Addie walked through the garden, her eyes jumping between the colorful flowers that were dancing in the wind. Lucia walked with her, pointing out each of the flowers. Those white ones were daisies. Those purple were ones were aster. Those red ones were roses. Those pink ones were petunias. Her favorite were the yellow and brown ones. Lucia called them sunflowers, and what a fitting name it was for it. Their faces were turned toward the sun, greeting it with a smile each and every day. Their petals were bright and beautiful and practically growing with joy.

"What?" Lucia asked with a laugh after Addie paused for quite a while to study the flower. "Do you like the sunflowers?"

Addie nodded. "Yes...I think they're nice."

"Have you seen a sunflower before?"

"No, I haven't seen any of these flowers before. The flowers back at home are ne'er this colorful. The flowers there are bland and grey and dusty. Nothing's this pretty back home." She sighed. "I really wish Mark and Mama and Papa could see all this."

Lucia placed an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure you'll get to show them one day."

"When though?" Addie asked. "How much longer do I have to wait?"

Lucia just shook her head. "I'm sorry, Addie. I really don't know."

"Can you ask your boss or something like that? Or maybe the Healers will tell you."

"Addie..." Lucia spoke slowly. "Just...don't worry about it too much, okay? Things will be alright."

Addie wasn't satisfied with her answers, but she just nodded. "Okay."

The two of them continued to walk through the garden, but this time, Addie hardly stopped to admire the flowers. She simply held onto Lucia's hand and stared down at the ground silently. Lucia noticed the little girl's silence, but did not know what to say. As a simple house maid, she was mostly unaware of the plans of the master of the house. However, it didn't take a rocket scientist to put together a few pieces of what what going on. The Healers had brought them a girl known for her unexplainable joy. Why else would she be there? Now, the question was how long they'd keep her here before taking that happiness from her.

Lucia's thoughts were interrupted by Samson approaching. The mansion's top butler was dressed like always in a dapper black suit and his hair was neatly combed to the side. His blue eyes met Lucia's green ones and he gave her a smile which she returned.

"What brings you here, Samson?" Lucia asked politely.

"Well," he replied with a slight chuckle, running a hand through his dark hair. "I was looking for you, actually."

Lucia titled her head. "Oh, am I needed somewhere?"

Samson shook his head. "No, no. It's not that. I just wanted to talk a bit with you."

He hesitated a moment before looking down at Addie. It was clear that whatever he wanted to discuss was a private matter, not to be heard by the little girl.

"Hey, there," Samson said to the Addie instead of saying more to Lucia. "How are you enjoying your stay here?"

"It's good," Addie responded quietly. "It's very nice and pretty here."

"Is there anything I can do for you to make you more comfortable?"

Addie shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm okay."

The young girl shifted her gaze slightly past the man in front of her. There, she spied the daughter of the master of the house. Gabrielle was dressed in a blue dress and her platinum blond hair hung loosely around her shoulders. She was seated alone in one of the garden pavilions, staring out into the distance.

"I'm gonna go talk with Gabrielle," Addie said slowly, knowing that the two must be wanting to be left alone. She was about to walk off when Lucia stopped her.

"I think Miss Gabrielle might want to be alone right now," she spoke softly. "She's usually not too kind to those who invade her space."

Samson placed a hand on Lucia's shoulder. "It's alright, Lucia, just give her a chance. Perhaps Miss Gabrielle just needs to receive a little joy to brighten her day. Don't shut everyone out for her."

Lucia sighed. "We've already tried so many times. Nothing gets through to her."

Samson looked down at Addie. "Perhaps all it takes someone else. And I think Addie is the perfect person to do it."

He kneeled down to look the brown haired girl in the eye. "Addie..."

"Yes?" she replied softly.

"Just don't take anything she says to you personally, okay? Miss Gabrielle tends to say a lot of things that may be rather...hurtful. And I don't want anything she says to stick with you or make you unhappy, okay?"

Addie nodded. "Okay."

"Good," Samson said, standing up again. "Now, run along."

Addie thanked him quickly before running off to attempt to talk with Gabrielle. Lucia quietly watched her as she left them and approached the moody girl. Samson touched her arm gently and her gaze shifted to look at him.

"She'll be fine, Lu. It's just words anyway. It can't hurt her that much."

Lucia sighed. "I guess. You've always been more optimistic between the two of us."

"Well, I guess you could say we balance each other out."

Lucia smiled. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked.

***

"Hello? Miss Gabrielle?" Addie said timidly, as she approached the other girl. Gabrielle's icy gaze fell on Addie and she looked at the younger girl in annoyance.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"I just wanted to talk and say hi," Addie replied softly, trying her best to ignore the other girl's pungent tone. "How are you doing today?"

"Wonderful," Gabrielle retorted sarcastically.

Addie bit her lip. She made a move to take a seat across from Gabrielle, but the blue eyed girl stopped her.

"I don't want to sit with any peasant girl," Gabrielle spoke harshly.

Knowing not to push the other girl's patience, Addie remained standing. "So...um..." she stuttered, fiddling with the sleeve of the dress she was wearing. "I like your dress. It's very nice."

Gabrielle ignored the compliments. "What are you doing here?"

Addie hesitated. "I...I just wanted to talk and get to know you better."

Gabrielle let out a chuckle. "Get to know me, huh? Why would you want to do that?"

"'Cause...um...maybe you'd like to be friends?"

"Friends?"

"Yeah..." Addie replied slowly.

Gabrielle chuckled again. "Oh, silly girl. Why in the world would I want to be your friend?"

Addie looked down. "I don't know...you just looked like you needed one."

"Bold of you to assume that. If I wanted a friend, I would have one," she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Of course, you wouldn't know what that's like. You're just a poor peasant girl with nothing."

"Well...I still have friends even though I may not have much. And I'm still happy even though I may not live in a fancy house like you or have as many things as you."

Gabrielle's eyes narrowed. "Of course you'd be the one to talk about happiness and joy. Tell me, girl, what do you have that I don't? What do you have, huh? What makes you so happy?"

Addie's eyes widened. "I...I don't really know how to explain it. I just choose to stay positive and look at the bright side of things."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. She rose to her feet and walked closer to Addie, making the younger girl instinctively back away. "You just choose to be positive? Is it really that simple?"

"Well...I..."

"No, it's not that simple!" Gabrielle yelled, causing Addie to jump. "You can't just decide to be happy, you liar! If it was that simple, everyone would be happy and there would be no need for the Healers! Do you even know what I've had to go through? Do you even understand what it means to feel sadness? To feel pain?"

Addie bit her lip. "Yes, I know what it feels like." she replied softly.

This only made Gabrielle more angry. "You're a liar!"

Addie watched silently as Gabrielle paced around her. She could guess that Gabrielle was probably jealous of her happiness, which was not something new, but she could not even fathom why she was reacting so violently. Addie wanted more than anything to just have a talk with her, maybe to discover the source of all her pent up anger or maybe to just to help her find her own happiness. But she knew Gabrielle would not listen, at least for the time being, so she remained silent.

"I think the Healers should get what they came for just so you'd truly feel what it's like to be sad and angry and upset. Perhaps it will bring me joy after seeing what they do to you," Gabrielle continued.

Addie's breath caught in her throat. "What?"

"Oh, don't act stupid," Gabrielle sneered. "You know very well what's going to happen to you after they take your joy. They'll—"

"Miss Gabrielle," Lucia interrupted, approaching the two of them. "If you don't mind, I'll be taking Addie with me now."

"Fine," Gabrielle returned. "I was just leaving anyway."

Lucia and Addie watched as Gabrielle marched away with a sigh of annoyance and a swish of her skirts. Addie remained silent as she watched Gabrielle leave them alone in the pavilion. When the other girl was gone, Addie's gaze fell on the ground and she fiddled with the sleeves of her dress again. Lucia placed a hand on Addie's shoulder, and she turned her eyes to look at the maid.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"Yeah."

Lucia gave her a hug. "I heard some of the things she said to you. Don't—"

"I know," Addie said. "It's fine." She paused for a moment. "Lucia?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I have a question. A few actually."

Lucia tilted her head. "Go on."

"What...what will the Healers do to me after they take what they want? Will I really be able to go back home? Have they ever brought other people to this house? Has this happened before to other people? What—"

"Addie, Addie," Lucia spoke softly. "I told you not to worry about any of this. It will all be okay in the end, I promise."

"But—"

"Addie, please trust me."

She looked at Lucia intently before letting out a sigh. "Okay."