Holly sat at the kitchen table, nibbling on a pear while watching Robin cook breakfast. Unlike how she arrived to the kitchen most mornings, she was not fully ready for the day—her hair was unkempt, and she wore an oversized crimson velvet nightgown. From the look on her face, Robin wondered if she had slept last night at all. Her face was still puffy from crying, and her eyes looked blank as she watched him, her mind elsewhere.

"How are you feeling?" Robin asked from the stove, finally doing his best to make Sunny-side-up eggs for Jo. After weeks of the small girl's persistent pleas, he gave in at last.

"I am not feeling much at all today. I left too much in the pond, it seems," Holly said with a light-hearted chuckle, her gaze still fixed on somewhere just past the stove. "Except, I am very much feeling my face and eyes. They hurt a bit from crying too much last night," she added with a chuckle. rubbing her palms against her face.

Robin smirked as he plated his attempts at sunny-side eggs. He carefully set them on the table, before heading over to the icebox.

"I know what might help," Robin said, retrieving a chilled egg from the basket he had brought from the cellar that morning to make their breakfast.

Robin came around the table to hand it to her, and when she didn't notice him beside her, still blankly staring into the distance, Robin lightly pressed it against her cheek.

Holly jumped at the cool touch of the egg against her face. Her eyes widening in surprise before she burst out laughing at the situation. Her laughter increasing at the sight of Robin's embarrassed expression.

Robin gave her a guilty smile and mumbled an apology, handing over the egg for her to hold against her own face before turning back to the stove.

"Hold that on your eyes and face; it should help the swelling go down," Robin instructed, speaking to her in the tone he would use with his patients back in London.

"Thank you, Doctor Robin," Holly said, pressing the egg to one of her swollen eyelids. "Just let me know when you need it back."

"It's fine, Holly. You can keep it. We have more than enough eggs for today. That's why I told Jo she could sleep in, since we didn't use any from yesterday."

"Ah," Holly said, slowly moving the egg to her other eye. "I was wondering where my little troublemaker was. I just assumed she stayed the night at Shia's."

"You don't seem very concerned that your apprentice might have gone missing," Robin observed.

"Jo?" Holly scoffed. "Not really. I wouldn't be a such an excellent teacher if she couldn't defend herself."

"That confident in your teaching abilities, huh?" Robin remarked.

"Well, some of us are more talented in that realm than others," Holly retorted, scrunching her nose at him—a dig at Robin, given she had yet to master the fixing magic he had been attempting to teach her.

"Well, some of us have better students than others," Robin said, jokingly scrunching his nose back as he set the plate of eggs in front of her.

Holly's eyes grew as wide as her swollen face allowed, letting out a surprised scoff at his mockery. She held out her egg to him threateningly, "I'll have you know—"

She was interrupted by loud footsteps pounding down the stairs. Jo practically flew down the steps, and arriving at the kitchen table in the blink of an eye.

"Eggs!" Jo gasped, eyeing the plate on the table. Her smile grew wide in excitement. "And they are Sunny-Side Up!"

Jo suddenly let out an excited squeal, and ran to Robin, hugging him around the waist. Robin nearly dropped the plate of toast he was holding in surprise, but he managed to carefully rearrange it in his hand so he could pat the young girl on the back.

"I finally gave in," Robin said with a laugh, trying to control his smile. The feeling of joy warmed in his chest from the young girl's excitement; her enthusiasm over a simple plate of Sunny-Side-Up eggs was contagious.

"Thank you, Robin, for making us sunny-side eggs this morning," Holly said in a voice intended to encourage Jo to express her gratitude.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Robin!" Jo said, taking her cue from Holly. She quickly skipped over to her seat,  giggling in barely contained excitement. "Have you had one yet, Miss Holly?"

"No, I haven't. You should be the first one to try them." Holly said, smiling at the young girl. "They are for you, after all."

Robin set the toast on the table, placing a piece on Jo's plate and putting an egg on top. He was about to break the yolk for her when Jo touched his arm to stop him.

"Wait! Can I do it?" she asked eagerly, her eyes never leaving the plate of food.

"Of course," Robin said, grinning as he moved to his seat across the table from her, starting to serve himself as well.

Jo's smile grew, and she let out another excited giggle as she cut into the yellow yoke of the egg, letting it run all over the toast. She quickly picked it up and took a bite, happily humming as she chewed. The yellow yoke crawling down her fingers to land on the plate below. After a moment of savoring its taste, she looked at Robin and started doing a small dance in her seat, as if to show her satisfaction at her meal.

Robin laughed at Jo's display of happiness.

"That good, huh?" Robin said, cutting the yoke on his toast. "It wasn't as hard as I thought, so maybe I'll have to make it more often."

"Yes, please!" Jo mumbled through a full mouth.
"How was Corrine's concert last night?" Jo asked, reaching for her water. "Did Dexter sing any of the notes correctly this time?"

"Ah," Holly said, sneaking a glance at Robin. "I decided to skip it."

"Finally realized how bad he was at singing, huh?" Jo mumbled, shaking her head in understanding.

Holly let out a small chuckle. "I always knew how bad he was, Jo. I just ignored it."

Jo clicked her tongue and shook her head disapprovingly. "I'm not sure about that—"

"Well, let's just say even rose-colored earplugs have limitations..." Holly said, laughing awkwardly.

"Oh, fish in the creek, hurry up the stream,~  Bring me my dreams~, Oh, bring them to me~ " Jo started mocking Dexter's singing in an off-tune, twangy manner. Her face went blank, mocking  Dexter's wide-eyed and empty gaze, making even Robin chuckle.

Robin almost wondered if he should have stayed behind and watched the show. Jo's impression made him a bit disappointed to have missed it.

"No, well... actually, Jo," Holly started, interrupting Jo's performance. "Dexter and Corrine are getting married. He proposed using that ring I gave him, and Corrine told me they would announce it at the show... So I didn't stay long."

Jo's mouth dropped open.

"If I may be excused, Miss Holly, I'm going to go kick his butt and steal back every last piece of—"

Holly laughed and shook her hands at the young girl, who was now climbing down from her seat as if preparing to leave and act upon her words.

"No, Jo, it's okay. I already took care of that. I took the ring and necklace from them, so they no longer have them."She patted Jo's seat, encouraging her to sit back down.

"Neither of them deserve anything I gave them in the first place, and they don't deserve any more attention from either of us now," Holly said decisively, though Robin noted a hint of sadness in her voice.

Jo snorted in annoyance and agreement, sitting back in her seat.

"He never did anything that deserved getting a piece of your heart to begin with," Jo said, taking a big bite of her second piece of toast.

Holly smiled and rubbed the little girl's back. "Yeah, you're right, Jo. I hope that, even if I don't teach you useful magic while you stay with me, you at least learn something from my mistakes," she said, laughing at herself.

"Oh, definitely," Jo said. "I am never going to give my heart to ANYBODY. It NEVER works out well."

"Oh... well," Holly started, suddenly self-conscious about what she was teaching this nine-year-old. "Jo, that's not true. "What about Miss Margo? Mr. Bert takes excellent care of her heart."

Jo mumbled a reluctant agreement.

Robin couldn't help but wonder who "Miss Margo" or "Mr. Bert" was. He couldn't remember meeting either of them in town.

"See? Exactly. So you shouldn't be scared to give your heart away. It will always come back to you in the end. Even if it comes back broken, it's still the same heart...just a different shape." Holly poked at Jo's shoulder. "Someone with a strong heart doesn't fear it being broken, because then there are just more pieces of your heart to give to others."

Jo grumbled, unconvinced and obviously not listening.

"Still, you can learn from me to actually KNOW the person before giving a piece of it to them. That will help quite a bit..." Holly mumbled before taking another bite of her food.

"Yeah, and maybe listen to your wise student when she says he's a HUGE as-."

"Alright. I know. Jo, you were right, and I should have listened to you."

Jo let out a huff of pride before finishing off her toast. Robin tried to hide a smile as he watched their banter and the look of victory on the small girl face.

"Mr Robin, can I pack the rest of the eggs you made for lunch?" Jo asked excitedly. "I want to show all my friends."

"Sure," Robin said, pleased at himself for how much she enjoyed them. "Let me know what they think."

"Oh, I won't be sharing them," Jo said, hopping down from the table to grab her school bag from the mudroom."

Robin exchanged an amused smile with Holly before getting up from the table to pack the remaining eggs into a container for her to take to school.

"Jo," Holly called from her seat, "I'm going to the shop late today. Do you mind taking the tram without me? Or, maybe you can practice the transportation spell I taught you last week? Just be sure to transport to the woods so you don't run into anybody."

"Oh boy! Sure thing, Miss Holly!" Jo said, grabbing the container Robin handed her, shoving it into her backpack, and shrugging it over her shoulders before stepping back.

Jo slowly turned towards Holly, and took a deep breath. Holly watched the young girl and nodded encouragingly.

Jo hesitantly touched her fingers to her shoe and raised her arm above her head.

She took a step forward, and then back. A puzzled look spread across her face.

"That's okay," Holly said reassuringly. "Try again. Remember, it's the palm of your hand against the sole of your foot. Let the magic pass from your hand to your foot, then lift it above your head..." Holly mimed the steps as she did them from her seat, "like you are a puppeteer. Envision where you are putting that foot down before doing so. You have to have a clear picture in your head." She gave Jo a thumbs up. "You can do this."

Jo scrunched her face in concentration, touching her hand to her foot a few times before seeming confident enough to try the spell again.

Holly mimed the steps with her, and as soon as Jo put her foot down, she was gone. Holly clapped to the open air. In the blink of an eye, Jo appeared again, setting her foot down in the kitchen.

"I did it!" Jo exclaimed. "I was outside the woods in the schoolyard!"

"Great work, Jo!" Holly cheered, giving the young girl a hug from her seat. "Try to use it on your way back from school today as well. See if you can do it without any help."

"Okay!" Jo said with a huge grin on her face. "Bye, Mr. Robin! Bye, Miss Holly!"

Jo hit her hand against her shoe several times before lifting her hand above her head, and disappearing.

Holly gave another small clap to the open air, before turning and thanking Robin for the breakfast. As he cleaned up, she started heading up the stairs to prepare for the day.

Thankfully, Holly had not gone into an angry destroying frenzy after they returned the previous night, so there was no damage for him to clean up....Significantly freeing up his schedule for that day. If he was lucky, maybe he could sneak a nap in as a reward for himself. Since, yesterday, after he had retired for the night, Robin had fearfully stayed up listening for any sound of crashing, before eventually drifting off to sleep.

As Robin finished clearing off the table. Holly came back down with her hair done up in a high bun, and a high-necked white blouse with lace around the color and the sleeves tucked thoughtfully into a green and red plaid skirt.

As Holly approached the kitchen, Robin noticed she was fiddling with something in her hands.

Holly stood awkwardly in the doorway for a moment before looking up at him and clearing her throat.

"Robin," she said hesitantly, "I want you to have this."

Holly carefully held out an intricately carved whistle on a chain. It seemed to be made of a dark metal, wrapped in a similar metallic ivy, with leaves made of the same green stone he had mentioned to her was his favorite.

The same kind that he had seen in the shed.

The same kind that made up her heart.

Robin's own heart leaped to his throat.

Robin liked Holly quite a bit, as he was sure of after last night, but truthfully, he didn't know how to process having some of her heart.

After all he had heard over the last couple of weeks about a sorcerer's heart, and its importance, it felt very sudden for Holly to give him some of her heart. But, Robin thought, she had given some of it to Dexter for some forsaken reason...so maybe it was not that big of a deal for her? Not to say that the moment at the pond last night wasn't that big of deal to him-

"Oh," Holly said, interrupting his thoughts after noticing his hesitancy. "If you don't like the design, I can change it. I just wanted you to have this for your protection. I enchanted the whistle so that I'll know you're in danger any time you blow it. You know... in case another pear salesman comes by, and I'm not here to help you." She added with an awkward chuckle.

Ah. Robin thought to himself. That's why there is a piece of heart stone on it... for his protection.

Robin recalled Jo telling him a heart stone was often used for something like that.

Strangely, Robin almost felt disappointed in the thought that it was only to protect him... not as a romantic gesture.

Which made Robin feel even more conflicted.

"No, it's perfect, Holly." Robin said, giving her a small smile in gratitude and taking the necklace from her. "Ivy, as in Holly and the Ivy, right? Clever. I like it."

"Ha. Yeah.... Exactly..." Holly said with an embarrassed smile, looking up at him, and slowly holding her hand back out. "Would you like me to help you put it on?" she offered.

"Oh, sure," Robin said, giving it back to her outstretched hand and leaning forward for her to place it around his neck.

Holly hesitated for a second before taking a step forward. Slowly wrapping her arms around his neck. Looking slightly past his face, she focused on hooking the chain together around his neck.

A comforting warmth seemed to come with her as she stood near him. He couldn't help but watch her face twist in concentration as she focused on her task.

Holly glanced at him while he studied her, causing her to fumble with the clasp and have to try again. Hesitantly, she moved closer to him in attempt to get a better look.

With her so close, Robin heard a small voice within him urging him to put his arms around Holly like he had the night before, and hold her in his arms like he had then.

Robin quickly looked past her and into the hall, stamping down those feelings.

He was a guest here. Nothing more.

This necklace was for protection. Nothing more.

Holly was a good host and someone he would even call a friend. Someone who wanted to protect him.

Nothing more.

Robin let out a deep sigh.

Yesterday, he let his resolve crack, but today, he would hold firm. He would not act on any feelings that might make things awkward between them.

"There we go!" Holly finally said, stepping back from him," And you will be happy to know, you are wearing the repurposed work from my former Dexter collection, as you have already proven that you deserve it much more than he did." Holly said with a click of her tongue and an embarrassed laugh. "After helping me through my emotions last night, think of it as a medal of honor," Holly smiled. "For your service."

Robin smirked at that, his emotions felt like they were doing a somersault inside of his chest.

"I feel honored to receive this award," Robin said lightheartedly, giving Holly a small bow. "I shall cherish it, for as long as I am here... but first, I would like to thank a few people. First, Dexter for—

"I don't want to hear where you're going with that," Holly interrupted, turning on her heels and walking away.

Robin couldn't help but chuckle at himself as she walked out the kitchen door, escaping into the mudroom to get ready to leave.

Robin looked down at the whistle in his hands, admiring the handiwork of the dark metal ivy with its small green stone leaves, as it twisted around the whistle. He wondered if it actually the necklace actually worked.

As Holly entered the hallway to leave, she called into the parlor room for Cookie. It appeared that the slumbering Nanahound had been enjoying the warm sunshine on a black footstool, but quickly jumped up to join her owner in the hall.

Before Holly and Cookie disappeared through the front door, Robin hurried to the hall and put the whistle to his mouth, blowing as hard as he could. A sound like a knife hitting crystal rang out, and Holly's head whipped around to look at him.

"Hah!" Robin said, with the whistle still in his mouth, "It seems I was in danger... of not saying thank you for your thoughtful gift."

Holly snorted and rolled her eyes.

Robin took the charm out of his mouth and smiled at her. "Seriously. Thank you, Holly. I really appreciate you giving me something like this."

Holly's face softened, a shy look spreading across her face as she gave him a warm smile.

"Of course, " Holly said, stepping out the door with Cookie at her heels. She had almost closed the door when she stopped, looking back at him one more time.

"Just don't play with it too much. It's pretty fragile."