Rescuing His Captive Mate: Saving The Future Luna

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Star

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 It was now our third day here, and we would soon be leaving. I knew that the time here was coming to an end, and that made me sad. I had found so many new family members that seemed to love me and wanted to be around me. I didn't really want to leave them at all, but I had to get home to the children and our life there.

 I was so torn about it all. I wanted to have both of my families together. I didn't want to lose what I had just so recently gained, but I didn't want to leave behind what was back home either. Was it possible to have two places that your heart belonged?

 As I thought about it all, and what to do about my life, someone came by the room that I was staying in with Artem. Artem was in the back so I went to open the door. It seemed he wasn't as surprised as I was to see my father there.

 "Dad?" I smiled at him when he lit up. He liked it when I called him dad.

 "Hello Star. I was wondering if you would like to have a picnic with me. There are some beautiful gardens here at the castle. We can look through them all, and then have a picnic in my favorite one." I could tell he was still nervous that I might say no.

 "Of course. I think that would be amazing!" I truly did, and the thought made me smile. "Should I get Artem?"

 "Actually, he has an invitation from Aunt Glory. She would like to get to know him some more."

 "Oh?" I was surprised by his words, but that made me happy as well. My family wanted to know him as well as me.

 "Yes, he will be summoned to her private quarters later today. Until lunch is ready for us, I thought I would take you on a tour of the various gardens and tell you a little about them."

 I nodded my head and went to tell Artem goodbye. He somehow already knew everything that was supposed to happen today, and I wondered for a moment if Artem and my father were planning something. I didn't let it bother me though since I knew that they would never hurt me.

 My father took my hand and guided me out of the room then. He seemed shy, but was smiling. When I looked down at our hands that were so innocently locked together, I couldn't help but smile as well.

 "This is different." I laughed. "It's like I am holding hands with the children back home. It's not wrong, but it's different."

 "Was Artem truly the first person you held hands with since your mother?" He was shocked. "I held hands with friends and siblings growing up. But most of my siblings were much older than me so they were adults when I was still a child."

 "I didn't have friends or siblings to be around as a child. I didn't have a lot of experiences that most people have. I'm fine though; I am learning to be more like everyone else. I think my unique circumstances have allowed me to understand the way people feel more. Or that could just be the magic that was always lying dormant inside of me."

 The two of us laughed at that as he opened a door in front of me. Inside the room was actually outside. That's confusing to think about. I knew we were still inside the castle since I could feel its presence around me, but we seemed to be in a small meadow filled with flowers, bushes, trees, and an indoor stream. It wasn't that large of a space, but it was beautiful.

 "This is the herbal garden. It has plenty of other things as well, but if you look around the space, you will see different herbs of different varieties. This garden isn't far from the castle kitchen, and they get most of their herbs for meals from here. There are plenty of pixies, gnomes, brownies, and nisse who love this particular garden."

 Dad took me around and explained all the unique flowers and herbs that I had never seen before. They used the herbs in cooking, but also for daily life. A lot of Fae apparently liked to take baths with herbs in them, which did wonders for making the skin soft.

 After he showed me all around that garden, he took me to see the others. There was one that was filled with almost nothing but trees, which was perfect for Dryads like Acacia. There was a garden that was pure flowers. It had some that ranged in size from teeny tiny little dots that were the petals and stigma to giant flowers with petals bigger than my head. That garden was amazing, and I thought all the magical flowers were remarkable. There was even a flower that could do as you asked. It was popular for Fae to keep one at home. Dad asked it to pick me a regular daisy from among the field so it stretched out on it's very long stem before coming back with the pretty little flower.

 The last of the several gardens we went to seemed like it was a combination of all the others. There were trees, flowers, bushes, herbs, ivy, large ponds, streams, and boulders that were shaped perfectly for use as benches. It was amazing, and it was also the largest of all the gardens we had come to so far.

 There wasn't much in this garden that couldn't be found in the other ones. There were a few tree, flower, and bush species that were exclusive to this garden that had apparently been modified hybrids that the queen made herself.

 "Aunt Glory really does love to create new flowers. She doesn't do it often because she is busy, but she loves to see new life. And that life isn't limited to just flowers and plants. She loves babies, new unions, and anything that brings a spark of life to our community. I imagine that is why she took to you so quickly. You're not only Fae, but a brilliantly shining spark of life!"

 My father really was a poetic man. I guess I just needed to get to know him to find out. I could see so much joy in him when he talked about his family or his home here. Seeing that look made me understand what it was that my mother saw in him.

 "Come on. Over here is my favorite spot." My father was starting to get excited; it was like being in this place was bringing out the kid in him. "This is where I love being the most when I am home."

 He led me to the very center of the garden where there was a pond that was fed by several streams. Surrounding the pond were several low flat boulders. And waiting there for us was a picnic.

 There was a soft fuzzy blanket waiting for us to sit on and a basket. There were also pillows on the blanket so that we would be even more comfortable while kneeling or sitting on the ground.

 "I know, picnics are kind of a date thing, but I wanted to bring you here, and a picnic sounded perfect." He was laughing. "You can feel free to bail out now. I would completely understand." Most of the time my father tried to speak more properly than he was now. I was happy to see him relaxing and calming down now.

 "It's fine Dad, I know families have picnics as well. I have heard about them and read about them. I don't have a problem with this at all. We can talk and enjoy the flowers, right? I'm glad you brought me here and thought of this."

 "That's good." He laughed. "And yes, I want us to talk. But I also wanted to be able to discuss magic with you. We're pixies, even you are one, so we will need to focus on nature magic for you. It will take a while for you to learn it all, but we will get you casting and practicing it all very soon."

 "I can't wait!" I smiled at him right when my stomach growled. "But can we eat first? I think the baby is begging for lunch right now."

 "Haha. Yeah, sure thing. I would love to eat first. And I can't wait to meet my grandson. That is going to be a surreal experience for me, but then again these last few days have been beyond surreal."

 "A lot of things have happened, haven't they? It's not a bad thing though, and I wouldn't change any of it."

 "Neither would I." My father smiled and pulled me toward him. His hug was comforting and secure. I would have loved to have had him there with me as a child. I could just imagine what kind of dad he would have been when I was growing up. I think he would have been fun and always defying my mom's rules so we could go out and have some sort of adventure or another.