JL-
*****
It was another week before Fin saw Luna
again. The day after the party, Fin’s
parents had sat him down on their river stone chair and insisted on knowing all
the details on where he’d been disappearing to and with whom he’d been
associating.
When Fin explained it all, his father
nodded knowingly. “I suspected it had
something to do with the girl,” Emre stated.
“But your interest in her sounds like it’s beyond friendship, Fin. You know Dream Catchers are unobtainable to
bond with except with other Dream Catchers, don’t you?”
Fin shrugged, but it was an action showing
he didn’t want to agree with his father’s statement, not that he wasn’t aware
of that information. His mother sighed
sadly, and his father mandated that he was not to go out after dark for any
reason for the next week.
Fin vehemently tried to argue that point,
but achieved nothing. His father did
allow for a message to be delivered to Luna so she wouldn’t look for him to
show up during that time. Grumpily, Fin
caught a firefly friend, explained the message, and asked the little bug to
pass the words along to Luna. After
that, it was a matter of impatiently waiting for his time in disgrace to
end.
He did put an extra visit in to Lorelei
during that week, and found himself divulging his feelings for the pretty Dream
Catcher to her over sweet mint water and blackberry jam on crackers.
“She’s the prettiest fairy I’ve ever seen,
Lorry. Her eyes are the shade of a
spring lilac, and her hair looks like the color of the sky when it pinkens with
the sunset.” He sighed softly. “I hope
she’s there when I’m allowed to go back.”
“You have it bad for her, don’t you,
little mole-boy,” the elder fairy said knowingly.
Fin blushed. “I like her a lot,” he admitted. “But you’re probably going to tell me it’s
impossible to be with her, just like everyone else, right?”
“No, I’ll make no such statement,” Lorry
asserted, surprising him. “There is no
one on earth, not a fairy or gnome or merfolk or leprechaun or human or anyone
else, who can tell what the future holds.
I’ll not say what is or isn’t possible because I’ll just be proven
wrong.”
Fin started to look hopeful at Lorelei’s
words, but his face felt a bit as she continued speaking.
“I will say that I’ve never known or heard
of a Dream Catcher fairy finding a compatible life-companion outside of another
Dream Catcher.”
“But is that because the Bond Guard picks
the mate? You just said no one can tell
the future. That would be the Bond Guard
too, right?”
Lorelei popped a jam-filled cracker in her
mouth and looked thoughtful as she chewed.
When she swallowed the bite, she took a drink of her mint water before
answering him.
“The Bond Guard fairy’s gift is not in
telling the future,” she agreed, “but those born as a Bond Guard have an
ability to recognize and understand the part of us that that would typically
latch onto a companion. This fairy can
see all the little quirks and talents, faults and qualities, and wants and
needs in each individual, and then instinctively know with whom they are best
matched. The Bond Guard directs us to
our match, and will fight for us to have the best relationship possible with
that match, but he or she cannot see the future and know the details of what
will happen. They can only guide and
advise.”
Fin considered Lorry’s words. “Is the Bond Guard ever wrong?”
Lorelei nodded. “In some things, yes. But, when it comes to matching mates, no; I’ve
never known of a Bond Guard to mismatch anyone.”
Fin sighed. He still held out hope to be matched with
Luna when the time came, but that hope was constantly being tread on.
Lorelei heard the sigh and patted Fin’s
purple hair. “You dwell too much on
things that are out of your control, Fin.
What will be will be. Now, tell
me what you do have control over. What
have your Earth Reader duties been lately?”
Since Fin loved his role as an Earth
Reader, that change of subject was easy to move to. He told Lorry of moving a colony of
earthworms to a section of the forest where the soil was lacking in air and
water, and of his favorite mud bank where he and his Earth Reader friends would
wade and wallow in the cool, squishy patch.
Lorelei chuckled over that
information. “You Earth Readers are the
only fairies I know who like to get completely covered in mud.”
Fin laughed with her. “It’s fun, and it feels so good! It’s cool and smooth and gooey!”
“Of course it is. It’s mud,” Lorelei stated. “I do hope you all wash yourselves well
before you go traipsing into your mothers’ homes.”
Fin assured her they did. He learned his lesson about that when he was
five and had discovered the joys of mud wallowing for the first time. Just two steps into the house and his mother
had shrieked at the sight of his dirt-covered form. His father had quickly whisked him back
outside to a dew shower and scrubbed him with aloe soap, while admonishing Fin
to not track such large amounts of muck into the house if he wanted his mother
to keep her sanity.
Fin hadn’t understood exactly what his
father had meant, but since the high-pitched shriek from his mother had hurt
his ears, he’d been careful to wash after mud wallowing in the future.
When their snack was eaten and the dishes
cleaned, Fin said his good-byes to his friend and began a leisurely walk back
home, his thoughts easily drifting back to the pink-haired fairy he had to wait
a few more days to see.
*****
*****
When the week of his punishment ended,
Fin’s father insisted on coming with him the next time he went to meet
Luna. Fin wasn’t pleased with that
decision, as the embarrassment of his father needing to approve of his visiting
with the pretty fairy made him blush from the tips of his wings to the soles of
his feet.
He did try to argue against his father’s
presence initially. “She won’t come out
if she sees a fairy she doesn’t know.
You know how shy Dream Catchers are.”
“I do know,” Emre agreed. “But shy does not mean completely
antisocial. You and I will call out that
I am there and not a threat.”
“She still might not come.”
“Then I will go with you until she does.”
Fin stomped his foot. “You will make me lose my friendship with
her!”
His father’s hands went to his hips, which
was never a good sign in Fin’s experience.
“If she refuses you friendship over the presence of a father who loves
you and cares for her safety as well, then she is not a good friend for you.”
Fin’s hands clenched into fists, but he
turned and strode away before arguing further and risking extending his
grounding.
Now the two of them sat on the familiar
rock Fin usually shared with Luna, and waited for the fairy to appear. When they had arrived, Finn had seen the
firefly who’d delivered his message the week before, and asked him to find Luna
and explain that his father only wanted to meet her and then would leave.
The little bug, unconcerned with Emre’s
presence, simply flickered his understanding and flew off into the darkness.
Quite a long while passed as they
waited. Fin was coming to believe Luna
would not show that night; but then, just a few minutes before the moon would
touch the tallest tree, he heard a whispered rustling and turned toward the
sound. With a happy flutter in his
heart, he recognized a bit of Luna’s pink hair peeking from behind a fallen
pinecone. He smiled and called to her
softly, knowing she didn’t like loud noises.
“Luna, it’s okay. My dad just wanted to meet you because you’re
special to me. I’ve missed you this
week.”
Slowly, the timid fairy stepped away from
her hiding place, although she only approached them by a few steps before
stopping. She looked to Fin’s father and
lifted her fingers in a tentative wave.
“Hi, Mr. Emre,” she said very softly.
Fin looked to his father who stood behind
him, noting the elder fairy’s brief surprise and then soft smile.
“Hello, Luna. I’m surprised you remember me. You were only a newborn when I last saw you.”
She shrugged bashfully. “Dream Catchers always remember faces, no
matter our age. It helps in our
calling. Plus,” she added reservedly,
“my parents always spoke highly of you.”
“Thank you. I’m glad to see you’re well, and please don’t
be nervous about my presence tonight. I
was simply concerned for my son because he was disappearing so frequently.” Emre then gave a mild look to the younger man. “And not always being completely honest about
where he was. I just wanted to ensure
everyone’s safety.”
Luna still kept her distance, but she
looked less reserved as she nodded. “I
wouldn’t let him come to harm, Mr. Emre.
He is my friend.”
“I am glad for your friendship, but I hope
that if either of you have a problem that you might come to me.”
Fin almost spoke up to argue against any
problems they might have, but Luna responded in her quiet voice with a simple,
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t a promise on her part at all,
but it was an acknowledgement of the offer.
Emre then patted Fin’s shoulder and made
him face him. His voice lowered as he
spoke so Luna wouldn’t hear. “She’s a
sweet girl, Fin, and your friendship can be valuable to both of you. But son,” he said in warning, “guard your
heart.” He put a warm palm against Fin’s
chest to enforce his words, letting them seep in for a moment. “I’ll head home now, but I expect you to not
be far behind me. Understood?”
Fin looked and saw the typical time of his
departure was drawing near, and he nodded in acknowledgement. “I’ll be home soon,” he promised.
With a nod, Emre simply turned and flew
away, but Fin knew he’d stay awake until Fin returned.
When the younger man turned back to Luna,
she looked nervous again. “I missed you
too, Fin,” she finally offered.
He felt some of his tension
dissipate. “You did? I was worried you wouldn’t see me after
this.”
She approached slowly then, and joined him
on the rock where his father had sat. “I
like spending time with you,” she admitted.
“It’s nice to have a friend who isn’t a Dream Catcher. You…see the world differently. It’s nice to experience.”
Fin grinned at her. “I’m glad.
Are there many other Dream Catchers around? Are you all friends?”
“There are more of us than most
day-fairies realize. We are all friends,
but we do not often gather in groups.
Our friendships are...individualized,” she explained haltingly.
Fin would have like to ask more questions
about that, but Luna looked over his head and spoke warningly. “You need to leave now. The moon has touched the tree.”
Fin sighed and very nearly argued to stay
just a few more minutes. But, as if
knowing what he was about to say, Luna shook her head.
“The bats are stirring. It is not safe to stay, and I promised your
father.”
With a deep breath, he knew she was right. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” he swore, then
pecked a very light kiss to her cheek before taking off in the direction his
father had flown.