A M A L I A
"Stars?" Amalia repeats the word reverently, not quite sure what Remi could mean. As he extends his hand she opens her own, delight brightening her bemused face as the smattering of starlight enters her grasp. "Oh!" she exclaims, dark eyes wide with gratitude and wonder. "Jyo will love these! Are they really for us?"
She laughs at his teasing, nudging him with her shoulder. "Exactly. See, you really ought to just move in and work with me." It is half jest, half honest invitation: she would be more than happy to share the shop, expand it to hold more than just her wares. The girl who laughs with Remi in the sun is a far cry from the one who re-built this bakery. She is ready to become a part of her world.
She watches him feel the grass with his fingers, and wonders what it must be like to experience the world with only four senses. Amalia tilts her head at his offer, frowning slightly in her surprise. The offer is astounding in its generosity, breathtaking in its simplicity, in the easy way he extends it to she who has been given so little. For a moment she is silent, too stunned to really reply-
-And then her tan arms wrap around him, a sudden and impassioned hug, a flurry of gratitude for friendship and kindness rising in her throat like the tide. "Thank you," she whispers against his hair, her only regret that she has nothing to offer in return.
