Chapter 2: Birthday Jitters

"Papa! Mama!" Luna jumped on her parent's bed early one spring morning. Anna rubbed her eyes and Gale yawned loudly and stretched. This was part of their daily routine, Luna woke up earlier than her parents and even with possibly only four hours of sleep, she was the most active out of all of them.

"It's time to get up!" Luna bounced down to her knees and shook her mother's legs, "Mama! Can I water today? Can I? Can I?!" Luna begged her mother, "Please….." She gave a cute little pout and laced her fingers around each other.

"Of course, Luna." Anna giggled and wrapped her arms around her daughter and gave a tight squeeze.

"Yay!" Luna wiggled out of her mother's grasp and stumbled out of the bed. She fell on the floor with a loud THUMP! and immediately shot up with, "I'm okay!" before she raced out of her parent's room.

Gale got out of bed and rubbed the back of his head tiredly with a yawn, "Do you think she even realizes that it's her birthday today?" The sun shone bright through the window and shimmered against his bronzed skin. Anna hoped that Luna would inherit Gale's skin tone and not her own milky white skin.

She smiled and crawled over to where he was standing. Anna rose to her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pecked a kiss on her husband's lips and giggled, "I have no idea."

Gale wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and pulled her off of the bed. He carried her out into their living space. It was an open floor plan with the dining table in the center of the house. Their living room was closest to their personal room and the kitchen was close to Luna's room on the other side of the house. There were two bathrooms, one for Luna and the other for the couple. The colors in their home were neutral and asters were placed on every window sill. The house was small, but it suited their everyday needs.

"I'm ready, Mama!" Luna walked out of her bedroom with her overly large yellow rainboots. She wore a short fluffy red tutu-like skirt with white polka dots and a blue and pink sparkly fairy shirt.

"Sweetie," Anna laughed, "You can't wear that!"

"But I wanna!" Luna crosses her arms and attempted to tap her little rainboot, "It's my birthday and I can do whatever I want!"

"But only good little girls get presents." Gale corrected his daughter, "Now, if you want presents today, you must listen to your mother."

"Okay…" Luna stomped back into her room, but before she entered it, she asked with a gleam of hope, "Can I still wear my rain boots?!"

"Yes sweetheart." Anna was lowered to the ground by Gale. Anna walked into the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast.

Gale followed his daughter in her room and knocked before entering, "May I come in, Luna?"

"Yup!" Luna nodded and threw her clothes around her room.

"Luna, I want to teach you something." Gale started and Luna was not paying attention, "Do you want to learn something new today?"

Luna stopped tossing her clothes around and found a comfortable spot on her bed to sit on. She nodded and clicked her rain boots together in excitement. Gale smiled and his daughter and he cleaned her room with a swipe of his hand. Luna was not surprised by this because she knew that her parents used magic, but she did not know how to use any herself.

Gale sat next to his now five year old daughter and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Her long, light brown hair was dipped with one silver streak and it was soft to the touch. Luna leaned against her father and her boots swayed back and forth in the air. Gale continued to speak, "Long ago there were five magical elements," Gale held up his left hand out in front of her. His crystal wedding ring sparkled in the sunlight. "These elements were the same as the bells in this land," He asked his daughter, "Do you remember those elements, Luna?"

"Fire, Wind, Water, Earth…" She paused and thought hard about the last element and then looked up at her father with a shrug, "I forget…"

"Fire.." A flame lit up on the tip of his thumb, "Wind…" A miniature tornado formed on his pointer finger, "Water…" A geyser spouted out of his middle finger, "Earth…" A flower formed from his ring finger, "And heart." A pure white light glistened from his pinkie.

Luna was in a childlike wonder as she stared with her wide eyes at her father's fingers. She was trembling as her fingers grazed against the back of Gale's hand. He chuckled and continued, "These elements are present in every realm. In this world, these elements give strength to the land and it's nature."

"Gale!" A bright yellow orange clothed Harvest Sprite with wild green hair flew through the window and ran into the side of Gale's head.

After impact, Gale rubbed the spot of impact and winced, "I was just talking about you Finn…"

"Oh!" Finn smiled childishly and sat on his shoulder, "Oh! Hi Luna!" He waved happily at the girl, "Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you, Finn!" Luna grabbed Finn from her father's shoulder and gave Finn a tight squeezed hug.

"As I was saying…" Gale shook his head and resumed, "The Harvest Goddess in this land asks the Harvest Sprites to ring the five bells…"

"We're like guardians of the bells!" Finn boasted and folded his hands around his chest proudly.

Gale glared at Finn and continued, "When she asks them to ring the bells, they play a harmonious tune and bring the strength to the land."

"What about your world daddy?" Luna was amazed by his story, "The one where Grandpa Charles lives?!"

He laughed, "Where your mother and I are originally from… the elements are represented through head wizards and witches."

"Is that why Grandpa Charles hardly comes to visit?" Luna asked and clicked her heels together.

"Not only that," Gale stroked the back of her head, "But he is also the master of that school."

"Breakfast is ready!" Anna walked into the room and saw Finn, "Oh, hello Finn! It's good to see you!"

"Can I join for breakfast!?" Finn's eyes lit up at the smell of delicious food.

"Of course Finn," Anna nodded and asked Luna to go wash up. She was left in the room with her husband who seemed slightly agitated, "What's wrong?"

Gale squinted his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Nothing… I… just got a sudden headache…"

Anna sat beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist, "I can feel it too, Gale."

"Feel what…?" Gale looked at his wife alarmed.

She smiled, kissed his cheek, and winked at him before heading back out into the kitchen. Gale smirked and shook his head and followed his wife out of their Luna's room.