Daytime temperatures began to flirt at the prospect of autumn weather. Highs in the low 80's to mid-70's began to be more commonplace. It was also off and on overcast and whenever it was, it was just especially muggy, and the mugginess made Evergreen pray for cold rainwater. He was already excited for the fall, not just because he had already read through all his new textbooks and reviewed several of his older ones, but because of the weather. When it was blustery, overcast, and a faint scent of apple cinnamon was wafting in from somewhere, life couldn't get better. He wished a few times that his yearly vacation fell between September and November instead. Imagine that?

It was the third weekend in August when Dad, Evergreen, and Seta of course, had packed up for a weekend on the coast. Cannon Beach and Seaside were some of Evergreen's and Dad's mutual favorite local summer destinations. They spent much time there throughout Evergreen's childhood and they have their favorite haunts there, so to speak. It would also be the perfect place for the second to last bit of his project to be executed.

The secret project in question that Evergreen had been working on was a little thing involving the wand fragments from the impostor that previous year. He planned on repairing it somehow with a potion. It was a simple potion composed mostly of things that could be accessed by any No-Maj, but the potion properly takes about a month, because bay leaves need to be added on the first new moon of the month, the night it starts to crescent, the first quarter, the gibbous moon, and then finally on the full moon. According to the book on wand lore and the documents he found that mom had left, this was the way to make a magical wand reparation potion. It didn't require any wand waving or anything, so it wasn't technically against the rules for him to do, he kept it a bit of a secret, though. He found that as he did some little potions in his spare time, it helped his skills in the art.

In Dad's infamous white Dodge pickup truck, they zoomed up North on the freeway, taking the turn on interstate 84 and then again on 405 to pass through the outskirts of Downtown Portland. In no time at all, they were on US-26 which was a straight shot until the Oregon Coast. Sure, Evergreen didn't mind floo travel, but there was just something that was so much better about traveling by car, boat, or airplane. The anticipation of inching ever closer to one's final destination was a feeling that he had always loved.

On nearly every side of the whole highway the whole way, there were Douglas firs over 300 feet in height! It was almost like that great forest in his dreamscape and that within Oz. No wonder Mom spent so much time there in the state, it was almost as Ozian as could be. Evergreen found it quite comforting to have the asphalt beneath them, goliath evergreen trees as far as the eye can see, and a strip of baby blue directly above them where the canopy stopped.

"Okay E.E.," Dad said, suddenly, switching his hand position just slightly on the steering wheel, "We are on the homestretch. You get to choose our last song."

Evergreen stopped and considered. He picked up his iPod Classic that was plugged into the stereo with a two-way auxiliary cord that Dad had within his music equipment in the garage and scanned through the list. He stopped on a few songs from the Lion King animated film. That would be perfect.

"I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware…" the boy sang gleefully at the top of his lungs.

When they finally arrived at the coast after just a little under two hours, the trio was starving, the road trip snacks they brought with them were effectively ancient history at that point and few things sounded more than heavy carbs and protein. Pig N' Pancake it was!

They pulled into the skinny parking lot where they could see the green door with the little pink pig thereon. From the road, the only part of the restaurant one could see was the door, but they had been there at least half a dozen times together, so they knew what to look for.

"So, what's it gonna be?" Dad inquired as he shook his menu with his large, strong, reddish hands.

"Sand dollar pancakes of course. What else is there?" Evergreen responded, slapping his menu shut so quickly, Seta's whiskers got slightly tangled.

"A spinach salad for me." Seta followed.

Even though Seta didn't eat meat, i.e. the egg and bacon, he had a special potion that he brought with him that could magically change the properties of whatever food was before him. The egg would likely change into some kind of large ball of pellets while the bacon may change into some crunchy hay. Bunnies love hay, according to Seta. Dad got steak and eggs and Evergreen got a small side of eggs and sausage to go with his 10 mini-buttermilk 'sand dollar' pancakes.

After they were all fed and watered, they drove from the back lot of the restaurant down the street a minute or two for the big, public lot. It was early afternoon, and the parking lot was packed full of families hauling hundreds of pounds of beach gear for a day near Haystack Rock. They did, however, eventually find a decent spot.

They piled out of the truck and started over to the beach. Evergreen could hear the waves and already feel the mist on his skin from being so close to the shoreline. It was another one of those feelings that he thought was both great and hard to describe. Seta had never been to this beach before, so he asked about the birds in the area. He had concerns about owls and hawks. Dad assured him that the only birds there on the beach were seagulls and unless Seta suddenly became a foot shorter, there would be no need to panic about them.

"Dad. This was really the perfect weekend to come here."

Indeed, it was. It was partly cloudy, there was a general misting, and it was warm. Exactly the sort of summer day that Evergreen could get on board with. They grabbed their beach chairs and Dad grabbed their drink cooler and left the parking lot. Once across the street, they were there on the beach. Where they were, there was a small river that pumped out into the ocean and a sandy hill on the other side that led off to distant cliffs. It only took them about 10 minutes of trudging through the sand to reach the famous Haystack Rock, which was a large, natural obelisk-looking thing, its bottom few feet covered in mollusks from the high tide. No matter how nice a day it was, the rock was always shrouded in a fog. Evergreen then wondered if it was due to magic.

"Not many beasts of this world can bring fog like that." Seta had answered Evergreen's voiced question. "There are creatures called 'mist monsters' that can be found in the desert wasteland surrounding Oz. That is one of the reasons no lands outside of Oz are known. It is far too dangerous."

"Well, it's a good thing that mist monsters aren't here, cause that would be a major drag." Dad replied, as they took their seats on their beach chairs.

They enjoyed their time at Cannon Beach and later that afternoon, headed over to Seaside, just on the other side of a small mountain, no more than 10 minutes North on the Coast Highway. They found Seaside to be, as expected, much sunnier and warmer. Evergreen brought his magic music book written by Professor Highmore that they bought the previous year and read it as he and dad took in the rays. Seta, however, stayed in the shade that their chairs cast because, in his words, "I may be covered in fur, but I can still get sunburnt!"

Looking at Dad in the bright sunlight beneath his own blue-rimmed sunglasses, Evergreen was filled with love. He considered that previous year and what happened with the impostor. He managed that impressive show of non-verbal, chaos magic not because he was a super skilled wizard, but because of the love that he shared with his friends and family. It really was amazing what sorts of things one can accomplish when one feels completely and utterly supported. Strong, unchecked emotions could be dangerous indeed.

"What is it?" Dad asked, noticing Evergreen's face.

"Nothing. I'm just happy." he replied quickly.

"Me too, E.E. You know I'm proud of you, right?"

"I know, Dad. I know." Evergreen responded, shaking his head.

After a variety of different activities related to the beach, they went out and got some dinner from a little hole-in-the-wall place. It was one of the best chicken subs Evergreen had in a while. When the night came, they went to the small rental house that dad had reserved for the weekend. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a small kitchen and living area. It was along the beach, so it was quite nice, Evergreen thought.

When the evening came, Evergreen knew that he needed to make a quick escape for a few moments. He grabbed the large phial filled with his potion thus far and his cauldron, along with a bag of bay leaves and a jacket because it was cold and headed out. Dad had fallen asleep in front of the rental's TV, so he would be none the wiser about Evergreen leaving and then returning within a few minutes. Moonset was at 12:49 AM and it was the time that the leaf must be added to the boiling potion.

"Evergreen. Where are you going?" Seta whispered.

"To the beach to complete the second to last ritual for this potion."

"Not without me, you're not."

The two of them left together and walked just a short way to mere paces from the water's edge. Evergreen set up a circle of small stones and laid his cauldron upon a pile of sticks and larger pieces of wood. He summoned his family sigil and caused the wood to ignite. This was something that Link's dad had taught him during the Unification Festival. It was simpler than expected. He just needed to tap into Order, the creator of all things.

Not long after the ignition, he added the olive-green potion to the cauldron which started boiling almost immediately. With his sigil still glowing in the sand and upon the stones before him, he closed his eyes and held a single bay leaf in his hand. He then spoke the words:

"Reparo quid fracti."

As he spoke, he let the leaf fall into the cauldron and it hit the potion the moment the moon was upon the horizon. Excellent timing if Evergreen did say so himself. In a few short moments, the potion briefly turned orangey, and Evergreen panicked for a moment, but remembered at the last moment that if you add salt to the mixture, it helps the leaf get consumed. At his request, Seta got a small bit of saltwater from the sea in a phial, which was added, turning the color back to olive green.

"That was a close one." He whispered to the bunny.

"You're telling me. It's a good thing you did that here. I don't think there was any salt at the rental house." Seta replied, his pointy nose twitching.

"Yeah. A good thing. I d-didn't wanna have to wait another month to s-start again." Evergreen agreed, his stutter coming back, but only during times of great excitement when he couldn't really focus on what he was saying, exactly.

"Are we okay to return to the rental? It's freezing out here!"

"I think so."

Evergreen then removed the sigil, collected the potion back into the phial, and then took his cauldron. He looked briefly back toward the ocean because he had a curious apprehension, but he saw nothing that should cause any such feeling. So, together, they got back upon the bumpy oceanside sidewalk and took the short jaunt back to the rental house where Dad was still snoring loudly, occasionally, talking about something in his sleep.

The end of August came quickly, and Dad and Evergreen spent the last week of the summer together there at their house. They watched several funny films with Jim Carrey, Will Smith, and Steve Martin and enjoyed the best food. Spaghetti was a staple food in the Quandary home in those days. The crumbliest ground beef in the thickest, tangiest tomato sauce with perfectly boiled noodles and crispy garlic bread was always welcome. Dad's great-grandfather (on grandpa's side) was an Italian immigrant, after all, so pasta was certainly a shared comfort food. Seta, however, was perfectly fine with crunching on mini bell peppers and celery sticks from the fridge. He pulled out some pumpkin seeds at some point and crunched on them like they were popcorn.

Evergreen also spent some time reviewing his textbooks, practicing his wand movements with one of Dad's drumsticks as he did that previous summer. The drumstick was just a little heavier than his wand was, but he figured it was the safest bet for the activity. He also read a bunch of The Art of Defense Vol 2 to Dad, and it elicited a laugh from the two of them. Dad said that the words were "ridiculously her", referring to Mom. Upon hearing that, a seriously warm feeling developed in his chest.

"Dad, did you know Dorothy Gale?" Evergreen asked as they were enjoying a Friday lunch together on their back patio.

"I didn't, your mom met her years ago before she even started at Ilvermorny. She had been in Oz for a few years before Dorothy crash landed there. That was maybe 5 years before we met. Why?" Dad answered, taking a sip of his red Gatorade.

"Beatrice Gale-Larson goes to school with me. She's D-dorothy's daughter and she promised to help us find Mom."

Dad stopped at this, regarding Evergreen with a serious expression.

"That's nice of her. I do want to remind you that I don't want you to go off alone to search for your mom. Do you hear me?"

The forceful words were a little jarring, considering Dad never really spoke harshly to Evergreen during his childhood. His thick eyebrows were arched so dramatically that they seemed to be threatening to leap off his face.

"Well Dad," Evergreen stated. "Beatrice doesn't know how her mom's slippers w-work, so I have no way to get to Oz anyway, assuming she's there."

"Okay. I just want you to be careful. Don't do something unnecessarily stupid in the name of bravery. Can you do that for me?"

Dad's eyes softened and his expression did so in response. Evergreen felt the love that Dad had for him. It was this first time that he truly started to get some sort of appreciation for Dad's position in all this. He found Mom, a witch hailing from a distant land who loved him despite his ordinary humanity, she was lost due to some dark magic, leaving him to raise Evergreen pretty much by himself. Then Evergreen turned out to be a wizard as well and seemed to have a similar predisposition to adventure and trouble as she did. This led to the revelation that Mom was alive and well in some dark dungeon somewhere. For anyone, that would be a massive emotional roller coaster, especially someone who had no magic for themselves.

"Dad. I can promise that I will always come home to you and will always make you proud."

They embraced, Dad's eyes clearly stinging from tears and Evergreen's threatening to do the same.

"I know you will. But just try and listen to Seta's advice when he offers it. He's had more training than you."

They spent the rest of the day together, just enjoying one another's company and putting the final touches on Evergreen's packed trunk. Dad gave Evergreen lots of advice over those hours. Evergreen never got tired of hearing Dad's opinions and experiences, but part of him felt like Dad got tired of sharing the same things again and again. But Evergreen never asked him to repeat any of those things, so where was the issue?

That night, Evergreen was able to get to sleep after quite a bit of tossing and turning. It wasn't from turmoil, but from anticipation. He was grateful that he didn't have any weird dreams, though. The only dream he could remember having that night involved watching a large, golden lion stalk through a large field during the evening. It was actually quite pleasant as the lion looked like he was neither hunting, nor being hunted. He was just minding his own business, as more people ought to do. Like Professor Fangholder, of Ilvermorny's Creature Care often said: "Even though they can't really express it well, most creatures have more sense than you and I."

A/N: Sorry it's been a few weeks since my last post. This story hasn't been abandoned, it has a conclusion that is coming soon, but not too soon! Thanks for reading and as a treat, here are a few more chapters.

-EQ