With school starting back up, I have tentatively decided on weekly updates for this story, with no set date in the week in mind. So, I could end up posting the Saturday of one week and the very next day and the Sunday update would count for next week. On the other hand, it might take me until the Saturday of the next week to post. While this isn't too terribly frequent or spread out, I think it's a fairly practical goal.
That announcement out of the way, here's this week's chapter.
Chapter 4:
Spring 5th: Tuition
Zander pulled his onyx hair into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck and furrowed his eyes over the paper before him. The billing statements for all of his delcatty's check-ups were really piling up. While he couldn't afford not taking Selena to the vet, as his Pokémon's health was practically his health, the thermal paper in his store's register proved that this option wasn't affordable either. Zander looked down at his luxaray, Plasmane, who had been nuzzling against Zander's leg in concern, and sighed.
"It'll all work out," he tried to reassure. Whether he was talking to Plasmane of himself would remain a question. Next to the billing statement was a government notice about adoption subsidies and an enrollment form for Anise Town's local school. Being the only school and an approximately fifty mile radius, tuition didn't run cheap. Heck, the adoption subsidy would barely cover just the books needed to go to school there.
"Dad?" a small voice questioned from the hallway. Zander quickly turned the stack of papers over and turned to face his daughter.
"What are you doing up, kiddo? It's barely the crack of dawn!" Zander chuckled as a bleary-eyed Ziva stumbled her way over towards her foster parent. Zander scooped up Ziva into his lap a smoothed out her bed-head as she began to wake up.
"I could say the same to you…" she mumbled, finally replying to Zander. Zander continued to brush through Ziva's black hair as they sat there. His gaze couldn't help but turn to the school enrollment form underneath the stack of papers. Guilt began to bubble up in his throat.
"Ziva, you know I love you, right?" Zander asked her. Ziva craned her neck upward so her large, pale blue eyes could stare up at him.
"Yes?" she responded, not knowing exactly where this was going.
Zander buried his head into Ziva's hair and wrapped his arms around her, "Like, I really love you, my daughter." He then raised his hands to tickle Ziva's neck until she was erupting into giggles. Her contagious laughter then spread to Zander.
"Dad… hahaha! I can't breathe… anymore!" Ziva forced out between bursts of laughter.
Zander increased his attack, "I'm not going to stop until you're positive that I love you!"
Ziva squirmed, "Okay! Okay! You love me!" Zander's onslaught died down and they both caught their breath whilst grinning widely.
"Good," Zander lifted Ziva off of his lap, "Now if you're awake, how about we head on down to our favorite bakery for an early breakfast?" Ziva nodded excitedly and put her shoes on at the door, not minding that she was about to head out in a blue nightgown. Zander grabbed his flat, leather wallet off the table and then followed his daughter outside. Like that, and the stack of papers were forgotten.
Zander and Ziva looked up at the building named "For Goodness Cakes". The paint on the sign was chipping slightly and the windows were starting to pull away from their frames, but the place still managed to have a certain charm about it. While the Harley's café may be more up-to-date and have better business, Zander seemed to gravitate to this small gem instead. Although it was an unpolished and unrefined gem, a gem was still a gem. A bell rung as they stepped into the bakery, announcing their presence to a woman kneading bread from behind a counter. The portly woman looked up with her floured, heart-shaped face.
"Well I'll be," Abigail Parkerz glowed at the pair that walked in, "if it isn't my two favorite customers! What can I get you guys today?" Ziva perused golden scones and heavenly tarts in their display cases before deciding on her usual.
"One blueberry streusel muffin, please," Ziva told her politely. Abigail nodded and retrieved the delicacy from its display before turning her attention to Zander.
"Oh I'm quite alright, I've already had coffee this morning," Zander told Abigail before reaching for his wallet.
"Oh no, the muffin is on the house today for Ziva," Abigail swatted Zander's wallet away before using her calloused fingers to pinch one of Ziva's cheeks. Ziva frowned at the unwelcome action, but happily snatched her muffin and went to go sit in the tattered booth in the back corner of the shop which she had designated as "her booth". Zander and Abigail stared each other down until Zander swiftly took out double the money for the muffin and placing it on the counter. Abigail fidgeted, unsure of how to react to the kind gesture. Did she return it? Would it be rude to do that? Would it be selfish to keep it?
With an empty wallet, Zander made his way over to Ziva and sunk into the opposing side of the booth. Ziva was now munching on her muffin happily, eating it bottom-up, and looking excitedly at the TV on the bakery's wall.
"Who is that, again?" Zander asked his daughter as she glued her eyes to the performer on the TV screen. The performer had fiery red hair styled into some updo Zander didn't bother to learn the name of, and a baby pink dress that looked akin to a jellyfish. An espeon also appeared on the screen, performing various illusions as dictated by the trainer.
"Daaddd, that's Selina, the performer in our town?! How could you forget about her? She even has a name similar to our delcatty!" Ziva explained, still transfixed on the performance. Zander began to recall seeing the woman around town at times, but judging by the television, she was away touring most of the time.
"Do you want to be a coordinator like Selina?" Zander questioned after keeping to himself for a while. Ziva finally dragged her attention away from the screen to look at her father. She tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully.
"Well, I certainly think it would be a blast!" her smile turned slightly wistful, "But that would take a lot of training…"
Zander nodded, understanding what the six-year-old had meant, "Most coordinators have to get certification from an accredited school nowadays in order to be even considered for certain agencies." Zander realized he was being a little more than discouraging when he noticed Ziva wringing out her wrists.
"However," he looked at Ziva seriously, "anything you dream on achieving, I will back you up every step of the way, no matter how far-fetched, silly, or even practical that goal may be, and I want you to know that."
Ziva picked at the crumbs left on her muffin liner, "I know dad. You're always so weird when it comes to stuff like this." Zander was about to respond when Abigail's cherrim, Sunny, decided to hoist itself onto the table. The Pokémon teetered on over to Ziva and shook her hand with overabundant enthusiasm.
"Sorry, she's very outgoing. It's not every day that she gets to greet a customer," Abigail told them while cleaning a few already-spotless tables. A vanillite hid behind Abigail and snuck curious glances in Zander's and Ziva's direction.
Ziva couldn't help but saying, "Why do all of your Pokémon look so edible, Ms. Parkerz?"
Abigail snorted a laugh, "I run a bakery, sweetie, of course they do!" Ziva's nose scrunched up unconsciously. She liked Ms. Parkerz, just not all the nicknames she donned on her all the time. She's a child-lover, that's for sure. Ziva played with Sunny for a while longer, moving its tiny hands up and down and twirling it along the span of the table. Zander was about to suggest to Ziva that they should be on their way, and that she should really get dressed properly for the day, but the sound of a bell chiming made him turn his attention to the front door. In the doorway stood Elliot Harley, red neckerchief and all, with his taillow perched on his shoulder. Elliot noticed the duo's surprised expressions and looked fairly amused.
"What?" his eyes laughed, "The food's good here."
Elliot walked up to the counter and ordered practically a bushel of churros, extra cinnamon, and immediately left once polite a "thank you" was exchanged. Abigail began busing herself with making a new batch of churros.
"I can't ever tell if he's coming here to eye out the competition or if he really does think I have good food! Either way, it still throws me for a loop," Abigail mumbled to no one in particular.
"And with that ironic entertainment," Zander began sliding out of the booth and adjusting his red jersey knit shirt, "we should head out." Ziva pouted, giving Sunny a final twirl before following suit. Waving good-bye to Abigail, opened the creaky door to "For Goodness Cakes" and exited the bakery.
"Where to?" Ziva questioned, swinging her arms as they walked back through town. They had already stopped back at the house to get ready for the day and were already on their way towards a new location.
Zander kept quiet, only putting a single finger to his mouth, indicating that it was a secret. Ziva kept interrogating him and playing 20 Questions, but her answers were all answered when they stood outside a Queen Anne style two-story building.
"Today, I made an appointment for us to meet with the main teacher here," Zander motioned to the sign that said "Anise Academy: encouraging education for youths for the past decade". Zander tried to ignore that the "e" in "the" was engraved backwards into the stone.
Zander felt something collide with him and looked down to see Ziva's arms locked tightly around his waist.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dad!" Ziva repeated in delight. Zander held out his elbow for Ziva to cling onto in order for her to climb the massive steps that led up to the building. In the entranceway of the building stood two staircases on either side of a doorframe that gently curled up to the second floor. Darkly stained wooden floors ran the length of the school, only to be covered by a few ornate rugs here and there. Zander let out a low whistle, he supposed now he knew where all of the tuition costs went towards.
Zander rapped his hand against the mahogany door before him and then allowed Ziva hold his hand with her slightly sweaty palms.
"Come in!" a voice echoed from the interior of the room. Zander opened the door and tugged Ziva gently into the room. The room, much like the rest of the academy, was fairly ornate, however, the amateur drawings that littered the wall and crayons scattered all over the floor kind of took away from that effect. In the corner of the room was a young man sitting at his desk. He got up, nodded in Zander's direction and then walked over towards Ziva so that he could stoop to her height. The tanned man gave a genuine smile and held out his hand for Ziva to shake.
"Hello there, miss, I hear you want to attend school here?" the man asked. Ziva tried to shy away from behind her father's pant leg, but Zander stubbornly pushed her forward.
"Yes, sir, I'd like that more than anything…" Ziva answered the teacher, hands bunched around the hem of her baby blue dress, "I'm Ziva, Ziva Smith."
The school teacher who had been attentively listening to Ziva responded, "And I'd like more than anything to be your first school teacher, Ziva. My name is Liam Trouillefrou, but the students just call me Mr. T or Mr. Trou." Liam straightened himself and smoothed out his black suit and scanned the room.
"I have fifteen more minutes until the kids come back from lunch, is there anything either of you would like to know before my class has to resume?"
Ziva looked around the room in excitement, "How many peers will I have?"
Liam laughed at this, "Only six other kids, our town isn't very big, so that's a fairly large class with all things considered. I bet with all of the kid's drawings decorating the walls you must have thought that there was twenty to thirty kids in the class!"
Ziva walked up to the wall of drawings and gently touched various drawings. She looked at the paper and crayons on various kiddie tables throughout the room with envy.
"You can sit down and draw, if you'd like, there's plenty to go around," Liam told her, breaking away from his discussion with Zander. Ziva nodded quickly and rushed over towards one of the tables.
Liam picked up his conversation with Zander, "You could leave Ziva here for the rest of the day, if you'd like, I really think she would have a great experience even if she can only stay one day. Then Ziva can give you a better impression of the academy when school lets out so that you can mull things over."
Zander scratched the stubble on his chin, debating on letting his daughter leave him for the rest of the day. Although money was one of the reasons that letting Ziva attending the academy was a struggle, Zander also didn't want to let go of his precious daughter so soon. School was like six hours a day! That was way too long to be without his daughter on weekdays for his tastes. After much contemplation, Zander accepted the proposal.
"I supposed I can let her stay for today," Zander said slowly. Ziva looked up from drawing a very deformed delcatty with excitement, having listened in on their whole conversation.
"Really?!" Ziva hopped up and down slightly, unable to contain her joy.
Liam checked his watch, "Really. And we even have one of our most esteemed guests coming here tomorrow if you want to come over tomorrow as well if you're still not sure." Ziva's blue eyes shone with enthusiasm while Zander walked over to his daughter and placed his hand on her black hair and ruffled it until it looked similar to the bedhead that she woke up with.
"Be good," he curtly told her before lifting her up into a tight hug. "I'll be right outside the school when classes are over so that you can tell me all about your first day here at school."
Ziva held a small smile on her face as she was let gently back down to the floor, "And I'll be right here waiting for you, dad."
With that, the miner exited the classroom and began preparing to go to the mines today mentally, thinking about which ores sold for more than others, which cost more to refine, and what areas of the mines were the most concentrated with gems. Looking up, he couldn't help but feel the overwhelming weight of the academy's tuition looming over him like a guillotine ready to drop. Ziva was going to come home today, tell him how she had fallen in love with the school, and then Zander would feel the paternal need to not disappoint his child. If she wanted to go to school, she should by all means be allowed, his socioeconomic status should have no bearing on that wish.
Zander hoped that his mining efforts today would help postpone the guillotine of tuition from dropping any sooner than he felt it would.
And that's the end of the chapter, it's a little shorter, and it was a lot harder to write, but the next chapter should be a breeze, but who knows? I hoped you liked this chapter!