Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Lyra ran out of her room this morning to join her family for breakfast, she immediately knew something was wrong.

The kitchen, at this hour usually filled with the sounds of lighthearted chattering and singing, today was eerily quiet, the silence interrupted only by occasional clinking or intentionally loud thuds of closing drawers. The girl instinctively hunched up her shoulders. Someone was angry.

And, judging by her dad, who was sitting in the dining room all by themself (except Broggles at their feet), trying to appear as small as possible, it was not them. (Had she even seen them angry before? Nope, not as far as she remembered.) (Lyra shuddered internally at the thought. It must be a pretty scary sight.)

They still gave her a small smile and a hug when she approached them, but she could tell their mind was elsewhere. Probably in the kitchen. Since the sounds were becoming more and more ominous by the second. Something shattered, followed by a muffled stream of the words dad had absolutely forbidden her to memorize. (After that, she had focused twice as hard on memorizing them all whenever she could. But shh!!)

...Without thinking too long, Lyra reasonably decided to stay in the dining room as well.

❦❦❦

Breakfast passed in a strained silence.

Nobody talked, or laughed, or joked. Nobody even touched their food much. More than that, her parents, who usually sat closely together, now were sitting at the opposite sides of the table. And when her dad tried to break the ice by asking whether anyone wanted to go to the town's sweetshop café today, her mom glared, muttered something about 'someone' having had 'enough already,' and left the table.

That was when Lyra finally became convinced: the most awful, terrible, unimaginable thing had happened.

Her parents had had a fight.

Which... shouldn't have been something extraordinary, right?? Everyone had falling-outs from time to time. She wasn't dumb, she knew it! Besides... Her best friend at school had said that her parents had fought at least once a month. And her other friends had all nodded along. Lyra had felt really weird back then, telling everyone that her parents had never argued with each other (well, they did bicker pretty often, but it was always in a joking, friendly manner) (nobody had believed her, either), but here she was.

Was it really happening to her too..?

Well, apparently yes! And that only meant one thing – she needed to act quick.

Stuffing what had left of her breakfast inside her mouth in a few bites, Lyra excused herself as well, grabbed Broggles in her arms, tearing him away from his still half-empty bowl, and ran outside, ignoring his indignant meows. As she was passing the window that led into the dining room, she caught a glimpse of her dad sitting at the table with their face buried in their hands.

Only when they were in the garden did she put the cat down, drop on her knees, and begin to jabber, frantically pointing at the house, "Broggy!! Did you see that? What is going on! Do you know what ha-"

"If by 'that' you mean your outrageous interruption of meow meal, then yes, I did notice it." The cat licked himself adamantly in displeasure.

Lyra shook her head quickly. "No!! I'm talking about mom and dad! What happened between them!" She pointed accusingly at Broggles. "And it was your third breakfast anyway! So no complaining!"

The cat's tail twitched, his meow a bit defensive. "I need to purrepare for the winter, Lyra, you know it. As for your parents, no, I am not aware of what's caused them to behave this way. When I woke up, they were already like this. But-"

The girl jumped to her feet, clutching her head with both hands, looking back at the house. "It's a catastrophe, Broggles! We need to do something ASAP!!"

"...they are adult people. They will figure it out themselves."

Lyra gasped, turning back to look at the cat in disbelief. "But what if they WON'T and decide to divorce instead??"

She was old enough to know how it happened! First, occasional fights like this, then constant (serious) arguing over the smallest things, and then one day BOOM! They were telling her that they didn't love each other anymore and it would be better for everyone if they parted ways! And that was the best-case scenario! She didn't even want to think about all the stories she'd heard about dads just straight up leaving to 'get milk' and never returning! Or, even worse, when-

If a cat's face could express skepticism, that was how Broggles was looking at her right now. He sighed, rubbed against her legs in what she supposed was his attempt to calm her down, and purred, "You're overreacting, Lyra. I've known them since the time they didn't even know each other. They've likely already meowed up."

Before the girl could answer, she heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. Without another word, she grabbed the cat again (earning a defeated meow and more whining about how he was too old for this) and rushed to the front yard.

Lyra caught her dad the moment they were closing the front gate. They seemed deep in thought, humming quietly under their breath, a troubled expression on their face that she had never seen before. Upon noticing her, they perked up.

"Oh! Lyrka, here you are. We're out of milk, so I'm going to the store! Want something?"

The horror she felt upon hearing this statement must have shown on her face, because her dad's eyebrows immediately rose up in concern. Before they could speak, Lyra dropped the cat, hopped towards them in a few big steps, and clung to their shirt, her eyes hopeful. "But you will return, right??"

They staggered at her sudden onslaught, holding their hat with one hand, and gave her a surprised look. "Um... Of course..! It's just on the other side of the caves! I'll be back in an hour, Lyr, maybe even earlier- Oh-" Their eyes widened as if they suddenly realized something. They hesitated, glancing towards the front door, then gave her a kind, apologetic smile and gently pet her hair. "Miriam's... I mean, your mom's a bit upset, so maybe, you know... Don't cause any trouble, okay? And perhaps play outside for a bit?" Her dad quickly kneeled down in front of her and looked up into her eyes, sharing conspiratorially, "I'll get you your favorite pie, deal?? And be right back, and then play with you, I promise! I love you!" With that, they pecked her forehead, waved her goodbye, and hurried down the path that led to the town.

...For a few moments, Lyra stared after them, trying to make her brain remember this moment as well as she could in case she would actually never see them again anymore. Never hurt to be prepared.

Broggles came out of the gate as well and sat beside her. He purred, licking his paw in thought, "Purrhaps... Their quarrel is more serious than I assumed. Although, I must say, it is some sort of meowgic that they've never fought like this before, considering-"

Suddenly, the girl gasped and twirled around, hitting her fist on her palm in epiphany. "That's right!!! Magic!" Lyra beamed, squinting her eyes at the cat, and exclaimed, her voice shaking with excitement, "C'mon, Broggles! I've got a PLAN!"

The cat only sighed in defeat and slowly trudged behind her as she hastily straightened her dress and ran towards the house.

❦❦❦

Her mom was nowhere to be seen, so probably somewhere upstairs. Perfect!

After putting Broggles on the lookout, she got to work. It took Lyra a lot of furniture moving, chairs climbing, and sneezing, but in the end she managed to reach the highest shelves of the huge bookcase standing in the living room. This was where her mom kept all the books related to witchcraft. It was not that Lyra was prohibited from touching them, it was just that mom thought they were pretty useless for someone her age and that she would simply not understand them yet.

But Lyra didn't agree. She was smart, her school teachers said so! Even her mom herself regularly praised her for how fast she was learning all the intricacies of potion-making. What was so difficult about some old books that she wouldn't-

Oh. Huh!

Lyra stared at the pages of yet another book she opened, scrunching up her nose in confusion. They were all scribbled with some weird symbols that looked both like some ancient language and a bunch of gibberish.

...Psh.

Whatever. No big deal!

She put the book back on the shelf with a huff. They couldn't all be written like this, right?

That was when her gaze fell on the spine of the book with familiar words on it. 'Магия цветов.' ¹ Woah. She didn't know they had witchcraft books in her dad's language. As far as Lyra knew, her mom couldn't read it, so she wondered what its purpose was. Must have been dad's present or something! Maybe they had translated it to her..?

Welp! It didn't matter right now. What did was that it was exactly what Lyra needed!

"Neat!" she whispered in anticipation.

Grabbing the book, Lyra hopped down on the ground with a grin, sat on the floor, and began to read.

The book was full of pretty pictures of flowers, so she might have spent a bit more time than she had planned gazing at them, but eventually, she found what she was looking for.

"Лам-про-кап-нос,"² she read by syllables. She could read and understand simple texts pretty well by now in this language, but new and difficult words were still a struggle. But her dad's lessons had definitely paid off! She squinted her eyes at the small text, "Эмоци... Эмоцио-наль-ная под-дер-жка и взаимо-по-ни-мание."³

Lyra slapped her forehead in triumph.

THAT'S IT!!!

And she definitely saw this plant in their garden too!!!

Elated, the girl jumped to her feet, raising the book in jubilation, and-

Paused, noticing a rectangular piece of paper that had slipped out from it and was now lying on the floor by her feet. Curious, Lyra picked it up.

"Oh!"

It was a photo. An old one, judging by the looks of it, but still in pretty good condition. On it were two people whom Lyra almost immediately recognized, much to her surprise.

It was her parents. Only much younger. Not that they were old now, but-! You know! Younger enough that it showed.

They were awkwardly sitting together side by side, their faces showed two completely different states of bewilderment. Mom, clad in what seemed to be a witchy robe, was looking at the camera with puzzled wariness, her shoulders tense, while her dad's expression shone with nothing but wondrous amazement. Both of them were wearing hats – mom surprisingly did her old witch hat that she usually preferred not to (and, as of late, had gifted it to Lyra completely), and dad wore something like a pirate bandana (along with a striped shirt and a vest).

...Heh! What a funny little picture! Lyra couldn't help but giggle and curiously turned over the photo, hoping to maybe find a date on it or something. Instead, what she found was someone's half-erased inscription written in pencil.

"Me & My Bestest Friend Ever ♥♥♥ :)"

Despite the passage of time, Lyra could clearly make out the typical squiggles of her dad's handwriting. Had they-

"What's so funny?" The sudden voice behind her back made Lyra jump in surprise. The girl quickly twisted around only to find her mom staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

Gadzooks! Why hadn't Broggles warned her??

She threw a panicked glance at the cat, only to see him sleeping at the bottom of the stairs. She knew it! What a lazy cat...

Thank Eya, mom didn't seem angry – more tired and a bit unsure. Her gaze landed on the photo in Lyra's hands, and she nodded at it, questioning, "What's this..?"

"Um-" Lyra quickly hid the book behind her back, hoping mom wouldn't ask her about it. Then readily held out the photo to her, hurrying to explain, "I found it... here! On the floor! It probably fell out from somewhere!!"

Mom suspiciously took the piece of paper from her. The very next moment, her eyebrows shot up. "Oh... Huh."

The girl curiously circled her, trying to peek at the picture again. She went on, hoping to distract her from all the mess, "Is that you and dad?? It's so silly! I didn't know we had a photo like this!"

"Yeah... Me neither," mom grumbled, scrupulously examining the photograph. "...I thought I told them to throw it away. I look ridiculous here." She huffed in annoyance but still didn't tear her eyes away from it.

Lyra didn't relent. "When was it taken?? Where was it?"

For a moment, mom stayed quiet. Then muttered, "Mohabumi. The city of witches. I told you about it." The girl nodded with enthusiasm, prompting her to keep going, meanwhile trying to inconspicuously shove the book on one of the lower shelves. Mom took a few steps forward, deep in thought. Her voice sounded a bit hushed, "...I was studying there at the time. It was autumn, and holidays had only started, but I couldn't leave to visit here. Had to stay to, ugh." She made a face. "Finish some assignments. But then, one day..." Mom trailed off.

"One day...?" Lyra leaned forward, looking at her in anticipation.

A small, stubborn frown settled over her features. "...I walked out of the dormitory, and your dad was there, dressed in that atrocious costume. Said they'd traveled there by themself because they'd missed me. And wanted to spend Halloween with me. And my birthday." Mom sat down on the couch, still staring at the picture, shaking her head in annoyance. Lyra listened with bated breath. "It was stupid. They were stupid. But I was touched, I guess. And..." She hesitated. "Had... really missed them too, I suppose. So... Ugh." She sighed in resignation, reminiscing, "It was The Best Halloween ever. I mean, I love it as it is, but- There, in Mohabumi, they take it to the next level. It's, like. Their national holiday or something. I should definitely take you there someday." Lyra nodded excitedly, her eyes shining. It was her dream to visit that town! She walked up to her mom, peeking at the two people staring at her from the old photograph. Mom continued talking, absentmindedly reaching to stroke her hair. Lyra readily leaned in. "They had only invented the first cameras back then, it was weird, and nobody really understood what it was. But Kiwi had to try it, of course. Had to rope me into trying it too, as always. Your dad led me to the place where the photos were made for free just to show people the new technology. And..." She turned the paper in her hand. "...it was the result."

Mom went quiet, examining the old handwriting on the backside with a concentrated look in her eyes. Her fingers thoughtfully traced the old text. Eventually, she frowned and stood up, shaking her head slightly as if chasing away the memories. "It was a long time ago. Sheesh," she grumbled. "Dunno why they kept it. Shortly after that doofus dragged me down the aisle, we took a pretty good new photo where both of us looked at least somewhat normal." Mom vaguely waved at the big framed photograph hanging on the wall of the living room. Lyra followed her gesture.

Huh! The picture of her parents had been there since she remembered, but she'd never even wondered where it came from. There, mom was in a pretty purple dress, and dad was in some sort of a brownish-white suit. They were sitting right next to each other, holding hands, both looking very official. Or, trying to. The sparkle of laughter in her dad's eyes as they subtly glanced in mom's direction, as well as her tightly compressed lips, gave away exactly how both of them felt. Lyra had always liked that photo. It was very full of life despite its ostentatious seriousness.

"...They'd better not get distracted by talking to literally every person in town again," her mom muttered under her breath. Lyra turned around. Mom gave her a strict glare. "And you'd better clean up what you did here, missy."

Aw, shucks!

Because of all the listening, she'd almost forgotten her main goal here!

The girl hurriedly got to work. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her mom slowly making her way towards the front door, still staring at the old photo in pensiveness.

It took Lyra some time, but eventually she managed to put everything back where it had been. In the middle of all the action, Broggles woke up, lazily stretched his limbs, and, ignoring her disapproving glances, slowly walked to the exit as well, murmuring that he 'purrobably' should talk with mom about the whole thing. And 'meowbe try to talk some sense into her.'

When she was finally done, Lyra wiped the sweat from her forehead with a huff, ran her fingers through her wild hair, took the book she had found, and ran towards the door.

...Only to stop in her tracks, think for a moment, grab her mom's old witch hat, and hastily put it on. She was about to do some serious witchy stuff, after all!

As Lyra rushed out of the house, she found mom sitting on the front porch, the photo still in her hand. Her pondering gaze was fixed on the gate, a slight frown on her face. Broggles was sitting at her feet, too. Mom shot her a puzzled look but thankfully didn't question her, so Lyra easily managed to slip by her to the backyard.

If she remembered correctly, the plant she was looking for was growing in the farthest part of the garden. Opening the book on the correct page, Lyra began to search. It took her no more than a couple of minutes.

Carefully, she kneeled beside the pleasant-smelling bushes of the small pink heart-shaped flowers. Closed her eyes. A funny, ticklish wave washed over her skin, and she allowed it to engulf her, leaning slightly forward with a smile.

Hehe! This plant had a very funny presence to it. Lyra tenderly reached out her hand, feeling a bit guilty.

She whispered, "I'm sorry, Mr. Lamprocapnos, I really need to take a couple of your pretty leaves and flowers..." The presence shifted away from her, and Lyra quickly continued, opening her eyes in urgency, "It's really important! I need them to help my mom and dad make up, they had a fight, and only you can help them stay together! Please, can I??"

The presence lingered, then the girl felt it slowly fill her body once more, the ticklish sensation concentrating in her fingertips. Lyra beamed. It was a yes!!

Careful not to take more than she needed, Lyra gently plucked a couple of stems, hastily whispering words of gratitude.

It was time to return and figure out what to do with it next.

When she was rounding the corner to the front yard, she caught a glimpse of a familiar green capelet.

GASP!!!

It was her dad!! They had returned!!!

Lyra almost jumped from joy, grinning widely, and picked up her pace.

The door to the house was opened wide, and there was a voice coming out of the dining room.

"They didn't have that bread you asked for, so I got this one, I hope it's okay... And-"

Mom wasn't talking, but Lyra could clearly make out her footsteps. She must still be angry at them...

As quietly as she could, the girl sneaked to the kitchen and left the book with the flowers (they were making her hands a bit itchy) on the table. Only after that did she go to join the rest of her family.

When dad saw her, their anxious expression lit up. "Lyrka!! Come here, look what I've got!"

She looked at the bag on the table in anticipation. Broggles was already half inside it, so without much thinking the girl joined him as well.

There were all kinds of boring things, like milk and butter and bread and eggs and... Bleugh! Oatmeal raisin cookies. But! As Lyra dug deeper, she found the good stuff.

"Honey pie!!!" she exclaimed, holding the package close to her chest in delight, staring up at her dad with shining eyes.

They laughed a little, giving her a small wink. "Just as promised! And it's almost tea time, am I right?" Dad threw an uncertain glance at mom who was leaning on the farthest wall, her arms crossed. She still hadn't said a word, deliberately not looking their way. Their smile faltered.

Right.

Quickly shifting her gaze from one to the other, Lyra put the pie on the table and announced, "I'll go make tea for everyone!"

Dad gave her a grateful smile, and she rushed into the kitchen.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay.

She'd got this!

Tugging at the hat for it to sit tighter on her head, the girl put on a kettle.

Making tea was just like making potions! Mix different leaves and berries and flowers together, put them in boiling water, and voila! Potion's done.

Mom had told her that there were potions that needed more than just that, that there had to be some actual spells involved to make them, but! Lyra doubted it was the case here.

After all, plants usually contained a lot of useful properties on their own, and if there were no special instructions involved in that book she had found, it was probably okay to just use that funny plant as it was.

Welp! Not that she had much choice here anyway!

Enthusiastically, Lyra got to work. She ground the plant and mixed it with some tea leaves and other aromatic herbs. After some thought, she rummaged through the shelves and found the Blue Powder, then added it to the mix as well. Mom had told her it was mostly made out of different berries and was used to simply add color to the potions. And make them taste better. And look cooler! (Mom had a few of those powders but liked the blue one the most.)

A few minutes later the tea was ready. Lyra thought for a moment, then waved her hands above it, whispering what she wanted it to do, pretending to read a spell. She knew it didn't actually do anything, but! It felt more magical this way!! (And what if it actually did do something??)

Balancing the tray on her hands, the girl rushed to the dining room. Lyra quickly put it on the table with a triumphant 'ta-da,' earning a little smile from her dad and what she could swear was a quiet, amused huff from her mom. Not taking any chances, she took both of the cups and shoved each of them into the hands of her parents, startling them.

"You should drink it all!" Lyra announced, shifting her expectant gaze from one to the other in anticipation. "It's really good! Promise!"

"Oh... Hmm!" Dad cautiously took a sip, their eyebrows raising slightly. "Ah. It is good..." They gave her a small, unsure smile. "Did you add mint to it?"

Mom smelled the tea, frowning in suspicion. Lyra's heart skipped a beat. Still, after a moment of hesitance, mom carefully tasted it too. Immediately, she shot the girl a strict look. "...She was definitely rummaging through my potions stuff again, that I can tell."

"Aww, Miriam, don't be like that, she's just-" Dad tried to intervene, seemingly forgetting about their whole ordeal, but fell silent the moment mom redirected her killing glare at them.

The uncomfortable tension was almost palpable in the air, so Lyra decided it was best to tactically retreat. Broggles seemed to have the same idea, since there was no sight of him anywhere in the small room.

Slapping her forehead for emphasis, Lyra exclaimed, "Oh! I forgot... to make myself tea too!!" Without waiting for reactions, she ran back into the kitchen. Took a minute to calm her breathing.

...And saw Broggles sitting on the kitchen counter, methodically trying to pick up with a claw the bowl that was covering the raw chicken breasts mom had wanted to cook for dinner.

"Hey!" she hissed, shooing him. The cat flinched, immediately jumping down on the floor, acting like he didn't want that chicken anyway. "What are you doing??"

Broggles thoroughly licked his paw as if soothing his wounded ego. "...You didn't let me eat in peace in the morning. I had to go to extreme meowsures!"

Lyra shook her head. Then took a knife and carefully cut off some meat for him. She hadn't felt guilty, but that silly cat was doing a great job at making her.

Just as she turned around to give Broggles the chicken, she saw him intently sniffing the tea mix and her book she had left on the kitchen table. "Mrrr... So that was your plan?"

"Mhm!" The girl grinned conspiratorially. "I found the most special plant just for situations like this thanks to that magic book!"

He gave the herbs one more sniff and turned to squint at her suspiciously. "...Are you sure it will work?"

"Nope!" The girl shrugged, reaching out her hand and watching as the piece of chicken disappeared in the cat's mouth, which earned her a grateful purr and a little headbutt. "But it might! We have to try everything we can, right?" The girl thought for a moment and remembered the phrase she had heard from her mom. She scrunched up her face, trying to appear confident. "Drastic fights... call for drastic measures!"

Broggles didn't seem convinced. He circled the mess she had made on the table one more time, then raised his eyes at her. "...What if it's poisonous?"

"It's not," she replied seriously. "I talked to it, I would've felt it!" (...At least, she was pretty sure she would.)

"Mrrr..." He eyed her for some more time with an unreadable expression, then jumped down. "I still don't think it's your place to get involved, but... It would be nice if it sped up their reconciliation just a little." He sighed, purring quietly as he slowly made his way towards the door, "Meowriam can be extremely stubborn when it comes to things like this..."

(Meowriam. Hehe. Broggles was the only one who was allowed to call mom by this nickname (mostly because he didn't care what others thought and just did what he wanted anyway) (and knew he would still be forgiven). The one time dad had lovingly referred to her as such and mom had heard them, her face had become the impossible shade of red, and they had been banned from their shared room and had had to sleep on the couch half of the night. Which still hadn't stopped them from calling her that sometimes. But only when mom wasn't nearby.)

Realizing that the conversation was over, Lyra finally began to make tea for herself. She settled for her favorite – the one from grapes and blueberries.

However, just as she'd found the courage to leave the kitchen again, she heard voices.

...Her parents were talking. Lyra held her breath and peeked around the corner.

Dad was awkwardly fidgeting with something in the bag. Mom had come closer to the table and was still sullenly glaring at them, her arms crossed. But it was not like in the morning. There was more stubbornness in her glare than anger, like she wanted to say something but couldn't.

Both cups stood on the tray, but Lyra couldn't see if they were empty or not.

Dad bit their lip. "Miriam, I'm really sorry... I didn't know you wanted them, really. I, um-" They took out a small package Lyra had discarded as boring before, cautiously took mom's hand and put it on her palm, talking on and on apologetically, "I got these brownies instead... Just for you. I know you really like them, and I know it's not the same, but-"

After glancing at the package with a weird look in her eyes, mom firmly set it aside. Glared some more. Then quickly took a step forward, wrapped her arms around dad's shoulders, and dug her fingers deep into their shirt. "...Shut up," was all that she hissed quietly under her breath.

Dad flinched in surprise, their mouth opened in a silent 'oh,' eyebrows shooting up. A short moment of deliberation, and they scrambled to hug her as well, uncertainly at first, giving her back a couple of tentative, cautious pats.

Her mom's muffled voice carried over, laced with some weird urgency, "...I'm sorry. I'm still upset, but- I'm sorry. For... For everything I said. It wasn't true, and I didn't mean it, and you didn't deserve it. I- I was stupid and emotional, and I'm sorry, Kiwi, it's-"

"You weren't stupid!" dad immediately exclaimed, pulling away to look at her with wide eyes full of concern. "Miriam..."

"No," she cut them off, taking a step back, stubbornly avoiding their gaze. She hesitated, then muttered somewhere to the side, "It's just- They were the last ones I had, and I'd been saving them for Lyra's birthday, and-" Mom shook her head in irritation, seemingly more at herself than at anyone else. "It was just candy. And an absolutely stupid reason to start a fight."

"I should've asked first..." dad tried again, but mom waved her hand dismissively.

"Forget it. I can always get more." She sighed deeply, chewing her lip in thought. Then muttered quietly, "I mean, I really wasn't planning on going to Mohabumi any time soon, but..."

For a moment neither of her parents said anything. Mom awkwardly shifted in place, glaring at her feet, as if unsure whether or not to keep talking. Dad, on the other hand, looked like the weight had lifted off their shoulders. A happy, almost giddy smile lit up their face as they looked at mom with unconcealed relief.

Eventually, mom seemed to make up her mind. Reaching inside her dress pocket, she took out something small and held it out for dad to see. "Do you remember this photo?"

They immediately gasped and exclaimed, their eyes wide, "Oh my gosh!! Of course! Where did you find it??" Taking the photo from her hands, dad examined it more closely with a grin.

Mom crossed her arms again and grumbled, "Not me. Lyra. She was running around with that unscientific book of yours about flowers, so I guess she found it there." Ignoring dad's murmur of 'ah, I've been wondering where I put it,' mom continued, "Really weird that she did, actually, since I clearly remember asking 'the bestest friend ever' of mine to throw this abomination away."

"Oh... Um." Dad smiled sheepishly, shooting a timid glance at her, pressing the photo protectively to their chest. "But I really like it... We both look so silly here!" They giggled, then looked at the picture one more time, their gaze tender. "And it's our first one..."

Mom huffed and came to their side, shaking her head. For a moment, both of them simply stared at the old photo, each thinking their own thoughts. Eventually, mom sighed, muttering, "...I haven't realized how much time has passed since then."

"We've really been through a lot together, haven't we?" Dad gave her a funny side-glance. "I think... we weren't even dating yet? When it was taken?"

"Have we ever been dating, Kiwi?" Mom scoffed, giving them a nudge. "All I remember is one day I'm living together with my best friend, and the next they put a ring on my finger for the sole reason of pranking others. And promise me it'd be very fun."

Dad's laugh was light, almost shy. "Oh... True! I forgot about it... Um." They murmured bashfully, "And nobody was surprised in the end, either... Heh."

"Well, no." Mom shook her head in amusement. "They were surprised. Just not at the fact that we got married, but rather at the news that we hadn't been before."

Dad threw a hopeful glance at her. "But at least this..." they vaguely waved their hand around, "...has been fun, right?"

Mom offered them a skeptical look, but it quickly dissolved into an almost unsuppressed smile. Genuine one. Which dad readily returned tenfold.

Lyra grinned, feeling fireworks set off inside her chest. Her plan had worked!!! Now, if she could just make her entrance look natural...

Suddenly, mom began talking again. Lyra froze. "...Where did you even get that costume from?" She nodded at the photo. "Don't tell me you begged Lucas for it or something."

"Not Lucas! Penny!" Dad beamed. "The costume was hers, actually. But it fit me almost perfectly! She even let me keep it afterwards..."

Mom scoffed. "No crap, she did. I would have been surprised if she didn't, considering the state of it after you'd been wearing it for, like, weeks. Absolutely refusing to change into anything normal, no matter what I offered you." Dad awkwardly averted their eyes, fidgeting with their sleeves shyly. "I told you before, and I tell you again – it was a very stupid idea. You coming there on your own, I mean."

Dad gave her a sheepish smile, asking coyly, "...But you wrote that you missed me? And really wanted to see me?"

Mom's cheeks turned bright red. She sputtered, "I didn't mean- like that. I meant at home."

"But you were happy anyway...?"

Silence. Then muttered, reluctant, "...I was." Defeated sigh. "I hadn't even realized how much I'd missed you until I saw you, Kiwi."

Dad's hand found mom's. "Me too..." they admitted softly. "I was really upset when you wrote that you couldn't come back." They let out a small, awkward laugh. "I don't think I even fully knew what I was doing until I was already halfway to Chaandesh."

"...That's because you're a complete sap. Weird, reckless, and absolutely ridiculous. And gross," mom grumbled, obviously a bit embarrassed.

They chuckled, the lighthearted sound easily filling the small room. The next second, they squinted their eyes teasingly. "Well, if I hadn't gone there, I'd have never discovered how much you like trick-or-treating!"

Mom turned her head away, "...It's humiliating doing it alone. But together it's not so bad, I guess."

"It's not humiliating if it's fun, Miriam!"

"Uh-huh. No."

Dad smiled happily, their eyes searching her face with a tender, amused glint in them. "...You lost your candy bucket back then," they murmured thoughtfully after a moment, remembering.

Mom held their gaze. "...Yeah, and you gave me yours. With all the treats you'd collected."

They giggled shyly, nodding, their fingers intertwining with hers. Then sighed dreamily, "It was the best couple of months ever... I really don't see why you hate that town so much, Miriam. We had so much fun, remember?"

She huffed, averting her eyes, grumbling, "...It was fun only because you were there. For some reason. You should've left instead of staying with me till the end of that semester."

They gasped, "But it was you who didn't want me to travel alone and wanted me to wait for you!"

Mom bristled, "You were the one insisting on keeping me company. Even going as far as worming your way into almost all of my lectures."

Dad flailed, smiling coyly, a soft blush quickly covering their cheeks, "Well! I did! But- you too-!"

Mom only pushed their shoulder lightly, shaking her head in amusement. For a quiet moment they both simply stared at each other, holding hands, exchanging little smiles and knowing glances.

Hesitantly, dad raised their pinky. "Peace?"

"...Peace." With an exasperated sigh, mom wrapped her own pinky around theirs. "Ugh. It really does feel stupid to fight over small stuff like this after, well... everything."

"Mhm..." they hummed. Then, as if on impulse, leaned closer to her, inviting her into a tight hug. Mom flinched but didn't pull away. For a moment, they both stood still.

Lyra heard a soft purr beside her leg, "...Meowgical." Broggles was sitting on the floor, his keen eyes observing the scene as well. Huh! She hadn't even noticed him. "All is well that ends well..." But he was right. Grinning, she gave him a thumbs up.

"I've been thinking," her mom's voice carried over. "Since someone ate all the witches' candy that I'd so carefully been trying to preserve..." She held a meaningful pause. "Why don't we... Uh. I mean. All of us. Go visit Mohabumi together? This time."

Dad, who at first guiltily averted their eyes, gasped in disbelief. "YES??!" Their face lit up in delight as they grabbed mom by the shoulders, beaming.

Mom snorted, clearly a bit startled by their enthusiasm, awkwardly patting their arm as well. "Yeah... But not, like. Right now. I was thinking maybe we could go there for Halloween? I think Lyra would like it, and-"

But dad was seemingly already planning the future trip. They blabbered on, completely over the moon, clutching mom's hands, "She would!!! Oh, Miriam- We're going to have so much fun!! We HAVE TO wear matching costumes this time!! And take another photo! Of all of us!" They bounced on their heels in excitement. "OH!!! And remember that amusement park they had?! We have to try EVERY ride this time. I bet they've built new ones, too! And that haunted house! Remember?! The one where you almost-"

"Okay, sheesh! Okay, calm down!" Mom cackled. "We have plenty of time to plan this all out." She paused. Then sharply turned her head towards the kitchen door. "And I mean WE. Including nosy girls and cats who like to eavesdrop."

Lyra flinched, almost spilling her tea. Dad let out a little surprised gasp. Broggles immediately assumed the air of nonchalance and lazily trudged into the dining room, pretending he was simply on his way to one of the chairs.

Lyra had nothing to do but to follow him, not even trying to pretend to look ashamed. She was too happy to deny anything anyway.

Whatever it was – her magical tea, the silly photo she'd found, Broggles' persuasions, or maybe none of it at all – it didn't matter. (But she thought it was her tea. It had to be.)

What mattered was that her parents were at peace with each other again. And wouldn't divorce! Phew. The most disastrous thing averted. At least for now.

Overwhelmed by emotions, Lyra set her tea aside and rushed to hug them both as well. Immediately, she felt two hands stroking her hair and back.

What did her dad like to say? Every cloud had a... sliver... lightning or something? Whatever that meant. Well, it looked like this whole situation had resulted in a heck of sliver lightning! An incredible journey laid ahead of her, and she sure as hell was gonna make the most of it! The town full of witches? Magic?? She almost trembled in anticipation!!

Lyra burrowed her nose into mom's clothes, hiding a silly grin. (Maybe there she would finally learn how to cast real spells...?)

...Welp! No use wondering about it now!

Epilogue

...What she should have been thinking about at the moment was cleaning that mess in the kitchen before her mom had seen it. Or maybe it was good that she hadn't. Because when later that day dad asked for something to cure their upset stomach, mom, who was suffering the same symptoms, quickly put two and two together. Interrogation was inevitable. Luckily, after hearing Lyra's rushed explanations, her parents simply gave each other really weird looks, and her only "punishment" was to help mom quickly make a healing potion.

The book, which turned out to be about the flowers' meanings and not about their magic qualities, was gifted to Lyra by her dad as reading material (after they stopped laughing). Mom, for her part, suspicious of Lyra's claims that she had talked to the plant first before taking it (which she had!), spent the whole evening searching for the book about plants' magical properties that was not written in weird cryptic symbols. After that, Lyra set a new goal for herself. She would find and talk to every plant in the new book and learn everything about the way she was feeling them. After all, what kind of a witch was she planning to be if she couldn't even tell which plant was dangerous and which was not??

...So what if by doing that she could face a little danger herself?

But that was a whole another story...