Archie looked out the window of the carriage. "We're getting close," he said. He didn't recognize any particular landmark, but he recognized the feeling. The way the air smelled. The way the sky caught the sun. The endless green fields that were littered with yellow splotches of grass and the occasional oak tree that could fit a house beneath its sprawling branches.

"Are you excited to be home?" Blanche asked.

"I'm excited for this." He patted the chest pocket of his jacket. He had kept the acorn there since the moment he got it, feeling to confirm its presence countless times throughout the day.

"You'll have to be patient. Don't expect the world to change the moment you put it in the soil."

"I know, I know." Archie smiled at Blanche and then leaned out the window, the air whipping through his hair. "I'll expect the world to change the moment you start growing it."

Blanche tugged on his jacket. "You'll fall out."

He resisted her pull once, twice, but gave in on the third time, returning to the cabin. "After all that time in the cave, I thought you'd be done with cramped, dark places. I thought you were like a plant, always needing sun."

Blanche leaned back, her features disappearing into the shadows. "Things can grow in the dark too, you know," she teased in a voice that made Archie miss a breath.

He put a hand over his chest pocket and leaned his head near the window. Blanche had a certain way of riling him up, and he liked their flirty energy, but he was happy to leave it at that for now. He'd keep it that way for as long as she let him—which he got the impression wouldn't be for long.

"I'm excited to see your parents again," Blanche said. "I wanted to spend more than one night on our way to Khala. I don't think they'll remember me."

"They'll remember you."

Blanche shrugged. "They won't remember my name, I bet."

Archie laughed. "Well, they will. We'll be here for a week."

"Why not longer?"

"Well, the Festival of Ambrosia is coming up. I figured you'd want to be in the city for that."

Blanche brushed her hair with her hands. "I'm okay with staying here for the Festival. I can treat it like a real vacation. As long as we get back for the Summit."

"Eager to test for your yellow jacket?"

"I'm excited for the parade. You're the one excited about the jacket." Blanche stuck her tongue out. "I'm still taking the test, though. It should be pretty easy—Picea graded my foraging at twenty five points, and that replaces one of my cooking scores. Assuming I didn't get worse at anything over the summer, I'll get my yellow jacket easy."

Archie leaned back into the carriage. Rank-talk got him more excited than the view outside. "Wanna bet who gets a higher score?"

Blanche scrunched her face up. "Nah. You'd win."

Archie pursed his lips to hide a frown and leaned back to the window. Nori would have challenged him. He hoped she was finally eating again.

"My baby!" Adeline yelled as she ran to Archie, catching him just two steps inside the doors of Petrichor.

"Hi, mom," he groaned. He knew better than to try to convince her that he was a grown man, not in fact a baby. He hugged her back, counting to three, and then peeled himself away and motioned to Blanche. If they had forgotten her, he didn't want Blanche to know it. "You remember Blanche. She was part of our group on the way up."

"Yes, of course!" Adeline said as she hugged Blanche. Whether or not she remembered was irrelevant—she was a hugger through and through. "So good to see you."

"Where's dad?"

"Oh, he's back in the kitchen. He figured you'd be hungry after traveling. Arty! Your son is here!" She yelled loud enough to make Archie flinch. But then she was back to her sweet, motherly ways. She gripped Archie's bicep. "Well, you gained some muscle, but you still look skinny!"

"We were stuck in a cave for almost a week," Archie said, smirking as he walked past her, intentionally leaving her dumbfounded. Being back home brought him a sense of childish mischief.

"A cave? What?"

Blanche shook her head at Archie and placed her hand on Adeline's forearm. "We'll tell the story, don't worry."

"Dad!"

A voice echoed from the kitchen. "Archie?" The kitchen door swung open and Arty poked his head out. "Archie!"

He walked to Archie, who jogged forward for a hug.

"I think he's taller," Adeline commented.

Arty took a step back, straightened his back, and held his chin up high, comparing himself to Archie. "Nope. Still got him by an inch," he declared before bursting into laughter. Archie shot him an exaggerated scowl. For a few years, it seemed like Archie was going to catch his father, but he never did.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Oh, and Blanche!" Arty called out. Archie wondered if he had heard her name earlier or if he truly remembered. Either way, she got a hug too. "Where's everyone else?"

"They're still in Khaldeer finishing up a special project," Archie answered. He tapped his chest pocket. "And I brought something special for here, too."

Arty waved to dismiss him. "Later, later. First, you have to eat! I figured you'd need something refreshing, so I made some spiced chickpeas in yogurt."

"That can wait, dad."

"Nonsense! I haven't seen you in months and I want to sit down and eat with you. Everything else in the world can wait."

Archie groaned and dug into his pocket. "Dad, it's—"

"Uh-bup!" Arty raised a finger. "Tell me about it while we eat."

Blanche giggled as Arty disappeared into the kitchen. Archie looked at her with exasperation.

"You need me to grow it anyway," she said. "And I'm hungry."

Arty reemerged from the kitchen with two plates. "There are two more in—"

Archie didn't wait for his father to finish the sentence. He dashed into the kitchen, grabbed the plates, and had them set on the table before Arty's.

"Okay, so—"

"Uh-bup-bup-bup!" Arty raised his finger again as they took their seats. "Not before you've had a bite."

Archie whipped his spoon across the plate—the chickpeas would have flown across the room if not for the yogurt. He jammed the spoon in his mouth. It was beyond delicious—he didn't know if he had ever made something so flavorful—but he only let it sit on his tongue for a flash of a moment before swallowing it. He set his spoon back down and pulled out the acorn, resting it gently on the table.

Arty leaned forward and reached for it, stopping his fingers just shy of its golden glow. Even without leaning forward, Archie could feel the essence emanating from the acorn.

"What is it?" Arty asked.

"That…" Archie grinned. "Is our new legacy."

At first, the meal moved along at a glacial place. Archie just wanted to plant the acorn. But sometime between describing the horror of Picea's stew bath and the horrors of the tariaksuq, Archie settled down and enjoyed his father's cooking. He laughed as his mother covered her eyes when he described the enukin. He turned the story over to Blanche to describe the Tamani trees. She was better at capturing beauty. Once they had hit all the high points of their trip, his parents started to ask Blanche about her upbringing, and Archie's impatience returned.

"Come on…" he groaned. Everyone laughed at his misery. He lost it, rocking back in his chair. "I've been waiting forever! Let's plant it!"

"It's a tree, Archie," Adeline said. "It takes a while to grow. An hour won't make a difference."

Archie groaned even louder. He made eye contact with Arty, who nodded. "Alright," he said. "Where are we planting it?"

Archie shot up out of his seat. "Out front!"

"Out front?" Arty asked, but Archie was already halfway to the door. They followed him outside, laughing at his manic arm waving.

"We're pretty close to the center of town. And we got this big plot of grass right here. We can build some community gardens. All the restaurants will reopen around here. It'll be the heart of Sain!"

"We'll call it the Archie tree," Adeline said.

The thought excited Archie. He'd be the hero of Sain, forever remembered for his deeds. But then the thought struck him as odd. His smile faded as he considered it. Arty stared at him with that familiar fatherly expression, full of inquisitive thought.

"No," Archie said, his voice floaty and lacking its previous fervor. "I may have brought it here, but it was given to me. It's a Tamani tree."

Arty smiled with fatherly pride. "Well, let's plant it, then."

Archie grinned. "Get a shovel. And my pitcher of water!"

Blanche handled the acorn, placing it gently in the soil and covering it up again. She patted the soil until it was level.

"Okay," Archie said, shaking with excitement. "Make it grow."

Blanche furrowed her brow as she considered the soil. "No, it needs a moment to itself. It's not ready yet."

Archie's impatience burned like a bonfire. "What? How do you know?"

"I just do." She shrugged, reminding Archie of their first day in Quince's class. She had figured cultivation out instantly, but she couldn't explain how then either. He just had to trust her.

Word got out around town that Archie had returned, and soon, the kitchen of Petrichor was fired up to serve dinner. They made cinnamon brewet with a gravy of grounded almonds and red wine, and made corn chowder and white bean soup and loaves of bread that had the most perfect fluffy texture.

Adeline ended up volunteering Archie to sleep on the couch, giving Blanche his room. They ate early and often, as quickly as Arty could cook, replenishing themselves from their days of Khalyan scarcity.

They went back out to the acorn on the second day, but once again, Blanche said it needed time. They watered it until Blanche said it was sated, and then left it. That night, Archie made blueberry barbecue skewers with summer vegetables and wheat berries, earning a round of applause from the diners. Even Blanche got involved in the kitchen—a rare thing for her to do. Arty showed her the Kuutsan way of grinding corn and turning it into masa to make tortillas, filling them with sweet potatoes and black beans.

On the third day, Archie and Blanche went back out to the acorn, and Blanche smiled.

"It's ready." She placed her hands on the soil and closed her eyes. "I love your parents," she said.

"Yeah, they like you too," he laughed. He tried to not think about how the previous night, his mother pulled him aside and made it awkwardly clear that he and Blanche could sleep in the same room 'if that's the situation.' He stopped her short of making a comment about grandchildren.

"They're so nice," Blanche said. "I see where you get it from."

Archie scoffed. "You think I'm nice?"

"Hm." Blanche reconsidered her words with a playful frown. "From time to time, I suppose."

The soil moved, bulging up. A little green sprout emerged, wispy leaves unfolding from it. Archie watched in awe, a little laugh escaping him. Essence radiated from the sprout as it grew an inch every couple of seconds, enveloping him in warmth and comfort.

"What a year," Blanche said as she continued to work her magic. "I'm really glad we met, you know."

Archie felt a warmth radiating from Blanche that surpassed the tree's. He hoped his cheeks weren't turning red. "Me too, Blanche."

The sprout grew faster and faster, the leaves taking full shape and glowing golden as the sprout grew to a foot tall. Archie blinked and blinked and blinked again, tears of joy glazing his eyes over. The warmth of the essence assaulted him as if he was sitting too close to the fire.

And then it changed. Like a drop of spice in a soup, Blanche flavored the essence, changing its entire profile. He felt her through the essence. He felt closer to her than ever. He smiled as bliss and a peculiar feeling washed over him.

But then he remembered where he had felt it before.

He remembered his nightmare, that horrible, prophetic feeling. Sain was on fire. His mother waited beneath the tree and the tree was Blanche. Nori fed her a bucket of blood.

Blanche took his hand, snapping him out of his trance. He felt as if he had just woken up from a dream and looked at her with confusion. She smiled at him.

"I'm really looking forward to what's next."

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.