Cherry Blossom ~ These picture-perfect flowers signify spirituality and boast cultural roots in both Japan and China. In the latter, this particular bloom portrays femininity.

   The demon lifted me above the ground by my neck, endless tears escaping my eyes," P-Please..." I begged, grabbing his wrist to hopefully loosen his grip," s-spare me..."

   The demon gave no reply and only tightened his grip on my neck more. I choked out sobs as he raised his dagger up," D-Don't do this...p-please..." I cried, staring into his fiery red eyes. They were cold, and emotionless, which seemed to scare me more. I whimpered and turned my head away, bracing myself for my incoming death.

   But it never came.

   The demon dropped me on the floor. I gasped for air as I now laid on the grass, my wings covering me like a shield," Damn it!" the demon growled, punching the wall above me. He turned his back to me and began to pace, back and forth, back and forth.

   I slowly sat up on the floor, gawking at the demon's strange behavior.

   He could have easily ended my life, with one slice of his dagger. But he didn't. Why?

   I watched the demon's movement closely; it was obvious he had forgotten about me. He just mumbled to himself as he continuously ran his hands through his black hair.

   With him distracted, I began to crawl towards the castle gates, knowing that if I were to fly, which I am unable to, he would easy catch me.

   " Hey!" I whipped my head around and saw the demon staring at me. I immediately shot up to my feet and began to run. My wings flapped frantically behind me as I ran barefoot through the garden's grass.

   " HELP! HELP!" I shouted, waving my hands in the air," HEL-"

   The demon pounced on me, pinning me to the ground," Shut up before I sew the pretty little mouth shut." The demon hissed, shutting me up real quick. He grabbed me by my right wing and began to drag me back to the willow tree," Sit." he ordered, and I obeyed.

   I sat down on the bench, my hands placed on my lap while my wings stayed tucked behind me. The man began to pace in front of me again," W-What do you want?" I question, trying to act imitating, but failing miserably.

   He shot his head in my direction," I thought it was obvious." He states, facing me with his arms crossed on his chest," I was sent to kill you."

   " B-But why..? Why didn't you...y-you kill me?" I ask, curious, but frightened.

   The demon sighed, rubbing the back of his neck stressfully," That...I can't really answer..." he admits," I just..couldn't bring myself to do it."

   " O-Oh..." we sit in an awkward silences before I speak up again,"...what are you going to do now? I-If I may ask..."

   The demon sighs and plops down on the grass in front of me," That, my friend, I do not know..."

   " You seem...different..." I mumble quietly to myself, squinting my eyes as I stared at the man in front of me with a confused expression.

   " Different how?" he asks, smirking at me.

   My face flushes red," I-I didn't think you heard me..." I say," I-I didn't mean it in a rude way, but I thought demons were..you know..."

   " Cruel? Dark? The essence of evil?" he questions. I sheepishly nod in response. A sigh escapes him," You do know that the Devil was once an angel too, right?"

   " O-Of course."

   " Well, not all demons are evil."

   I look down at my lap," S-Sorry if I offended you." I apologize.

   I flinch in fear when I hear the demon growl," God...and this is why I couldn't kill you..."

   I look at him in surprise," W-What?"

   " It's just..." I look at him with curious eyes. He groans and looks away from me," God! You're just so...pure!"

   " Pure?" I look down at myself before looking back at him," All angels are pure beings, I'm no different from anyone else."

   " You don't get it." the demon states," Us demons can see people's souls, even angels, that's how we- you know, choose which ones to...steal..."

   " Y-Yeah...I know that.." I say, looking away from him awkwardly," But how does that involve me?"

   " Well, it's a well-known fact that the brighter the soul, the purer it is," he replies," And in all my years of living, I have never seen a soul as bright as yours."

   " So that's why you didn't kill me? Because of my soul?" I question.

   " Yes and no..." He avoids my gaze," Your soul did distract me, but it was mainly...your damn eyes..."

   " M-My eyes?" I lifted my my hand up, right below my left eye," What's wrong with my eyes."

   He shakes his head," Nothings wrong with your eyes, it's just..." He throws back his head," I can't explain it. Once I gazed into your eyes...I just couldn't bring myself to kill you. They looked so innocent, like a child's eyes."

   I blush a bit," W-Well...I thank you for not killing me." The demon chuckles," What?"

   " Nothing, you're just cute." He states, causing my the blush even more," Aww...you're blushing..."

   " I-I am not..." I stutter, covering my face with my hands.

   He laughs again before going silent. I slowly peek out from within my hands to see him staring at me," W-What are you looking at?"

   " You're just...so strange." He replies.

   " S-Strange? Strange how?"

   " It's just...I would think if I were an angel and I had a chance to run away from a demon, I probably would."

   I let out a small laugh, shaking my head," Well I can't run from you, as seen earlier, and flying isn't an option so..."

   " And what do you mean by that?" He questions, leaning towards me more.

   " A-Ah, well...you see..." I fumble with my fingers a bit," M-My father, the king, he never lets me leave the castle. And if someone, like a demon of instance, were to see me flying around the castle grounds...they could easily kill me. Shoot me down like a bird if you will.."

   " So you never leave? Ever?"

   " Only on a official business."

   He leans back on his arms," Well that sucks princess."

   I smile, enjoying the conversation I was having with this demon.

   And that's when I hit," Oh my lord..." I throw my head into my hands," I am talking to a demon. I am having a conversation with a demon."

   " Well this demon has a name." he states, smirking at me," It's Maroon."

   " Maroon? Like the color?" I ask, smiling slightly.

   He laughs, nodding his head," Yeah, like the color." My wings flap happily," What about you? You haven't told me your name?"

   " Oh! Right, it's Jasmine. Princess Jasmine the First." I state formally.

   " Like the flower?" Maroon asks, a smile gracing his lips. I sheepishly nod my head in response," I think it suits you. Very delicate sounding~"

   I laugh ever so slightly," I guess I have to thank my mother for that." I say.

   " Yeah, I guess you do." he replies.

   Our conversation lasted for hours on end, talking, laughing, just having fun. Surprisingly for a demon, he was fun to be around.

  " I thank you for the complement." Maroon states, smirking at me.

   " D-Did I say that out loud?" I ask, embarrassed.

   " You sure did princess."

   I groan, pouting like a small child," Don't call me that..."

   " What? Princess?" He questions, purposly dragging the word on.

   " Yesssss......" I reply, my arms folded on my chest as I pouted.

    " Alright alright..." he stood up from his spot on the grass, stretching his back out," It's getting late."

   I look up at the sky, seeing it's once blue sky now become orange with the other colors of the sunset," Yeah, I hadn't realized we talked for so long..." I slowly sat up from my spot on the bench, stretching my wings out a bit as well," I should get going though...father hates it when I'm out late."

   " Then I guess you should get going." Maroon states as I nod my head in response. He then picks my tiara that I hadn't realized fell off my head," Here you go."

   " Thank you..." I say, taking the crown from his hands," I didn't realized it fell off."

   I place the tiara back on my head," It looks pretty on you." Maroon comments," But I bet everything looks good on you."

   I laugh," Well, not everything.." I grab my heels and slip them back on my feet," I guess this is goodbye..."

   Maroon nods his head," Yeah..I guess it is." We stand in front of each other for a long moment, not making a move to leave. Then Maroon speaks again," I should get going now...I don't want a run in with the castle guards."

   He begins to walk towards the castle walls," W-Wait!"

   He stops in his tracks, turning to look at me with a longing look in his eyes," W-Will I...ever see you again?" I ask, a red blush across my face.

   Maroon smirks and takes my right hand in his," Of course princess." he raises his hand to his mouth and gently places a kiss on it," Until next time, Jasmine."

   My face burned a deep red blush as I watched Maroon let go of my hand, turning his back towards me once more. He crouched down for a moment, allowing a pair of wings to sprout from his back. But they weren't normal demon wings -which looked like bat's wing- they were like an angels, only instead of white, they were pitch black.

   I stood stunned as Maroon flew off," Until next time..." I mumbled to myself, watching Maroon fly away until he was out of my sight.