Celeste rose and brushed free the dirt from her gown. Turning, she found herself met with the amazed stares of her friends and the children alike.

“R… Radiance.” Valleresa stammered. “I… I’ve never.”

“Most deem it a waste of the Mother’s light.” Celeste said. “But all life is connected dear sister, and the Mother’s gifts are blessings on all life.” She had gotten the idea from a long-deceased Bishop of Life’s writings. He had experimented five hundred years ago with using the Mother’s light to grow crops. But he had found that what he grew was just enough to sate the hunger and exhaustion he had garnered from growing them. Celeste was able to produce a bit more of the Mother’s light than normal though, so she had hypothesized that she might be an exception to that rule. Looking back at that bounty, and the lack of exhaustion she felt, it seemed she had been right.

“You’re her.” The little girl said in awe. “The one they talk about.” All the children all gasped and looked at her. Celeste shifted uncomfortably at the admiration in their eyes.

“Th… Thank you miss.” The Fereni boy stammered out, stepping in front of the children. Celeste simply smiled.

“It was my pleasure sir.” She reached out and shook the young man's hand.

Shortly after that, Celeste departed to let the children harvest their crops. The little girl had already picked a bean pod and was munching away on them. Continuing down the street, Kriss strode up beside her.

“You know.” He said, leaning in and whispering. “I think we would have been a lot less hungry as kids if you had done that back then.”

Celeste looked up at him and noticed him struggling to keep a straight look on his face. It was the same face he had made as a boy when he was making fun of her.

“Well, I didn’t know what I was doing back then.” She explained very matter of fact.

“And you do now?” He asked, his grin breaking through.

“No, but I’m certainly better at pretending.” At that, they both laughed. Her sisters giving them looks as they did so. After the laughter subsided, they walked together in silence for a short while.

Keeping his eyes ahead of them, Kriss began to speak. “That last time I got dragged from the temple by my ear... I thought that was going to be the last time I ever saw you.” Kriss said. Celeste looked up at him. He kept his eyes forward but continued. “Or, well, it was more that... if I ever saw you again you would be so different that it wouldn't be you.” he looked down at her now, and their eyes met. She found herself staring at those big brown eyes of his. “I was so scared you'd become like the rest of them. Too important to see the street kids beneath you your gaze.”

“And,” Celeste began with trepidation. “All these years later, how do you find me?” Did she really want to know his answer? What if she was like he feared? Her heart began to beat rapidly at the thought.

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“I've never been so happy to be wrong.” He answered with a warm smile, a gesture she couldn't help but mimic. “Celeste I...” Kriss was cut off by a cacophonous snapping of wood, followed by a man screaming from down the street. Celeste and Kriss looked to one another, then ran.

Celeste kept close behind Kriss, the large man making a path for them through the crowd of people. Pushing through the still moving throng, Celeste gasped as she spotted the source of the scream. A large cart piled high with stone, a broken wheel, and a middle aged Jöln man trapped beneath.

As she took in the sight, Kriss burst into action. He gently, but firmly, pushed past an elderly Khazimi lady who gaped in horror at the man slowly being crushed in front of her. Kriss dropped to one knee, dug his hands under the cart, and heaved. The cart shifted slightly, and Celeste felt a moment of flickering hope. The hope faded as the weight proved too much for her dear friend.

“No...” Celeste whispered. This was terrible. But it was also something she could help with.

Rushing over next to Kriss's side she touched her hand to the trapped man. “Stay calm friend. We'll get you out.” With her hands holding the struggling man's head, she let light flow forth. She wouldn't be able to heal him completely while he was still being crushed, but perhaps she could buy the man some time while Kriss lifted the cart.

“You, you, and all of you!” Kriss shouted from next to her, his arms struggling to keep the cart from completely crushing the man. “Get over here and help me lift this damn thing!” For a moment, nobody shifted. All simply staring at the sight in shock. “Help me!” Kriss commanded, his voice booming over the shocked whispers.

People began to move. At least half a dozen surrounded the cart, taking spots around it as Kriss shouted orders. In moments they were equally situated around, ready at Kriss’s command.

“See, we'll get you out of this.” Celeste comforted the man, his face turning purple despite her best attempts to keep him going. The man's panicked eyes bulged, darting around in fear. She cringed at the sight of it, and she began to feel weak. This man should have been dead many times over by now if not for the Mother’s light, but she would not let him go.

“HEAVE!” Kriss shouted from next to her, and the men around her lifted with heavy grunts. The cart shifted, only a little, but it was enough. Shifting desperately to one hand, Kriss reached out with his other and pulled the Jöln free.

The cart collapsed a heartbeat after the small man was free, stones crushing through the rotting wood that had been at fault in the first place. Splinters flew, and one sliced across Celeste's cheek. It didn't matter, now she could work properly. With a deep breath, she released a heavy wave of light into the Jöln. Her life, mixing with his.

The colour returned to the man's face, and Celeste stepped back. As the crowds pulled in around them, she felt a strong hand pull her away from the centre of the mass. Kriss pulled her away around a corner into an alley before anybody had the thought to turn attention to either of them. Thankfully, the people seemed too intent on the man who had nearly died to follow. Rounding the corner, Celeste fell back in exhaustion. Mud caked around her, and she felt weary, but it had worked.

“You saved him.” Kriss said laying back next to her in the mud. He breathed heavily and seemed similarly exhausted. She looked at him in shock. He had done all the work; all Celeste had done was pass the Mother’s light onto the man. But wasn't that how he had been all those years ago? Never taking her thanks, always doing what was needed, no matter how much it cost him? No matter how differently he looked, how differently he sounded, he was still that boy. For a decade she had kept the image of the boy that he had been close at heart. Somehow though, she found a new, different comfort in this boy, no, this man who stood next to her now.

“We saved him.” Celeste responded. He looked down at her and she back up at him.

“I guess we did.” He returned, smiling. “Lucky that, huh?”