Author Notes: I promised Julie that I would write a gap-filler (any gap of her choosing) as a celebration of the second anniversary of our QAF chatting. We’ve exchanged messages almost-daily via e-mail, MSN, or phone...and she has inspired many of my writings or has helped me sort-out my feelings about the characters. So why did she pick the toughest gap to fill? You’ll have to ask her. While I associate strongly with Brian, in retrospect, I think I would have bought the roses. Here’s my attempt to fill-in this pivotal moment in the QAF saga. [Don’t miss the added note at the end.]

Ashes-of-Roses is actually the name of a color... a rose-tinted grey, similar to the color of the faded flowers.