div id="chapters" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: #2a2a2a;"
div class="userstuff" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14.553px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Aloha Ku'uipo." Flora said softly, as she approached her daughter. "What are you up to my little flower? And all by yourself?" In the middle of the floor sat her five year old, Penelope, surrounded by various little toys and trinkets she had gotten for her birthday that day. The little girl looked up, her mitch-matched eyes lighting up at the sight of her mother. Without saying a word the little girl gestured to all the small objects surrounding her and turned back to her mother with a soft smile on her tiny /"You're playing with all your toys." Flora said, verbalizing the little girl's unspoken answer. "Can mommy play with you?" In answer the girl's smile widened as she scooted over to make room for her mother on the floor beside /"Which one can mommy play with?" Asked Flora as she crossed her legs underneath herself. Penelope looked around, a look of concentration on her face, before she reached forward to grab a fluffy teddy bear her Uncle Duman had given her earlier. She gently placed the toy in her mother's lap and turned to pick up a toy for herself. A worn, hand-made straw doll that Anagan had made while Flora was still pregnant. It was one of the few things they were able to bring with them when they fled Linphea. The little girl lovingly stroked the dolls fraying head before bringing it to her /"Is that your favorite toy Ku'uipo?" Flora asked hoping she might get a verbal answer, though knowing the possibilities were slim. As Flora assumed instead of speaking Penelope only hugged the doll closer to her chest as she nodded up at her /"Did you enjoy your birthday?" Penelope smiled with a nod then looked way from her mother, lost in thought for a moment before she turned back. A look of uncertainty on her face. Penelope slowly reached for Flora's hand, tenderly running her tiny fingers over her mother's palm before laying her doll in it. The frayed hair and grass skirt were starting to come apart and the small vines holding the doll together were coming /"Of course my little flower." Flora said with a soft smile, once again understanding her daughter's unspoken request. Flora carefully laid her other hand over the doll in her palm. Though it was difficult to try and use as little magic as possible, within moments the fraying and broken pieces of the doll were restored. Penelope's face broke out into a bright smile as Flora handed it back to her. With her doll wrapped securely in her own arms Penelope dove into her mother's lap, nuzzling into her /"You're very welcome Ku'uipo." Flora said with a soft giggle. "Is there anything else you'd like?" Penelope shook her head as she made herself comfortable in her mother's arms. After a few moments of comfortable silence Penelope once again grabbed her mother's hand and began to draw little patterns on her palm with her tiny fingers. Then she turned to look up at her mother, her brows scrunched up in /Once again Flora knew what her daughter was trying to ask her without spoken words. Like the rest of her little family, they've learned to understand her without them. But Flora didn't know how to answer her question without having to relive the pain of losing her husband. How do you explain to a little girl the dangers of using her magic? The difference between good and bad? Dark and light? Life and death?br /"Well Ku'uipo because-" Flora started. Trying to find the right words. "Because mommy and Aunty Musa have good magic in them." Penelope reached into her pile of toys and pulled out a tiny wooden fairy that her Uncle Gantlos had carved for her(She still wasn't sure how she felt about that, but Penelope seemed to love it and Flora didn't have the heart to discourage her), and held it up to her mother. "Yes my flower, fairy magic. Mommy has a very strong fairy magic in her. The magic of life and nature. That's how mommy can hear planets and help them grow." Flora paused to look down at her daughter to find her looking at her intently, her mitch-matched eyes focused on her mother's face. "But just like there is good magic, there is also bad magic. There are bad people who want to take good magic for themselves." Penelope looked at her mother in shock, her lips parted in a silent gasp. "Yes, but as long as mommy and Aunty Musa don't use our magic very much, the bad people won't be able to try and take it. So there's no need to fret my flower." Flora finished as she hugged Penelope closer to her, hoping she had done a good enough job of explaining to her daughter without going into too much detail. That would hopefully be a story for when she was much /After that they both fell into a comfortable silence once again. A few minutes later Penelope let out a tiny yawn. Flora giggled softly as she lifted her daughter off the /"The moon has set, and it's time for little flowers to go to sleep." Flora said as she gently laid Penelope on her bed, her doll still wrapped securely in her arms. Flora leaned down to give her daughter a tender kiss on the head. "Good night Penny. Sleep well." Her only reply was a sleepy smile as she turned off the light and left the room. As she made her way down the hall Flora saw Musa carrying her own sleeping daughter in her /"Penny knocked out too?" Musa asked as she walked by /"Yes. I just laid her in her bed. Mindful of her toys, I didn't pick them up yet." Flora warned as Musa made her way to the girls' room to lay Symphony /"Gotcha." Said Musa. "Be back down in a sec to help you and the guys clean up." With that both women continued their treks to the opposite ends of the hall. Though the sadness still liked to rear its ugly head, they were both grateful for the good days they were still able to enjoy with their little family./p
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div class="afterword preface group" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 3em 2.5em; padding: 0.643em 0.643em 0px; float: none; color: #2a2a2a;"
div id="work_endnotes" class="end notes module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.643em; position: relative; width: auto; float: none; clear: right; min-height: 5em;"
h3 class="heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; word-break: break-all; background: transparent; border-style: initial initial solid initial;"**Author's Notes/h3
h3 class="heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; word-break: break-all; background: transparent; border-style: initial initial solid initial;"Ku'uipo is Hawaiian for sweetheart. For some reason Flora struck me as islander-esk so; just as I'm using some mandarin/Chinese /h3
span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 13.23px;"phrases for Musa; I'm going to throw in some hawaiian and other native islander words and slang for Flora./span/div
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div class="userstuff" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14.553px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Aloha Ku'uipo." Flora said softly, as she approached her daughter. "What are you up to my little flower? And all by yourself?" In the middle of the floor sat her five year old, Penelope, surrounded by various little toys and trinkets she had gotten for her birthday that day. The little girl looked up, her mitch-matched eyes lighting up at the sight of her mother. Without saying a word the little girl gestured to all the small objects surrounding her and turned back to her mother with a soft smile on her tiny /"You're playing with all your toys." Flora said, verbalizing the little girl's unspoken answer. "Can mommy play with you?" In answer the girl's smile widened as she scooted over to make room for her mother on the floor beside /"Which one can mommy play with?" Asked Flora as she crossed her legs underneath herself. Penelope looked around, a look of concentration on her face, before she reached forward to grab a fluffy teddy bear her Uncle Duman had given her earlier. She gently placed the toy in her mother's lap and turned to pick up a toy for herself. A worn, hand-made straw doll that Anagan had made while Flora was still pregnant. It was one of the few things they were able to bring with them when they fled Linphea. The little girl lovingly stroked the dolls fraying head before bringing it to her /"Is that your favorite toy Ku'uipo?" Flora asked hoping she might get a verbal answer, though knowing the possibilities were slim. As Flora assumed instead of speaking Penelope only hugged the doll closer to her chest as she nodded up at her /"Did you enjoy your birthday?" Penelope smiled with a nod then looked way from her mother, lost in thought for a moment before she turned back. A look of uncertainty on her face. Penelope slowly reached for Flora's hand, tenderly running her tiny fingers over her mother's palm before laying her doll in it. The frayed hair and grass skirt were starting to come apart and the small vines holding the doll together were coming /"Of course my little flower." Flora said with a soft smile, once again understanding her daughter's unspoken request. Flora carefully laid her other hand over the doll in her palm. Though it was difficult to try and use as little magic as possible, within moments the fraying and broken pieces of the doll were restored. Penelope's face broke out into a bright smile as Flora handed it back to her. With her doll wrapped securely in her own arms Penelope dove into her mother's lap, nuzzling into her /"You're very welcome Ku'uipo." Flora said with a soft giggle. "Is there anything else you'd like?" Penelope shook her head as she made herself comfortable in her mother's arms. After a few moments of comfortable silence Penelope once again grabbed her mother's hand and began to draw little patterns on her palm with her tiny fingers. Then she turned to look up at her mother, her brows scrunched up in /Once again Flora knew what her daughter was trying to ask her without spoken words. Like the rest of her little family, they've learned to understand her without them. But Flora didn't know how to answer her question without having to relive the pain of losing her husband. How do you explain to a little girl the dangers of using her magic? The difference between good and bad? Dark and light? Life and death?br /"Well Ku'uipo because-" Flora started. Trying to find the right words. "Because mommy and Aunty Musa have good magic in them." Penelope reached into her pile of toys and pulled out a tiny wooden fairy that her Uncle Gantlos had carved for her(She still wasn't sure how she felt about that, but Penelope seemed to love it and Flora didn't have the heart to discourage her), and held it up to her mother. "Yes my flower, fairy magic. Mommy has a very strong fairy magic in her. The magic of life and nature. That's how mommy can hear planets and help them grow." Flora paused to look down at her daughter to find her looking at her intently, her mitch-matched eyes focused on her mother's face. "But just like there is good magic, there is also bad magic. There are bad people who want to take good magic for themselves." Penelope looked at her mother in shock, her lips parted in a silent gasp. "Yes, but as long as mommy and Aunty Musa don't use our magic very much, the bad people won't be able to try and take it. So there's no need to fret my flower." Flora finished as she hugged Penelope closer to her, hoping she had done a good enough job of explaining to her daughter without going into too much detail. That would hopefully be a story for when she was much /After that they both fell into a comfortable silence once again. A few minutes later Penelope let out a tiny yawn. Flora giggled softly as she lifted her daughter off the /"The moon has set, and it's time for little flowers to go to sleep." Flora said as she gently laid Penelope on her bed, her doll still wrapped securely in her arms. Flora leaned down to give her daughter a tender kiss on the head. "Good night Penny. Sleep well." Her only reply was a sleepy smile as she turned off the light and left the room. As she made her way down the hall Flora saw Musa carrying her own sleeping daughter in her /"Penny knocked out too?" Musa asked as she walked by /"Yes. I just laid her in her bed. Mindful of her toys, I didn't pick them up yet." Flora warned as Musa made her way to the girls' room to lay Symphony /"Gotcha." Said Musa. "Be back down in a sec to help you and the guys clean up." With that both women continued their treks to the opposite ends of the hall. Though the sadness still liked to rear its ugly head, they were both grateful for the good days they were still able to enjoy with their little family./p
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div class="afterword preface group" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 3em 2.5em; padding: 0.643em 0.643em 0px; float: none; color: #2a2a2a;"
div id="work_endnotes" class="end notes module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.643em; position: relative; width: auto; float: none; clear: right; min-height: 5em;"
h3 class="heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; word-break: break-all; background: transparent; border-style: initial initial solid initial;"**Author's Notes/h3
h3 class="heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; word-break: break-all; background: transparent; border-style: initial initial solid initial;"Ku'uipo is Hawaiian for sweetheart. For some reason Flora struck me as islander-esk so; just as I'm using some mandarin/Chinese /h3
span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 13.23px;"phrases for Musa; I'm going to throw in some hawaiian and other native islander words and slang for Flora./span/div
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