"But—"

"No ifs, ands, or buts, Aria." Natalie sternly asserted to the young girl. The doctor finished wrapping gauze around Aria's arm and then meticulously checked her work. "I don't want you doing any kind of work with this arm for at least three days."

Aria opened her mouth to protest, but Natalie sent her a serious look that made her think better of it. Huffing in displeasure, she reluctantly nodded. "Okay."

"Good. Make sure you change the bandages regularly and come see me, Ray, or Dorothy if there's any trouble. Don't worry; you're a fast healer. You'll be good as new in no time."

Although Aria wasn't exactly happy about the situation, she politely thanked her before leaving the clinic.

She dragged her feet as she walked through town toward the farm. Despondent, she looked down at the white bandages that covered half of her forearm. How could she do her regular work on the fields and search for her father when she wasn't even allowed to pick up a sickle? It had to happen at the worst time, too; it was the beginning fall, so she needed to pull out the dead weeds of last month's crops and plant new ones.

"Aria!"

Aria stopped in front of the barn and quickly turned. Despite her previous misery the sound of the familiar voice never failed to make her smile. "Mom! You're back."

Yue, carrying around her usual large backpack like it was nothing, made her way toward Aria. She then wrapped her daughter in a big hug, which Aria enthusiastically returned. Due to Yue's job she was often traveling, meaning that she would be gone from home for days or even weeks at a time. Aria often missed her and always looked forward to the times she could spend time with her.

"People in Beriai really like their jewelry and exotic ingredients. I sold most of my wares in a heartbeat, so I decided to come home early." Yue explained once they had pulled apart.

"Great! That means you'll be here longer." Aria commented happily.

"Yep!" She agreed with a bright smile. As they started walking back to their house Yue noticed her arm. Concern immediately flashed in her eyes. "What happened to your arm? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just, er…fell…while I was playing hide and seek with Sera and Serena." She couldn't exactly tell her mother that it had been from a hobgoblin's sword. Her quest to find her other parent needed to remain secret; she couldn't risk someone finding out and making her stop.

Yue shook her head in amusement. "You're such a bad liar, Aria. Just like your father."

The girl rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish laugh. That wasn't the first time she had heard that.

"I'm glad to hear that you're okay, though. It would take a lot more than a little injury to take us down, right?" Yue teased.

"Right!"

As they neared the house, though, Aria's cheerful mood dimmed slightly. Noticing her lost smile, Yue turned to her again.

"Is something wrong?"

Aria sighed. "Since I hurt my arm Natalie said I can't do any work. But I have to! I need to get the crops planted by today."

"Hm…how about I help?" Yue suggested.

Her daughter looked at her with surprise and delight. "Really?"

"Sure! I don't really know much about those kinds of things, but I watched Kyle sometimes, so I'm sure I can figure it out. Besides, you'll be there to guide me. You're like a little expert farmer yourself. I bet you're better than anyone else in this town."

"Moooom." Aria groaned at the compliment, but her grin had returned. "Can we start now? We should try to get done as early as we can."

"Yeah. Just let me change and I'll be ready." Once they entered the house Yue headed upstairs to set down her pack and change. When she returned she was wearing a worn, faded purple kimono.

"Mom, it'll be hard for you if you wear a kimono." Aria sighed.

"Nah, I can do it. If I'm going to do something, I might as well look cute doing it!" Yue insisted.

Aria laughed, relenting. "Okay, okay. All of the tools are already outside, so let's go."

As the girl had said, the tools were already laid out beside the side of the house. She had put them out earlier that morning in preparation, before she had gone out to explore Messhina Valley and gotten hurt.

"First we need to cut down the dead plants from last month." Aria began, pointing toward the sickle. "We need to use that. Be careful; I sharpened it a few days ago."

"Got it." Yue carefully picked up the bladed tool. Watching the gleam on the iron blade, she gripped it in her hands. She stepped over to the field, eyed a brown patch of dead leaves, and swiped at it. The movement was a little unwieldy and slow, but she got the job done.

"I can pull out the smaller ones myself, so you take care of the big ones." Her daughter decided. Yue nodded in agreement and continued the task. Using her good arm, Aria pulled out some weeds and shriveled plants.

"Done. That wasn't too bad." The merchant noted, setting the sickle back in its place.

"We've barely gotten started, Mom." Aria laughed. "Now we need to use the hoe to till the dirt, right…here to here." She indicated with her finger the short stretch of land she wanted to use.

"Got it." Yue picked up the hoe and walked over to the specified area. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she hit it against the ground.

Aria bit her lip to avoid giggling. "No, not like that. Here, let me show you." The smaller girl took the hoe from her mother and demonstrated how to properly use it on a square patch of soil.

"Oh…I get it now," Yue said as she watched the other move onto another spot. Then, she frowned. "Hey, wait. Let me do the rest, Aria. You need to rest that arm."

Used to doing the work herself, she reluctantly stopped and handed over the tool with a pout. "But I'll get bored just watching you."

The merchant managed to properly till a little patch before answering. "Then let's talk." A mischievous tone entered her voice. "Oh, how are you and that Orland boy doing?"

"Me and Orland?" She questioned.

"Yeah. You two were adorable dancing together at the Dance Festival!"

Aria's cheeks flared. "I just wanted to dance and Orland needed a partner!"

"If you say so." Yue hummed, clearly not believing her. She stopped in her work to send a knowing wink at her daughter. "But just so you know, I do approve."

"Mom!"

Yue continued on as if she hadn't heard her. "His dad is a bit of a prick, but don't let that stop you. Just make sure that Orland treats you with nothing less than complete respect. And if he ever makes you cry, well…I know some places I could send him where he would never be heard from again." A wicked grin lit up her face.

"It's okay! He would never hurt me on purpose. Besides, we're just friends." Aria insisted, face red with embarrassment.

"Well, that's good. You're probably too young to start thinking about dating anyway. But if you ever need any advice, you can ask me whatever you want." As she spoke she finished her task and set the hoe aside.

"I know. Thanks." Her daughter smiled. "Now we need to plant the seeds. Can't I at least help you do that?"

Yue placed a hand on her chin in thought. "You probably shouldn't, but…we can keep it a secret from Natalie. Just be careful and don't overdo it, okay?"

"I won't!" Satisfied to be doing something, she bounded over to the small bags of seeds. She picked them up and handed two bags to Yue, keeping two for herself. She opened one bag of carrot seeds and picked some up in her fingers. "All you have to do is…this. Try to get them as even as possible."

As she spoke she scattered some of the seeds in the furrows of soil.

"That looks simple enough." Yue turned around the bags in her hand and peered at the labels. "These are…spinach and potatoes. Oh, I learned a new recipe in Beriai that we could use these for!"

Aria scrunched up her nose in displeasure. "It won't taste as bad as that weird stew you brought back from that super cold city place, will it?"

"Nope! Or at least I hope so." She sheepishly added before starting on the planting. "It doesn't hurt to try it though."

"True." Her daughter agreed, starting on her own job.

"Oh, that reminds me. You won't guess what happened yesterday while I was selling a sword."

"What happened?"

"So this guy, who was eating an apple, comes up to me and sees the sword, right? Then he scoffs and tells me that it had to be a terrible sword because it looked too pretty! He said that it probably couldn't even cut through butter."

Aria glanced over at her, curious. She always loved hearing her mother's stories about things that happened in far off lands. "That's mean! Everyone knows that you only sell stuff that's good."

"I know, right? Kyle made sure to teach me the importance of quality. Anyway, I told the guy that it was easily strong enough to take down a horde of goblins. He still didn't believe me." A grin grew on her face. "So I took the sword out, grabbed his apple, put it on the table, and then sliced it in half! You should have seen his face! He was so surprised he couldn't even speak."

Aria laughed. "I think you just scared him by swinging that sword around, Mom."

"It proved my point though, didn't it?" She pointed out with a smirk. "He bought it and ran off."

"Yeah." She agreed with a giggle. Having already completed her task several minutes ago, she looked over at Yue, who had just finished.

"Whew, all this stuff is hard work. You must be a toughie to do this and school. I need to bring you back an extra special gift next time I travel." Yue wiped the growing sweat from her forehead. Soil had dirtied the ends of her kimono sleeves; good thing it was old clothing.

"It's not so bad. I like it." Aria insisted. "All that's left is to water them."

"Now that's something I know how to do." Yue grabbed the watering can, filled it up using the well beside the house, and returned. She started down each row, tilting the can so it sprinkled adequate water on the newly sowed seeds.

When that was done she stretched her arms back. "There we go! All done."

"Thanks! We got done a lot faster than I thought we would."

"Of course we did. We're both strong young women who can do anything we put our minds to."

"Uh…but Mom, you're thirty—"

"Shush!" Yue interrupted. "Age is but a number. Let's keep that number a secret, shall we?"

"Er, okay." Aria didn't really understand what the big deal was about being old, but she shrugged it off.

"Looks like we still have half of the day ahead of us. Why don't we go inside and get something to eat? We can try out that new recipe." Yue suggested.

Her daughter nodded and turned around to put away the tools. "Sounds great."

Yue looked out over the field one more time. After a moment, her eyes softened with longing and a hint of sadness.

Aria glanced over her shoulder, not missing her mother's unusual silence. The girl had no doubt what Yue was remembering; a kind red-haired man who worked his hardest out on the fields and always made sure to make time for his wife and daughter.

Familiar determination coursed through Aria's veins. She would continue to search for him, no matter how long it took. She would make their family happy and whole again.

Aria stepped over to Yue and grabbed her hand. The merchant blinked before looking down at her and, giving a sorrowful smile, gave a reassuring squeeze.

"He'll be back someday," Yue said. Even now, well over a year since Kyle's disappearance, she still had faith in her husband.

"Definitely." Aria adamantly nodded.

Together, the mother and her child went back into their house, hope never leaving their hearts.