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Dear Journal,

I like to write, a lot, it gives me a nice feeling.

I was watching cartoons one day and I saw aliens with eyes like mind and it made me upset. I don’t like that their eyes are like mine. Mother said that they look nothing like me and that my eyes are prettier than the aliens. The aliens also gave me a really bad dream. In my bad dream, I was an alien too and it made me really scared. Mother let me sleep with her that night and that made me happy.

I have been meeting new people a lot.

I’ve met a person in the cemetery I was a bit sad I couldn’t see his eyes, a girl who is part deer, she is really nice and I taught her the turtle game. I also met an older boy on the beach who was like a dragon. He called me a princess but then Quint came and saved me. That made me really, really happy. I like that I got to see him again, I like spending time with him. I am keeping his earring very, very safe. Playing in the cemetery again, I met a boy named Harry. Anon is his father and he talked about zombies. I’m not sure what to think, because Akuja never said anything about zombies. He was very nice still though.

I am going to go feed the fish now.

- Seidh

Fremere had a thing for knowing love. He could totally tell when someone was in love and could totally tell what love was.

If there was one thing for certain, his little sister was in love and it was so cute!

She tried to keep it quiet though, and Fremere didn’t agree with that at all. Love should be known! The person who his sister loved should be aware, for love was a beautiful thing and by sharing love and letting it be known would make people happy! Maybe the boy was a bit delusional to anyone else, but his conviction was so strong, he wouldn’t believe anything otherwise.

Thus, he convinced his sister one day at the kitchen table to write a love letter. He told her it was awesome to get all his feelings out for his loved ones on paper and prattled on more and more about other stuff and more or less the small girl agreed, except there was a catch.

She wasn’t going to let her special someone see it (or so she thought).

Seidh stared down at her blank sheets of paper for a long while, wondering what to start it off with. She blushed ever so lightly before dating the corner of the paper and then starting, feeling a bit giddy:

Dear Quint,

I love you.

I love you because you think my eyes are pretty. I don’t like my eyes, I think they are stupid a lot of the time, and I think they make me look like an alien. You like them though, and that makes me happy. I think you have the prettiest eyes ever. They are like my eyes, but they aren’t. They are much better. Looking at them makes me happy.

You are also very nice.

You helped me see the fish at the pet store, and you held my hand, and you gave me your earring. I wear it on a necklace everyday. It makes me happy too. You also saved me on the beach and then you walked me to my mother. I was very happy to see you again. I like spending time with you.

(The small girl wiggled in her seat as she paused for a moment, acting like a giddy high school girl.)

I wish I could spend more time with you. Mother says you have older kid things to do though and are probably busy. I understand. I can’t wait to grow up, because then I can do older kid things too. Mother bought me a squishy shark plush at the mall. I love him lots because he reminds me of you and I can hug him. I named him Quint, just like one of my goldfish. So now there are two Quints in my house.
When I get older, I hope we can spend more time together. I can’t wait be older so that I can be with you.

Love,

Seidh

The small girl stared down at her letter feeling an odd sense of relief. It seemed Fremere was right! Writing your feelings out on paper did make you feel a bit better, but it was a letter that a certain someone would never, ever see, because she was not going to send it. She was probably being a silly little girl after all…it was best to just keep this all to herself. She folded up the letter along with the spare piece of paper and hopped down from her spot at the table to go hide the letter somewhere in her room.

Seidh got into the hallway when Akuja called out for her, startling the girl as she accidentally dropped the two pieces of paper, where one fluttered by her feet and the other fluttered into Fremere’s room since the boy left his door wide open. Eager to see what her mother wanted as quickly as possible, the small girl picked up the paper at her feet, easily forgetting the other one in her rush and ran into her room and stuffed it into her journal and then fled out into the hall and into the living room.

---

Fremere hummed quite merrily to himself as he wandered into his room, pausing when he saw a piece of paper at his feet. Oh no! Was this a letter he had misplaced? The boy picked it up and saw who it was addressed to…Oh! This wasn’t his…it was his sister’s! Oh dear, this wouldn’t get to Quint at all if it sat here! Ever believing in the power of love and it being known, Fremere went about making sure this would get to the shark-like teen.

He was quite proud of himself for doing such a great task.

---

Don’t ask how, don’t ask why, but somehow, a little love letter was sitting in the Gear Family’s mailbox. It was addressed to Quint.

As far was Fremere was concerned, with the power of love, anything was possible.

Akuja wandered down the hall with a laundry basket in hand, going to drop off some clothes into her room when she paused upon seeing Seidh in the bathroom, standing on a step stool as she examined herself closely in the mirror. The older woman blinked a bit, tilting her head as she was curious as to what the little girl could be looking for. She finally voiced her curiosity.

“What are you doing, Seidh?”

The small girl blinked a bit as she looked at her mother’s reflection on the mirror and replied, “I am seeing if I am getting any older.”

The woman’s brows furrowed a bit as she decided to continue on to her room, dropping the clothes off before coming to stand in the bathroom doorway. “Hey, let’s go to the kitchen and have something warm to drink.” Seidh had an inkling as to what this meant. Talk time! Not that she was afraid, she liked having talk time because it was often insightful and she liked that. She hopped off her stool and followed after her mother to the kitchen and then climbed into her usual chair while Akuja made herself a cup of coffee and a cup of hot chocolate for her daughter. She placed the cups on the table and then took her own seat and the two took a sip of their respective drinks before speaking.

“…You shouldn’t be in a hurry to grow up.” Akuja started off.

Seidh tilted her head a bit as she kept her hands on the cup, enjoying its warmth. “Why?” She questioned. She didn’t see anything wrong with wanting to be older! She could stay home alone, use the stove, be more adult like, date Quint…

Akuja smirked a bit as she took another sip. “Because…as much as you may think so…you won’t be a kid forever…you will grow up one day…and you should enjoy being carefree and having no responsibilities while you can. You should be having fun and not worrying about wanting to be older. It’s over rated.” She stuck her tongue out a bit at this as Seidh kicked her feet a bit thoughtfully.

“…But I am having fun.” She replied, “But…I want to get older…so that I can do more things…”

The older woman leaned forward a bit, resting her head on her hand as she looked at Seidh with a knowing look. “Do more things…like get dates?” The small girl blushed at this as she was obviously busted and hid behind her mug.

“Uh huh…” Akuja hummed thoughtfully and knowingly, thinking for a moment on how she wanted to word her thoughts. “…He’s a good kid. He said he made a promise to you and I don’t think that’s going anywhere, you’ll get your date I think when you grow up, whenever that is.” She replied, stressing the word ‘whenever’. Admittedly, Akuja was a bit…sad at the thought of them growing up…and when. She really…did want them to stay young as long as possible and to keep the moments captured she had them go take a family portrait shoot together and often took pictures of the children. Pictures were good reminders that lasted for a long time.

Seidh looked off to the side for a moment, softly tugging at one of her braided pigtails before murmuring. “But…I got to get older soon…so that no other girls want dates too.”

Oh dear. Were they about to broach on the love subject? Apparently so. Now to go about it without hurting her feelings but still allowing her to understand.

“Well…you know Seidh…even if you two started dating…other girls would still probably want dates…people date to see if they have and will develop feelings for that other person…sometimes they do…sometimes they don’t. That’s why there are dates, to see if relationships will work out or not.” The small girl frowned a bit with worry, having a feeling where this could be going.

“…You know, after a few dates or so…both of you could have different feelings…but I think you’ll always be friends and those too are relationships that need to be treasured. Remember this when you’re older Seidh, that there are other fish in the sea, and there’s nothing wrong when things don’t work out, that’s how it is for everyone. People accept that and then move on, because you don’t want anyone to be unhappy right?”

“Right…” The small girl glumly agreed as she frowned. No, her feelings weren’t going to change! She was going to have many dates with Quint and then…have more dates and…what came after that? Marriage? That sounded good to her!

Akuja rubbed the bridge of her nose a bit as it was apparent that Seidh was starting to become unhappy. “But…maybe one day…maybe…things could possibly work out for you two, and things could happen.” The small girl stopped frowning as she blinked a bit. “Possibly.” Akuja reminded her. “But when it comes to the future little one, no one can predict what will happen…and when you do get older, who knows what paths you’ll take because there are many different possibilities that could affect your life.” Like going to the Curio shop, that was something Akuja had not counted on that affected her life.

“Just promise me one thing…that you’ll be considerate of other people’s feelings, as well as your own. Can you promise me that?”

Seidh gave a small nod of her head.

“…I’m not saying that you need to stop feeling the way you do, because…love is indeed a wonderful thing.” The older woman continued. “But…just remember to be fair, be open, be honest, be kind, be considerate…just be a good person, alright?”

The small girl was silent for a long while as she mulled things over. Yes…she could believe in being fair and it was important to consider other people’s feelings…So…she should always be considerate of Quint’s feeling…yes…that made sense.

Okay…she felt a bit better.

Secretly, she still couldn’t wait to get older but…maybe for now she’d stop looking to see if she grew in the mirror every day. She’d also need to pack a lot of fun things in now, because who knew when she’d get older! “…Alright.” The small girl uttered after she had time to think about their words.

The older woman smiled a bit. “…You’re a smart kid…I also think you’re an old soul trapped in a child’s body.” She chuckled a bit at this as she took a sip of her coffee. What could she say? She was like what too when she was a kid. She very much wanted to be adult like and thought about things that usual kids didn’t.

Seidh simply smiled a bit as she sat there with her mother, enjoying her hot chocolate

Seidh pulled up her stool to the fish tank and climbed up onto it and then proceeded to open the lid of the tank. She had been a good girl and already fed the fish earlier today, but now it was time to give some attention! The small girl had learned earlier that the fish she named Quint actually liked to be touched! She had stumbled across this awesome fact when she had been feeding them one day and her fingers were in the tank and he brushed up against them on purpose.

She was very delighted and thus started doing it more regularly, like now!

The girl dipped her fingers into the water along with the rest of her hand and wiggled them slightly as the Quint fish did a turn around in the tank and without fail, swam right up to her hand and brushed against the fingers. Seidh giggled softly with delight as her fingers gently closed around the fish and then rubbed under his belly and the raspberry hood on his head. She then let him go and watched as he swam away for a bit before circling around and coming back to do it again, except this time the fish even pressed his lips against her fingers a few times before settling within her gently grasp once more.

Time passed a little bit like this, and the small girl decided that that was enough petting for now and as the Quint fish swam away after his last pettings she started to withdraw her hand. The fish made a quick U-turn and started to swim back for the retreating hand. He wasn’t done with pettings yet! Thus, with speed and agility and skill that was quite surprising for an Oranda, he launched himself up and out of the water, aiming for the girl’s hand…only to miss it entirely and land on the (luckily) carpeted floor with a small thud.

Seidh’s eyes had widened in total surprise as the fish went soaring through the air and when he landed on the carpet the girl let out a shriek as she jumped off her stool and came rushing to the fish’s aid. Said fish was gasping for air on the carpet, this wasn’t his usual environment! The small girl was quite panicked as she carefully yet quickly picked Quint off of the carpet and climbed back onto her stool and gently placed the fish back into the tank, where he immediately recovered. She also quickly closed the lid too, so that he couldn’t jump out again.

Seidh placed a hand over her chest as her little heart pounded. That had really scared her! What if he hurt himself doing that? She then leaned a bit and shook a finger at the black and orange fish.

“Bad Quint, bad! You stay in the tank!”

It was one of those times that both Seidh and Akuja needed to bathe, so they did, together, in the larger bathtub in Akuja’s room. It was also a mother and daughter like bonding experience as Seidh also did happen to like it when Akuja would wash her hair for her and she just loved being around the older woman.

The older woman had her back against the back bathtub wall, her legs bent at the knees as Seidh played with a few fish figures and a mermaid one towards the front of the tub. She played quietly but Akuja could still note that the girl was making up the make believe talk that went along with children playing for the small girl’s lips moved as she maneuvered the figures through her little section of water.

Some days when she would look at these children it still felt a bit surreal that she was their mother more or less. They addressed her as so and she responded to it so she more or less was. In their time together she had gotten to know their likes and dislikes, their fears and dreams, energy and personalities, views and opinions. She had grown to love them dearly and had grown use to this feeling of unconditional love that she had received from the both of them, a feeling she thought she would never experience from a child. The older woman was drawn from her thoughts by the glint of the compass embedded into her daughter’s chest.

While she thought her children were perfect the way they were, the things that made them different from each other and most certainly, other children, did remind her of how she acquired them, which was by no way the normal means. The things that set them apart from others did intrigue her though. “…Hey Seidh…?” The small girl paused in her little sea adventure and looked up at her mother curiously. “Does…that hurt at all?” She gestured to the compass to which the girl looked down at it and gave a small shake of her head, a small, almost amused smile on her face as if it was kind of an odd question.

Akuja leaned forward a bit to reach out and brush her fingers along the lining of one of the compass points and then tapped a nail against it, hearing the small ‘tink tink’ of hitting something metallic. “Does that bother you?” Seidh had been watching her mother’s fingers curiously and when questioned again looked up at her with that small smile still and shook her head once again. “…Sometimes….when it is too hot or cold…I can feel it here…” The girl reached up to brush her fingers against the compass’ center piece. That made sense to Akuja, metal was subject to rapid heating and cooling after all. “…How come?” Seidh questioned after a moment, tilting her head a bit.

“Just curious.” Akuja answered with a small smile of her own as she reached for a cup to collect water in, signaling that it was time to wash Seidh’s hair. The little girl abandoned her toys for now in favor of her hair getting treated as she positioned herself so that her back was turned to her mother and tilted her head up. The older woman then started to wash the girl’s hair.

The children had been terribly unexpected, not at all planned, but she was happy. Her world felt complete.