Lolaheim was coming up, and with it, a whirlwind of activity from the woodlands clan as they prepared for the festivities that accompanied the summer solstice.

Ashton got swept up in the preparations as well, even though he spent most of his time with the sprites nowadays. He still treasured his clan, and he liked helping with big clan celebrations like this. His woodlands relatives were certainly grateful for this, as his sprite size and strength meant he could complete tasks and lift objects that would take 2-3 woodlands to accomplish or move.

The day before the solstice found Ashton at the base of the mother tree while his woodlands cousins fluttered around it, using low level spells to cast small glowing lights around the branches.

Keelie and Raine had been given permission to leave the pond, and they didn't waste the rare opportunity, running around the base of the tree and clambering to help their flighted cousins.

A few relatives finally gave in, handing the two littlest sprites armfuls of flower petals to sprinkle around the tree roots. They tore off, intent on their task, and Ashton watched them with a chuckle before returning to his task of butchering one of the grasshoppers he had caught that morning.

Gale suddenly dropped down from the tree and leaned around him to snag an antenna. Ashton whipped around to scold him, still holding his cleaver.

"Gale!" he protested, but Gale just grinned and darted off before Ashton could snag him back, antenna between his teeth.

Ashton watched him go with a sigh before shaking his head and turning back to the butcher's block. One of his aunts needed the grasshoppers cleaned and gutted before cooking, and she had put Ashton in charge.

"I bet Niles would really like to see how a deep woods clan celebrates Lolaheim," Ashton murmured to himself, thinking back to the little garden party that Alexo had thrown for all the pixies during Solaheim.

"What was that, dear?" his aunt asked absentmindedly, and Ashton stiffened.

"Nothing," he got out, trying to keep his tone light. He bent his head back over his work, keeping an eye on Keelie and Raine as they wove between the tree roots, giggling.

***

The morning of Lolaheim arrived, and all of Ashton's clan members gathered in the branches of the mother tree to watch the sunrise of the longest day of the year.

Keelie and Raine demanded to go, too, so Ashton and Gale led them through the inner chambers of the mother tree to sit on its lower branches.

"Keelie, settle down," Ashton warned, keeping a tight grip on the waistband of her frog leathers as she leaned forward for the umpteenth time, black eyes wide and trying to take everything in.

Gale was watching Raine, easily the quieter and more obedient of the two little ones. Ashton looked at his littlest brother, who was leaning against the trunk of the tree and looking uneasy.

Raine was terrified of heights, so Gale kept his arm around him, pointing out the magical little lights woven through the leaves to distract him. He caught Ashton struggling with Keelie and winked.

Sorry, he mouthed over Raine's unruly tuft of blue hair.

Ashton rolled his eyes in response, finally scooping Keelie up and placing her firmly on his lap. "Shh," he told her. "Look, you're going to miss the sunrise if you keep wiggling around like that."

She stopped squirming at his words, finally holding still and looking off in the direction Ashton was pointing. The whole tree fell silent as the sun peeked over the horizon, its rays staining the forest canopy orange.

Ashton watched as the sun crept higher, chasing away the deep blue of the dawn and replacing it with an explosion of color. Keelie oohed and ahhed at the sight, and even quiet Gale seemed impressed. It was one of the more beautiful sunrises that Ashton had seen, and he was happy to experience it with his clan. But he felt oddly detached from it all, watching the sun rise into the sky, a place he no longer belonged.

***

The rest of the day's festivities passed by in a blur. Keelie and Raine insisted on seeing everything, so that meant Ashton spent most of the day wrangling the two littlest sprites and making sure they didn't run off.

He did manage to catch Gale's age group's flight race, where Gale came in fourth. Ashton was proud of his brother, but he felt even prouder of himself for only experiencing a twinge of jealousy while watching all his flighted cousins take off. It was much better than the surge of envy he had felt during his first Lolaheim back.

By late afternoon, it was time for his matriarch grandmother to address the clan. Ashton gratefully passed Keelie and Raine off to their father to return to the pond before entering the mother tree's council room with the rest of his clan.

He shuffled through the crowd, trying not to brush against his relatives' wings as he looked for his mother and Gale. Finding them on a bench near the front of the main floor, he settled himself beside Gale, as his mother was deep in conversation with her great grandfather, the hokla of the matriarch's daughter.

That's odd, Ashton thought, looking at his grandfather. The older faerie caught his eye and smiled before returning to the hushed conversation with his mother. Why is the grandmaster talking with Mamaire instead of sitting with grandmother and the rest of the elders?

The grandmaster was the clan's leading expert in spellcasting and magic. He came from a clan even older than the Ash Leaf clan, though not quite as large. After marrying into the clan, the matriarch appointed him to the care and keeping of the mother tree. He was also in charge of teaching magic to the clan's younglings, and Ashton still remembered fidgeting with his cousins as they tried to sit still for their grandfather's lessons.

The matriarch swept onto the circular floor of the council room, interrupting Ashton's thoughts. She opened her light green wings to get everyone's attention, and a hush fell over the crowd as each clan member settled into their seats and respectfully bowed their heads at her entrance.

"Welcome, proud members of the Ash Leaf clan," his grandmother began. "I'd like to thank you for gathering today on the longest day of the year. As we celebrate the surge of magic that comes with the warmth and growth of summer, I would like to take this time to reflect upon the clan's activities since we last formally gathered at Solaheim."

His grandmother went on to report on the clan's actions over the last few moons, and Ashton found himself struggling to stay awake. He tried to pay attention to his grandmother's words, but he was completely lost, the events she was describing sounding foreign and far removed from him. 

I've spent too much time underwater, Ashton realized, trying to keep his eyes open. His grandmother was now recounting the number of faeries who had undergone hokla ceremonies since the new year. His cousin Lucas had been one of them, coupling with Ashton's best friend Erden of the Pine Bough clan and resettling with her family. Aside from Lucas' hokla ceremony, I have no idea what she's talking about.

Ashton couldn't remember ever feeling this way about a council meeting. In the past, he was fully involved in clan affairs. Unlike now, where he was more of an honorary member than anything else.

He was just nodding off when Gale suddenly jabbed him awake.

"Huh, wha...? What's wrong?" he asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

Gale glanced meaningfully at their relatives around them, and it was only then that Ashton realized everyone in the tree had gone silent... and were all staring at him.

"Ashton?" His grandmother's voice startled him, and he turned to look at her.

She raised a silvery eyebrow at him, and her wings rustled. "Will you please join us?"

With a start, Ashton realized that his mother and great-great-grandfather were already standing beside the matriarch, both beaming at him. He got up slowly, feeling more confused than ever.

As he joined them in the center of the council room, he clasped his hands behind him and bowed his head in a show of respect.

What is all this about? he wondered, heart hammering. I... don't remember doing anything to warrant this kind of attention.

"Look at me, child," he heard his grandmother say.

Ashton met her eyes reluctantly, and to his surprise, she smiled. His grandmother rarely smiled in formal settings like this.

"Ashton, though you spend most of your time with the sprites nowadays, we have not forgotten you nor the contributions you've made to our clan over the years," she began. "You are still as much a part of the Ash Leaf clan now as you were back when you had your wings."

Ashton eyed her carefully, still unsure where she was going with this.

"Though nothing could make up for the injustices you experienced in the past, we would like to do our part in remedying the suffering you've gone through. As such, we would like to formally grant you a wish," the matriarch said.

Ashton froze. A wish? he wondered. That's the highest form of spellcasting. The clan doesn't have enough magic to grant a wish... does it? 

"As this project was headed by our grandmaster, I will allow him and your mother to provide you with the details," the matriarch continued, and Ashton turned towards the other two faeries beside him.

"Mamaire?" he got out. "Wha... What is this? What's going on?"

"We've all been storing up our magic for the past three years," his mother explained gently. "So that we would have enough magic to grant you any wish you asked for."

What? Ashton thought, stunned. How did the whole clan manage to completely hide this from me? I had no idea they were doing something like this.

"A... wish? But... how...?" 

The grandmaster grinned. "It was no simple feat," he cut in, wagging his finger at Ashton. "It took me months to create the proper vessels to hold such strong, raw magic, and even longer for us all to process and store the magic. It's something we all wanted to do for you the minute you returned home."

Ashton heard a rustling from the seats surrounding them, and he whipped his head around, his eyes flitting from face to face. Many of his relatives were beaming at him, and several had tears in their eyes. Ashton's own eyes filled with tears at the thought of what his clan was giving to him, and he hurried to wipe his eyes.

"What would I even wish for?" Ashton asked breathlessly, turning back to his grandfather. His head swirled at the possibilities before him.

His grandfather laughed in delight. "Why, anything you want, boy! Most obvious one is your wings, of course. We can certainly regrow them for you. But if you fancy yourself a sprite now, then we can grant you something else, anything else! We've got enough juice stored up to even make you human, if you wanted!"

The storm of thoughts suddenly froze, and something in Ashton's mind snapped into place, the missing piece that he couldn't seem to find throughout his long attempts to rebuild his life. I could see Niles again, was his first thought, and with that, the faded memory of Niles flared back up into the deep longing he thought he had left behind, rekindled by this new possibility.

"Human...?"

His grandfather stopped laughing abruptly, looking startled. He and Ashton's mother exchanged surprised glances.

"Ah, well technically, yes," the grandmaster said, looking confused. "But of course, I'm sure you wouldn't want that... haha... sorry to even bring that up on a special day like today..."

Ashton's soul felt like it was on fire, lit by a spark he hadn't felt in a long, long time. His thoughts whirled wildly, and he could barely make out his mother's words.

"...ton? Ashton? Ashton! Are you alright? What's wrong?"

Ashton blinked back into focus, surprised by all the shocked looks from his relatives and the whispers that swept through the crowd.

Oh. He blinked. "I'm... sorry," he said. "I just... need a minute to think." He forced himself to smile, but it didn't ease the worried look on his mother's face.

The matriarch, who had been letting Ashton's mother and grandfather fill him in on the specifics of the wish, finally spoke up again.

"If you need time to decide on a wish, go ahead," she offered. "There's no rush. We merely wanted to make you aware of the surplus of magic. It is ready for use whenever you wish."

Ashton nodded, heart racing again. He already had an idea of what he wanted to wish for, but he needed to step away and really consider it. If he went through with it... then... he'd probably never see his family again.

But he would see Niles.

__________________________________________________________

A/N: Any guesses on what Ashton will wish for? Aaaaannnny guesses at all? 

p.s. There is literally only one right answer. Ashton's wish is the only reason this book has a plot. 

Thanks for reading and see you in the next part!