Willow and his family got to work on packing up as much of their few belongings as they could as soon as they got home. With him being the only one given a brief break in the afternoon for his daily qi exercises.
Willow decided to take this opportunity to switch back to girl mode for the foreseeable future, as her boy form was more likely to get her in trouble right now, much as that irked her.
Something that she mentioned over a dinner consisting of leftovers from the day’s luncheon, as everyone was too busy to cook.
“So I’ll be a girl again until we’re done moving. Don’t want Aunt Sarah getting weird about it again, and I don’t want Scholar Mu to have a reason to be even more curious about me.”
Her father blinked at her. “I heard about some of what happened with Sarah, but what’s this about Mu?”
“The rest of her emotions get all quiet when she gets curious about something. Makes me nervous.”
Both of the adults stared at her, with Jieun being the one to comment, connecting a dot about the previous night. “And she was already curious enough about you to try and scan you without your permission.”
Willow nodded. “I shouldn’t let her find out about Change and Harmony, right? Or the other stuff going on with me…”
She felt a strong mix of emotions in her father as he stroked his beard in thought, anxiety chief among them.
“I’ll have a talk with her, there’s something I wanted to discuss with her anyways. For now you have the right of it. Try to keep her in the dark for a little longer.”
Her aunt looked at her Da a little oddly, likely picking up an undercurrent to the conversation that Willow wasn’t getting, but it did remind her of another thing she wanted to ask the group.
“Is it all right if I borrow Aunt Jieun for something tomorrow? Promise it’ll be fast.”
“Sprout, we gotta get ready as fast as possible, it’s rude to make Scholar Mu have to wait around for us.”
“What do you even need me for anyways?” Her aunt asked, curious.
The girl fidgeted in her seat. “Wanted it to be a surprise.”
Her father crossed his arms. “Well it’s not gonna happen unless you tell us.”
She sighed. “Fine… I know of a spirit that Aunt Jieun could become friends with. They were even nice to me when I met them. Thought she’d like the chance to make a new friend, since she currently feels so lonely and sad.”
Jieun stiffened a bit at what her niece had revealed to the table, and a touch of anger colored her qi. “Willow, don’t talk about my emotional state to others. You should know better than that by now.”
Right, she probably shouldn’t have mentioned that last part. Even if it was completely true and made her worry about her aunt.
Willow hung her head. “I’m sorry, you’re right, that was rude.”
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Her father was tapping his finger on the old table, clearly thinking. “What kind of spirit, and how far away is it?”
She perked up due to her Da actually considering her proposed outing.
“They’re a river spirit and it’s not too far into the woods. I made it there and back well before dinner when I was just wandering around. Since I know where it is it’ll take even less time!”
Both adults' eyes lit up in recognition, with Jieun being the one to actually respond. “Oh, that one. Are you sure they’re friendly? My husband made sure to steer clear of them.”
Willow smiled. “Yup! I slipped and almost fell into their river, and they stopped me! They even told me to be more careful after.”
Or at least that’s how she interpreted the way the spirit’s qi had bubbled. It reminded her of when her sister chided her for doing something dangerous.
“You really shouldn't've been playing around in the forest, sprout.” Her father gently scolded her. “I thought after the qi exhaustion incident you’d be more careful.”
Jieun defended her niece. “If she hadn’t been doing that we likely wouldn’t have found out about the Bloom until it was far too late. Besides, she has no reason to now that she’s looking for a water spirit instead of an earth one.”
Had she not mentioned Calypso to any of the grown ups?
Yew cleared his throat. “Actually, she got a water spirit right after you were taken.”
Willow nodded to her brother and figured this would be as good a time as any. She brought out the little rain drop, introducing them to the rest of her family.
“This is Calypso, they were born last night.”
The red flecked raindrop drifted closer to her aunt, who was currently seated next to the girl. The small spirit was intrigued by the feeling of recognition they had when looking at the older woman.
Jieun stared at the tiny being, their qi clearly a mixture of her old spirits with a touch of something new. Pain and grief flashed across her face for a moment before she put her mask back in place.
“Greetings, little one.” She said with a calm voice that didn’t convey the tumultuous emotional state she was currently in.
The raindrop drew closer, uncomprehending of the words spoken to them.
“They can’t understand people talking to them, but if you try sending stuff with qi they usually listen.” Willow helpfully informed her aunt.
Jieun placed her finger on the little spirit, sending the same message she had just spoken. Calypso wiggled joyfully in response.
“They’re happy to meet you!” Willow translated for her new friend.
“I can see that for myself, child.” Jieun replied with a slight smile.
She continued to play with Calypso, sending little pulses of qi at them and watching as they wibbled and warped in response, that same small smile lingering on her face.
Willow felt her aunt’s emotions begin to shift, the dark swirl of pain and anxiety she had been stuck in all day soothed for the moment, replaced with an almost motherly warmth and affection for the little raindrop.
Eventually Jieun glanced over to her niece and wrapped an arm around her in a half hug. “I hope you take good care of them.”
“Of course I will!” Willow said as she leaned into the embrace.
Jieun locked eyes with Rowan for a moment. “If it won’t take too much time, I can at least meet this river spirit. If we get along I could try and negotiate a binding.”
“Is your core up for that?”
“It’ll probably hurt if I go for anything complex, but a simple binding should be fine. It’s why I’ll only go for it if the spirit is of an even temperament.”
Her father nodded a bit, still thinking about how his plans for tomorrow would shift.
“While you two go and handle that, I’ll try to have that talk with Scholar Mu.”
Willow looked between the two adults with a smile on her face. They were going along with her idea!
Hopefully the river spirit was still as nice as she remembered.
