“Mama and Papa were doing dirty things last night.” Anya said with a deadpan expression.
“Eh!?” The man and Clarine cried out simultaneously. Clarine blushed wildly and crashed to the ground, muttering “she heard us….our daughter heard us…” woozily.
It was early in the morning, the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon. As the sun’s rays were just beginning to illuminate the land, the morning sky still retained some of the darkness of the night sky. Anya had woken up the moment the sun began to rise, opening her petals wearily. With a great big yawn, she uprooted herself and slowly crawled over to her sleeping parents.
She leaned over, poking her mother’s sleeping face with her tiny finger. “Mama, it’s morning.” She said while stifling another yawn.
“Nnnh…” Clarine muttered, rolling over in her sleep. She slowly blinked open her heavy eyelids, spotting her daughter’s small figure before her. “Ah, good morning, Anya…” she said sleepily.
“Good morning, Mama.” She replied, and crawled with her roots over to her still sleeping father. “Papa, it’s morning.” She said as she poked both of his cheeks with her fingers. “It’s morning,” she repeated, poking him again when she received no response. Still, the man continued to slumber. Growing annoyed, she leaned close to his ear, and loudly cried “PAPA, IT’S MORNING!” with an annoyed tone.
“Aaahhh!” he yelled, bolting upright, looking around wildly. “Oh, it’s just you, Anya.” He said as he laid his eyes on his daughter. She was crossing her arms, with her face expressing her annoyance. “How are you this morning?” he asked her, still half-asleep. Clarine crawled next to her husband, facing her daughter.
“Mama and Papa were doing dirty things last night.” Anya said with a deadpan expression.
“Eh!?”
“Mama and Papa were really loud last night.” She continued, her mother’s embarrassment growing by the second. “Especially Mama.” She added, as an afterthought. Her eyes screwed up as she continued. “It was really hard to go back to sleep, because Mama kept going ‘Aaah, aah,’ over and over.” The man couldn’t believe the words coming out of his daughter’s mouth. His wife almost seemed ready to go into denial, rolling about on the grass to and fro.
“And then, Mama said reaaaallly loudly” she emphasized by raising her arms widely into the air. “ ‘Fill me with your warm seed…impregnate me!’” she said as if it were the most normal thing in the world to be talking about with one’s parents. “Ah, Mama,” she said after a moment “it’s morning, you can’t go back to sleep.”
Clarine lay passed out on the grass, her face a violent shade of crimson. Her eyes were glazed over with a dazed look.
“Papa, why is Mama sleeping?” she asked her father, poking her mother on the cheek.
“…I think she’s really embarrassed.” He managed to reply. He too was rather stunned, although not to the extent that his wife was.
“Eh?” Anya said, confused. “Why is she embarrassed?”
The man sighed to himself. He put his hand on his little daughter’s head, rubbing it lightly. “You see…” he said slowly. “…your mother is…a very shy person. And well…last night…she wasn’t acting like her usual self.” He looked over at his wife, who was still unconscious. “…and she was really embarrassed to be acting that way, and to find out that you heard everything…” he grinned sheepishly. “I guess the shock was too much for her.” He leaned over and shook his wife’s shoulder gently. “Clarine, are you okay?” She let out a dull cry, stirring a little. Slowly she sat up, putting her hand to her head.
“Mama,” Anya began to say to her. “You don’t have to be embarrassed.” She continued cheerily, a grin on her face. “I really want a little sister, so Mama and Papa have to do their best!” she said to her embarrassed mother encouragingly.
Clarine blushed again, and glanced at her husband. What did you tell her? Her eyes seemed to say to him. He shrugged his shoulders in response, saying nothing.
“A-ah….w-well then,” she stuttered, attempting to smile at her rambunctious daughter. “I-I’ll do my best.” She finished nervously.
“So then, shall we go see Mirajane?” the man cut in, feeling that it was probably for the best to change the subject. “She said to come visit her today.” He added as a reminder.
“Ah, t-that’s right!” Clarine exclaimed, obviously happy at the change in topics.
“Mira…ja…ne?” Anya added in curiously.
“Mirajane is one of the tree dwellers that I met yesterday.” The man helpfully explained. “I had wanted to gather lumber for building our house,” at which he gestured towards the cleared patch of soil, “but she refused to tell me where the dead trees were until I came back today with Clarine.” He knelt down in front of Anya. “Do you want to go with us to meet her?”
She pondered it for a moment, her face unreadable. “Okay!” she said cheerily. “But, I want Mama to carry me!” she added, and stuck her tongue out at her father.
“You’re such a mama’s girl…” he muttered under his breath, so she couldn’t hear him. Even so, he was glad that Anya had bonded so quickly with his wife. Clarine giggled and lifted her daughter into her arms, as she made cheerful little sounds as she was lifted from the ground. She seemed to almost bounce about with glee in her mother’s arms, her petals rustling to and fro as she waved her arms.
“Let’s go!” she yelled enthusiastically, pumping her little fist into the air.
”…Ah, Papa,” she looked at her father as she spoke “which way do we go?”
He laughed cheerfully at his clueless daughter. He looked around for his axe, and finding it, he hefted it into the air and against his shoulder. He leveled his arm forward, pointing into the dense wood. “Where else would a Mamono of the trees reside? In the forest, of course!” he walked forward with cheer in his step, his wife and daughter not far behind.
“Papa, what’s Mirajane like?” Anya asked after a few minutes had past. When he mentioned that they were almost there, she began to ask questions about Mirajane. “I’m curious as to what she is like as well,” Clarine added.
Her poor husband nearly tripped over one of the larger tree roots before him. “A-ah…well…” he said, scratching his head uneasily. The memory of being hoisted off of the ground and into the air by one her branches was still very vivid. Not to mention the pain he felt as her branches came into contact with his body…“Mirajane is…well, she’s certainly one of a kind.” He said with a strained voice. “It’s really hard to describe her…she’s the kind of person that you would have to meet for yourself.” He finished lamely. He stopped walking as a large tree came into view before him. “She should be around here somewhere…” he muttered aloud to Clarine and Anya.
“Mirajane?” he called out, looking around for signs of her. “I’ve come back with my wife Clarine, just like I said I would!”
He could see the branches overhead rustle, as if something hiding behind them stirred at the sound of his voice. “Nnnnh…” a voice replied sleepily, as the branches of the tree slowly began to move to the sides. A sleepy Mirajane revealed herself, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Who is calling for me, so early in the morning…?” she said half to herself, and half to the group that stood before her. Her half opened eyes gazed wearily upon them. The man could see her squinting, trying to make out who had woken her from her slumber. It wasn’t long before she focused on him, however. “Ah.” She said simply, recognition dawning on her face.
“Oh, it’s the human!” she said excitedly, all traces of drowsiness gone from her expression. “I wasn’t expecting you for several more hours, at least!” she said brightly. “What brings you here so early in the morning?” she asked rather politely.
The sighed under his breath. Even this early in the morning she’s so…energetic. He thought to himself. Aloud, he said “I’ve come to ask you to honor our agreement made yesterday, and tell me where the grove of dead trees are.” He motioned towards Clarine, who stepped forward next to him. “I also wanted to introduce you to my wife, Clarine.”
“M-my name is Clarine,” she said nervously, bowing forward slightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She gave her a small smile.
“mmmh…” Mirajane muttered aloud, turning to the man. “Human, how come you never told me?” she sounded somewhat annoyed.
“T-tell you what?” the man replied, confused. He was almost afraid that she would take her anger out on him by lifting him into the air again.
“Don’t play dumb with me!” she replied cheerfully. “How come you never told me you had such an adorable wife!?” she squealed. “She’s sooo cuuuute! I could just pick her up and take her home with me!” she wriggled about, the tree moving strangely along with her. She had an odd, dreamy look on her face.
“Mama, Mirajane’s weird.” Anya stated with a serious look on her face.
“Ah, Anya!” Clarine cried out in response. “You shouldn’t say that, its very rude!” she scolded.
“…?” Mirajane stopped moving, unbeknownst to Clarine and Anya. The man, however, did notice. He wasn’t sure if this was a good or a bad thing. On the one hand, he was no longer fearing for any stray branches crashing into him. On the other, he couldn’t tell if Mirajane had heard Anya, or even worse; was offended by it. Her expression remained unreadable as she fixated her gaze on his daughter. Clarine, unawares, continued to scold Anya, lecturing her on proper manners.
“Did you say…Anya?” after a while, Mirajane broke her silence.
“Eeh?” Clarine responded, just now realizing that Mirajane was looking at Anya intently. “A-ah, y-yes, I did.” She managed to sputter, wondering why Mirajane was looking at her daughter that way. She instinctively wrapped her arms tighter around her child.
“Clarine…” she motioned with her branch towards her. “Could you set Anya down, just for a moment, please? I wish to speak with her privately.” She said, her voice gentle.
“Can’t you speak with her while I hold her?” she challenged. Whether she realized it or not, the fear for her daughter’s safety had leaped into her voice. “I don’t see why-”
“Mama.” Anya said clearly, cutting her mother off for the first time since they met. Although she seemed to love doing so to her papa, she never dared to do so to Clarine. That is, until now. “Can you put me down for a minute?” She turned and gazed at her mother’s eyes clearly. “It’s okay, she doesn’t mean any harm.” She said reassuringly.
“Oh…” was all Clarine could think to say. She simply stared back at her daughter, searching for answers. When she found none, she nodded her head slowly and knelt down on her knees. She watched as Anya slipped down from her grasp, making contact with the soft earth as she waddled forward. Clarine’s body remained tense, ready to leap in and save her precious daughter at any moment if need be.
The earth beneath them began to tremble. It felt as if the very earth was coming alive beneath their feet. The man stumbled about, losing his balance and falling on his butt. Clarine too felt herself feel woozy. Only Anya seemed unperturbed by the sudden shaking. She had her eyes focused on the object that grew slowly out of the ground before her.
Is…that what I think it is? The man thought to himself. It looks like a giant tree root…Hold on! Was all that rumbling just now because of that!? He gazed on it with both awe and a little bit of fear. Just how far beneath the soil was it buried to cause the entire ground to shake like that…? He turned his eyes to his wife, to see if she was alright. She was still sitting the way she had when she let go of Anya, her gaze locked firmly on her daughter intently.
Anya stretched out one of her own tiny roots towards the enormous one that towered before her. Her tiny one came into contact with the large tree root before her, its end entwining around the larger one. As if by trick of the light, the man thought he could see tiny particles of light play around the roots where they connected. Anya and Mirajane remained connected like this for several minutes, with neither of them moving an inch; or their faces betraying any sort of emotions. Clarine remained where she sat as well, her gaze still firmly trained where she had last left it.
At last Anya’s little root disentangled itself from the larger one, and it sank back into the earth, leaving a gaping hole where it once towered.
“I see…” Mirajane said at last, and looked at the man and Clarine in turn. Then, unexpectedly, she bowed to the two of them, her tree leaning over them low. “I must thank you, human and Clarine.” She explained solemnly.
It was Clarine who spoke first out of the two. “What…do you mean?” She glanced over at Anya, who was crawling around, waving her arms without a care in the world. She then returned her eyes to the Dryad.
Mirajane lifted herself, her tree returning to its normal position. Although he could not see her from where he sat, the man felt that something was off, judging by the expression on Clarine’s face. Indeed, as she could clearly see, Mirajane was crying. “…you see, Anya’s birth mother was a close friend of mine.” She explained. “Anya here confirmed that for me when we spoke just now.”
“You mean you were communicating!?” the man asked, stunned.
She turned to the man and smiled slightly. “Yes. It is something that all plant kind are capable of doing. Due to the very nature of our existence, it is hard to travel long distances; some of us unable to move from where we are rooted.” She gestured towards herself at that. “So we communicate via our root networks spread throughout the ground.” She tilted her head slightly. “It is a very useful trait we share. I believe that the Pot Devils can do something similar, via the use of empty pots and magic, no?” she asked of Clarine as she turned to her. She said nothing, only nodding her head in agreement.
“Anya’s mother…” she continued to explain, “Priscilla, her name was.” She lowered her head, her tears flowing freely once more. “I last heard from her three years ago; when we lost contact. The last I heard from her was that her beautiful little girl was very energetic.” She tried to smile, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so.
“Anya told me…that her mother passed a year ago yesterday. She refuses to tell me the reason, so I fear that she may have met a violent and terrible end.” Mirajane wiped away her tears, only to have them replaced immediately by several more.
“She also told me, however, that she isn’t sad anymore…” she said slowly, wiping again at her tears. This time, however, they did not return. “She says that she doesn’t feel alone anymore, because she met you, Clarine.” Mirajane smiled. “She said to me, that for the first time in over a year, that she finally feels ‘like I have my Mama back, except she’s not my other Mama. She’s my Mama that loves Papa, and I love her too! So now I have two Mamas watching me!’ she said.”
Mirajane chuckled then, and turned to the man. “She also says that ‘my new Papa is a meanie face! He kept poking me, thinking I was really a flower! But I showed him! I opened my petals, like boom! He went flying and landed on his tooshie! He had a really funny looking face when I called him a bully, too! But…I love him, too! But, but, don’t tell him I said that or he’ll get a big head!’” She said this while mimicking Anya’s voice perfectly.
Clarine finally cracked a smile and laughed at that, as did Mirajane. “I…want to thank you both, for looking after Anya.” She said after her laughter died down. “I’m glad…that people as kind as you are her Mama and Papa now.” She bowed her leafy branches once more, whispering quietly; “Thank you…” over and over again.
Neither of the couple said a word, taking in Mirajane’s gratitude quietly. Slowly she rose again, calling to Anya to come over. She obeyed, and promptly sat herself in her mother’s lap.
“You’ll find the trees you need to build your shelter south of here,” Mirajane told the man. “I’ll alert the other Dryads in the forest not to disturb your progress; as well as provide directions should find yourself lost.”
“I appreciate your help,” the man replied, grateful. Mirajane shook her head. “It’s the least I can do.” She turned to Clarine and Anya. “Will the two of you be staying here? Or will you travel with your husband further into the woods?” she asked gently. Clarine glanced at him, and he motioned that he would be fine if he went alone. “It’s the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with our neighbor Mirajane here.” He said lightly. “After all, we’re going to be building our home in this forest, after all.” He grinned. “It’s good to make friends, right?”
Clarine smiled. “Take care of yourself” she said, and waved her hand goodbye. The ring on her finger glistened in the morning sunlight. “I’ll be back before you know it!” he promised, and set off into the woods with his axe in hand. “Bye bye Papa!” Anya cheerfully cried to his retreating figure. He lifted his arm in response and waved without turning around.
“He is a good man, isn’t he?” Mirajane asked Clarine once he was out of earshot and seeing distance.
“Yes, he is!” she replied with a smile. “I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the world.” She said confidently, blushing slightly.
“Cause, Mama loves Papa!” Anya chimed in cheerfully.
Clarine rubbed her hand against Anya’s head tenderly. “That’s right, Anya.” She said softly. “I love your Papa, even if he is a meanie face.” She teased.
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