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The sweet scent of the blossoming tea Zenko Uemura had ordered filled his senses as he drank deeply, letting the perfume take over for an instant and draw him into a world of its own. Blossoming tea was the latest craze from the Jade Empire, and Zenko and all of his friends had gone completely wild for it. What could be better than a tea that not only tasted fabulous, but looked fabulous as well? As the infusion process began, the flowers which had been added to the tea opened, forming a beautiful display in the bottom of the dish, which added to the flavour. The one he was drinking had a pale colour and a mellow aroma, with a faint floral taste. He couldn't quite remember the name of it.

It was snowing outside the elegant little tea house he had retired to: the new year was fresh and cold, with bright white dancing all over the city. Zenko was unusually alone - none of his friends were with him, and, more surprisingly, none of his colleagues. Even his dear Misa-chan wasn't with him, although everyone said that the two of them were joined at the hip, and nobody knew it more than Zenko. But Misato, along with the rest of the Department of Culture, were all in the office. It was Zenko's afternoon off, and his alone. A completely rare occurrence.

Even though Itsuki had insisted that everyone in the department take an afternoon off now and then, and had implemented a strict rota of afternoons off which Zenko suspected largely existed so Itsuki didn't have to deal with all four of them at once every single day, he was still hard at work. He had the kind of brain which was constantly bubbling, never really switching off for down time. He was far too energetic and full of ideas to really appreciate the concept of an afternoon off, and even though the snow was pretty and the tea was splendid, he thought he probably would have been happier in the office committing brush to paper and getting things done.

At least, that was what he had thought, until the dancing had started.

He watched, and he watched carefully, and then suddenly, the ideas were coming thick and fast, as they usually did. After a few long moments of watching the slender form and beautiful silks and flowers of the young maiko dancing, he remembered the name of the blossoming tea he had ordered. Flower in the snow.

When the dance was finished, the maiko vanished, but Zenko's next Great Idea was already being put into motion. He gestured for the hostess, he enquired about the dancer, he sent a message to her saying that he would be delighted to talk with her, and he ordered a fresh batch of tea and sweets for two - all was accomplished almost at once, with the relentless efficiency that some found alarming in the Department of Culture.

Then all he had to do was wait, which was something he wasn't very good at, especially when he was fizzing with ideas. He forced himself to stay calm, and look at the delicately falling snow outside. It was just like the pale beauty of the girl who had just danced.

"Oh no, I have tea here, thank you!" Zenko exclaimed, smiling. The maiko who had danced was incredibly pretty close up, without the more dramatic dance makeup and costume. Perfect - she was like a little doll, he thought, like porcelain, or a snowdrop. All of these somewhat vivid images took over Zenko's imagination at once, so he was left with a general impression of descriptions for her. But that didn't destroy the truth of it; she was very pretty.

"Have some - it's lovely - in fact, please join me!" He smiled charmingly, opening his eyes wide and gesturing towards the small table, where the tea and sweet things were laid out. He spoke very quickly, and the movements of his hands were as delicate and rapid as the fluttering of a butterfly's wings.

"Your dancing was wonderful," he complimented, "I could watch it for days." He meant it, even though everyone who knew him knew that he couldn't have watched anything for long without beginning to make notes, or rushing off to implement a new idea. "Oh - how rude of me - I'll introduce myself. Uemura Zenko, of the Department of Culture - you may have heard of us. Your beauty lights up this winter morning like a fire." He moved on from introductions to compliments in a quick and almost instant step - a technique he had learned from Lady Tamkazura and found incredibly successful, although he didn't think he could ever be quite as much the master of the non-sequitur as she.

"Oh no, nothing like that!" Zenko exclaimed, thinking he perhaps ought not to be surprised that she had misunderstood him - was that what most people wanted geisha and maiko for? That seemed faintly sad to him, as he couldn't imagine a world where he didn't have plenty of like-minded people to share creative energies with and chatter nineteen to the dozen. He poured two cups of flower tea, to demonstrate that he wanted her to join him for a more informal chat. "I just wanted to talk to you."

His thoughts were working as quickly and efficiently as clockwork, as usual, and the more he looked at her, the more it was all taking shape in his head. She was young and fresh and fragile, like a flower in the half-light of dawn drenched in dew, or something equally poetic. He thought he might have read that in the book of poems Oniko had got him for his birthday, or heard it in a play, or perhaps come up with it himself between thinking about projects. He was, however, thinking about a project now - his reasons for inviting the young maiko over were not even remotely selfish - Zenko hardly ever had time to think of himself. His thoughts were primarily concerned with the up and coming Spring Festival, for which he needed an angle. In this quiet tea house, he thought he might have found it.

"What is your name?" he asked kindly, then added with a small smile, "or are you not you permitted to tell me?"

"Miyoko, what a charming name," Zenko murmured. This mysterious oneesan person she kept speaking of had chosen well - wasn't 'Miyoko' written with the character for 'beautiful'? Even if it wasn't, it was certainly true of the girl. The more he looked at her, the more he became convinced that she was perfect for his purposes. Or rather, the Department's purposes.

"This may come across as a bit sudden," he started, offering her the plate of sweet bean-paste desserts he had ordered. It was not rare for him to eat sweets, but very strange for him to eat them out of the office. It was the done thing in the Department of Culture for there always to be good things to eat in the frequent breaks they took - one or more of them usually picked up something from the market on their way into work in the mornings. Most of their best works were completely fuelled by sugar.

"Spring is creeping up on us, as you're no doubt aware," Zenko continued, gesturing to the window, where snow was still falling. "And with it, the Spring Festival." He couldn't resist a little bit of his customary professional enthusiasm at the mention of it. "This year it's going to be the best yet! More events, more attractions, more things to see and do, more fun for everyone! It's the Department of Culture's job to organise it, you see, and we're going to begin the publicity campaign soon. And that's where you come in."

Zenko paused, and took a sip of his flower tea. "I want you," he told her, eyeing her intently and punctuating his words with an elegant twirl of his fingers, "to be the face of Spring."

"Yes, I'm sure," Zenko responded instantly, opening his eyes wide in surprise. If she didn't want to, then he supposed he would have to find someone else, but this girl was the sole inspiration for his Glorious Idea, so he would have been sorry to lose her from the project he had barely yet suggested to her. "I don't have the time to think twice - I knew it from the moment I saw you." It was true - he didn't have the time to think twice. He was used to coming up with results and solutions fast - second choices weren't really on his agenda.

"Unless you don't want to?" he asked suddenly, his large eyes full of puppy-like disappointement. "You can say if you don't, you know," he added, feeling she might need a little extra impetus to speak her mind - these geisha and maiko were always so polite, one never knew what they were really thinking. "But I'd be disappointed. You look just like the spring, you know."

"Wonderful!" Zenko exclaimed, finishing his tea and smiling as the delicate flavour slid down his throat and warmed him. "I'm so pleased - I'm sure you'll be just perfect." He lifted his hands in front of her face, framing it as though she were already a picture. "I can see the posters already..."

He couldn't help daydreaming a little, although he knew it was rude to do so in the middle of a conversation. It was going to be a glorious sight, the image of this young girl in a beautiful furisode kimono, perhaps with a parasol, spring flowers studding her raven hair - all over the kingdom, advertising the wonders of the Spring Festival. Bringing a reminder of the real values of the new year to everyone in Erion - youth, regeneration, new beginnings, fertility, growth-! His mind was cartwheeling away with itself, coming up with increasingly overblown ideas. But he couldn't do everything alone. He had found the Face of Spring; now it was time to get back to the office and the others, put their heads together, and start making plans. Beautiful Miyoko was merely the beginning.

"It won't be anything too strenuous," he told her, "I'm sure you're working hard enough already, practicing for the Spring Dances. Just a bit of modelling for the posters, maybe an official appearance, perhaps an interview for The Cherry Basket? They're helping us with the campaign, and they're going to provide full coverage of all the events. It should work out well for everyone - we get the loveliest Spring advertisements ever seen, and your face is going to be all over the city. By the time the posters have been up for a week, you'll be the best known maiko in the whole kingdom."

"Everyone has something to learn from Lady Tamakazura and Miss Minobe," he commented, although it was more with sincererity than irony. He really did commend The Cherry Basket for its sterling work, and besides, it sponsored a lot of the Department of Culture's events heavily. "That's all arranged, then," Zenko said, nodding briskly. His idea was in motion and his kep player in the advertising campaign had just agreed. There was no way he could stay in a tea house with his mind so full, even if it was suposed to be his afternoon off. He had to hurry home and start drawing up plans. Itsuki wouldn't let him back in the office today - their new Glorious Leader was very adamant about afternoons off meaning that you went nowhere near the Department at all. But if he worked all night, he'd have something really excellent to show his colleagues the next day.

"Thank you very much," he said to Miyoko. Standing up with a fluid movement and smoothing his blue pine-patterned kimono down. "I feel sure the campaign will be a success! I will send to you soon, and we can start working with an artist."

With that, Zenko bowed, and then disappeared to stride home through the crisp snow, his head brimming with ideas.