"Stop shaking the flowers around!"

"What's gonna happen, will the flowers become mad at me? Are they gonna grow legs and run away from the garden?"

"You're attracting bees! They'll sting us!"

"Why are you scared of some little insects? They can't kill you y'know."

"Lizaaaaa, they're going to sting me! Get them away!"

She ran around the garden while the bees went back to the flowers that were being shaken. One of them stung Liza, but while they were stinging her she pulled the bee out, held it in front of her, and spoke to it like she was a teacher.

"Don't do that again, OK?"

She smiled at the bee as she threw it back towards the flowers.

"I don't think the bees can understand us, Liza. Even if they did I think throwing them around wouldn't make them think that we're friendly."

"Mom and Dad always said I could talk to animals. Maybe that's my greatest power!"

"Mom and Dad also said that I could talk to plants. The plants are saying they want water so move."

"So mean! Do those plants mean more to you than your own sister?"

She made that one face she uses to get an extra cookie from Mom after she's already gotten two or three. I remember one night she got five out of Mom after nearly breaking into tears, I was extremely upset with her for a while after that.

"You know, I think you're right. These plants won't play with my emotions."

She blew raspberries at me and then ran away.

"Don't cry when you wake up tomorrow and I'm not there!"

That line was at least kind of funny. Now, back to watering the plants.

"If you really can hear me Mister Bee I think it's time for you to move."

I held my hands across from each other over the flowers. Remember the feeling of water. Remember each part of it, and understand how it felt on your skin. The water in the surrounding air was pulled into the space I had created. The droplets could not immediately be held still, they wanted to move freely, so I found common ground with them. A ball of rotating water appeared between my hands. The memories of the nearby stream flooded my mind. The water raged within my hands, it could only be held like this for so long before I would drench the flowers beneath me. I couldn't hold the water still, there was no memory that could overtake the one of a raging river within my mind. It would still need to move, however, I could let it escape the hold I had on it in a way that would not be harmful to the flowers. The sounds of rain crashing onto the windows and roof drowned out the noise of the stream. I called on the memory of sleepless nights listening to each individual drop on the window beside my bed. There was peace within the rain, even in the most dangerous of storms the burst of sounds produced by each drop of water served as a comfort The swirling mess within my hands made itself into a light cloud. I held my solution, the result of all my efforts. The cloud gave light rain to the flowers, as I moved across the garden making sure that no single plant was left out. The cloud left me when I had finished my lap around the garden. The sun shined down on the plants, and I saw a beautiful picture.

I heard Mom walking up behind me, she rested her hand on my head and stopped for a moment to look at the same image I saw.

"Look at you, already learning how to control the water you take from the air."

"I was just watering the plants."

"I think you and I both know why you didn't use the watering can. It's perfectly fine to be interested in your affinity, in fact, I'm glad that you're making an effort now to learn how to control it without a medium."

"What's a medium?"

"You're better off not learning about that now. Maybe if we send you to Prymdor Academy in the future we'll tell you all that we know so you aren't completely lost."

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"Will the rest of them come with me?"

Mom let out a sigh, she looked at me as though what I said had made her realize something she didn't want to think about. Something about her pitying glance made me believe I had said something wrong.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. It certainly isn't your fault that things are, well, the way they are right now. You know that Idrel is still being horrible to herself after she accidentally burned your father."

"But it's been three months."

"Well, the way your father responded certainly didn't help things. He was always cautious when it came to using his affinity. He would always throw himself in front of others, take the hits that they couldn't, but it's hard to recall a time when he threw a punch if that wasn't his last option."

"Is he scared of us?"

"He would never be scared of you honey, he loves each and every one of you dearly. The truth is, he's scared of himself. He once hurt someone who was very close to him, and I don't think he ever truly forgave himself, I don't think he's even moved passed it in the slightest. It's not wrong of him to be cautious though, that's something that I've come to agree with him about."

She knelt down and put her hands on my shoulders.

"This world is filled with dangers to us. Monsters that will always seek to end our lives, disasters, and storms that will wreak havoc on everything we hold dear, and yet the most harm caused to us has been from our own people."

"Why would we hurt each other?"

"To be honest, I don't know. Some people hurt others so they can live the life they've always wanted to. Maybe they will be rewarded for it, and that reward will give them the opportunity to find some happiness. Some other people were raised on the principles of violence."

"Principles?"

"They were taught to use it whenever they thought they should. Whenever there was an argument, whenever anything did not go their way, they had the lesson built into them from their childhood that they should respond to every obstacle with whatever they had that could hurt what was stopping them. Even if they didn't get what they wanted, at least they were able to do something. Anyone who would raise their hand against another human, no, even another peaceful creature is someone who believes that there is some need to do as such. Sometimes there is, our ancestors survived by hunting for their food, the beats would not just walk into their arms."

"So should I use violence?"

"I can't tell you that. As you grow you'll understand more things about this world, more about everything that is around you. When you become an adult like me and your father you'll be able to make that decision for yourself. Our role is just to give you anything you could need to make that decision. Your father once thought that he understood what choice he should make, but he changed his mind later. I come from a family that raised me to use violence, but I chose to abandon that tradition so I wouldn't raise you in a way similar to how I was raised. The point is, with or without your affinity, you'll one day have to make choices about how you want to treat people, animals, and even the plants that are around you. For now, just focus on whatever you want to do. Enjoy your early years. That's all I want you to do."

I nodded at her, and she got up from the ground and went back inside the house. I looked back at the garden, the plants had taken in the water I had given them, and the sun shone brightly on their leaves. Did the sun want to hurt them like we did to each other, or was it just a part of its nature? Do some of the flowers turn towards the sun because they want to take the light given by it, or are they defending themselves? When I watered the plants in my garden was I actually hurting them? I would never understand whether or not what I was doing was harmful, but I'm sure that I should try not to be as much as I possibly can. How could we ever hurt the things that live around us if we don't need to? The thought of harming my flowers made me sick to my stomach, and I went inside to lie down.

The night came with no rain, and I lay awake with the noises of the nearby forest preventing me from closing my eyes. I was thinking about all the possible ways that I could hurt those near me, talking to myself about all the things I would do to make sure that nobody around me ever got harmed. Eventually, I ran out of ideas and fell asleep. I woke up to Liza beside me and Elya on top of me. She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"It's time for breakfaaaaaast! Mom and Dad told me to come wake you up, the sun rose a while ago!"

"I can't get up if you're on top of me Elya."

She moved sideways quickly but fell off the bed while doing so. Liza caught her before her head slammed into the floor.

"Come on, they're serving the special 'fried egg toast' they always make when Aunt Alena comes over."

Aunt Alena was coming? It'd been so long since we'd seen her. I immediately jumped out of my bed and rushed to my closet to get my best set of clothes on. After I was finished I rushed down to the dining room. When I got there the first to see me was Dad, he put down the plate he was preparing and held his arms out in front of me, as I ran towards him he hugged me while lifting me in the air.

"Slow down there Aryet, where are you going in such a hurry, and this well-dressed too?"

"I heard Aunt Alena was coming!"

"Well, how could you possibly know that?"

"You only ever make this for breakfast when she comes. Why is she coming over?"

He let me down and I reached for one of the pieces, I have no idea how Dad found this recipe but it was just as tasty every time.

"We'll tell you that after she gets here. In fact, I think she should be arriving right now."

Just as Dad finished that sentence a carriage came in from the pathway near our house, I knew it was her. I rushed out the door to the carriage as fast as I could.