Carter
I pulled a thick dusty book off of the shelf in the library, coughing as the dust billowed up and settled into my mouth. Slamming the book down on the table, I flipped it open.
"R…R… Why isn't she in here?!" I groaned in frustration. Sadie sauntered in, carrying a peanut butter sandwich, and leaned over my book.
"What're you doing?" she asked, her mouth full of peanut butter. I jumped away from her, dragging the book away as well.
"Get your food out of here! Cleo will kill you!" Sadie sighed.
"Oh, dear brother. Always about the rules. So, who are you looking for?" I rolled my eyes.
"No one, Sadie." I replied, trying to close my book. Sadie put her hand on my page and flipped the book around to read what was on the page.
"First Nome Records, eh? The R's, hmm?" Sadie looked at me knowingly. "Why are you stalking Zia?"
"I'm not stalking her!" I exclaimed. "I'm just… looking for her birth date. She doesn't know when her birthday is, so I thought it'd be nice to celebrate it for once." Sadie smirked at me.
"Ask a shabati, genius." She suggested, sauntering off towards her bedroom. I rolled my eyes in her direction, but turned to a retrieval shabati.
"Find me a copy of Zia Rashid's birth records." I told it, being careful to emphasize the word "copy". Ever since the whole "disappearance of the palette of Narmar" thing, Amos told us to never ask for the originals. He also told Sadie to stop ordering out for pizza, but I don't think she listened to either of those orders.
The shabati zoomed back into sight holding a piece of paper. I took the sheet from the clay figure before it turned solid again and read the tiny print.
"Yesss!" I exclaimed, running to my room. I banged on Sadie's door, which promptly creaked open to reveal Walt and Sadie sitting side-by-side watching a movie.
"Oh, jeez!" I yelped. "Sadie, what the heck? What happened to "no boys in your room"?" Sadie blushed red, but stayed sitting.
"Sorry, man." Walt said, jumping to his feet. "I wasn't trying to-" I put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's fine. I guess I've just gotta get used to Sadie actually going out with someone." I sighed. "Anyway, I need your help."
"You found Zia's birthday?" Sadie asked. I nodded. Walt looked between the two of us.
"What, now!?" he asked. Sadie sighed.
"Never mind that; it's just one of Carter's failed attempts at romance."
"Hey!" I protested. Walt cracked up, while Bast, Cleo, Felix and Jaz stealthily filed into the room, standing right behind me.
"So, you're having a birthday party for her, or what?" Felix asked, causing me to jump three feet into the air. Khufu leaped in through the window, holding a mini box of Cheerios.
"Agh!" He exclaimed, offering me a piece of cereal. I politely declined and Khufu slunk off to sit on Cleo's feet.
"Well, I wanted to celebrate with Zia somehow, but I don't have any ideas, and her birthday's in three days. Can you guys help?" Bast put her arms around me and hugged me tightly.
"Aww, my little kitten is such the romantic!" Sadie scoffed, gagging mockingly in my direction.
"Okay, let's get to work." Cleo exclaimed, gracefully disrupting a brewing fight between the Kane siblings…again.
Break
Zia
"H-hey, Zia." Carter stammered, coming up behind me while I was standing on the terrace at Brooklyn House. I smiled at him, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. Carter started to flush red and I put a hand on his shoulder.
"Okay, cards on the table. Why are you acting so strange?" Carter shrugged and I fixed my eyes on his.
"Will you just come with me?" he asked, offering me his hand. I took it, squeezing it slightly, and he flushed red once again. He lead me into the library and I blinked in surprise.
"Why are all the lights out?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly. I felt Carter's hand slip out of mine, and my heart started to pound. I heard whispering and rustling and I reached my hand back, prepared to summon a weapon out of the Duat.
"Carter?" I asked frantically. There was no answer, so I reached back and summoned my kopesh. Suddenly the lights flickered on and shouts rang out.
"Surprise!"
"Happy birthday!"
"I brought penguins!"
I gasped, letting my weapon drop to the floor. The library was covered in streamers, balloons and banners. There was a brightly colored cake on the library table, and a smaller cake was sitting next to Khufu, who had his face buried in the frosting.
"What is this?" I whispered, my throat constricting. Sadie sidled up next to me and threw her arm around my shoulder.
"This, my dear, is a birthday party." I pulled back.
"Birthday?" I asked in shock. Sadie nodded.
"Carter found out when your birthday is, so we threw a party!" Felix explained, hopping up and down. I looked at Carter, who looked down at the floor, studying the wood grain. I felt a familiar prickling behind my eyes, a sure sign that I was about to cry, and I bolted out the door and back onto the terrace, leaving some very confused magicians behind.
I turned my face to the cold wind, silently willing myself to get a handle on my emotions.
Why are you crying? I asked myself. It's just a birthday party!
"Zia?" Carter asked tentatively, standing in the doorway. I wiped tears off of my cheeks before facing him, but Carter picked up on my distress.
"I-I'm sorry-" he stammered. "I thought y-you'd like to have a party after not knowing when your birthday was." I gave him a watery smile.
"No, Carter, you are very sweet. Thank you for thinking of me." I gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then laughed as he blushed crimson.
"Then why were you crying?" Carter asked, lacing his fingers into mine.
"Honestly, I don't know." I confessed. "The last time I celebrated my birthday, I was a little girl, back in my village. I guess it just brought up sad memories." Carter nodded.
"Well, hopefully we can make some good memories this time." Carter murmured. I squeezed his hand and leaned my head on his shoulder.
"Well, right now, I'd like to make a memory of eating some cake!" I exclaimed. Carter laughed and we walked back inside to the library, ready to laugh at Felix's penguins, thank the gods for not allowing Sadie to bake the cake and celebrate a day that would always hold beauty, happiness and a touch of sadness in my heart.
Well, there you have it! This is my first Kane Chronicles fic, so please let me know if there are ways I could improve! Constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not…
I'd like to dedicate this one-shot to one of my cyber-friends who loves Rick Riordan as much as I do. Her new baby sister was born this morning at 5:30 A.M. Happy birthday, little Avery!
This is part of a series of one-shots that I'm posting in "countdown" to my birthday, which also doubles as my 2nd anniversary on Fanfiction! For more info and to see the complete list of fandoms for which I'll be posting stories, check out my profile!
Love y'all!
~Mandi/WithPaperAndPen