Ashton requested an audience with his grandmother the very next day. He wasn't sure if he would get one so soon on such short notice, but after his mother's reaction to his request, he realized he needed something stronger to base his wish on.

Loving Niles probably wouldn't be enough to convince his clan to allow him to become human. And honestly, he also didn't want to make such a permanent decision without having a little insight into the possibility of being with Niles. But if he knew for sure that it was a viable option...

He needed to know. And he could only do that by getting a hokla reading.

It was no easy task to request a private audience with the matriarch, as she had many clan members to look after. But as soon as she heard it was about Ashton's wish, she immediately met with him in her chambers.

"Grandmother," Ashton said, kneeling beside her chair. "I have a favor to ask of you."

The matriarch, the grandmother of his great-grandmother, turned to look at him expectantly. At 211 years old, she was the oldest living member of their clan. And the most powerful.

"What is it, child?" she asked, touching his cheek.

He took a deep breath and held out Niles' dark strand of hair. He had removed it from its braid before his visit, and he felt empty without it. "I'd like to request a hokla reading."

"Oh?" The older faerie raised her eyebrows and took the hair in her gnarled hands. "You are of age, I suppose. Though it's a bit uncouth to do a reading without both candidates present." She studied the hair briefly and then frowned.

"Ashton," she said abruptly. "This is human hair."

He nodded. "Yes, it is. It's Niles'. I want to make him my hokla."

She looked shocked and then exasperated. "Ashton, you can't make a human your hokla," she insisted. "How would you even make that work?"

"I want to use my wish to become human," Ashton explained. "And go back to find him."

His grandmother was quiet for a long moment. "You would leave your family for this man?" she finally asked.

Ashton looked down at his hands. "I think I would do anything for him," he said quietly.

He heard his grandmother sigh. "My child, that is not the point of a hokla," she said. "A hokla is supposed to help you honor your family, not abandon them."

Ashton looked up and tilted his head to the side, confused. "Grandmother, I likely would have had to leave the mother tree even if I had chosen a woodlands faerie," he pointed out, referring to the old tradition of male woodlands leaving their clans to join with their hokla's family. Even if Ashton had decided to partner with another male woodlands, he might very well have been the one to leave his clan behind. 

His grandmother blinked. "Well... yes..." she admitted reluctantly. "But to become human... that is something you cannot come back from. You will not be part of this family in the same way that you once were. I do not think it would be wise for you to return even to visit."

Ashton's heart hammered in his chest, and he gripped the armrest of her chair. "Don't you think I already know that?" he asked softly. "Grandmother, I haven't been part of this family in the same way for the last three years, and you know that. I'm not happy in the way that I was before, even after years of trying."

"And you would be happy with this human?" His grandmother wanted to know.

"If he will have me, I'm sure I will be very happy," Ashton affirmed. He paused. "And even if he doesn't choose me, it will be enough for me to be near him."

His grandmother closed her eyes and held out her hands, Niles' dark hair draped across both palms. "Very well," she said shortly. "I will conduct the reading now."

Surprised that she had agreed so quickly, Ashton hurried to slice off a strand of his own hair and laid it against Niles. The light brown curl contrasted with Niles' straight black hair, and his grandmother closed her fingers around both of them.

Magic flowed out from her light green wings and down her arms, snaking between her fingers and exploring the hair that she held. Ashton watched breathlessly. He had seen her do this countless times, for his aunts and uncles and cousins, but it still never failed to awe him into silence.

After several minutes, she opened her eyes, and the sparks of magic winked out and faded. Ashton couldn't read her expression as she handed him the strands of hair, and he braided Niles' back on the right side of his own hair.

"Well?" he prompted nervously, when his grandmother remained silent.

She pursed her lips and finally relented. "Your compatibility is quite high," she sighed, and Ashton caught his breath, a surge of joy rushing through him. "If you were to choose each other, I predict you would be very well matched and happy together."

Ashton grabbed her hands in both of his. "Really?" he exclaimed, voice bright.

She took one look at his shining eyes and sighed again, giving him a small smile. "Yes, child," she confirmed, patting his cheek. "I foresee that you would make a very good pair indeed."

Ashton pressed the back of her knuckles to his forehead, letting out a shaky breath of relief. "Thank you, grandmother," he whispered, and she squeezed his hands in response. "Then, will you grant me this wish? To become human?"

She was silent for so long that Ashton pulled back to look at her. She was studying him carefully, but she didn't answer his question.

"Who all knows of your decision to make this your wish?" she suddenly asked.

"Just you and my mother," Ashton told her, and she nodded in approval.

"Go find your mother, then," his grandmother said. "I need to speak with her."

***

After leading his apprehensive mother to the matriarch's quarters, his grandmother had stared at Ashton pointedly until he got the hint and excused himself. Ashton couldn't stand the idea of not hearing their conversation, however, so he snuck away to the chambers directly below his grandmother's room to eavesdrop.

He glanced up at the wood paneling above him, noting the crack that he had stared at so many times as a child whenever he used to spy on his grandmother's private conversations with his cousins. 

"I think we should respect Ashton's wish," he heard his grandmother say. "And let him become a human."

"What? Why?" His mother immediately responded, sounding aghast. "If this is about that hokla thing, surely it won't work out. Why let him make a permanent choice that will only result in his misery and inability to return home?"

Ashton waited with bated breath. But the thing was... he and Niles were very likely to work out, if the hokla reading was anything to go off on. He squeezed his eyes shut and hoped the matriarch could convince his mother. 

"I've already checked their compatibility."

His mother seemed to have been stunned into silence, and Ashton strained to hear her response. "...What?"

"Ashton asked me to conduct a reading."

"But... how...?"

"He has a strand of the human's hair, you know," his grandmother explained. "Woven alongside a pixie's and a woodlands'."

Ashton couldn't see her, but he could imagine his mother wringing her hands, her soft brown wings buzzing with anxiety. "And... what did you see?"

"Miranda," he heard his grandmother say softly. "They have one of the highest compatibility readings I have ever seen, if not the highest."

His mother was silent again. When she finally spoke, her voice shook with emotion.

"So... what, we just agree to make him human? And I lose my firstborn? Again? Just like that?"

His grandmother's voice was gentle, much gentler than Ashton had ever heard it. "He's not happy here, child."

"Well, he just hasn't had enough time to adjust," his mother argued. "That's all."

"It has been three years," came his grandmother's wry reply.

When his mother didn't respond, his grandmother sighed. "Miranda, you should've seen his eyes. I haven't seen them so alive in years. Not since he's come home to us. Let the boy go. And if it doesn't work out, he's old enough to be able to live with his decisions."

His mother was still quiet, so his grandmother pressed on. "This... Niles human," she began thoughtfully. "He is kind, Miranda. He will love your son deeply and take care of him better than we ever could."

Ashton was speechless. He hadn't heard this. His grandmother had ushered him away so quickly that she didn't tell him what she had seen in her visions. 

Ashton heard a sniffle. "You saw him?"

"I did."

"And?"

"And... he's a beautiful man, Miranda. Ashton's memories of him are consistent with the little pixie's who brought him here. I could feel the depths of Ashton's feelings for him, and they are not misplaced. I saw moments of the time they may have together, and he's warmer and gentler than any faerie I've ever met. A good match for our Ashton."

His mother let out a choked sob, and Ashton's heart panged at the sound, even as it leapt at the possibility of being with Niles. "Will they... be happy together?"

His grandmother surprised both of them with a laugh. "My child, in all my visions, I have never seen a pair look happier together than those two." Her voice changed. "I'd like to see Ashton happy again like that, wouldn't you?"

His mother sighed. "But... will I never see my child again?"

"Perhaps it's time to change some of our laws," his grandmother mused. "I know I was firm in my stance when Ashton first came back to us, but this Niles human... he really is something different. If he is as kind and good as my visions suggest, I see no harm in allowing him and Ashton to visit with you and your brood once Ashton has made him his hokla."

His mother exclaimed in surprise but was cut off quickly by his grandmother. "Not here, of course. But perhaps in the meadow to the north. It should be far enough away that the human cannot trace us back here. And I trust Ashton to keep us safe as well." 

"Grandmother... I... thank you!" There was the rustle of wings, and Ashton could only assume that the pair upstairs were hugging. He waited a bit longer, and after hearing the matriarch dismiss his mother, he slipped out of the tree himself, heading straight for the pond to collect his thoughts. 

Because if his grandmother was on his side in this... then the wish was as good as made. 

___________________________________________________________

A/N: Alright, we got grandma support, nice! But Ashton still has to tell his dad. And all three of his siblings. And his extended sprite family. And the entire woodlands clan. 

Thanks for reading! Who do you think will be the most upset over Ashton's decision to leave? Keelie? Raine? Gale? His father? Leave a comment if you want and see you in the next part!