Her train of thoughts was interrupted by her father yelling at her from the kitchen. “Let's get your stuff unpacked, you must be tired from your trip back!”
“Okay! I assume my room hasn't been taken over?” Jane jokingly shouted back.
“Not yet!” He chuckled in response.
She lugged her heavy backpack out of the living room and up the wooden stairs which hadn't been changed like the floorboards— meaning they were still creaky. She managed to remember where the non-creaky spots were and like a panther, she stealthily climbed up the stairs. It was a skill she had practiced a lot when she was younger for various purposes that others didn't need to know about.
She opened the door to her room and found it exactly the same as she had left it— much to her content.
‘Looks like Ma continued to clean the place.’ She looked around and noticed it was sparkly clean and was glad nothing had been moved around too much. Throwing her backpack onto the wooden floor of her room, she dove onto her bed and closed her eyes, letting the familiar sink of her old mattress sooth her soul.
It smelled like home, and it felt like home. No longer was her bed going to be a fluffy paradise of softness that all the beds at the academy had, but instead it was a springy, barely soft mattress. To some that might be a bad thing, but to Jane, it felt just right.
Jeff strode into her room before stopping awkwardly. “I should probably start knocking, you're a grown up now.”
“That would be great, thanks!” Jane seriously nodded to that. She really wanted her privacy.
He rubbed his hands, cleared his throat, then got to work. They didn't spend that long unpacking her stuff as most of it was clothes and a few trinkets she brought along, but there were a few books and other smaller items she had to find a new home for.
Some of it was originally stuff from home that she took to the academy, but most of it was new stuff she brought along with her from the academy. The academy had given every student an allowance to which they could use to purchase items from the academy stores— which she visited often.
Unpacking shouldn't have taken long considering how little she had brought back, but Jane was a different person now and she began to rearrange her room to what felt more right. Time seemed to fly as they modified her room and by the end, it looked completely different then how it used to be.
Her bed was rotated and moved closer to the window in her room to allow it to soak in the natural light of the sun better. Her desk was similarly moved and the rest of her things were rearranged to fit better.
“What to do with this?” Jane said to herself, stuck on what to do with her academy uniform. She wasn't going to throw it away but was she ever going to wear it again?
Once she graduated, she no longer had to wear the uniform, and she was both happy and sad about that. Happy that she could wear things she wanted for a change and sad thinking about all the memories she had while in her uniform. Not a depressing sadness, but more of a joyful sadness.
‘I'll decide later.’ For now she would store it with the rest of clothes.
“That's about everything, thanks for the help Pa.” Jane patted her hands together and looked around, satisfied with how her room looked.
“Of course.” Jeff lumbered out of the room and left saying, “I gotta check on the animals and your Ma’s playing with Abigail in the living room.”
“Okay!” Jane answered and took another deep breath in. She reached into her pockets and pulled out a very special golden badge with the symbol of a backwards ‘E’ on it.
This badge represented two things; First she was a graduate of the Academy of Classholders, a very respected and quite special thing to have accomplished, while the ‘E’ told others her class was an enigma.
She took the badge down the stairs and into the living room where she found Rosalie done playing with Abigail because the little girl's eyes were starting to droop. Rosalie picked her up and went to put her to sleep in her own room which used to be an empty storage room before.
Jane walked past the living room and exited the house onto the porch where she took a seat on her fathers old wooden chair. The darn thing had been around longer then she had and would probably last for a couple more decades with how resilient it was.
The sun was off to her left and began to sneak under the land below, lighting the sky with a palette of warm colors. This was something the big city couldn't hope to replicate; the beauty of seeing the bare landscape and all its glory.
Reaching into her pocket she pulled out something else she brought down along with her badge, a gift from one of friends at the academy. It looked like a long blue crystal but its use was definitely not for visual pleasure. She pressed the gift to her lips and took a breath in before blowing out a cloud of blue smoke.
A soothing feeling spread throughout her body making the sight of the orangey gold sky even more impressive than before. Calmness was all she felt in this moment.
The door opened behind her, and Rosalie came out and sat down beside Jane in her own chair she had out on the porch. Surprised by her mother, Jane hid the crystal on reflex but only got a chuckle in response from Rosalie.
“Don't mind me, you're an adult now, remember.” Rosalie lit up her own cigarette and took some puffs in.
“I guess that's true… I'm freaking old now.”
“What does that make me then?” They laughed together.
Smelling the foul scent of Rosalie’s cigarette, Jane spoke up. “Oh no no you can't smoke that, here try this.” Jane passed her mom the blue crystal. “This is something my alchemist friend Liam made me, not only does it make you feel good, it’s actually good for you.”
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“Really?” Rosalie curiously inspected the blue crystal, not sure what to do.
“Yep, alchemist approved! Its main use is to clear up the gunk in the lungs but it also makes you feel great.” Jane explained. “Just put it to your lips and take a breath in. Easy as that.”
Rosalie tossed her cigarette in an ashtray nearby and followed Jane’s instructions. She ended up blowing out a huge puff of blue smoke. “Wow! This is some good stuff.”
“I know right, it's useful having an alchemist friend.” A corner of Jane's lip curled into a smile as she watched her mother take another hit.
The two sat in silence enjoying each other's company and the view before them while passing the blue crystal between themselves. Eventually the sun faded beyond the horizon and the remaining light it gave off was fading quickly.
“So Ma…” Jane had something she wanted to tell her parents sooner than later and thought now was a better time than ever. Her mother was “high” and the day was almost over, it felt like an opportune time.
Rosalie turned to look at Jane and waited for what she had to say.
“You were excited by the prospect of having friends come to Redwood right?”
“Of course, I can't wait to meet your friends.” Rosalie beamed. “You said before you guys were coming up with plans right?”
“Yep, actually the plans are already done.” Jane took another hit. “Redwood is in the middle of Trinium so everyone decided Redwood would be the easiest place to meet up— lucky for me. it was decided that they’ll come in roughly a month and half from now.”
“So soon? Won’t it take them days if not weeks to travel here?” Rosalie asked. “What about their families, I wouldn't want my daughter going away again so soon.”
“One of my friends is a Porter, and one of her assignments was to travel to all the kingdom's major cities and towns so she can go there whenever she wants.”
“A Porter? Is that the one that can teleport?”
“Yep, so with her picking everyone up, there won't be any travel time involved. It might take a few days though since she’s still a newbie and doesn't have as much stamina to continuously teleport back and forth— especially considering the distance between towns.”
Jane continued, “She’ll probably arrive first then pick people up one by one throughout the week.”
“Where are they planning to stay? Because we’ll be happy to host them. We have a few spare rooms in the basement if we move some things around.” Rosalie questioned.
“Wait wait sorry that was beside the point, I wanted to talk to you about something else.” Jane composed herself.
“What is it honey?”
“Well… someone will be visiting at the same time that's… a little more than a friend.” Jane’s face started to go red, a little embarrassed. She wasn't sure why she was embarrassed about telling her parents she was in a relationship, she was an adult, it was a normal thing. Maybe it was that fact she had never done it before, so it was a new experience.
Whatever the case, she was gonna say it.
“My—”
“Oh, did you get a boyfriend at the academy?! When did you guys meet? How old is he? How long have you been together?” Rosalie’s eyes sparkled and she hit Jane with a barrage of questions.
“Um, well… I actually got a girlfriend.” Jane waited to see what Rosalie’s response would be but only got a hit by the same questions.
“When did you guys meet? How old is she? How long have you been together?”
“We met on the first day of classes since everyone the same age is in one class together— wait, you don't care that she's a girl?”
“What? Of course not!” Rosalie patted her on the head. “Your father might have wanted you to bring home a man, because as a man himself he can relate to them, but that's his problem to deal with. As for me, I can't wait to meet her myself.”
“Soooo, what's her name and how long have you been dating?”
Jane smiled and one of her last worries disappeared hearing her mothers words. “Her name is Mira, and we've dated for close to three years.” Jane responded.
“Three whole years! That's amazing!” Rosalie turned towards her and was excited like a puppy meeting its owner for the first time.
“So Mira’s coming along with all your friends, oh we need to start cleaning the house now… and start making some plans on how to get along with all of them…”
“Ma not again! Everyone and everything is fine the way it is, just play nice and don't be so aggressive when you meet them.”
“Did you just call me aggressive?”
Jane stood up while saying, “You're imagining things. It's getting late. I better head to bed, goodnight Ma!” She ran back into the house, all the way up to her room.
Rosalie chuckled and leaned back into her chair, thrilled her daughter had returned a new woman. She could see the old Jane in her, but she really wanted to get to know the new Jane better. Thoughts and plans brewed in her mind as she came up with ways to get to know her friends and girlfriend better— the first one was to find a way to host them while they were all here.
They had one spare bedroom that could host two people but she didn't know how many friends were coming over, she needed to get the details from Jane. With a little work they could turn the basement which was mostly a storage place into a temporary room, they just needed some extra bedding.
“It's almost bedtime, what are you still doing outside? Come on in, it's gonna get cold soon since it's still spring.” Jeff came outside and asked Rosalie.
“I'm thinking dear… Did you know that your daughter got herself a girlfriend, and they’ve been dating for almost three years.”
Jeff plopped himself down next to his wife and cleared his throat. “Tell me more, I'm listening.”
***
Jane changed into her pajamas which weren’t that different from her normal clothes, they consisted of a pair of soft white short shorts, a comfortable shirt and an oversized black sweater overtop to fend off the chilly night air.
Holding her classholder badge above her as she lay in her bed, thoughts of her days at the academy rushed through her mind. The hard classes which she hated— being any of the general classes not related to classholders themselves— the friends she made goofing around outside of class time… her first time meeting Mira.
The good and bad and everything in between, all were precious memories to her— even the time she fell asleep on the edge of a fountain and rolled into it, soaking herself from head to toe. That had happened right in front of Mira when she had a crush on her before they even started dating.
Taking one last look, she placed the badge down on her desk next to her and closed her eyes, happy to be back home. One of her greatest skills (skills would be a strong word here) was her ability to fall asleep whenever and wherever. It didn't always help, like what she had just remembered about falling into the fountain, but most of the time it was amazing.
It only took her a solid minute before her mind was no longer awake and instead was living in the world of dreams. Her last thought before she fell asleep was, 'I can't wait.' She didn't have any specific idea of what she couldn't wait for; it was more of a feeling that she couldn't wait for her life to continue unfolding.