This has been floating around in my head for a while now…

Tanu wasn't sure he could remember the last time that he had seen Kendra so frustrated. Ever since he had met the Sorenson siblings so many years ago, he had never known Kendra to be anything but calm, collected and rational. When she struggled with something, she fought until she conquered it. And, Tanu could count on one hand the amount of times he had seen her this upset.

So when Tanu walked into the kitchen looking for a glass of water, he didn't expect to see Kendra sitting at the table, looking like she was near tears.

Her eyes were watery and she was biting her lip hard as she stared down at the papers sitting on the table in front of her.

"Hey, everything okay?" Tanu asked hesitantly grabbing a glass from the cabinet above the sink.

Kendra sniffed slightly before leaning back and fixing a rather pained smile on her face, "Yeah. Everything's fine."

It sounded like she was trying to convince herself that it was.

"Okay." Tanu took a quiet seat at the table across from her. It didn't seem right to leave an emotional teenage girl on her own, especially one that looked like she was about to fall apart.

He figured it wouldn't take long for Kendra to crack, as she already looked like she was halfway there, and it was only a few minutes later when Kendra slapped her hands down on the table in front of her.

"I can't do this!" Kendra cried out, pushing herself to stand.

"This is so hard! I can't do it! I don't understand it, and I'm going to fail everything!" Kendra ranted.

"Tanu, I can't do this, and I'm going to fail!" Kendra dropped back down in her chair, tears falling down her cheeks.

Kendra looked shocked that she was crying, and Tanu was too. He had only ever seen Kendra cry once, and it was when she had thought Seth was dead. Kendra had an insane amount of emotional control and a high tolerance for stress and pain, but he could see that whatever this was had gotten to her in a way nothing else had.

"What can't you do?" Tanu kept his voice calm and quiet trying not to startle her.

"This!" Kendra slid the papers viciously across the table towards him.

Tanu glanced down at the papers in front of him, labeled AP Organic Chemistry Review and Kendra's neat, cramped handwriting filling the page that had obviously been erased over and over again.

"And I have a test on Friday, and I'm going to fail!" Kendra sobbed, burying her head in her arms on the table. Tanu sat awkwardly, not exactly sure what to do. Kendra had always been so calm, and strong. Even in her most vulnerable times, Kendra never had lost control, or broken down, at least in front of him.

"Look, Kendra, please, just take a deep breath. It`s all going to be okay." Tanu laid a hand on her arm, and waited until she had stopped crying and had the control to raise her head.

"I know it`s stupid, I know I`m being over dramatic, but I just…" Kendra trailed off, furiously scrubbing her face with her sleeve.

"No, it`s okay. Take your time." Tanu tried to sound comforting.

"I just, just, I-I`m not used t-to this you know? I know that this isn't important, it`s just a test, but I-I just can`t stop obsessing over it," Kendra stood and walked over to the sink, clutching the sides of it. "I don't want to fail. I-I don't like failing."

Tanu hesitated, "Look, Kendra," Tanu stood up, walking over to stand next to her. "It`s okay to be overwhelmed. You don't need to try to be perfect all the time."

Kendra looked a deep breath, trying to regain control, "I don't know why I`m so fixated on this, it`s just… I can`t let it go, and I don't know what to do!"

Tanu nodded, resting his hand on Kendra`s shoulder until she was ready to talk again. Tanu wanted to help, but he wasn't sure how he could. And he wasn't even sure he was the right person to help. Bracken was an all around calming influence, and Seth understood his sister extremely well and Stan and Ruth were her grandparents, who knew what to do in these kinds of situations.

"You said you have a test on Friday right?" Tanu asked.

Kendra sniffled, wiping away the last remnants of tears on her face. "Yeah."

"Well," Tanu walked back over to the table and picked up the papers strewn across it. "I happened to have taken organic chemistry in high school and college, so perhaps I could help."

Kendra hurried over to him, looking hopeful for the first time, "You`d do that?"

Tanu smiled, "Of course."

Kendra squealed and threw her arms around Tanu, "Thank you so much! Thank you!"

Tanu laughed, returning her hug, "Your very welcome, now, lets get down to business."

By the time the Friday of Kendra`s test had rolled around, he and Kendra had worked every night for the entire week to prepare her for the test. Tanu found that once Kendra was able to relax and actually focus, she was able to pick up the concepts quite easily.

And on Friday morning, after a quick breakfast and wishing Kendra good luck, Tanu left for the airport to fly to Living Mirage to assist Agad and some other knights operating in the sanctuary. The mission had gone well, but given that he was on the opposite side of the world from Fablehaven, he never had a chance to ask Kendra about her test, yet it had remained in the back of his mind during the entire mission.

So, two weeks later, after Tanu was cleared to return home, he was ready to find out what had happened with Kendra`s test.

But, upon arriving at Fablehaven, Ruth had informed him that Kendra was visting the fairy realm and probably wouldn't be back until very late that night. And truthfully, Tanu couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that Kendra hadn't even bothered to tell him how the test had gone, given that they had both worked so hard for it.

As Tanu dragged himself up the stairs, his jet-lagged body longed for his bed. But, after dropping his suitcases in the middle of the floor of his room, he found a note addressed to him laying on his bed beside a box wrapped in simple white paper. The note read,

Dear Tanu,

I know these past few weeks have been crazy and I`m sorry we haven't had a chance to talk. I just wanted to thank you for all of your help with my test. The fact that you were not only willing to help me pass a test, but also learn how to let go of the little things means so much to me. I want you to know how much I appreciate you, so I thought I would give you something to show my gratitude.

I remember how sad you were when you had lost your book of potion recipes during the whole Zzyxx fiasco, so I talked to your dad, and he was able to help me pull together the potion recipes that you lost, as well as some new ones that might be useful one day. I hope you like it, and thank you.

Love, Kendra

Excitedly, Tanu picked up the box, pulling apart the wrapping paper and prying open the box. He picked up the small, leatherbound book and opened it, rifling through it. He could hardly believe that Kendra had been able to get these recipes, his dad had always been tightlipped about his own methods of potion-making. He couldn't wait to see what Kendra had added, as well as the recipes Tanu had lost.

It was then when Tanu noticed that the book wasn't the only thing that was in the box, in the very bottom of it was a stapled packet of paper. He flipped over the packet and felt his heart soar as he noted the red numbers scrawled on the top of the papers.

AP Organic Chemistry Test- 42/42- 100%

I hope you enjoyed! Thank you to Wolf Lover27, meowmix1996, Yuro no Nx and others for the support! I`ll hopefully have another chaoter going up on here for Christmas, as well as on my other story, Fablehaven Facebook Stories, so watch out for that! Happy Holidays everyone, and I`ll be back really soon!