Chapter Twelve | Island Spirits Welcome page | Chapter Fourteen

Oblivious to all the rest of the fuss in the town, Utel was out in her garden, communing with her bees. She was proud that she had finally managed to get all of her plants in raised beds on her own, and was up early cooking for her large family and getting the gardening chores done.

In fact, she had managed to finally get her aspiration completed, as well, so the news that she would be able to learn more healing from Uacro was more than welcomed. It would give her something else to do to help contribute to the village's well-being.

As the sun rose, young Khiad waddled out of the house, rubbing his eyes, and crying for his mama. Utel quickly swooped in and found him something to eat.

Inside, Gnaar was washing the day before's dirt off of his body, enjoying the tepid water in his bath, and the break from his toddler siblings.

Icre, as well, had gone to find her mother, and was playing with a small carved butterfly blithely, unaware that Utel's thoughts were clearly elsewhere.

Utel was still worried about Nork. What was she to do? It was clear, now, that the mistake was hers, not his.. but she wasn't sure how to approach him. He had been very clear that he wasn't interested in being around her the day before, and the opportunity to apologize that she had been hoping for had simply never happened.

Finally, the toddlers' breakfast was ready, and Saazul served them while Utel went to finish the garden work, unaware of her mother's unease, and fully busy in her mind with other thoughts. Thoughts of Uacro.

Once the toddlers finished eating, Saazul finally remembered the gift she had wrapped two days earlier. She had caught something while fishing that she was sure Utel would want. So, Saazul went inside to get the package out from under her bed, and went out to the garden to present it to her mother.

The gift was received with a little bit of shock, and a lot of joy. Instantly, Utel hugged her daughter and hurried to the place of honor in her garden, planting the new berry with reverence.

It seemed like a sign from the gods. The baby cowplant took to the ground easily, and poked it's little horns up cheerfully. The little plant reminded Utel of Nork feeding the last one with his fish catches, and she glanced at the sky, again worrying about him. Something, it was clear, had to be done... but... what?

As soon as Utel was done with gardening, Saazul begged off of child-care for the day, and headed out to go fishing (or so Utel thought).

In all reality... Saazul was heading the other direction from the fishing club. She was headed to the mystic's hut... to meet Uacro. Uacro was working on healing potions, but was more than happy to take a break to talk to his new friend.

And this time, there really were hearts above their heads.

Before long, their relationship had hit new levels. It helped to have no adult chaperones around, but it was very clear that they were destined to be together.

To pass the time together, they decided to make a cowplant sand castle, but it took longer than usual, as they were far more interested in looking at each other and chatting than actually building the castle.

Uacro thanked Saazul with a kiss, then noticed the dolphins in the water nearby, and invited her to swim with him as the sun fell.

Saazul, of course, agreed, and they swam out and had a lovely time watching the dolphins and the fish.

Before long, however, they were too busy splashing each other to even notice that the dolphins had all swam off to go to bed.

Eventually, Saazul finally noticed that the sun had gone down, and bid Uacro a temporary good-bye to head home.

By the time Saazul arrived home, it was very dark, and Utel had started to worry about her. Having Saazul home again helped Utel's worries, but she was still very occupied with trying to figure out what to do about Nork. The kids hadn't noticed her distress, however, and were busy finishing dinner and chatting amiably together.

Utel shuffled all of them off to bed before long, and headed to bed herself. It took quite a while for her to fall asleep, however, and by the time she fell asleep, she was even more sure that a reconciliation needed to happen. And soon.

Chapter Twelve | Island Spirits Welcome page | Chapter Fourteen