Chapter 3: Stories Over Tea
Time: After "The Return", and after Chapter 2: Niella?
Summary: The trio have tea, and Clare learns somethings.
Although the command tree was still busy from time to time, with the rangers checking for clues on The Master and training, things had settled down a little for Clare. Because Clare wasn't expected to fight, she simply stuck to her normal routine;feeding Fireheart, practicing magic, and trying not to kill whoever was supervising her.
Leanbow's return had had a major impact on Udonna and life in Rootcore. The atmosphere became lighter at times, and certain topics became easier to talk about. Daggeron and Leanbow would sometimes go off and train for hours on end, much to Udonna's annoyance, leaving the sorceress and apprentice to train in the more magical arts.
The residents of Rootcore had decided to spend more time together when not training and fighting to make it feel more like family. Despite Daggeron offering to leave Leanbow, Udonna, Clare, and Nick while they bonded, Udonna had insisted that he join them for every meal and invited him for every outing. She even surprised Jenji with a small gift of catnip when the rest of the group had conjured ice cream.
Many other traditions took hold on the group over the week. Like when Clare was little, the family had once again made it custom to have tea on days off from defending the world.
Today was no different, with the exception of Daggeron, Nick, and Jenji's absence due to training with the other core Mystics. The Wolf Warrior and White Mystic had offered and asked to join him, but he simply said that it was a surprise for the younger group and that he didn't want them to have help. Any at all. In fact, the Solaris Knight made it quite clear that he would watch the training from a safe vantage point aka the cliff above the rock quarry. (A/N: You know? The one where they set up all the Kalishplosions?)
The apprentice grinned, pleased. Clare had successfully conjured a small round wood table and three wooden chairs out on the balcony for the afternoon tea when Leanbow came out whistling something that sounded a lot like the Harry Potter theme.
"What are you humming, Uncle Lee?" asked Clare with a smile.
Leanbow chuckled. "Chip had Daggeron and I watch something called Harry Potter over the weekend. He said that it was a great movie that we might relate to."
"And?" Clare pressed, wanting to know her uncle's opinion.
The older man shrugged. "I don't know. It was okay. Although, their dragons were unrealistic, they had no armor at all, the wands weren't stylish at all, and they're cloaks were out of date. Oh, and they all looked like 'preppies', as Vida calls them. I don't know what was up with their school uniforms, but they looked goofy without proper magic attire."
Clare stifled a laugh. "Well, Chip had me watch it a long time ago. I only saw the first and second, but I thought it was funny. I think my favorite character was Neville. Oh, and according to Chip, the wands do get better." She added with a grin.
Leanbow pulled out a chair for her, which Clare promptly took. He then took the seat across from her, leaving the middle for his wife.
"You know, you really look so much like your mother." Leanbow commented.
Clare blushed, a little flustered. "R-Really? I-I don't really remember what she looked like. I mean- Udonna has some pictures, but Udonna says my mom was camera shy."
"Yes... I suppose she was." Leanbow said, tilting his head, trying to remember his sister-in-law. "Oh, yes! She almost refused to get her wedding picture taken. Isn't that right, love?" He added as Udonna stepped out onto the balcony, a tray of tea in her hands.
"What?" The redhead asked, passing out the tea.
"I was telling Clare about how I thought that your sister was camera shy."
"Hmmm? Oh, Niella was very camera shy." Udonna mused, sitting down. "Although, I do remember a certain time when the two of us took a picture for our wedding and you immediately spilled punch on her dress afterwards." Udonna added, glaring at her husband.
The Wolf Warrior went to scratch the back of his head. "I said I was sorry. And she got her revenge when it came time for cake."
"What did mom do?" Clare asked, genuinely interested. She and Udonna could only talk so much about Niella at a time. It was stressful telling complex stories for the older witch, as she really did miss her sister. Of course she would.
Leanbow rolled his eyes. "You started this, dear. You finish." He said, taking a long sip of tea, avoiding the teen(?)'s gaze.
"Well," Udonna began, amused, "Niella first used magic to return her dress to it's original lilac color, and then she hexed the cake so that anytime Leanbow went to take a bite, it would avoid him. It's tradition in the magic realm, as you know, that the bride and groom have the first bite of cake, before anyone else can have some. So naturally, Leanbow was trying to wrestle his cake to the ground, as I tried to help him keep his fork still, as Niella laughed her head off, and as his parents looked on in shame. I honestly forgot which one of us was the older sister, sometimes." Udonna finished.
Clare sat there gaping. "You mean you two were wrestling for a single fork of cake in front of an entire reception, and Mom made you suffer public humiliation?"
"Yes." They answered together, Udonna with amusement, Leanbow with bitterness.
"Go mom..." She looked back to meet Leanbow's glare. "I mean... how terrible."
Udonna laughed. Leanbow raised an eyebrow.
"So what else did she do to you guys?" Clare asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Lots of things. She absolutely hated Leanbow when we were younger, and our parents were the same."
Clare knit her eyebrows together. "Why?"
She glared at her husband. Leanbow sighed and said, "I may have accidentally caught her hair on fire trying to get Udonna's attention..."
Clare's jaw dropped. "How bad?"
"Bad enough that she had to wear a hat for an entire season." Udonna quipped.
"And your parents hated him because...?"
Udonna sighed. "Many reasons. One was that he was a boy, and father hated the idea of either of his daughters being involved with any male. Second was that I'm from a House of the Moon and Ice, and he is from a House of the Sun and Fire. It just wasn't done for those of either house to mix with the other. There are many other reasons, but I won't go into those now."
"I got the death stare every time I came to her cottage." Leanbow said, slightly embarrassed. "Udonna's father almost forbade her from seeing 'ever again' on multiple occasions."
Clare chuckled. "So who was more of a trouble maker? Mom or you?" She asked ;
"Niella." Udonna said quickly.
"Udonna!" Leanbow almost exclaimed.
The coupled turned and glared at each other. Clare stifled a laugh. Ever since Leanbow returned, Udonna had become more lively and energetic. Before their family was reunited, despite her usually cheery facade, Clare could tell that her aunt was really sad sometimes, getting lost in thoughts and memories that she thought that she would never be able to relive.
"Really? Who was it?" Clare pressed, enjoying the conversation.
"When we were children, it was Niella. She always tried to practice magic without help. I was naturally gifted at spells and potions, which troubled her, so any chance that our parents were out, she practiced."
"When we were about 6- and 7-years-old, our parents had to go out for a town meeting leaving the two of us home alone. Niella immediately ran to the cauldron and started throwing things in. I told her not to, but she kept adding in the beetles' bane. I ran out to get the neighbor's help, but the second I ran out the door, the cottage behind me was a pile of ash. Luckily, Niella was standing there behind me... buuuuut..." Udonna smiled remembering the end of her tale. "Well, the rest of the summer, a very embarrassed Niella was running around in one of mother's hats because she had lost all her hair."
The younger blonde started choking on her tea. "Mom turned herself bald!?"
"She did. She had a habit of getting her hair hurt in many situations. Fire, spells, explosions, stealing dad's blades, et cetera, et cetera. I do believe this story is kind of similar to your adventure, Clare. Although... I don't believe my sister ever gave herself a beard." Clare was met with one of her aunt's "will" gazes, as Phineas called them.
Clare's cheeks turned pink, and she started to sink in her seat. "Yeah... about that..."
Leanbow, who had been quiet in the corner for the story, stirred. "What is this beard story you speak of?" He asked, attempting to flutter his lashes, trying to imitate a gossiping teen.
"Oh, well first I accidentally cast a spell that turned me bald, no hair whatsoever, and THEN I tried to fix it by using a hair regeneration potion. My hair did grow back back... but I also grew a beard." Clare said, letting the pink twinge her in her cheeks grow to a deep rouge.
"Let us not forget the time that you turned your hair into whipped cream." Udonna quipped before taking a sip of tea.
"Wait. Are you not allergic to whipped cream?" Leanbow asked, remembering that tiny toddler Clare had gotten sick on hot cocoa at a holiday banquet.
"Oh I am!" A once again chirpy Clare replied in a sing song voice.
Udonna turned to address her husband. "She sneezed and shot whipped cream all over my hair." She huffed, causing Clare to revert to pink again.
"So it was like when Niella tried cooking with alchemy and gave herself chicken wings." Leanbow tossed out casually.
Udonna grinned. "Yes. Something like that. Did you know," she began, facing Clare again, " that your mother was allergic to chocolate?"
"Really?"
"Oh ye-ah," Leanbow sang. "Should've seen her when she found out. She was... 12?"
"Father didn't approve of sweets." Udonna whispered to the blonde. "Niella had to skip out on school for a week. It's because Father kept giving it to her to make her feel better, although he didn't realize it was the very thing making her ill until days later."
Leanbow snickered. "The only thing he ever goofed up on when I knew him. Other than my name," he added, gaining an eye roll from his wife. "to him, I was Liambow, Leanbore, Alianboy, or... 'that red wizard boy who stalks our daughter'." The last part was done in a gruff voice, as if the Red Wizard was trying to impersonate Udonna's father, and doing a horrible job of it.
His wife shot him a death glare, and Leanbow immediately went back to sipping his now empty cup of tea. "You know, Clare," he added as his wife looked away, "Udonna looks a lot like her own mother."
"Really? How?"
"Well, let's see. Her mother had blue eyes and red hair."
"Mother's hair was darker, though." Udonna said between sips. "A bit straighter, too."
"Yes, yes. Niella looked nothing like her mother, except for the skin tone and the nose. She looked more like her father, with the hair color. Niella also inherited her father's taste for fine wine, if I recall. She replaced every glass at our wedding to match the wine she personally selected."
An amused laugh passed past Udonna's lips. "Αnd she replaced them the day before the wedding, too."
"Ah!" Leanbow exclaimed. "You're mother was a wreck because of that!"
"How else was Udonna like Grandma?" Clare pipped, trying not to ruin her family's reminiscing.
Leanbow took a hand to his head. "Let's see now... They both were talented potioneers. Both were white sorceresses. Oh! And they both had a very similar personality. Kind, caring, compassionate, encouraging, lovable, sweet... and stubborn. Very, very stubborn." He added, earning him a playful smack for the auburn woman seated next to him.
Udonna eyed the two of them before getting up and collecting the now empty tea cups from their hands. "I think we should all go in now. It looks like rain." She said, pointed up towards the sky, which had begun to turn gray, then calmly walking back inside.
Clare turned to Leanbow as she left. "Hey, so I still have another question."
Leanbow nodded to show he was listening.
"How did you and Udonna meet?"
Leanbow chuckled. "Ah... That, dear Clare, is a story for another time."