"The blueberry man!"

Chandler put a pile of bowls down on the table and dashed through The Gift's crowded dining room, the diners laughing and cheering the little girl on. Archie crouched down just in time to receive a tackling hug that almost put him on his butt. He laughed as he caught himself.

"You went all summer without seeing me!" Chandler complained.

"I was in another kingdom!" Archie tried to pick himself up, but Chandler shoved him.

"Which one?" She scrunched her face up in exaggerated rage, demanding an answer.

"Khala."

"The whole time?"

"Most of it."

"You should've visited." Chandler finally stepped back to let Archie up. She looked up at Blanche. "Where's Nori?"

"She's still in Khala. Or probably on her way back by now." Archie stood, dusted off his pants, and waved at a couple of chuckling diners.

"Is this your girlfriend now?"

Archie choked on his own spit. Blanche giggled.

"She's—Nori wasn't—she's…"

"Hi," Blanche said between giggles. She hunched over and smiled. "I'm Blanche."

"I'm Chandler. Rowan's my uncle." Chandler stood with the awkwardly statuesque posture of a child, her arms pinned at her sides.

"Oh, okay."

"I sleep upstairs. There are bees but they don't sting me. They just like the flowers."

"I like flowers too. Do you like flowers?"

Chandler nodded. Blanche leaned back out the door and put her finger on the web of vines that covered The Gift. A red flower grew where her finger touched. She plucked it and handed it to Chandler.

"Cool," Chandler said. She spun the flower between two fingers. "I like blue flowers."

When she looked up from her flower, Blanche was already holding out a blue one. Chandler took it and giggled.

"Is that Archie?" Rowan's booming baritone voice called from the back of the kitchen.

"Hey Rowan!"

"Get over here!"

Archie looked at Blanche, who nodded for him to go while she stayed back and tried to break through Chandler's nervousness. He waved and nodded and excused his way through the maze of tables and chairs. Rowan greeted him with a hearty slap to the back.

"You're here! Good! Stir this," Rowan said as he stepped back from the giant pot of stew and rested against the counter.

Archie took the giant stick of a spoon, vestiges of Rowan's essence prickling his fingertips. He overrode the essence with his own, surprised at how easy he found it. The last time he had stirred the cauldron had been before the summer. Before his training. Before his cleansing. Everything felt easier now. He put an extra dose of essence into the stirring as he felt a growing excitement to prove himself at the upcoming exam.

"Nori's not with you?" Rowan asked.

Everyone wanted to see Nori. Archie wondered if he was the less popular of the pair. "She'll be here for the summit. She stayed behind in Khala to teach orphanages how to cook these giant barnacles. You'd be proud."

"I would be! And what about you? What'd you get up to in Khala?"

"Uh…" Archie considered starting from the beginning, but grinned when he realized how shocking he could make the summary. He spoke with the nonchalance of someone recounting their breakfast. "I fought a herd of tariaksuq and went into yeti country and got stalked by these little demon children and I guess I sort of spoke to Tamani?"

Archie looked back at Rowan, who wore a shocked expression. Archie laughed. He hadn't even told him about the exorcism. He wasn't allowed to talk about that one.

"Well that's something," Rowan chuckled.

"And…" Archie grinned. He had been dying to give Rowan this last piece of news. More than once, he had put away a written letter. He wanted to see Rowan's reaction.

"Aaaand?" Rowan grinned.

"I planted a Tamani tree in Sain."

"A Tamani tree?"

"She gave me an acorn. It's going to bring essence back to Sain."

Rowan's smile melted from his face. He blinked once, twice, and then his eyes were glazed over and his jaw slowly hung open. A last bit of confusion is all that kept him from tears. "So…you mean…"

"There's already a little garden outside Petrichor that has as much essence as the fields around here. And it's spreading."

Rowan swallowed half of a sob, the other half bubbling out as he covered his mouth. He tried to speak once, twice, and finally managed to form words on his third try. "So, the whole village…"

"Eventually, yes." Archie's smile grew too large for his lips, creeping up and squeezing hanging tears into his eyes. He looked to the side of Rowan—looking at his reddening eyes would have been too much. For as much as it meant to Archie, it might have meant more to Rowan. Archie knew how much the man blamed himself for the salting of Sain. Rowan's threat to withdraw from Petrichor was what had spurred Archie's grandfather to the heinous sin. "It's behind us."

Rowan looked down and nodded, sliding his hand up to cover his eyes. "You're sure?"

"I mean…" Archie chuckled. "Rowan, I saw Tamani. That tree is her. I held her in my hands. You can go to Sain and see it."

Rowan took a deep breath.

"Speaking of," Archie continued. "I thought Chandler was going to live with my parents?"

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Rowan chuckled and wiped his eyes. "I thought so too. But honestly, it took two days for me to want to keep her myself. She's a good kid. Good for me."

Archie watched Chandler pull Blanche by the hand up the stairs, probably wanting to show off her collection of blueberry bushes. "I'm glad. She's safe here?"

"Yep. No questions from anyone so far. No weird looks."

"Good."

"So, you'll have to tell me the whole story about…" Rowan waved his hand around. "...what sounds like a summer of insanity. But for now…who's the girl?"

Archie turned his attention to the stew and scratched his cheek. "Uh, she's, uh…Well, uh…"

"Let's start with a name."

"Blanche. She's a classmate."

"Mhm. Is that what she is?"

Archie leaned over the cauldron and stirred faster.

"Oh come on," Rowan laughed with that undeniable charisma of his. "I'm not your dad! You can tell me things."

Archie stirred faster.

Rowan set a stack of clean bowls down next to Archie. "I think it's sufficiently stirred."

"I don't know what she is," Archie blurted. "I—I—I know what she wants to be. But I don't—I've never—"

"Okay, okay," Rowan patted Archie's back. "I get it. You're a chicken."

"What?!" Archie turned, giant spoon still in hand, splashing red-brown stew up on the counter.

Rowan laughed and grabbed the spoon, plunging it down into the stew. "Archie, we put it into bowls, not on the counter."

"I'm not a chicken." Archie channeled his anger into a bowl, yanking it from the stack. He filled it up and reached across the counter to place it on the serving counter. "Well, maybe I am. It's just…I feel like for once in my life, everything is balanced."

"You're afraid of the drama it might cause?"

"Exactly."

Rowan slapped the back of Archie's head.

"Ow!"

"Quit looking for excuses and just live life. You're the least present-minded kid I've ever met."

Archie scoffed and poured stew with attitude. "I'm not a kid. I'm nineteen."

Rowan laughed. "Sure. Sure. Well, since you're such a grown adult, if you decide it's time for a little romance, here's a tip. Meet her where she's at."

"What does that even mean?"

"Early on in a relationship, your interests don't matter as much as hers."

Archie scoffed again. "It should be fifty-fifty."

"Should has nothing to do with it. I'm telling you, if you want to make things work, live her way for a while. Then you can get her to warm up to your interests." Rowan nodded and smiled as a diner took one of the bowls. "What even are your interests?"

Archie ran his bottom teeth along his upper lip as he considered the question. What were his interests? This time last year, it was an easy answer. He was interested in becoming a world-famous Chef and restoring the Kent name and reviving Petrichor. But his father had already gotten Petrichor back to financial stability, and the Tamani tree would give it all the publicity it needed to thrive. The Kent name was already on its way back—at least his grandfather's legacy would be erased soon enough. That just left becoming a world-famous Chef. And while that fire still burned within him, the color of the flame had changed.

"I want to fight."

"Well, that should be easy enough. Here's what to do. Go to the eastern border of Kuutsu Nuna, walk into the street, and say western barbecue is better. You'll be fighting for the rest of your life, short as it'll be."

"Not like that. I want to fight here. In The Serving Bowl. I want everyone in Ambrosia City watching me fight. Cheering me on. Giving me their strength."

"Ah, so just a small goal then." Rowan chuckled to himself. "How are you going to make it happen?"

"Well, I need to train first."

"How are you going to have a fight in The Serving Bowl?"

"Oh. I guess…they have amateur events. But I'm not at that level."

"You should ask Tarragon. He could probably get a special event set up."

Archie shrugged. "I dunno. I don't want to bother—"

"Archie." Rowan stared Archie down. Despite claiming to not be his father, Rowan certainly knew how to look at him that certain way. "Life's gonna pass you by if you don't start taking action. Just look. You went to Khala. Good things happened. Life rewards those who take their destinies into their own hands. Go kiss that girl. Ask for a favor. Fight with everyone's eyes on you. Just quit being so passive. Figure out what you want and dedicate yourself to it."

"I want to fight in The Serving Bowl," Archie declared.

"Great. I'll see you there by the end of the year."

"Rowan!" Arty cheered as he entered The Gift.

"Arty!" Rowan smacked Archie's chest. "You didn't tell me your dad came."

"He wanted to wander around for a while," Archie sighed. "He always wants to wander around. But we've got places to be."

Rowan and Arty embraced in a warm hug. Archie wondered if Rowan had ever felt like a father to Arty. It was a strange thought—Arty as a child running around while a young Rowan cooked for a Glutton.

"Ah, you kids," Rowan laughed. "Always got places to be. Go save your girl-whatever before Chandler yaps her ear off."

"I like Chandler," Blanche said as they walked up the Trunk.

"Yeah, she has a lot to say," Archie laughed.

"She likes you a lot. She said you make a good clown."

"Oh yeah? What'd you say to that?"

Blanche shrugged and flashed a coy smile. "I told her I already knew that."

"Yeah, yeah." Archie looked up at the Trunk's uphill streets and uniform buildings. They seemed smaller and more compact after spending so much time in the relatively spacious Khaldeer. People pushed past each other and yelled over each other and ran from this place to that. The people were two times as many and five times as busy. "I forgot what this place felt like."

"Me too."

Arty put his arm around Archie's shoulder, pulling him away from Blanche. "Don't you just love the energy of the city?!"

"It beats a cave," Blanche joked.

"Yeah. It's got its ups and down," Archie answered.

"Just ups in the Trunk," Arty said as he pointed up at the rest of the city. "The roads aren't too bad, but the stairs. The stairs! My calves are always burning."

Archie laughed as they went up one of the countless sets of stairs that punctuated the Trunk. "These are easy. You should try hiking up a mountain in the snow."

"No, no." Arty dismissed the idea with a wave of the hand. "My place is in Petrichor. Yours is out there in the mountains fighting demon creatures and talking to gods."

Archie pointed at The Serving Bowl in the distance. Even from the lower end of the Trunk, they could see the grand archways of the arena as it stood tall on a rock outcropping that hung over the rest of the city. "That's my place."

"Ooooh, I wonder if they're having a fight today." Arty shook Archie's shoulders. "We should go."

Archie grinned and looked at Blanche. She pursed her lips in a wince that was just small enough for him to see.

"I kinda want to get to the greenhouse," she said.

Rowan's advice rang in Archie's head. Meet her at her interests. But his father was in town! And he hadn't been to a fight in so long! And he could actually afford to go now…and…and…

"Okay, let's go straight to the Academy," Archie said. "Not today, dad."

Arty gave Archie a nod of approval. "That's fine. I still can't believe you got to see Tataki fight. I'd give anything for that."

"Well then come up sometime during the year. You can't just be visiting me once per year. Bring mom."

"Eh, your mom hates the city. She says people here are too rude. That's why she stayed home."

"Well, you'll just have to leave her behind and come up for a weekend."

Arty laughed. "We'll see. I don't like being away from her for more than a couple of nights. One day you'll understand." He raised his eyebrows and nodded at Blanche. Archie didn't dare to turn to look at her.

Blanche must have sensed his nervousness, or perhaps she was just too excited to get back to the greenhouse. Either way, she changed the subject. "I wonder how my corn plant is doing. Ooo, and my peace lilies. And I know Juniper was planning to grow some peppers while it was warm. I wonder if she…"

Archie smiled at his dad and turned to Blanche, nodding along with her excitement, meeting her at her interests.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.