and my ears will listen

[truthwright]

Time goes by. Shura's mother lets her cut a cloudpine branch, and she and Helen go flying together.

Helen celebrates her eighth birthday by baking all her favourite people a cake again. And then she goes away with Kas, to Iceland and Russia and back by way of Alaska.

When they fly in, Kas on Petaal's cloudpine and Helen on her own, Helen is wearing blue jeans and a pink T-shirt.

Comments

[carillons]

"I hope you won't be like that," says Helen. "That would be sad."

"You don't want to be mad at her, right?" says Kalavar to Nicoa.

[alicornucopia]

"I don't know!" says Nicoa, turning into an armadillo. "I don't know why it happens."

[carillons]

"I don't know why either," says Kalavar. "But it's got to help if you don't want to be mad."

[alicornucopia]

"Maybe it doesn't," says Nicoa.

[carillons]

"When we get ordinary mad at people for ordinary things, it goes away faster when we don't want to be mad," says Helen.

"But I guess I don't know if that works for this thing," says Kalavar.

[alicornucopia]

"Yeah," sighs Shura.

[carillons]

Helen sighs too, and hugs her.

[alicornucopia]

Nicoa turns into a red panda and snuggles up to Kalavar.

Hugs.

[subastra]

When Nicoa does settle, Shura's almost thirteen. Her trip to the Waste is scheduled for the next day.

[carillons]

Nicoa is little and poofy!

Kalavar turns into a chinchilla and gives him little poofy snuggles. Helen hugs Shura.

"Good luck."

[subastra]

Poof.

"Thanks," says Shura.

She gets white silks, for the walk across the Waste.

She is back a day later, unseparated, Nicoa huddled in her arms, to rest for a few days before trying again.

[carillons]

And Helen hugs her again, careful of Nicoa.

[subastra]

"It's really hard," Shura mumbles.

"What happens if we don't," Nicoa says, "what actually happens, why don't we know any witches who just never did?"

[carillons]

"I - I don't know," says Helen. "We can ask somebody. Is there somebody we can ask? Somebody old, who's known a lot of witches? Would that help, asking somebody?"

[subastra]

"Nnnnno probably not," sighs Shura, "they'd just - tell us, I guess, and whatever the answer is it can't be good if we've never heard of anyone who did it."

[carillons]

"Okay," says Helen, hugging her some more.

[subastra]

Hugs are good.

"At least I like my form," says Nicoa optimistically.

[carillons]

"It's cute," says Kalavar. "Want to snuggle?"

[subastra]

Nicoa bobs his head in a ptarmigany nod.

[carillons]

Kalavar turns into a long-haired cat and snuggles up fluffily.

[subastra]

Shura's second try, the following week, succeeds.

Shura gets home first. Nicoa is apparently flying back on his own.

[carillons]

...Is it time for Helen to hug her some more? Helen thinks it is probably that time.

[subastra]

It is definitely that time.

[carillons]

Hug hug hug hug hug.

[subastra]

Shura is quiet, but very huggable.