#elelote

Underneath the veil of night two lalafell were running as fast as they could. “Come on Lalatov…! Just a little bit more.” Aleria called out to him in a hushed tone.

Their work day had gone on for longer than they anticipated.

Not that it had been either of their faults. Sometimes you just had more produce to sell than usual. 

Aleria passed the empty wagon towards Lalatov. Both were taking turns pulling it home, so neither of them would get too tired. He gripped the handle and continued running ahead, “What are the odds Chelinka will be fast asleep when we get home?” Normally they would make it back in time to at least tuck her in but this was cutting it too close.

“Well considering it’s past her bedtime. I would prefer she be asleep.”

“You’re right.” Lalatov paused, “And also if she’s asleep she won’t yell at us.” 

“Also very true.” 

Chelinka could be quite a terror when she was mad. 

Especially with her budding powers that apparently they had both passed onto her. Neither of them had seen it coming but it only made sense.

The only real problem was that Chelinka seemed to have some powers that they didn’t have. 

The first time Chelinka burped out a stream of fire both parents looked to each other expecting the other to nod in understanding. Only to find out that no one in that room knew where the fire breathing could have come from. 

With every step they took their home grew closer and closer until they found themselves at the front steps of the house. “We made it!” Lalatov hunched over and rested his hands on his knees. Not really sure what imaginary timer they were running against but at least they didn’t get there as the sun was rising again. 

Aleria looked down at the candy in her hand. It was a kind of rock candy that Chelinka always begged for her to bring over and over again. Aleria would have to constantly remind her that she needed to chip at the candy slowly and not eat it in one bite. 

Having this meant that hopefully Chelinka would go easy on the scolding.  

At least, this time she would. Hopefully.

As always their arrival back home was announced with a secret knock on the door. This was what Lalatov had come up with as a way to make sure there was no way Chelinka would open the door to strangers. 

Aleria started the secret knock but felt her blood run colder than it already was when the door simply just opened on its own. She stood frozen in terror as the door opened fully, revealing a dark room inside.

Without even a second thought Aleria ran inside, clutching onto the candy in her hand hard enough to almost break it. 

“Chelinka! Chelinka answer me!”  

Though her daughter did not come running out from a hiding place as she hoped she would, there was a sign of life, albeit briefly. Aleria heard a shallow breath coming from the bed beside her. “Chelinka…?!” It could only be her. It had to be her. 

The bed was still messy from earlier in the morning. Which was strange in of itself since Aleria knew that Chelinka always folded the blankets after she woke up. “Chelinka, sweetie?!” Aleria climbed on top of the bed and was met with the sight of her daughter covered with a warm blanket, sleeping soundly. 

“Chelinka…” She must have fallen asleep waiting for them. That was it. Her daughter was still here and still safe. No one had taken her away. Everything was okay. “Chelinka. We’re home.” She extended her hand out to wake her daughter, even if it was for just a moment. 

Chelinka was hot to the touch. 

At that very second, Lalatov returned from outside, closing the door behind him. He noticed Aleria knelt down on the bed beside a sleeping Chelinka. “Oh? Did our little babycorn get ahead of us and actually go to sleep early?” Wouldn’t have been the first time that happened. Lalatov laughed to himself a little but noticed something was off. 

“Aleria…?”

Her eyes were wide open, her teeth clenched in fear. “Chelinka! Chelinka! We’re back! You have to wake up!” At this point Aleria was practically shaking their daughter awake. “Chelinka it’s mama! Please!” No matter how much she begged or screamed, Chelinka’s eyes didn’t budge. 

Lalatov rushed to Aleria’s side, “Aleria, Aleria. What’s happening? Talk to me.” He climbed onto the bed and knelt down next to her. From here he could finally see the state Chelinka was in. 

Her skin looked pale, beads of sweat were covering her face. Lalatov could tell that she was struggling to breathe. “Chelinka…” He placed the back of his hand on her forehead, feeling the same heat that Aleria felt. Had something happened after they left? 

As far as he could remember she was fine yesterday. Last night Chelinka was jumping on the bed and running around as she usually did. If that was the case then why…? 

Aleria picked Chelinka up from the bed as carefully as she could and put her ear to Chelinka’s chest. “S-She’s still breathing. I-I can hear her heart…! S-She’s…She’s…” As long as there was still a heartbeat then Chelinka would be fine. She knew this, she knew. Aleria looked up at Lalatov with fear filled eyes. “...What’s wrong with her?” She sobbed. 

The scariest thing was that Lalatov had no idea. “I…I don’t know…” Lalatov had always pledged that he would do anything to protect his family but how was he going to do that when he had no idea what he was up against. 

As scared as he was, he had to try and get it together. For his family’s sake. It was time to get scared later. That’s when he remembered something from his childhood. “M-Maybe she just has a fever?” He remembered having them a lot, especially when he was younger. His mother would take care of him while he spent days bedridden. 

Aleria nodded, a bit of calm began to wash over her. “R-Right…! I h-had fevers too!” Her’s were particularly bad, according to the doctors back in Garlemald. “Me being sick were the only things that would stop them from testing on me…” She placed her finger under Chelinka’s nose until she could feel warm air coming out from it.  

“But then why isn’t she waking up?! Lalatov…?!”

He was at a total loss. “I-I don’t know…” Though he wasn’t sure what was wrong with Chelinka, that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to help. He raised his hand up towards her and concentrated. Lalatov closed his eyes and let his healing magic wash over her. 

Aleria held her breath. All she could do now was hope for the best. Surely this would be it. Any second now her daughter would open her eyes and everything would be okay.  

Right now it didn’t matter if Lalatov was always at the bottom of his class. Or always being told he would never amount as anything as a conjurer. His daughter needed him to pull out all the stops. It didn’t matter what happened to him. 

As long as his family was safe. Nothing else mattered.  

“Lalatov please stop!!” 

Lalatov gasped, stopping immediately. Though he wanted to ask if something was wrong for some reason he couldn’t find the strength to speak. Which would have probably been his first clue why Aleria had begged him to stop. 

Aleria let out a shaky breath. Though her hands were shaky, her hold on her daughter was tighter than ever.

Eventually she found the strength to speak again. “You looked like you were getting sick…” The fear that Lalatov himself would pass out alongside Chelinka filled her mind and wouldn’t get out, no matter how hard she tried. 

“I can’t lose you too…” 

Lalatov was able to catch his breath. If he had tried any longer it probably would have been the point of no return. After all this was over he made a mental note to thank Aleria for saving his life. Again. “You’re not…You’re not going to lose any of us.” That was a promise. 

“You couldn’t get rid of us even if you tried…!” Lalatov smiled weakly. 

Aleria let out a little giggle, smiling through her tears. Somehow this gave Lalatov hope that they would all make it out of this alright. As long as they stuck together. 

Though Lalatov’s efforts appeared to be in vain, it was far from the truth. Some color did return to Chelinka’s cheeks and she wasn’t as warm as when Aleria first found her. Her face looked a lot more peaceful too. Like he had gotten rid of a nightmare alongside a part of her sickness. 

Aleria crossed her legs and cradled Chelinka closer to her. “It’s going to be okay sweetie…I promise.” She brushed away a lock of hair from her eyes. “We brought you a yummy candy…! Just for you!” Though she wanted Chelinka to wake she still was careful enough to lower her voice. 

It wasn’t going to be easy but Lalatov had to say it. For the sake of their daughter they both had to step outside their comfort zone.

“Aleria…” He scooted closer to her. Now that he was closer he noticed that Chelinka was holding onto her mother’s dress. “I think we need to find her help” Lalatov took a deep breath.

Given what just happened, he wasn’t going to be able to help just by himself. “Outside help.” 

Aleria’s reaction was instantaneous. “NO!” Aleria took Chelinka and hugged her limp body against her own. It only made sense for her to react this way. Lalatov knew this. “We c-can’t what if they…they…they…!” 

“I promise-they aren’t going to take her away.” 

“You can’t know that…” Aleria shook her head, closing her eyes. “They always find a way to take you. No matter how much you fight.” 

Lalatov placed his hands on Aleria’s cheeks as gently as he could. Her whole body was shaking, her breathing was fast, too fast. “Do you remember what I said to you on the night we got married?” On what was perhaps Thanalan’s most foggiest night. 

Aleria looked right at him and nodded. “...Do you mean before or after it started raining?” 

“It was after! “ Lalatov let out a laugh, mixed together with a sob. “I told you. I promised you that I would never let anything happen to you or our children.” Even if it cost him his life. That part had been silent inside his head but he knew Aleria heard it despite that. 

“...And then I said I would do the same.” Aleria sighed, “No matter who or what got in my way.” There was no way in any hell that she was going to lose her family again. She would fight to her very last breath to make sure that never happened. 

“Which is how I know Chelinka will be safe.” There it was, the same stupid little grin that let Aleria know he fully believed in what he was saying. “Both of us will be with her. If anyone tries anything-we’ll stop them.”

“No matter what.”

“No. Matter. What.” Lalatov echoed. 

There was nothing either of them wouldn’t do to protect her. 

“Okay.”

That was all she needed to say. Lalatov pushed himself off the bed and started to gather their traveling supplies. Whatever he thought they would need he grabbed, no matter how small. Any weapons they needed to carry they could hide in their wagon like always. 

He was leaving nothing up to chance. 

Aleria looked down at Chelinka. There was the faintest smile on her face. “Aren’t you lucky? You’ve got a papa and a mama that will be with you forever and ever.” If only everyone could be so fortunate. 

“Even when our bodies give in. That’s probably not going to stop either of us!” Lalatov yelled across the room.

Well, when he was right he was right. “It’s true.” Aleria kissed Chelinka’s forehead, adjusting her in her arms as she climbed off the bed. “You aren’t going to get rid of us that easily, my little babycorn.” 

There was no more time to wait. Every second that passed by was just making things riskier for Chelinka. They would have to rush to Ul’dah to make up for lost time. And even when they got there, neither of them knew where to go for something like this.

But, they were going to find a way. For Chelinka’s sake. They had to. 

They were going to. 

“Are you ready?” Lalatov was waiting outside, the wagon ready to go. He reached out his hand towards Aleria. “We’ll all be safe. I swear, with all of my hearts.” 

Aleria closed her eyes and grabbed her husband’s hand, squeezing it tight. “Yeah. Let’s go.” 

Chelinka could feel herself moving.

Was it them? ‘Mama? Papa…?’ No matter how hard she tried to open her eyes, she couldn’t. Her body felt so tired. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep but everything was moving so much it was hurting her tummy. She heard herself let out a groan. 

As soon as she did, she felt a hand on her head. ‘There, there sweetie. We’re almost there, don't worry.’ She heard her mama’s voice talking to her. Chelinka liked it when her parents pet her on her head. This made her feel a little calmer. 

A little after that Chelinka found enough strength in her to open her eyes, just slightly. 

Though most everything was a blur she didn’t quite recognize where she was. This didn’t look like their home. Or like anything near it. ‘What…?’ It was a little scary but knowing her mama and papa were here made her feel a little less scared.

‘Sleepy…’ She heard her mama humming the lullaby she always sang to her.

Maybe she was just dreaming? That could be it. 

Whatever the case.

Chelinka knew she would be okay. 

“Mrrrpgh…?”

A ray of sunlight hit Babycorn right in the face, rudely waking her up from a midday nap.

Not one she had taken willingly mind you, but one caused by the act of her slipping on a head of lettuce. Babycorn yawned, if it was still light outside then she must not have been sleeping for that long. 

Or maybe she had slept so long it was the next day?

Who knows really. 

As she pushed herself off the bed she looked around the room. It didn’t look like any infirmary she recognized. In fact it looked more like her room actually. “Oh. I’m in my room.” Maybe someone carried her here? It made sense, lotsa people tended to just pick her up and carry her places.

One of the many advantages of being as small as she was. 

Even if she was taller than a handful of people here and there. Though maybe it was her pom that made it easier for her to pick up and go. Lunya and Vertical did often use it to pick her right off the ground. Like a radish.

Speaking of radishes. Babycorn realized she was pretty hungry. Who knows how long it’s been since she’s eaten?! At least a couple of minutes for sure. “Okay! Kitchen time!” She shouted out to no one in particular. 

As soon as Babycorn sat up she heard something tumble to the ground beside her. “Oh-!” Looking down she noticed a tonberry doll laying on its side. “Eek!” Had she knocked them down?! That was such a big drop for someone as small as that! 

“I’m so sorry!!” Babycorn rushed to pick the tonberry up. “I didn’t mean to knock you down!! Uwuauwauwuawuauuwahwauhbwabuwau…” 

One would think that Babycorn’s remorse would come from how much time she’s spent with Cherrypit and his living toys, but really, she had always had a soft spot for inanimate objects. 

“Here I’ll give you a hug to make you feel better!” She gave the tonberry a tight tight hug before placing it back on the side of the bed where Cherrypit usually placed it. With that taken care of it was time to get back to food hunting! 

“Right-! Let’s….let’s…” 

That was odd. 

Babycorn wiped at her eyes. For some reason or another there were tears. Not just on her eyes, but all over her face. “Ah…” She guessed that she had cried in her sleep.

It wasn’t unusual for her to do, nightmares were something that she was more than familiar with. In fact, she had a mental list of every nightmare she could remember having ever since she was a kid. 

But the weird thing was that she didn’t feel like she had a nightmare. Babycorn couldn’t remember her dream at all.

Which was really weird. Usually she could remember it like she had almost been there. Though to be fair, that was sort of a new thing. 

“I know I didn’t have a nightmare.” Babycorn placed her hands right on her heart. “It felt like a nice dream…” Like the kind that leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy afterwards. 

Chelinka hummed to herself, using a stick in her hand to draw a slightly wiggly line on the dirt. As she walked backwards she occasionally looked behind herself to make sure she wasn’t stepping on the lines she had already drawn.

It had happened before and because of that she had to start all over again. So this time she was being super duper careful not to mess up her drawing.

It was even harder than it should have been because it was dark out. The night had snuck up on Chelinka really quickly.

“Ahhhhummm….” Chelinka stopped and wiggled the stick up and down. A frown crossed her face as she looked down at her handiwork. It was meant to be a drawing of a pretty flower she had seen once but to her it sorta just looked like one of those really tasty fruits that her mama and papa brought back home sometimes. She could never pronounce the name right,

“Not a flower…” She despondently kicked a cloud of dust up with her foot.

She had wanted to give the new baby a flower as a present ever since she learned a long long time ago that she was going to be a big sister. It had to be the prettiest and bestest flower in all of the garden! In the whole world even!

Chelinka had been very insistent on growing the flower all by herself herself that she pushed her parent’s help away at every opportunity. Even when she would huddle over to her flower, trying her very best to carry the watering can in her very small hands.

Though Cocorn and Elelote found it very cute they still decided it would probably be best if they stepped in to help take care of the flower where Chelinka couldn’t. Especially after she would dump a whole water’s worth of a watering can on the poor one singular flower.

Unfortunately, the entire Starsinger family had done such a good job on raising the flower that it proved to be irresistible to a wandering Chocobo who, in the blink of an eye, had eaten the flower right before Chelinka’s eyes.

Her parents had arrived that day to see their daughter sitting on the dirt and sobbing her eyes out. And though they planted a new flower as quickly as they could, the day quickly came that her baby brother was supposed to be born. Sadly the flower had not even so much as sprouted from the ground.

Which is how Chelinka found herself scrambling for any last minute gifts she could give.

“Stupid Chobobo!” Chelinka puffed out her cheeks in anger and swung her stick around. If only she had been outside of the house at the time, she would have totally scared that bird off. “Where am I gonna get a present now?”

Chelinka waddled over to the steps of her house and finally sat down after an agonizing minutes of running around. There was a bowl of baby corn waiting on the steps for her, courtesy of her parents. Sitting next to her was her best friend Mash, the piece of Millioncorn that never talked back when she talked to it.

Both her mama and papa were inside watching over the baby very carefully. Observing the baby’s egg as it got closer and closer to hatching. They were both eagerly waiting to see if everything was going to go well.

The new baby was going to come out of a really bright pink egg! The egg had been sitting on an equally pink cushion in their house for months now and Chelinka wondered if the baby was gonna be as pink as the egg was.

Her papa told her that probably not, since the egg she hatched out of was an orange color. And she wasn’t orange! Her hair was yellow! “My hair is yellow! Like the sun! Papa said so!” Chelinka looked up to check up on the color of the sun, momentarily forgetting that right now it was nighttime and that meant that the sun was sleeping.

“Oh! Right! Suns asleep…” Chelinka yawned. Now that she thought about it she was kind of sleepy too but she really wanted to see the baby first.

Chelinka took another handful of baby corn from the bowl and happily munched on them, kicking her feet happily. “The egg is taking a long time.” She looked over to Mash, who had fallen over on their side. Chelinka carefully sat them back upright and placed a piece of baby corn into what she assumed was Mash’s mouth.

Since Mash didn’t really have a mouth the baby corn simply fell to the ground instead. Chelinka didn’t notice (otherwise she probably would have eaten it) and instead went back to thinking about what the baby was going to be like.

She had never actually seen one herself, she knew she had been a baby once but that was it. There weren’t really many opportunities to see a baby when she spent all of her time at home.

There were a few times that Chelinka had asked her mama and papa if she could go outside with them but they always explained to her that it was too dangerous for her to go. It was always going to be safer for her to stay home, where no one could take her away.

And she didn’t wanna go away! She wanted to stay here with her mama and her papa and the baby. So if being home was safer for her then this is where she was gonna stay forever and ever with her family!

Chelinka heard another noise besides her. “WAAh!” She yelped. Lots of things scared her but scary noises scared her the most. Especially when she didn’t know what made the noise.

Turns out she didn’t need to be too scared because it had been Mash who made that noise. They had fallen over again, not only that but the bowl of baby corn was empty! “Maaash? Did you eat everything?!” Chelinka was so mad. She and Mash had been taught about sharing just last week!

“Mash you gotta rember’!” Chelinka took the bowl and showed it to Mash, “We gotta share cause the baby is coming and that means we gotta let him have stuff too!”

Mash remained silent in response. It’s silk gently blowing in the night’s wind.

Chelinka nodded, “Mhhm! And that means we gotta share together! For baby!” She gave Mash a pat on what could only be described as the top of their head. “Good job Mash!” Chelinka stopped, mid-pat when she heard something. “Huh?” It sounded strange. She stuck a finger into her ear to see if there was something in there again but the sound was still around.

“Helloooo?” Chelinka looked around for anything around her. That’s when she spotted a small lizard crawling near her feet. “Oh! Mister Lizard!” Chelinka jumped from her seat and grabbed the lizard in her hands. Her mama had taught her that she couldn’t eat lizards like this so she did a good job remembering that too.

“Mister lizard!!!”

The lizard looked at her, confused.

“Mister lizard did you know…” She looked around to see if anyone else was listening. Chelinka felt the presence of someone around her but she couldn’t quite tell who or what it was. She whispered as quietly as she could. “Did ya know mister lizard? I’m gonna be a big sister!” She grinned from ear to ear.

The lizard didn’t quite seem to get it. It stuck its tongue out, wondering when Chelinka was going to let it go.

“Did ya know! Did ya?!” Chelinka laughed to herself excitedly.

Then there was a sound.

Without a word Chelinka’s grip on the lizard loosened, allowing it to safely crawl its way back to the ground and back towards its home. “…Hmm?” Chelinka wiggled her ear. There was an odd sound coming from above her.

“Who’s there?” The source of the noise was a mystery but for some reason Chelinka wasn’t really feeling scared. It sounded like someone was calling out her name. “I’m…Chelinka?” Now she was feeling really dizzy. Like she had just spun around in a circle really fast again.

Look up

Chelinka looked up at the sky. The stars were out and shining the same way they always did. Maybe they were shining brighter tonight? Whatever the case, Chelinka knew that if the stars were in the sky, then everything was okay. “Hello!” Chelinka waved up at the stars.

Over here

Chelinka heard the voice again and looked to where she had heard it. “Woah!” Up there in the sky! She could see two bright red circles! Was it the moons? Chelinka knew one of them was red but the other one wasn’t! So why was it red now?

The two red moons captured Chelinka’s complete attention as she walked off the steps and closer to where she could see them.

A bright red light illuminated everything around her. Chelinka’s eyes glowed a luminous yellow.

There was a strange voice speaking to her.

“That’s why you don’t have to worry. There isn’t a world where…

Chelinka heard her own voice.

…You and I aren’t together.” . Then as quickly as the sky had glowed red, it vanished. Chelinka looked around, confused. “Huh?” When had she walked over here?

The last thing she remembered was looking up at the big cherry in the sky. Now that she thought about it she was kinda hungry. “Mash? When’s dinner time?” Chelinka skipped over to Mash and picked them up in her hands.

Suddenly, Chelinka heard the crack of a door opening. Then another strange sound. Unlike the other one however, Chelinka thought that this one was way too loud. What she didn’t know was that it was the sound of a crying baby.

The new strange sound continued for a couple of more minutes until it slowly began to quiet down. Then Chelinka heard someone else.

“Chelinka!!”

Chelinka recognized that voice! It was her mama’s! She giggled and ran right towards her mama, who was standing in the doorway. She knelt down and caught her daughter in her arms, hugging her tight. “Is the baby here?! Is it?!” Chelinka grabbed onto her mama’s shirt. She was practically shaking in excitement.

Elelote nodded, smiling wide. “Out of the egg and without a problem.”

“Can I see him! Can I?! Can I?!” Chelinka tried her best to see past her mama’s shoulder but try as she might she really couldn’t see anything.

“Of course! But right now he’s sleeping so we have to be…?”

Chelinka gasped and put a finger up to her mouth with a shhh. “We have to be really really quiet…!”

“That’s right my little babycorn!” Elelote kissed Chelinka's forehead, ruffling her bangs around. “Ewww! Mama’s gross!!” Chelinka laughed and stuck her tongue out.

Elelote carried Chelinka inside while still laughing to herself. In the house, Cocorn was trying his hardest to clean up the bits of eggshells that had been stabbed into the ceiling.

And also pretty much every other wall and floor in the house.

Cocorn had been soooooo confident that this one was going to be different than the day Chelinka was born, and to his credit it wasn’t as bad but he was still very wrong. Losing the bet was the reason why he was currently on egg clean up duty but that could wait for a bit.

“Papa!” Chelinka cried out, stretching her arms out to him.

“Chelinka? Remember we have to be a little quiet?” Elelote gently reminded her.

“Oh! That’s right!” Chelinka looked at her papa and put a finger up to her mouth, “Papa we gotta be quiet cause the baby's sleeping! Shhhhh!”

“I’ll be the quietest I’ve ever been then.” Cocorn chuckled to himself. He took Chelinka from Elelotes arms and carried her over to the crib. “Take a look in there.”

Chelinka stretched her neck to look inside. “Woah…” There was something in there, covered with a blanket. She tried to move even closer to get a good look. To the point where he papa had to hold onto her tighter to make sure she didn’t fall.

The baby looked so much different than what she had imagined! It didn’t have that many spikes or that many eyes. Its hair was different from hers too! Her's was yellow and the baby’s hair looked like her mama’s!

Chelinka looked at one of her hands, then down to the baby. She noticed that its hands were much smaller than her’s. Everything about the baby was so much smaller. It looked just like the doll her papa had brought home for her one day.

“He’s so small!” Chelinka couldn’t believe her eyes! “Is he s’pposed to be that small?!”

Elelote and Cocorn exchanged a pair of glances, trying their best not to burst out laughing in fear of waking up their new son. “Yes, he is quite small, isn’t he?” Cocorn whispered, “You know, you were that small once too.”

“No way!” Chelinka looked honestly shocked to hear that.

“It’s true!” Cocorn held out his hand, “You were so small once that I could hold you in just one of my hands.”

“Nuh-uh! Papas lying!!”

“…Maybe just a little bit.” Cocorn smiled to himself.

Elelote took Chelinka from Cocorn and looked down at the baby with her. “He is small but that just means we have to take care of him. And make sure he can grow up big and strong. Like you!” Aleria bopped Chelinka’s nose.

Chelinka giggled, “He’s gonna get bigger?” she asked.

“That’s right!” Cocorn ruffled the top of Chelinka’s head. “Maybe he’ll even be taller than all of us when he gets bigger.”

Elelote rolled her eyes, “I wouldn’t bet on it.” Her husband was notorious for his short height and while she was taller than him, her height was still not that impressive. If anything both their children would probably end up shorter than the both of them.

“Well I can dream can’t I?”

As her parents laughed to themselves Chelinka looked down at her brother. The conversation had woken him up but instead of crying he was calmly looking up right at her. Chelinka noticed that his eyes were the same color as the sky was when the sun was out.

“Hi…!” Chelinka whispered.

The baby yawned and blinked at her. It really was small. If what her mama and papa said was true (and it always was) then he was gonna grow bigger.

Just like a flower did when she put it in the ground! When her mama had helped her put her flower in the ground, it started out as a small little thing. Then as time went on and she took care of it, it became a really big flower!

Only this time, things would be different.

Chelinka leaned in closer than ever, to the surprises of Elelote. She managed to grab onto her in the nick of time. Chelinka held her brother’s small hand in her own.

“I’m gonna keep you safe okay?”

Her brother mumbled something in response.

Elelote brought her daughter closer to her, making sure she didn’t fall. “I think that means he heard you.”

Chelinka looked down at her brother again.

Aleria let out a loud yawn as she laid back on her chair. 

They had all just returned from another busy day in Drybone, selling and buying produce all at the same time. Her and Lalatov might not have as much experience in being vendors but they did have a secret weapon at their side.

Said secret weapon was being tucked into her crib right at this moment by her beloved husband. 

Aleria turned her head to look at how he was doing. She didn’t really need to. Out of the two of them, Lalatov was the gentlest one by a malm. Chelinka never stirred whenever he was the one putting her down for a nap or picking her up while she slept. 

“How’s our little babycorn?” Aleria asked. 

Babycorn was Chelinka’s cute little nickname that she had come up with one day, to match her parent’s fake aliases. While Lalatov and Aleria were known as Cocorn and Elelote out in public, they had decided to just altogether avoid mentioning their daughter’s name to people. 

Lalatov slowly walked backwards from Chelinka’s crib, making sure that his steps made as little noise as possible. When he was sure that he was far away enough he turned back around. “I’d say that's a successful mission!” He gave Aleria a thumbs-up and a wink. 

“Just like always.” 

Then tomorrow they would go out to sell some more things and Lalatov would do and say the same thing. Some people might have thought of it as mundane but to Aleria it was a dream come true.

Lalatov picked up a chair and placed it next to Aleria, he sat down next to her and leaned into her shoulder. It was one of the rare advantages of being so short that he had. “So what do we do now?” He asked. “I was thinking maybe we can throw a huge party.” 

“And invite everyone we know?” 

“Yeah!” Lalatov smiled, “We can invite Meeth and Al!”

“I think that’s everyone we know” Aleria wasn’t that far off.

Aside from Meeth and Al, who had both helped them when they had needed it most, they hadn’t made any other connections. 

Lalatov thought to himself for a while. “Then how about we invite my classmates back at the conjurer's guild?” He had told Aleria all about his days back then.

“You mean the ones who were ready to let you die when you accidentally angered the elementals?” 

“Yeah! Them!”

Aleria crossed her arms. “Sure you can invite them! So I can fly them up in the air and juggle them until they beg me to let them down.” She could have come up with something worse but she didn’t want to take the chance that Chelinka was listening.

“Aww…It’s so cute when you threaten people.” 

“So I’m always cute?”

“Mmmmmmaybe!” Lalatov stuck his tongue out and laughed. 

Aleria laughed along with him and both had to remind the other to quiet down for Chelinka’s sake. 

They were silent after that, just taking in the fact that they were together and safe. 

Aleria looked forward, at the crib where her daughter lay sleeping. There were no words that Aleria could come up with to explain to someone how much she loved her. How much she wanted to make sure that Chelinka would have the best life they could possibly offer her. 

She knew that Lalatov felt the same way, he had told her the same before. 

According to everyone that had ever seen Chelinka, she was the strangest baby they had ever met. She cried and whined just like almost every baby out there, but there was just something about her that wasn’t right. Whenever she stared at someone, it felt like she knew more about them than she let on. 

To new parents, with not much life experience anyway, Aleria and Lalatov however, none of what anyone told them really meant anything. 

They were both well aware that their children would be a little different than most, when taking into account both of her parents' special little attributes. 

Aleria was hoping that Chelinka would stay that way, for her own sake. A life of constantly being on the run was not the life she wanted for her daughter. 

Aleria let out a sigh and Lalatov instantly knew what she was thinking about. 

He sat up straight and took her hand in his, “No one will come for her. Or you. I promise.” 

“What if they’re still out there? Looking for me?” Aleria’s leg was shaking, “They’ve come before.” It had been a long time ago but there had been a few Garlean soldiers that had come through asking if they had seen someone matching Aleria’s description. 

Aleria turned to look at Lalatov, tears in her eyes. “What if they take her?” 

What if her daughter was a Starsinger, just like she was. Would she be ripped from her mother’s hands just like she had been? Separated from everything she knew and with almost no memories of the life she had been taken from? 

It was much too late for her but she wasn’t about to just let it happen to her daughter too. 

“That’s not going to happen.” Lalatov’s voice was firm, he was confident. “Ever.”

Aleria knew that Lalatov was serious when he said that. He had been there for her when the Garleans had shown up looking for her and he had a large part in the reason that none of them were ever going to be able to tell anyone else where she was hiding. 

“You’re right.” Aleria felt her worries quickly fade away, looking at her husband’s determined expression. “We’ll protect her. Won’t we?”

“Always.” 

Their conversation was cut short when a rush of cold air blew at them, almost knocking both of them to the ground.

“Chelinka?!” Aleria’s first instinct was to see if her daughter was safe, or even worse, had been the cause of the wind. It took Lalatov a few more seconds to collect himself but once he did, he followed right behind Aleria. 

Aleria stopped in front of the crib but did not look inside it. 

Lalatov did. He found it to be empty.

He didn’t even get the chance to freak out about it before he felt someone tap his shoulder.

“Uwbauwa??” Was his only response. 

 He turned to look at Aleria. She was standing there, her mouth open and looking up at the ceiling. Without saying a word she gestured to Lalatov to look at the ceiling above them. 

There above them, was their daughter, crawling on the ceiling without a care in the world.  

Chelinka let out a giggle and sat down. Still on the ceiling. A fly flew by her and she curiously swiped at it. Then a pair of long pincers came out of her mouth and snatched the fly from the air. Chelinka happily babbled to herself before starting her crawling once again.

Aleria and Lalatov followed under her in shock.

“...Did she get that from you?” Lalatov asked.

“Funny…” Aleria watched as Chelinka let out a small burp, which she could have sworn caused her to spit out a little fireball, “I was about to ask you the same thing.” 

The floor under Chelinka let out a loud whine, as she continued to jump on it over and over. The sound was starting to get annoying at this point but there was nothing stopping Chelinka from checking up on her new little brother. Even if he was still inside his egg at this point. “Yuri! Are you there Yuri?!”

There was no answer. Probably because she was talking to an egg but a response would have been nice.

“Yuri!! It’s me! Your big sister!” Chelinka waved her arms in the air so he could see her more easily. She jumped again, only this time she didn’t land back on the floor. “Uwah!” Her legs were dangling in the air. She moved them around just like she was running. “Mama look! I’m flying!” 

Thankfully for Chelinka’s parents this was not the case. Not again. Instead it was Cocorn that had caught her mid-air. “Careful! It’s bedtime so we don’t want to wake your little brother up!” Only one of those statements was a lie. It was bedtime but it was mostly Chelinka herself that her parents were worried about. 

It was notoriously hard to get her to sleep. It had become even harder with how excited she was to see her little brother hatch. 

“Papa, did you hear him!?” Chelinka wiggled her legs excitedly in the air, “Yuri said goodnight to us! I heard him!” 

“I did!” He had not. Surely Chelinka didn’t really hear anything. Probably just her overactive imagination. Like when she said she saw someone in the bushes last week. 

Elelote and Cocorn hadn’t taken their daughter saying something like that lightly. They took every precaution to make sure there was no one watching her. They had been on the lookout since then and had taken up measures to try and scare anyone from even getting near their home. 

It wasn’t easy but both agreed that it was worth it to keep their children safe.

Cocorn carried the very excited Chelinka over to the bed, ready to at least try and tuck her in. “But papa! I’m not sleepy! I wanna talk with Yuri some more!” She wriggled and wiggled around as hard as she could. “You can talk more in the morning! I promise!” Cocorn sat Chelinka down on the bed and stepped back as she crawled all over it. 

“But I wanna talk nooow” Chelinka whined. 

Elelote sat up from where she was lying down and wrapped her arms around Chelinka, pulling her down with her. “I think it’s past someone’s bedtime!” Chelinka let out a happy squeal. “Not mine! Not mine!” She turned around to give her mom a hug, “Mama I don’t wanna sleep!”

“Hmm…What if we make you a really yummy breakfast tomorrow?”

Chelinka’s eyes widened, “Like chocolate cornbread?!” 

“Like chocolate cornbread!”

“Yipppeee!” Chelinka tumbled back onto the bed in a cheer. “I’ll go to sleep right now!” 

Chelinka laid down on her pillow and closed her eyes. “ZZZZZZ” She said very loudly. It would convince almost everyone that she was sleeping. She was sure of it. 

“Finally…” Elelote yawned. It had been a very long day of selling produce and walking around.

The silence was short lived however. Though Chelinka’s desire to talk with her new baby brother was seemingly forgotten, there was still a little bit more she wanted to say. Chelinka grabbed a blanket and pulled it over her. “Oh! Mama! Papa! Today I saw something again!” She had forgotten to mention it until now. 

Both parents were well used to this. Usually when Chelinka said she was ready for bed that was never really the end of it. “Okay sweetie–what did you see today?” Elelote asked, expecting to hear something trivial like Chelinka spotting a butterfly or another sabotender waving at her from the window. 

Instead.

“I saw a biiiiiig flying thingy in the sky! With super big wings!!” 

Elelote and Cocorn froze.

“Or maybe it was really small? It was in the sky! Flying like-! Woosh!!”

Cocorn was the most nervous about this. He could feel Elelote’s gaze on him, she was most likely even more worried. “You don’t say sweetie…” He was looking away from his wife and daughter. Surely Chelinka wasn’t talking about what he thought she was thinking of. 

“Yeah! Yeah! It was way up in the sky! Doing circles over the house!” Chelinka wiggled her hands in the air. “It was kinda scary but for some reason I wasn’t scared! I knew it was okay!” 

Panic began to set in. 

Cocorn looked down at his daughter. The first thing anyone would notice about her was her large tail that trailed behind her. It was almost as big as her. The second thing someone would notice would be the small horns on her head. Unlike her tail, those would get bigger. 

“Well sweetie, that’s called a dragon and they don’t exist!” 

For the first few seconds Chelinka was quiet. Probably because she was thinking about what her dad had just told her. “They’re not real?” 

“Nope! No such thing as a dragon! Haha!” Probably not the smartest thing to say but it was the only thing he could think of. Maybe someday in the future he could tell Chelinka the truth but for today, this would be it. 

Chelinka blinked, then wagged her tail from side to side. 

“Okay!” Then Chelinka fell backwards and started to pretend she was asleep once again. “I’m sleeping! Mama! Papa! I’m sleeping!” 

Cocorn sighed in relief. He could just imagine the future scenario where he would admit that the dragon that Chelinka saw was actually him, making sure that there was no one near the home. At the time it had been his turn to scout the house while Elelote sold their products. 

“Also-!” Elelote cut in.

By now Chelika had actually fallen asleep. Both her parents could tell because she was clinging onto her blanket and chewing on it. 

“Chelinka! Sweetie are you listening? There’s also no such thing as a voidsent! Chelinka? Chelinka did you hear me?!” 

Cocorn laid a hand on Elelote’s shoulder, whispered in her ear. “Dear…I think she’s already asleep…” 

“...Voidsent don’t exist eitherrrr…!!” Elelote cried.

Thankfully for the both of them, the message went through.

Cherrypit picked up some snow from the ground and stuffed it in his mouth. So far Coerthas was proving to be a really fun place! Way funner than the last place they stayed at. 

He was having fun, unlike a certain someone else. 

“Why d-does it have to be so cold?!” 

Another cold wind blew Babycorn’s way, almost knocking her down to the ground. “Brr…!” She pulled her robe down as much as she could. It was the only thing protecting her from the cold. Aside from the new boots she swiped from a haunted manor. 

Lunya watched Babycorn shivering. She herself was covered head to toe in the warmest and fluffiest coat one could buy. It was incredibly uncomfortable. “You’re the one who decided to come to Coerthas wearing the shortest robe known to man.” 

“Oh yeah?!” Truthfully Babycorn didn’t have anything to say back. She had said that hoping that she could come up with something while saying it. It took a couple of seconds of looking around in a panic until she figured out what to say. It was too cold for her to smirk so all she did was point at B’ig Nunh with a shaky hand. “W-What about B’ig DUMB over there?! He’s got nothing covering his legs either!”

It was very true that B’ig Nunh was wearing pretty much nothing but a suit of armor with nothing but a pair of shoes covering his lower half. But unlike Babycorn he seemed to be faring rather well. Aside from the strange rattling coming from the armor. 

“Well at least he’s not complaining.” Lunya scoffed, “Which is more than I can say about a certain SOMEONE.” 

“I’m not complaining!” 

“YOU WERE LITERALLY COMPLAINING!”

“NUH-UH!!” 

At this point everyone knew the drill. Vertical wasted no time and grabbed Babycorn, carrying her somewhere far away from Lunya. Meanwhile, Reese was the one to grab Lunya and carry her somewhere far away from Babycorn. 

Both girls would just continue arguing to the ends of the world if they were left together. 

Alphinaud and Cid walked in just in time to see Vertical juggling Babycorn in her hands. Trying her best not to let Babycorn bite her. After all, she could have rabies or something, “hello alphinaud.” She greeted him.

“H-Hello Vertical.” 

Alphinaud quickly walked past her and Babycorn to meet with the others. 

With their attention turned to him he began explaining what exactly they would have to do once they got to the stone vigil. Almost all of it flew over Babycorn’s head. She didn’t really care for much of what Alphinaud’s talked about either way. 

Cherrypit liked all the funny words he said.

Babycorn was happy to keep ignoring Alphinaud–until a certain word tickled her ear. 

“Wait a second!” Babycorn wriggled her way out of Vertical’s hands. Vertical just let them drop to the ground and walked behind her. “What did you just say?!” She stood right in front of him, staring him down. It probably would have been intimidating coming from anyone that wasn’t Babycorn.

“Erm.” Alphinaud stammered. The last word he had said. He was having trouble remembering it. He wasn’t particularly scared of Babycorn, but he preferred not getting his hand bitten again. “I believe I said something about a dragon?” 

“Ah-ha!” Babycorn raised a finger in the air, “That’s what I thought you said!” 

Things weren’t getting any clearer for Alphinaud. “Yes? What about it?”

The weather might have been cold but it wasn’t too cold for Babycorn to look smug. “Heh. Oh my dear young Alphinaud. How ignorant you are.” She shook her head, teeth chattering, 

“I didn’t know Babycorn knew words that big.” Coco whispered. 

“Excuse me?!” Alphinaud was a little insulted, He had been doing all this work to help the others and he was called ignorant as a result of it. “Well then–pray tell me what exactly is so ignorant about what I said?!” He had his doubts that Babycorn had even been listening at all. Babycorn didn’t listen to him back at the church, so what was so different now?

“Silly Alphinaud. Don’t you know dragons don’t exist.” 

Nobody knew what to say. The Ishgardian knights around them–even more confused. Everything and everyone was silent, save for the sound of the wind around them and the sound of Cherrypit chewing on a stick. 

As the sun continued to shine on another hot Thanalan day a lonely lalafell sat in the middle of the desert, contemplating something incredibly important.

She was so deep in contemplation in fact, that Aleria hadn’t even noticed that the shade that had been covering her earlier had pretty much disappeared. 

“What am I gonna do…” Aleria repeated to herself. She was holding on to her side ponytail, tugging on it nervously. “There has to be something I can do…” No matter how much she racked her mind about it she couldn’t think of anything.

Which was bad! It was really bad! Because this was important!  This was something super duper and deadly important!

It was life or death!!! 

Because Lalatov’s nameday was tomorrow and she had no idea what she was going to do for him!!!

Her mind was blank when it came to things like this. Which wasn’t a huge help when she wanted so badly to think of a way to celebrate Lalatov's special day. Part of her regretted having the idea in the first place. But when she remembered just how sad he looked when Meeth asked him if he would be going back home to celebrate…

Well that just made her more determined than ever to give him something that would put that cute smile of his back on his insufferably adorable face of his!!

As soon as Aleria finished posing in a determined manner, she realized it was getting really warm. “When did it get so late?” The sun was almost directly overhead. Aleria quickly took out a ribbon and tied her hair up in a ponytail. Then ran back to the cool safety of her cave. Maybe now that she was inside a good idea would finally come to her.

Unfortunately the ideas in her cave were just as nothing as they had been out there. 

Aleria let out a groan and hunched over, holding her head in her hands. It was frustrating at this point. Why couldn’t she think of anything? It especially bothered her when she knew just how many parties she had attended back when she lived in Garlemald. 

Well, more like imprisoned. And it wasn’t like she was invited to those parties, more like forced to attend and used as some sort of incentive to get people to come. Who wouldn’t come to a party where you had the chance to find out how to reach your best future from a Starsinger? “No good…” Thinking about it all just made her madder. 

It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair. 

Unlike the people who’s parties she did attend, Aleria didn’t know anything about her nameday. Not even the day it fell on. 

Back in Garlemald Meriala had given her a nameday of her own. It was the day they both met. Though even with a day given to her to celebrate, it didn’t mean she did anything with it. The only person who ever congratulated her every year was Meriala. 

Come to think of it, “...Did she ever tell me her own nameday?” If she had, Aleria couldn’t remember it all. Not that it mattered at this point. 

Aleria sighed in defeat. There was nothing she could think to do. Her head was STILL a total blank when it came to this and when it wasn’t, it was just filled with anger at the people who used her for their own gain for all those years.

Just then, a light shined itself in Aleria’s eyes. Her annoyance quickly turned to surprise when she faced where it had come from. The way it was shining near the entrance of the cave sparked something in her memories.

Without realizing it, Aleria had stood up and walked over to where the sun was shining. She held her hand out and let the light hit her hand. 

“Warm…” It felt nice. Thanalan in general was a sharp contrast to the bitter cold of her cell in Garlemald. Not that she was ready to admit that was the reason she chose to stay here rather than anywhere else in Eorzea. 

Something was bugging Aleria. Like an itch she just couldn’t scratch. Something about this felt strangely familiar. Whether it was the feeling of the sun or the light it was giving off, she couldn’t really tell. There was a memory in there but Aleria just couldn’t reach it. 

‘You have many different powers! The only hurdle standing in your way is figuring out the ways to use them!’ Merials’s advice echoed in her head. 

Meriala had always been like that. Encouraging her to try her best and think outside the box. It had been her idea to attempt and escape in the first place. But what good were her powers in this case? She wasn’t about to go ahead and look into Lalatov’s fate just to see what path she should take for him to have a good nameday.

She adamantly refused to check any fates that directly intertwined with her's.

Aleria felt her face grow warmer. “I-It makes sense we know each other! So that means my fate affects his own!! Right!” She yelled out in a vain attempt to convince no one but herself and whatever higher force above might be listening. “Tch.” Of course she was putting so much thought into this. Lalatov was her friend!

Her friend that she desperately wanted for him to depend on her and think she was cool and clever and pretty. Aleria shook her head. She was getting off track!

The point was that none of her powers would help her with this problem. So Meriala was wrong! Just like she was wrong to leave her! 

Aleria decided to ignore the pain in her chest. 

She was doubtful that Lalatov would appreciate her turning into a monster and killing people for his nameday so that was out of the question too. Aleria took a lock of her hair and chewed on it, thinking about what else she could do. Invisibility and telekinesis weren’t a big help here. Not unless Lalatov wanted her to throw him up in the air or something. 

Then there was her power to read minds. Logically reading Lalatovs mind to find out what would help him would be the best option but Aleria didn’t want to risk finding out something she wasn’t supposed to.

A brief thought crossed her mind. What if she read her own mind? Aleria’s first reaction to that was utter confusion. What kind of overly contrived idea was that?! ‘I’m already reading my own mind??’ Aleria thought to herself. Was there even a difference between the two? Why was she even entertaining the idea?

…Who was she kidding? She really wanted to do it. Just to see what would happen.

Aleria took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Concentrating on her own thoughts. She stuck her hand out into the warm sunlight to see if she could feel that memory creeping up again. Sure enough there it was, all she needed to do now was reach out and…!

All of a sudden, Aleria felt like she was opening her eyes, the sun was shining right at her. “This way mija!” Someone called out to her. The light was all around her. She almost couldn’t see anything. While she could make out the shape of people around her, they were just that, shapes. Nothing but shadows and vague enough details where Aleria could tell they were people. 

There were all sorts of different voices around her. 

‘Are all the balloons ready?’

‘Be careful with the meat! You don’t want to burn it!’

‘Hey! Don’t swing that around! It’s dangerous!’

‘And then I said-! You would have never believed me!”

Aleria recognized none of them. 

She felt whoever it was that was pulling her along come to a stop. There was a gentle hand behind her back. Aleria looked in front of her, slowly the light all around her dimmed in intensity. Her eyes widened as a rainbow of colors erupted around her. They were everywhere, on people’s clothes, the ground below them, on the tables all around her and in the air around her. 

Everything was so colorful and full of hope. 

There were so many people around her but she had no hope of recognizing them. Aleria looked down, she was standing in front of a table. On the table she could see a cake. It wasn’t anything too flashy. A square with frosting on top. Plain cake flavored with strawberry jelly in the middle. 

How did she know what it tasted like? 

‘Ready to blow out the candles Alegria?’ Someone asked her. As soon as that someone did a chorus of cheers rang out around her. The cheers collected themselves into an array of beautiful colors surrounding her. They got closer and closer until they were almost squeezing her but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

It felt warm. It felt safe. 

This was…This was…

This was how she felt when she was with Meriala…

…Was this what a family felt like?

A strange feeling overtook her. She hiccuped, a sob mixed it with the colors. Aleria felt a hand cup her chin. "Are you okay? Mija don’t cry. I’m here.” Aleria burst into tears, retreating into the safety of one of the people she loved the most. That’s what it felt like she was doing. If she stayed here she would be safe. 

But it wasn’t real. It was all in her head. 

In memories that belonged to a stranger. 

Aleria severed the connection. In an instant she was back to her reality. The sunlight had moved on and left her standing in the dark. No matter how hard she tried not to, she sobbed. Her memories of her family were almost non-existent, but that was them. She was sure of it. 

She might not have recognized their faces but that was them. That was them. 

But it was okay. She wiped her eyes. That was then and this was now, and right now she was figuring out how to give Lalatov a good nameday. She needed to keep her mind on that and that alone. 

Aleria took a deep breath and stepped back. All of that must have been why Lalatov looked so sad. This was probably the first nameday he’s had where he wasn’t with his family.

As much as he talked about being annoyed at his parents keeping secrets from him she never got the feeling he hated them. 

Aleria knew she was never going to be enough to replace the family he left behind but she wasn’t about to stand around and let him be alone. Just the thought of Lalatov going through the pain she had gone through was enough to get her to try something, anything.

I have to do something!