Tala’s smile in response slowly faded as it was replaced by a slight frown. This girl looked familiar, and now that she thought of it, her name sounded so as well. A moment later, she remembered a Verla from long ago, as well as some of things her brother had said on previous meet-ups. “Are you the Verla who went to school with Caln?”

Verla smiled at that, seemingly grabbing onto her own lifeline in the conversation. “Yes. Apparently my shyness led Caln to believe that I was uninterested in him all these years.” She flushed a bit at that. “I wasn’t really as good at demonstrating my feelings as I thought.”

Caln stepped in, coming to her metaphorical rescue. “It was only recently—a bit more than a year ago—that I realized, to my great shame, that she was waiting for me to notice her interest.” He chuckled good naturedly. “She had to come to me and ask for us to go to dinner.”

Verla colored a bit more. “I… I followed some bad advice and tried to ‘make him see my interest’ instead of just talking to him. When I finally ignored that advice and just approached him, things went as I’d always hoped. I’m just glad that he was open to my interest as well.”

Rane chuckled. “It can be scary to express how you feel, yeah. Generally, men are more open to being approached than women, though. At least that’s how it always seemed to me. Women often have men approaching them so often it feels pointless to throw your hat in the ring, as it were.”

Verla covered her mouth and let out a little laugh. “That is likely quite wise, Master Rane. I know that I had several men approach me during that time, and I… I am not sure that I turned them down kindly in looking back on it.” Her smile turned a bit sad. “I did not see the parallel to how I was feeling, to how I would have felt if Caln had told me no. I do wish I had been kinder.”

Rane gave a comforting smile. “Well, hopefully, it won’t be an issue ever again.”

“Indeed.”

And, at that point, Tala realized that she didn’t really know what to ask next. She settled for a generic well-wishing, hoping someone else would steer the conversation, “Well, regardless of how it happened, I’m glad for you both.”

Her mind briefly shifted toward her feathered companion.

Terry was preening for a couple of the younger siblings, who seemed to absolutely love the new purple feathers on his face and his more contrasty appearance. There were even some comments about his eyes.

Tala almost moved to rescue the little avian, but then she realized that she sensed genuine pleasure from the terror bird. He liked being the center of attention and playing with her siblings.

Thankfully, before Tala’s silence and change of attention could create any awkwardness, the Academy siblings arrived. Tala saw them appear almost as one in the various receiving rooms of the tower. She purposely made a sound of interest before announcing, “They’re here.”

As the group in the lobby ordered themselves, Tala took a moment to really look at the five Academy students as they talked with the Mages and gathered themselves before coming down.

They looked… different. They were growing.

-It has been about two years since you saw them last.- Alat’s tone was carefully neutral.

Really? Two years already?

-Yeah. Two years and a few months.-

Huh… To her, it had barely felt like any time at all. She hadn’t really changed.

Alat laughed within her mind. -You bonded Terry, added a near-god-beast to your sanctum, and perfected your magics quite a bit. That’s not nothing.-

True, but I haven’t physically changed. Tala felt the need to defend herself.

-That’s true, but you won’t, not for a long time.- Alat—even while conceding—couldn’t help but emphasize how she really was right, if Tala thought about it her way.

Tala sighed internally before refocusing on her siblings.

Illie and Alva were practically fully grown into woman-hood, with Nea’s growth having helped Tala know what to expect at least to a certain extent.

Nalac and Dagan were well into the late adolescent growth of boys becoming young men, and even Osip was showing signs of maturing.

Tala found her eyes drifting to Olen who would be next to choose about the Academy in just more than another year.

They are all growing up so fast…

Latna pulled Tala out of her musings by rushing forward to greet the students as they came into view.

That sparked another round of greetings in which Caln introduced Verla to the siblings who’d been at the Academy.

Finally, they decided that they’d filled the lobby of the teleportation tower long enough, and the whole group went off to grab food. This time, they actually went to the Karweil’s old home, where Master Leighis still ran the clinic and where Caln and Verla were going to move in once they were married.

They chose that location because it was large enough to accommodate everyone—and unlike their new home, the parents weren’t there to make things awkward with Tala.

All the siblings would have dinner with their parents without Tala or Rane, but breakfast and lunch would be in the old home.

Tala felt an odd mix of emotions as they all worked together to prepare the food that they’d picked up for the occasion.

Quite a few times, Tala almost cheated by using magic, or dropping an unprocessed ingredient into Kit to prepare it effectively instantly. After all, she didn’t particularly like the rote, mundane activities required for cooking.

Even so, she held off. There was something cathartic in the very act of working as a team to make meals that they would then share. It wasn’t about the tasks; it was about who she was doing them with. She didn’t want to ruin that.

Verla and Rane were still somewhat outsiders, but that was mitigated fairly early on when Master Leighis joined them. It was mostly his house, after all. Even if it hadn’t been his home, he had been invited.

As odd as it was for Tala—given he’d arrived after she left—he was considered something of a second father to her siblings—at least most of them. Since she didn’t have any issue with him—and since her siblings wanted him around—she was happy for him to join them.

Tala did notice some… interesting glances, but she didn’t feel like making a big deal about it in the moment. It was possible she was reading into things.

-Yes, with your near-omniscient vision. You are misinterpreting what you see.-

…That’s entirely possible.

-I know. I wasn’t being sarcastic.-

Tala sighed internally. Fine.

At one point, when breakfast was almost finished and the siblings were just monitoring the final cooking process, Master Leighis did take a moment to approach Tala and Rane. “Mistress Tala, Master Rane, it is good to see you both.”

They exchanged bows and greetings. They had briefly greeted each other when he’d arrived, but this was the first time they’d had to really chat on this visit.

There was a momentary silence before the not-quite-Fused man sighed. “If it isn’t impertinent, may I ask the two of you for a bit of advice?”

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That got their attention, and Tala and Rane oriented on him more fully. Terry will be fine.

He’d been flickering about playing with the younger siblings and snatching food where he could—even if never enough to affect the quality of the end result.

Rane answered for them. “If we can, sure.”

She smiled her agreement, even if she was a bit skeptical.

Maser Leighis nodded gratefully. “Thank you. I am… I am struggling to Fuse.”

Rane looked to Tala questioning, and she shrugged. He was welcome to go ahead. Rane smiled, turning back to the older man. “Well, I can see that you are right at the cusp.”

“Exactly. It’s so frustrating. I moved to being a healer to ‘find myself’ and have time to think. That’s helped, but I just can’t get over the last hurdle.”

Rane nodded. “I assume you’ve already gotten the advice of ‘look for the lies you tell yourself?’”

“Yes.” Master Leighis grimaced slightly.

“Then you’ve probably already heard: What do you hate about yourself? And: If you could change any one thing, what would it be?”

Master Leighis sighed, nodding defeatedly.

Tala cleared her throat. “Did you find any lies that you were telling yourself?”

He looked at her oddly, then shrugged, seemingly resigned to be open with them, “A few. The silliest was that I really, really wanted to learn advanced alchemy. I think it would be nice to know, but I don’t really want to go through the rigor of learning it myself.” He gave a self-deprecating smile. “It’s a bit embarrassing, but my understanding is that most people have some such thing in their lives. I was interested because of my friend and my apprentice, but my actual drive was minimal when it came down to it.”

She nodded. “And what do you think of my sister?”

Master Leighis blinked at her a few times. “What about Latna?”

Tala noticed a very small coloring of the man’s cheeks and his pupils dilated ever so slightly. She sighed. “See, it isn’t generally seen as favorable for a master and apprentice to become otherwise entangled, but it’s hard for two people working closely to not ever even consider such.”

He cleared his throat, glancing toward where Latna was working. He didn’t have to search for her, he already knew exactly where she was. He noticed that too, and his blush grew.

Rane frowned for a moment looking between Tala and Master Leighis. He then gave a slow nod, clearly understanding.

Master Leighis seemed to fight a brief—but intense—internal war before he sighed. “I see what you mean. I really have been—” The man’s eyes widened even as Tala and Rane watched his aura seemed to blaze through with veins of true orange. “Oh, I feel the fool.”

Master Leighis closed his eyes, clearly forgetting about them for the moment. His body twitched as if he was fighting a physical reaction to the changes he was undergoing.

At the same time, his gate gushed power outward.

-Hey, in this time of enlightenment his throughput is temporarily almost matching yours.-

Hush you, comparison is the thief of joy.

-Yes. I want to steal his joy for ourselves.-

Tala almost choked as she stifled a laugh. Even so, she kept her focus on Master Leighis.

The Academy siblings—as well as Latna—each seemed to notice that something was happening, but that knowledge mostly manifested in an unexplained shiver or a feeling like someone was watching them.

Though, since Tala was always watching them when she was about, it wasn’t exactly a new feeling.

The shower of magic almost seemed to reverse, being drawn back in and compressed into Master Leighis’s aura.

If Tala had to find a comparison, it looked like his aura was being forge-welded together with mighty blows from an unseen hammer.

A moment later, he slumped slightly, letting out a long breath.

Fascinating. Just like the method of Fusing varied from person to person, the manner and experience of it did as well. While Tala had felt like she was doing something akin to knitting—and Lyn’s had manifested like stitching—Master Leighis seemed to have forged his fusion into being.

It had taken all of five seconds, and while several of those present glanced around, there wasn’t anything for their mundane eyes to really see.

Rane had clearly been focused on something else, even as he watched the Fusing. As such, he was frowning even as Master Leighis gave a soft, joyful laugh. Rane cleared his throat before asking, “Surely, Tala’s not the first person to suggest such a thing?”

Master Leighis shook his head. “No, but in different contexts—and asked differently—it was easier to think around, to dismiss.” His smile was broad and genuine. “Thank you, truly.” He gave a deep bow. “If there is anything that I can do for you?”

Tala nodded before responding in a level tone, “You can answer my question. What do you think of my sister, Fused Leighis?”

His smile froze on his face as he met her gaze fully. After a moment, he visibly swallowed. “Well… I think that I am becoming attached to her, emotionally speaking. I like having her around. I think she makes me want to be a better version of myself, and I like that I am able to help her as well.”

Some of the others had noticed the three Mages in the corner, and they were giving a healthy buffer to the trio. That combined with the low voices that the three were able to speak in ensured no one could listen in.

Master Leighis continued, “She is brilliant and hard working. She is kind and tender.” His voice faded as Tala’s expression didn’t change. He finally finished with a simple statement, “I enjoy her company.”

Tala grunted. “I see. So? How are you going to proceed, now that you have had this revelation?”

Rane frowned, “Well, doesn’t it depend on how she feels?”

Both Tala and Master Leighis shook their heads, and it was he who spoke next, “No. Nothing can happen between a master and apprentice while they remain such. What she is asking is if I will keep my commitment to be her master or give that up to see if there can be more?”

Rane’s frown deepened, looking toward Tala in his confusion. “Why can’t he see how she feels, then decide?”

Tala sighed. “Think about that for a moment, from her side.”

It did only take Rane a moment, though Tala suspected that Enar—and maybe Alat—helped him make the connection. “Oh… Oh, yeah.” He grimaced, the realization clearly affecting him. “The imbalance between master and apprentice would make that an unfair way to approach it in the extreme.”

Master Leighis nodded. “In the extreme, indeed. Mistress Tala is right. I need to either find another master for her and only inquire as to her feelings after she has had time to get her feet under her, or crush those that I apparently have been growing within myself.”

Tala gave a solemn nod in return. “Exactly, yes.”

The newly Fused man sighed, looking a bit deflated. “How long will you give me to decide?”

Rane frowned again, but when he opened his mouth to say something, he paused, clearly listening to a voice in his head.

-He really needs to get better at hiding those tells.-

Yeah. It’s really obvious when he’s talking with Enar.

-Yup. Utterly unlike you.- Alat then sent Tala a flickering montage of Tala’s own face when she was talking with Alat, starting near the beginning of their interactions, and progressing to the present. -You are getting better. Even now, you only look like you’re too good for those around you.- She accompanied that pronouncement with a live view of Tala’s face, which did, indeed, look like Tala was irritated at having to be in the room.

Tala’s features immediately shifted to a more neutral cast.

-There you go, now you don’t look constipated.-

…I don’t poop anymore.

-Exactly. So it’s an accurate assessment. Constipation is, after all, the inability to poop.-

I think it’s more than that… and I could if I wanted to… I think.

-Regardless. Master Leighis is awaiting an answer.- Alat’s voice was playfully teasing as the alternate interface clearly tried to help Tala remain emotionally level.

Oh! Right! Tala let out a long sigh, as if she’d been thinking. “I leave in three days. I want to know your choice by then.”

He gave a deeper than usual bow. “As you say, Mistress Tala. Thank you for your wisdom and your patience.”

Tala huffed a laugh. “Life is rarely as clean as we’d like it to be, Master Leighis. Speaking of which, I do want to talk with my siblings some.”

“Of course, thank you, again.” He stepped back, acknowledging the end of the conversation.

Tala and Rane moved back to mingle with the group. The more perceptive of those present noted the features of the three throughout the conversation, even if they didn’t know the content. Still, no one bugged any of the three, except for Latna.

She simply saw Tala and Rane moving away from Master Leighis, and she shifted over to his side in order to ask how he was. “Master? Is everything alright? Was my sister being… unkind?”

He shook his head, eyes flicking toward Tala. He likely knew she could hear and see him even with her face turned to look elsewhere. Even if he didn’t, he was wise enough to act as if she could. “Not at all. She and Master Rane just helped me with my mental block.” He gave a genuine smile. “I am Fused at long last.”

Latna’s eyes widened with obvious surprise and excitement. “That’s wonderful news, master!” Then, her face fell slightly. “But… you had only stepped away from your position in order to Fuse. Does that mean that you will be leaving again, soon?”

The light of an idea seemed to blossom in the man’s eyes. “I have not fully decided, Latna, but there is that possibility. Even so, we should discuss it later, not when surrounded by those you haven’t seen in so long.”

The young woman seemed torn, but eventually, she nodded in acceptance, and those two rejoined the others as well.

Overall, the breakfast and lunch went very well. The time in between was filled with clean up and prep, as well as near constant conversations, the people involved ever changing as each sibling—and the three who desired to be family—flowed from conversation to conversation, in a fluid manner that spoke to how generally comfortable they all were with one another. Exceptions aside, as Master Leighis somehow always seemed to not be in conversation with Tala or Rane.

There was also the fact that basically everyone there still had a healthy dose of the exuberance of youth. Tala had to remember that fully half of the people present were younger than twenty years old, with Sella being the youngest at nine.

Regardless, she simply enjoyed the time with her siblings.