening I never managed to look in on it like I wanted to."

She pulls a face that's somewhere between apologetic and self-deprecating. "In any case, I really want to see it - and help out, too, if you don't mind. Working with plants is always calming, but I've never really lived anywhere that I had access to a private garden, just the school Gardening Club and a lot of potted plants."

Zoisite has posed:
"Well it's not a private garden yet, but it will be. A proper one. I mostly have saplings up there, a small green house, and ideas on how to expand it? But having help would be a marvel, really. That way we both could catch up to our gardening needs that were interrupted. And you could bring some of your potted plants too later on." Especially after she mentioned she didn't have proper access to garden. This would be one of those.

Then an oh left him, a hand reach back to pat where a back pocket would be, but he was wearing a dress. With no pockets. No phone. Damn. He hissed a little.

"We'll need to exchange numbers when we get back to the complex. I can send pictures I have so far, and set up a time for us to meet up?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto nods cheerfully. "Sure, that sounds good. It's not as though we don't know where to find each other, once we get back to Earth. I'll look forward to seeing what you've done so far."

She pauses a beat, glancing off across the wind-down of the festivities. "For now... I should make sure this is taken care of." She lifts the camellia slightly, still cradled between her hands. "And I imagine you'll be wanting to get out of those heels sometime pretty soon. Thank you again, Izou-kun."

Later, when they're back at Mamoru's apartment building, they can trade cell phone numbers. For now, there's a last little bit of a magical occasion to enjoy, now that the shadows of the past have been chased away from this place.