(8 years earlier)

"Ok, Fire…are you ready?"

"I'm ready daddy!"

Fire Pea was currently in the cornfield playing with his daughter, Fire Flower, who had just turned 10 a few days earlier. Fire Pea, feeling that Fire Flower was old enough to learn self-defense, had brought her out to the cornfield to help her practice shooting fireballs at a target. The target was a flame-resistant circle attached to what used to be the supporting stake for a scarecrow, painted over with concentric circles of various colors.

"Alright then, do you know why I brought you out here?" Fire Pea asked.

"You said you wanted me to practice spitting fire at things." Fire Flower replied.

"Correct. Specifically, I want to help you learn how to use your fire to defend yourself. I'm not teaching you to set things on fire on purpose." Fire Pea explained.

"Daddy! It was an accident! I didn't mean to set the garage on fire!" Fire Flower cried out.

"I know Fire. I'm sure you weren't trying to harm anyone. But I want you to understand something. Your power is a gift, and when you're on your own or get separated from us, you need to know how to protect yourself." Fire Pea said further.

"From…Zombies?" Fire Flower spoke.

"Yes darling, Zombies. If you're not careful, a Zombie could grab you and bite off all the petals on your head!" Fire Pea elaborated.

Fire Flower shuddered at her father's description of a Zombie attack. The thought of being slowly eaten by a Zombie filled her with fear. Fire Pea noticed that Fire Flower was shaken, and attempted to comfort her by wrapping his leaves around her.

"Now, now, I'm not trying to scare you darling. I just want you to know that it can happen. Hopefully, if any Zombie tries to attack you, it's a weak one like a Browncoat. But you need to be able to defend yourself from the Zombies and run away. If you can't run away, you'll at least be able to defend yourself long enough for mommy and daddy to come to your rescue. Ok?" Fire Pea said in a soothing tone.

"Yes daddy." Fire Flower whispered.

"Alright. Now, look at the target. I fixed it so that it's about as tall as you. I want you to spit 1 fireball at the target. It's OK if you miss, you're still practicing. Go ahead now." Fire Pea instructed.

Fire Flower intently stared at the target in front of her, determined not to miss.

"Do you need me to cover your ears?" Fire Pea joked.

"I don't have ears daddy!" Fire Flower said.

"So that's a no then?" Fire Pea responded.

Fire Flower giggled at her father's silliness, and refocused on her task. She narrowed her eyes slightly, kept her head steady, and spat a single fireball at the target. She hit the target close to the bullseye, but not dead center.

"You did it Fire! It was almost in the center too!" Fire Pea commended Fire Flower.

"Thank you daddy!" Fire Flower said with a wide smile.

"Now, let's do something a little harder. Spit as many fireballs as you can into the target, and try to land every single one. I know you can do it." Fire Pea instructed.

Fire Flower kept her head steady and began spitting many fireballs at the target. After about 40 fireballs, she stopped to catch her breath. Her breath was hot from spitting so many fireballs in one volley.

"Are you OK, Fire?" Fire Pea asked.

"I'm fine daddy. Did I do it?" Fire Flower responded.

"You were a natural! You have your mother's sharpshooting skills, surely." Fire Pea complimented.

At that moment, Solara had returned from running errands, primarily grocery shopping. She walked over to her daughter and husband carrying a pink box, and smiled at the two.

"Hello you two. How's the target practice?" Solara chirped.

"Mommy!" Fire Flower cheered, running up to Solara and tightly hugging her.

"She's a natural sharpshooter, just like her mother." Fire Pea said.

"Is she now? Her fiery tempo and spicy shots are all your genes though." Solara said with a grin.

"What are you holding mommy?" Fire Flower asked.

"It's your birthday cake, sweetie. Sorry we couldn't get you one on your birthday, but I hope you'll still like it." Solara replied.

"Of course I'll like it. Thank you mommy!" Fire Flower said.

Solara opened up the box to reveal Fire Flower's birthday cake, a vanilla ice cream cake with white frosting, rainbow sprinkles, 10 candles in a perfect circle, and red icing that spelled "Happy 10th Birthday Fire Flower".

"Mommy, how are you going to light the candles without a lighter?" Fire Flower asked.

"We're doing something different this time. Instead of blowing the candles out, we want you to blow the candles ON." Solara said with a smile.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Fire Flower said, slightly worried that she might accidently burn the box or her mother.

"You can do it Fire. I know you can. If you can hit a target, you can light a candle. Give it your best shot!" Fire Pea said supportively.

Fire Flower took a deep breath, concentrated carefully on the candles, and spat 1 fireball at every candle, gracefully igniting each one. Fire Pea clapped for Fire Flower, while Solara simply looked at the candles with an expression of joy.

"Great job, Fire! Those candles don't know what lit them!" Fire Pea cheered.

"I'd better be careful now. You might be a better marksman than me!" Solara commented.

"Thank you for the cake mommy. Thank you daddy." Fire Flower said, smiling proudly at her accomplishment and smiling happily at her cake.

"Fire Flower, sweetie. Go practice some more on that target. Mommy has to say something to daddy." Solara said.

"OK." Fire Flower responded, running back to the target area.

Solara blew out the candles on the cake and placed the box on the ground before speaking to her husband.

"So…this is only for self-defense, right?" Solara asked.

"Of course, nothing more than that." Fire Pea answered.

"Are you sure about that?" Solara replied, sounding as if she didn't believe Fire Pea.

"I'm not training her to become a soldier, Solara. I would never wish something like that upon her. She deserves to live a peaceful life, free from danger, free from anxiety, and free from violence." Fire Pea stated.

"If we don't want her to become a soldier, what do we want?" Solara asked.

"She'll be a doctor, just like her mother. Not a combat medic, just a domestic position like a nurse or a surgeon. That way, she'll never have to fight a Zombie. At least that's what we hope." Fire Pea suggested.

"I just want her to be safe. It would be better if the Zombies stopped their war on us." Solara responded.

"You know they won't do that, Solara. They're ruthless, greedy, and have no regard for our lives. They'll kill any Plants that stand in the way of their goal, even the harmless ones." Fire Pea said, feeling angry as he talked about the Zombies.

"You're right. But does Fire Flower have to take part in the war?" Solara said, feeling extremely concerned for her daughter's future.

"Everyone has to do their part to help end the war. Even artists and musicians are sacrificing their earnings to donate to the militia. Fire Flower would be hard pressed to find a job that didn't help the war in some way. By being a medic for our team, she'll be contributing the most while still being relatively safe." Fire Pea explained.

"I don't want her to ever have to put herself in harm's way. She deserves so much better than this war." Solara responded.

"I know. I don't want her to get hurt either. But this is how it is right now. If it were peacetime, she could have any job she wants, and live the life she wants." Fire Pea said.

"Will it be our choice?" Solara asked.

After thinking for a couple seconds, Fire Pea answered simply and cynically.

"No." Fire Pea said.

Solara's gaze lowered as she suddenly felt helpless towards the dilemma. She realized that she and Fire Pea could only influence their daughter's future to a minimal extent, and would eventually have no power over what would happen when the time inevitably arrived. Somehow, at some point in time, Fire Flower would fulfill a combat role under emergency conditions. Whether through an unlucky encounter or a weakened militia, Fire Flower would eventually have to fight back a Zombie soldier.

"Solara, she's going to be fine. I promise." Fire Pea said, wrapping his leaves around Solara to comfort her.

"I know she will. We'll do everything we can to protect her." Solara whispered.

"She'll be strong enough to protect herself if she needs to. I'll make sure of it." Fire Pea continued.

"Make sure you stay out of trouble too. A lot of peashooters have died recently. I don't want to lose you." Solara said.

"I won't leave you…ever. You and Fire Flower are my whole world." Fire Pea whispered, gently stroking Solara's petals.

"I won't leave you either. I'll heal everyone until they can no longer be hurt." Solara quietly replied, burying her face into Fire Pea's chest.

"I love you, sweetie." Fire Pea said to Solara, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too, baby." Solara said to Fire Pea.

"Look daddy, I made a happy face." Fire Flower chimed.

Fire Pea and Solara looked in Fire Flower's direction and saw that she had made burn marks in the shape of a sunflower face on the target.

"Is that supposed to be me, dear?" Solara said with a smile.

"Yes." Fire Flower answered.

"It's adorable, darling. Good job on your aiming today." Fire Pea said.

"Come on Fire Flower, let's go and serve your cake." Solara said, picking up the cake and walking back home.

"Let's go Fire Flower. Are you going to share your cake with everyone?" Fire Pea asked, taking Fire Flower's leaf.

"Of course, everyone deserves cake." Fire Flower replied.

"Generous and hospitable, just like your mother." Fire Pea commented, smiling widely.

Fire Pea and Fire Flower walked leaf in leaf, following Solara home, satisfied with their time together.


Fire Flower slowly woke up from what was a relatively short nap, rolling over in her bed.

"Why am I up? What time is it?" Fire Flower asked herself.

She picked up her smartphone and looked at the time. Only an hour had passed between when she fell asleep and woke up.

"Seriously? Screw sleeping then." Fire Flower muttered, sitting up in her bed and rubbing her eyes.

Fire Flower noticed a Grapevine notification on her smartphone and opened up the app.

Stuffleupagus sent you a reminder

Stuffleupagus: I'm just sending you this for when you wake up. Remember what we talked about. I want you to feel better. OK? I love you, sweetie.

Fire Flower smiled and exited Grapevine, encouraged by Stuffy Flower's words. She stood up from the bed and left the bedroom, going off to meet with the others and to speak with Sunflower.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: After thinking long about how I wanted to continue the story, I decided to write a flashback scene involving Fire Pea, Solara, and a young Fire Flower. Since Fire Pea and Solara have not had dialogue for obvious reasons, this was a way to give them speaking lines. I plan on writing more flashback scenes like this in the future as well, and space them out how I see fit. I hope you all enjoy this little deviation from the main storyline.