ROSE'S POV
It was only early afternoon when I returned from Jericho. Once I arrived home I got dressed into my black leggings, my white plush slippers and my warm dark brown plush hoodie, then put my hair up to a messy bun. Connor could arrive home in any minute, so I was waiting for him patiently. At first, I read some fresh news and played on my PlayStation, then I decided to draw something. Later I made a mug of lavender tea and swallowed a painkiller, then finally sat down on the comfortable couch and continued reading the Shakespeare drama, but in less than an hour I reached the last pages of the book. I glanced at the clock on the fireplace. 17:38... It was weird that Connor hadn't come home yet, but I didn't worry, since if anything would happen to him, then Hank would call me immediately. The silence annoyed me. I was listening as the fire was crackling in the fireplace, but then I glanced at my piano. Suddenly I felt the urge to play on the it, so I sat down in front of the antique musical instrument, carefully placed my fingers on the white keys, then finally I started playing on the piano and the soft melody was followed by my voice...
Lavender's blue dilly dilly... Lavender's green...
When I am King dilly dilly... You shall be Queen...
Who told you so dilly dilly... Who told you so?
T'was my own heart dilly dilly... That told me so...
Call up your men dilly dilly... Set them to work...
Some to the plow dilly dilly... Some to the fork...
Some to make hay dilly dilly... Some to cut corn...
While you and I dilly dilly... Keep ourselves warm...
Lavender's green dilly dilly... Lavender's blue...
If you love me dilly dilly... I will love you....
Let the birds sing dilly dilly... Let the lambs play...
We shall be safe dilly dilly... Out of harms way...
I love to dance dilly dilly... I love to sing...
When I am Queen dilly dilly... You'll be my King...
Who told me so dilly dilly... Who told me so?
I told myself dilly dilly... I told me so...
Although, the last words of the song left my lips, but my fingers still danced on the piano keys for a while, then finally the pleasant melody was over...
"You have a beautiful voice..." an unknown, yet cute voice whispered from behind me. I instantly turned around, sitting on the black velvet piano chair. A little girl was standing in front of me. With one hand she was holding Connor's hand, while with the other hand she was hugging her plush bear. I blinked a few times, then glanced up at Connor... Then back at the little girl, finally at Connor again...
"Rose, she's Victoria. Victoria, she's Rose whom I told you about." he introduced us to each other, but even then I didn't understand what was happening around me.
"Hello, Victoria!" I greeted her with a smile. The ocean blue eyed little girl returned my smile, then she glanced at the dogs and finally started playing with them on the rug in the living room. "What happened? I'm pretty sure that this girl has something to do with the investigation. So?" I asked him, while Connor and I was walking toward the couch, then as soon as we sat down he explained the unexpected situation.
"Victoria's father killed her mother in front of her eyes, because the woman decided to leave her husband..." he started almost in a whisper, so Victoria couldn't hear our conversation. "The investigation revealed that the man was under the influence of red ice when he committed the murder. Then he wanted to destroy the family's housekeeper android as well, and probably he didn't want to leave Victoria alive either..."
"Oh, God... Then what happened?" I asked him, looking at the little girl.
"The deviant, Benjamin attacked him... During the struggle the man shot the android and it seriously damaged, but finally, using the weapon it killed the aggressive man. Later the deviant still had a little energy to show me what happened, but Victoria is the only survivor..." he said. I was completely shocked as I was listening to the story and the emotions were swirling inside me. I was angry, because I didn't understand how someone could be so cruel... I was sad, because an innocent woman and an innocent android died... But at the same time I was grateful as well, because the little girl survived the tragedy... "Lieutenant Anderson and I took her to the police station and we tried to find her relatives, but her only living relative is her mother's younger sister. Now she is in Europe because of a conference, but a few days later she will return to Detroit. And Captain Fowler decided that if you agree, then Victoria could stay here. With us..."
"Of course she can stay with us." I replied without hesitation, then glanced at the little girl who was walking toward us. "I think it's time for dinner... Are you hungry?" I asked her with a smile. Victoria's lips instantly curled into a smile, then she nodded. 'Poor little girl... She lost everything in a single day, yet she is able to smile sincerely...'. Suddenly I glanced down at her small hands. She was holding her beloved plush bear, but one of its arms was almost completely torn off. "Do you want me to fix your bear?"
"Can you heal him?" she asked me with a tiny small.
"Of course!" I replied, then she instantly handed me her plush toy. I took a needle and a long caramel colored thread from the drawer, then sat back on the couch and started fixing the plush bear. Meanwhile, I was lost in my thoughts... 'I wish it would be so easy to fix everything...'
CONNOR'S POV
Within a few minutes Rose fixed Victoria's beloved plush bear, then later while I was making the dinner she bathed the little girl. Once I placed some strawberry waffles on the plate Rose embraced my waist, then laid her head on my back.
"A few more minutes and the dinner is ready." I informed her, making two mug of hot chocolate.
"All right. Until then I'll put the clothes in the washing machine, then I'll get Victoria out of the tub. It won't be easy, because it seems she loves the rose scented bubble bath..." Rose added with a small chuckle at the end as my smile grew even wider.
"By the way, where did you go today, if may I ask?" after my simple question Rose's level of stress has increased slightly.
"How do you know that I left the house?" she asked me curiously. "If you're talking about my makeup, it doesn't prove anything..." she added with a playful laugh, then she let go of my waist and put some fresh strawberries into a small bowl.
"In the morning your jacket was on the left wall hanger, but now it's on the middle one." I replied with a confident smile as I turned around and glanced at Rose.
"You caught me, detective..." she joked, then planted a small kiss on my lips. "I visited an old friend of mine and I missed the the fresh air and the noise of the city, so I decided that a long walk and a little public transport wouldn't hurt me..." Rose answered, then as soon as she stepped out of the kitchen she went upstairs. The dinner time soon arrived. It was good to see Victoria's cheerful face, while she was eating the fresh waffles. I was watching with an honest smile as Rose and Victoria were sitting at the dining table and talking to each other, but after a few seconds my smile faded away. I don't know why, but suddenly I started thinking about the future... I wanted to make Rose happy, whatever it takes. But I knew there were things that I will never be able to give her, no matter how much I wanted. We can't have own kids... We can't have own family... Of course, she knew this from the beginning, yet she chose me. Rose loved me and I loved her. With her I was happy. I felt like I was alive... My smile finally returned... 'I love you, Rose... More than anything else... And I'll do everything to make you happy!'...
The night already has fallen when I glanced at the fireplace. The flames almost burned out, leaving nothing, but some charcoal what was once wood, so I put some wood on the fire. Everything was so calm and peaceful... The dogs were sleeping near the fireplace, while Rose was reading a beautiful bedtime story to Victoria. I joined them on the couch, listening to Rose's words...
"Hey! Come and play with me! ~ I cannot play with you. I am not tamed. ~ What does that mean? ~ Tame means, to establish ties. To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you... And you have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand foxes... But if you tame me, then we shall need each other... To me, you will be unique in all the world and to you, I shall be unique in all the world..." suddenly I deepened in my thoughts. 'What made Rose unique to me? Everything...'. Her honest smile, her pleasant voice, her beautiful moss green eyes, her sweet lips, her intoxicant vanilla fragrance, her cheerful laugh, her bitter tears, her kind words, her gentle touch... "You are lovely, but you are empty... One couldn't die for you. An ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she is the one I've watered... Since she is the one I put under glass... Since she is the one I sheltered behind a screen... Since she is the one for whom I killed the caterpillars, except the two or three butterflies... Since she is the one I listened to when she complained or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all... Since she is my rose..." I remembered when I saw her cry for the first time, when I kissed her for the first time, when I pulled her into an embrace for the first time, when she smiled at me for the first time, when she said she loves me for the first time... "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly... What is essential is invisible to the eye..." for me, Rose was always perfect and beautiful. Even when her makeup flown down on her cheeks with the crystal clear tears, even when she was angry or disappointed because of a tiny thing, even when she woke up next to me with a messy and tangled hair...
ROSE'S POV
Soon we reached the last page of the book which also meant the end of the day. I led the sleepy little girl to the guest room, pulled the warm blanket over her and her plush bear, then finally I kissed her forehead.
"Rose..." Victoria whispered after she yawned. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." I replied with a smile as I placed a glass of water on the nightstand.
"The Little Prince and the fox loved each other like me and Benjamin?" she asked curiously. "When I first met Benjamin, to me he was like a hundred thousand other robots, but one day we became friends and he became unique for me... And before he died, he said that he would always be with me. In here..." she said, then placed her little hand on her chest. Victoria's words were right...
"Yes..." I answered simply. "Sweet dreams, Victoria!" I whispered, but the little girl was already asleep, so I decided to leave. I turned off the night light and after I stepped out of the guest room I closed the door, but then I glanced at the sunflower which was hanging on the white door. Suddenly a memory revived in me...
It was summer of 2035... I parked my car in front of Hank's house, after a few moments I knocked on the front door, then finally my uncle opened the door for me. I just returned to Detroit, since I spent the weekend in New York, so I decided to visit him and my cousin before I go home.
"Where is Cole?" I asked him after a few minutes of conversation, while I was stroking Sumo.
"He's playing in the yard." he replied, then I instantly went to the yard.
"What are you doing?" my cousin was lying on the fresh grass under the pear tree. As I stepped closer to him I noticed that he was staring at a small sunflower. I didn't say anything, instead I kneeled down to him.
"She is so beautiful, isn't she?" Cole asked me, but he couldn't stop looking at the sunflower. "She is the only on of her kind in the whole universe..." at that moment a colorful butterfly landed on the golden petals and it was followed by Cole's joyful giggle...
I opened my eyes, then looked back at the sunflower. At first, I thought about the six years old little girl in the guest room, then about my cousin. 'Cole also was six years old when he left us...'
CONNOR'S POV
I was totally lost in my thoughts... I don't know why, but I remembered some of the deviants. Benjamin, the PL600 who shot itself at the top of the Stratford Tower, the WR400 sex android who has been badly damaged by its guest, Ortiz's HR400 who destroyed itself... Lieutenant Anderson's words were echoing in my head. 'Are you afraid to die, Connor? What will happen if I pull this trigger? Hm? Nothing? Oblivion? Android heaven?'... 'Yes... I'm afraid of death... I don't want to die... I don't want to leave Rose... I want to stay with her for the rest of her life...'
"There is no better thing than cuddling with you after a refreshing shower..." Rose whispered. I didn't even notice her, since I was so deep in my thoughts. "I think Victoria liked my bedtime story. It's one of my favorite story since my childhood. It teaches us that those we love will stay with us forever..." she said with a smile on her face, staring into my chocolate brown eyes. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing..." I replied as I wrapped my arms around her, then pulled her into an embrace.
"Your LED is amber..." finally I decided to tell her the truth.
"Rose..."
"Hmm?"
"Do you know what happens after death?" I asked her uncertainly, but I knew that there was no answer to this question. In the first moments Rose didn't answer, instead she let out a small sigh.
"No, I don't... But this is a part of being human... Asking questions that have no answers..." she whispered, then everything went silent for a brief moment. "I love you, Connor..."
"I love you too, Rose..." I replied with an honest smile before she fell asleep. She was so peaceful and so beautiful. I carefully adjusted the tangled locks of her hair behind her ear, then finally I planted a sweet kiss on her forehead. "To me, you are unique in all the world... Since you are my rose..."