magnolia.... for A DIFFERENT TAE
She's had a lot of time to plan for this. After she'd stopped weeping for her home and talk of rebuilding began, she'd been gathering what would be needed to breathe life back into scorched earth.
Her first day back is spent weeping anew. Caledon is beautiful, but the forest is not home. Her feet are used to sand and cobblestone and she'd longed for the tang of sea air. She breathes it in great gulps now, laughing despite her tears. Home.
The second day she spends exploring. It is not how she remembers it. there is wreckage still; the water doesn't feel as it once did, unnaturally still and somber. But it is healing, and it is beautiful.
The third day she starts in earnest, waking before the sun has broken over the horizon. The gardens and farms across the bay are long gone, the land still charred and twisted from the attack. She takes a moment to grieve, leaning against Havoc's scaly shoulder. Then she stets to work, tilling the earth and puling free grass and weeds that hold it down. Fresh soil comes next, rick and dark, staining her fingers as she mixes it into the ground. She shapes the rows with care, tapping markers at the ends and stakes for the plants that will need to climb. Fruit tree saplings are tucked into their beds, and seeds for vegetables and flowers are gently poked into place.
The sun is only a sliver of light at the sea's edge by the time she steps back from her work. For the first time in months she feels whole. No longer a gardener without her garden. Adder licks at her fingers, golden glow barely visible underneath the dirt, and she laughs, soul lighter than ever.
