Glimmer exhaled, watching a rainbow of bugs dart in and out between the flowers. It was a beautiful day and she should be taking advantage and doing SOMETHING but all she'd managed to do so far this morning was lay on the grass and feel sorry for herself.

NOT because those stupid kids from the rebellion had been on her case again, that's for sure. If her mother asked, she hadn't even been down that way today and certainly hadn't been fighting again and, yeah, OK, that was a new bruise on her arm but you should see the other guy… not that there was another guy because she'd just been hanging out in the garden all day by herself doing nothing. As usual.

And also NOT because it had been a month since she and Bow had saved the rebellion's BUTTS and so far none of these so called additional responsibilities her mom had promised had materialized. Not to mention that, despite his promise that he'd be back, so far he was just as gone as he'd been before.

She wrapped a blade of grass around her finger and tugged it out, blinking her tears away. It was starting to feel like she'd lost him again. Her fault, probably, for getting her hopes up but was it so bad to get excited about finally having what she wanted?

"Are you just going to wallow around in the grass all morning?" Her mother sounded amused which meant she probably hadn't heard about the fight yet but she couldn't even bring herself to feel relieved about it.

"I finished my schoolwork. It's not like I've got anything better to do since you still won't let me help stop the Horde!" Glimmer knew she was being a brat but she couldn't bring herself to care right now.

"That's what I came to see you about, actually. We have a new recruit for the rebellion. Inexperienced, but very eager. Has been practicing but needs someone to train with." Her mother was hiding something, Glimmer could hear it in her voice, and she finally sat up so she could see her. Queen Angella was standing with her hands crossed in front of her as she always did but there was the ghost of a smile playing across her lips. "An archer, as it happens. Though you might like to meet him."

Um, no? Why would she want to meet some random archer when— but then her eyes focused on the figure standing in the doorway directly behind her mother and she gasped. "Bow?"

He stepped forward shyly, giving a tiny wave. In a moment, she'd leaped to her feet and flung herself into his arms, making him drop the makeshift wooden bow he'd been holding so he could return the hug.

"Should you agree, Bow could come here for training, well, every day if he'd like." Her mother looked half a second from bursting into a delighted smile but she kept up the stern facade.

"I agree!" Glimmer shouted, running to her mother's side. "I agree! I agree! Pleeeeeease!"

Her mother smiled outright then, a huge grin spreading across her face as she looked between them. "Very well. You two be good. And take care of each other, you understand?"

"We will!" Glimmer promised. With a final glance and a small shake of her head, Queen Angella swept out of the garden but not before lingering in the doorway a moment to watch them.

As soon as her mother was out of earshot, Glimmer turned to her friend. "Are you seriously an archer? Since when?"

Bow nodded then gave her a sneaky grin as he picked his bow and arrows up off the ground. "Wanna watch me shoot arrows?"

Author's Note

Unfortunately, FFnet won't let me upload pictures or links so you're missing that the end of this fic lines up perfectly with the art ND Stevenson did of young Glimbow as well as her version of how Glimmer and Bow first met! If you want to see it, head on over and peep this last chapter on AO3.

Whew! And that's it! I broke the rest of this fic up into one shots which you can find on my AO3 account (same username) under the series name Glowing Up (Young Bow and Glimmer Stories). I take prompts for shorts or scenes you'd like to see young Glimmer and Bow in on my tumblr (tippenfunkaport) so feel free to send one in. Or just tell me what you thought of this fic or if you have any questions you felt like asking about this or any of my other fics. It's just nice to talk to people!

Just a friendly reminder that I no longer post new fics on FFnet so if you're only on here you're missing a ton of new content from me you can find over on AO3.

Thanks for reading!

-TippenFunkaport