Edgar smiled. "You should go ask Sky if he wants to go with you. I'm sure your mom will want to do lots of extra packing if he's going with you."

Kai cracked a smile. "Mom has always fretted over her little boy."

"He's twelve," Allie said. "Can you blame her for worrying?"

"Kai, your wife would probably pinch your ear if she were here." Edgar patted her back. "I'm sure your mom will feel better about it when she hears that you and Vi will be going, too."

"Is there anything you'd like me to do?" Kai asked.

"You made that map yourself, right?" Lulu asked.

Kai smiled. "Yeah. Vi and I made it together when we had to complete our tasks."

"Do you think you could chart a course for us?"

Kai kissed her cheek. "I would love to. It might take me a little time, though."

"That's fine." Lulu ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "We can't leave until Vi gets back from visiting with her little brother, anyway."

Vi lived so far away from them that she didn't get to visit with them as much as she did with her in-laws. She deserved her time with her own family whenever she could get it.

Lulu drew a long breath before she and Alice went outside to look for their mom and baby brother.

The pair were washing the onions in a bucket of water. They had gotten through about half of the pile.

"Would you like some help?" Lulu asked.

Alice narrowed her eyes at her little sister. "Lulu..."

"There is nothing wrong with helping with the onions first."

It was the least she could do. She didn't even really help her brother and sister pick them earlier, because she was too distracted.

"You don't have to," Thyst said. "Sky and I will be done with these in a few minutes."

The pair got through a few more as Lulu and Thyst had been talking.

Lulu sat on the ground and picked up some snow. She decided to use those spare minutes to work with her snow. She then shaped the snow into a rose. Just like the ones Vi had brought back with her after one of her visits with her family.

Thyst smiled. "What a pretty rose."

Sky had washed the last onion.

Alice nudged Lulu in the side. "Go on."

"Sky." Lulu smiled at her baby brother. "I have a really important question to ask you."

Sky knelt down to be eye level with his sister. "What's that?"

"You know that I can have four people help me with my task, right?"

"I'm sure you asked Kai to already," he said.

Lulu giggled. "I did." She grabbed her baby brother's hands. "And I'd love to ask you, too."

His green eyes widened. "Are you sure? Do you mean it? You don't want to ask a grown-up?"

Lulu met his gaze. "Of course, I do. I would love to have my baby brother help me. He's able to smile even when things get tough. It helps me smile during that time, too."

Sky pulled his big sister into a hug. "Thanks, Lulu. I love you."

"I love you, too, Sky."

Thyst took a deep breath. "We better make sure you kids have everything you're going to need for your trip."

Sky put his hands on his hips. "Mom, I'm twelve, not two."

"I know..." Thyst seemed to be looking into the distance, but Lulu couldn't tell what she was looking at. "But you'll always be my little boy." She turned her back to her children. "Would you please take the onions inside?" It was faint, but Lulu heard her mom's voice shake. "I have something I need to discuss with your father."

Thyst rinsed her hands before she ran inside.

Sky rubbed his arms and frowned. "I heard her crying after Dad locked her in their room yesterday and she sounded upset just now. Do you think something is wrong with her?"

Alice rubbed his shoulder. "I wouldn't be so sure of that yet." She smiled. "It's hard for a mom to watch her kids grow up. I'm pretty sure she was super worried when Kai left, too."

Maybe she did just hide it better back then.

Sky picked up a bag of onions. "Do you think there's anything we can do to help her feel better?"

Kai came outside and grabbed the other basket of onions. "I don't think so. We might just have to leave that to Willie."

"I don't think so, either," Alice replied. "I plan to make lunch, but it might be best to let Willie soothe her. He always had a special way of doing that when we were kids."

Sky crossed his arms. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Kai chuckled as he patted his little brother's back. "No, it does not!"

"If you're out here, does that mean Dad wants us out of the house until Mom calms down?" Alice asked.

"No, he slung her over his shoulder and carried her upstairs. Willie went after them like the loyal watchdog he is."

Alice grimaced. "Was she screaming?"

"A little. She wasn't trying to squirm out of his hold though." Kai sighed. "She might be feeling out of whack after yesterday still."

"Then we should stay out of the house?" she asked again.

"No, I think we should be fine as long as we stay in the kitchen," Kai said. "It'll be easier on Mom and Dad if they don't have to cook, too."

Sky furrowed his eyebrows. "I know you guys picked a bunch of onions, but what are we going to do with them? We can't eat those like apples."

"I was thinking of making soup," Alice replied. "I think we have a bit of bread we can eat with it that Mom bought from the baker this morning."

Kai cracked a smile. "I bet it'll taste great if we all chip in."

"What can I do?" Sky asked.

"You can chop up some carrots." Alice smirked. "Kai can chop up the onions."

"Would it help if I peeled some potatoes?" Lulu asked.

"That would be great." Alice smiled. "I'd like to take care of the broth myself."

Sky saluted before he went inside.

Lulu was happy to have something to do after not doing much of anything when they were picking onions. That wasn't fair to Alice or Kai.

When she got inside, Lulu sat on a stool beside the trash can to peel potatoes.

Kai's eyes watered as he chopped the onions. That must have been why her mom used these weird clear things that she put over her eyes whenever she chopped onions.

Alice set a towel in his hand. "You probably should have used Mom's cover."

Kai's eyes wandered off into the distance after he wiped them.

"Are you missing Vi?" Lulu asked.

"Yeah. Every once in a while, I get to hear about her brothers and sisters that don't get along very well. Even she's struggled with it at points, but I've always found it hard to believe."

Alice inspected her broth. "Even mature people and grownups have their breaking points, and Violet was a kid once upon a time, too."

"True..." Kai sighed. "I probably shouldn't be saying this right now, but I wish I'd gone with her to visit her family."

Lulu got up and put her arms around her big brother's torso. "It's alright, Kai. I understand. She's been worried about her little brother, and you're worried about your wife. It's hard to not worry about a person when you love them."

"But..."

Sky groaned. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you big oaf!"

"Why do you sound like my wife?"

Lulu bit her lip. "Hey, Kai? Are you done charting our course?"

"Not yet." He folded his arms. "It could be a problem if we don't account for the terrain. Especially this time of year." He smiled. "I'll get back to that."

Lulu felt better than she had all day. Watching her big brother smile, she couldn't help but smile too. It would be alright. With De smiling down on her, her task would be alright. Fretting wouldn't get her anywhere. It certainly didn't with her mom a few minutes earlier.

Alice smiled. "I'm glad you seem to be feeling better, Lulu."

Sky stretched. "I wanna go watch Kai work on his thing for Lulu."

"I'll come get you when lunch is ready," Alice said.

Lulu furrowed her eyebrows. Was Sky there when Kai said what it was? Was he genuinely curious or was he worried about their brother?

***

Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!