Gregory sighed happily as he held Yukiko in his arms, her naked back pressed to his chest. Last night was better than our dreams… Maybe it was because it was finally real, but I think it was more the realization of our wishes.
Yukiko pressed into him and let out a happy sound. “Good morning, dear one.”
“Good morning, my lovely bride.”
“Last night… I never expected it to be even better than the dreams.”
“I agree, and it was,” Gregory murmured, kissing her neck.
Yukiko let out a small, sharp inhale and she squirmed against him. “Dear one, I—”
There was a soft knock on the bedroom door and the couple froze. “Breakfast is almost ready, if you’re awake and not engaged,” Baylyss’ voice said through the door. “We’ll keep it warm for you, otherwise.”
Yukiko sighed and inched a little away from Gregory. “We’ll be there in a moment!” she called back.
Gregory let Yukiko go, but stayed where he was. “It’s probably late already. We’re supposed to have lunch with our families today, aren’t we?”
“Yes, and I’m sure the kids are waiting for us to get up, as well,” Yukiko said softly as she got out of bed. Looking over her shoulder, she blushed. “Are you going to just lie there?”
“Just for a moment longer. I want to take in the sight of my beautiful wife the morning after our wedding.”
Shaking her head, Yukiko went to the armoire where they had clothes waiting for them. Yukiko bit her lip as she put a little extra sway in her walk. Though she couldn’t see him, she heard Gregory’s breath hitch when she did, making her blush and smile.
Gregory exhaled roughly and rolled out of bed the other way, his own face feeling hot. “Meditation with the kids before we go see our parents?”
“We should. They haven’t practiced with us for nearly two weeks, and it’ll be another month before we come back.”
“Jenn might be upset if we train without her,” Gregory said, picking up their clothing from last night.
“Hmm… if she isn’t already here, I’ll be surprised.”
Gregory paused in collecting clothes for a second, then nodded. “Yeah, she’s probably waiting for us.”
“I’d be disappointed if she wasn’t.” Yukiko suddenly giggled behind him. “Are you deliberately not coming over to dress?”
“A little,” Gregory admitted. “I’m trying to calm down, and that’ll be easier if you have clothing on.”
“Oh, so my sway worked?”
“Yeah, it got my attention,” Gregory admitted as he picked up the last piece of clothing. Looking back, he found her nearly dressed and smiled. “I have your obi.” He draped it over his shoulder and walked to her.
“I’ll need it to hold my kimono closed,” Yukiko replied, her hands keeping it in place for the moment.
When he reached her, Yukiko accepted her obi and wrapped it around herself. She moved away and watched Gregory dress, her cheeks hot while she did. Gregory’s reddening face made her feel a little naughty, but it didn’t stop her from looking.
Gregory’s face was burning by the time he finished dressing. “I think you got a longer viewing than I did.”
“Yes. I came out ahead on that deal,” Yukiko said, her eyes twinkling.
“Shall we?” Gregory asked, the heat starting to fade a little.
“Yes.”
Gregory opened the bedroom door to find Elsa standing there. “Good morning, Elsa.”
“Good morning,” she replied with a bright smile. “I’m to bring you to the dining room.”
“We’re ready,” Yukiko smiled. “Did you enjoy the wedding?” she asked the girl as they followed her.
“Yes. It was very nice. The food was amazing. I’m going to work hard to be able to cook like that.”
“That’s an admirable goal,” Yukiko said. “Don’t let it distract you from your other duties though.”
“It won’t. I have to lead the others through the meditation exercises, get my studying, and housework done. After all that, I’ll work on cooking with Baylyss.”
Gregory smiled. “We’ll look forward to trying it when we get back.”
When they walked into the dining room, the couple was met with a chorus of greetings from Jenn and the children. Gregory and Yukiko smiled brightly as they thanked everyone and took the seats that Elsa directed them to.
“Morning,” Jenn said. “I hope you don’t mind that I came. I figured you’d get your meditation in after breakfast.”
“We’re glad you’re here,” Yukiko told her. “I’d have been disappointed if you weren’t.”
Before Jenn could reply, Baylyss came out of the kitchen with a cart loaded with food. “Breakfast is served. It’s simple and not aether-infused, but I have some aether fruits from Dia that you are to have with this.”
“Thank you,” all three of them said.
“I made something that the children are used to, but I’m not sure if you are,” Baylyss said as she put the cauldron on the table. “It’s frumenty.”
Gregory chuckled at Yukiko’s lack of recognition. “Cracked oats that have been boiled. It’s bland, but filling.”
“We normally add fruit to it,” Elsa said. “It helps.”
“And we have the fruit from Dia, so it works out,” Jenn nodded.
~*~*~
Breakfast went by without a lot of conversation, though Gregory could tell that Yukiko was glad for the fruit. Truthfully, he was, too— the frumenty reminded him of his childhood, but he’d forgotten just how bland it could be.
The kids were all eager for meditation, and the three magi were smiling through the exercise. As their meditation came to an end, Gregory recalled he had promised Master Damon he’d write down his foresight moments.
Waiting for the kids to go off to their tasks, Gregory turned to Yukiko and Jenn. “I need a few minutes to write some things down for Master Damon.”
“Yes, you did tell him you’d inform him about your foresight,” Yukiko nodded. “You’re not going to tell him everything, are you?”
“No. Bits and pieces only,” Gregory said. “I think I need to underplay what I can do.”
“That’s for the best,” Yukiko agreed. “Jenn and I will get our things together so Baylyss can have them sent back to the academy for us.”
“I’ll be in the front room. I’m sure you’ll finish before me.”
“We’ll see you there,” Jenn said.
Gregory left the garden and found Baylyss. “Baylyss, can I have some paper and ink?”
“Writing a letter home to your friends?”
“Uh… I should do that, too. I can have my father deliver it for me. I had something else I have to do first though.”
“I’ll have some brought to you.”
“Thanks. I’ll be in the front room.”
One of the children brought him the supplies before hurrying off to another task. Gregory tackled the easy one first— he wrote out the few times he wanted to clearly admit to using foresight. He chose not to write about his fight with Klein, hoping that would muddy the idea that the spirit path could affect his foresight. With that done, he turned his attention to the letter to Gunnar.
Gunnar,
I hope this finds you and the family well. Things have been busy here. I’m sure you’re aware that Father is here with me currently. I got married right after the tournament. Never expected my father to be here for it, but that was Yuki’s gift to me.
It’s been different— he’s acting like he did before Mother died. I don’t know how else to say it. Supportive, understanding, and kind, just like he used to be. It makes those years in between more stark, but I understand them better now. He was just so terrified of losing me.
Anyway, the tournament went well. This time, I lost in the final fight to Jenn Bean. I told you about her in the last letter. Funny thing is that she joined Yuki and me in Aether’s Guard. We joined a clan, but it’s different from all the others. We can leave them whenever we want, and they aren’t forcing us to learn any specific way. They’re also tolerant of people with mixed blood, which was one of the main reasons we chose them.
How is the kid? Was it a boy or girl? Bet she’ll take after El if she’s a girl. You’ll have your hands full keeping the boys off her when she grows up. If they’re a boy, they’ll take after you and be the third strongest in the town.
How’s Ria? Are she and Stan doing okay? What about your parents?
Maybe it’s odd, but I want to hear about home. Things are so different here, and I get why the magi in the stories never come home. Seeing your friends and family age and die long before you is the reason why… If I don’t make it back in twenty years, I’ll probably never make it back. I’d rather keep you all in my memory as you are today. Maybe that’s selfish of me, but I want to keep those memories. I hope you’ll understand and will forgive me if that happens.
Your oldest friend,
Greg
Signing the letter, he read it again and exhaled slowly. “I hope they understand.”
“Dearest?” Yukiko asked, coming into the room.
“Just finished writing a letter to Gunnar.”
“Is something wrong?” Yukiko asked, crossing the room to him with Jenn following her.
“I don’t know… I’m feeling a little maudlin.”
“May I?” Yukiko asked.
Gregory handed her the letter. “Go ahead.”
Jenn stepped back, and Gregory met her eyes. “You can, too, Jenn. Gunnar was my best friend growing up.”
Jenn bit her lip. “Are you sure?”
“You don’t have to, but if you want to, it’s fine.”
Jenn gave him a small nod and stood next to Yukiko to read it with her.
After a couple of minutes, Yukiko handed Gregory the letter back. “It’s a good letter, Greg. If he’s a good man, he’ll understand what you’re saying.”
“I can see why writing this would be hard,” Jenn said softly. “You’re saying you want to stay in contact, but you want to preserve your memories, too.”
The bell on the door rang and Gregory got to his feet, folding the letter. “That’s probably the carriage to take us to lunch.”
Elsa went quickly over to the door, giving them a smile as she passed them. When she got there, she paused, smoothed her maid uniform, and exhaled before opening it. “How can I help you?”
Lin stood outside the door, giving her a smile. “I’m here to collect Gregory and Yukiko.”
“We have Jenn here, too,” Gregory said, coming into view of the doorway.
“That’s fine. There is room,” Lin said. “If you’re ready?”
“We are,” Yukiko said. She turned to Elsa and gave her a bright smile. “We’ll be back before the next year starts at the academy. Remember to do your very best, and if you do, we’ll make sure to bring you something back.”
Elsa’s eyes went wide for a moment and she curtsied. “I will do my best, miss.”
“The same goes for the others,” Gregory said. “We hope to hear how exceptional you all were when we get back.”
“We’ll do our very best,” one of the children said from the hallway.
“We know you will,” Jenn said, giving her a smile.
Elsa fidgeted a second, then curtsied again. “We will be ready for your return. May Aether guide and guard you until we see you again.”
Yukiko looked briefly at Gregory before looking back to Elsa. “I’m sure he will.”
Lin got them into the carriage, but declined to join them. Instead, he rode with the driver as they left Gin’s home behind.
“We’re leaving tomorrow…” Jenn said. “It feels odd. The first year felt so regimented, and now, everything is changing all at once.”
“Yes,” Yukiko agreed, “but for the better. I had an idea that I wanted to bring up with you both. The ring has helped us a lot, but with our current enchanted items, I’m not sure we should keep using it and switching off between us. I thought maybe we could leave it as a gift for Daciana and Nessa.”
“I like that,” Gregory said. “Are we allowed to, though?”
“Oh, that’s a good point,” Yukiko said. “We can ask Dia tonight, and if we can, maybe one of the staff can deliver it to them.”
“I agree,” Jenn nodded. “They both want to join the clan, giving them a helping hand up makes sense to me. I like both of them. Daciana is assertive, and Nessa has calm reason. They balance each other well.”
“They do,” Yukiko agreed.
“If we can, do it. It’ll help them the month we’re gone, too.”
“And give them an increased edge going into their novice year.”
