Remora was home today.

  She worked 6 days a week, one day off, and even then, she hardly rexed.

  She was up at the crack of dawn like always, Ci still asleep and curled up on the other side of her bed. Remora smiled, tugging the bnkets up over her before washing up and heading downstairs, helping Babcia with breakfast and other chores. Babcia frowned, noticing a slight sluggishness to her granddaughter.

  "Mora, dearest, there's no need. Why don't you head down to the harbor today? Go off and rex? Or even just sit down and read a nice book once in a while?" Babcia grabbed a dish from her. "I have Ci around to help me, you know. Take advantage of that." Babcia smirked. Remora chuckled and shook her head.

  "She's awfully tired this morning... still sleeping I'd imagine. You can't be making her work too hard, Babcia."

  "I don't make her do anything!" Babcia swatted her. "She's very adamant about doing her chores and then some."

  "I know... She wants to feel needed that's for sure..." Remora sighed, leaning back against the kitchen counter. Babcia chuckled with a knowing gnce.

  "She isn't the only one, honey." Babcia quipped, earning an eyeroll from Remora. Remora poured herself a cup of coffee, taking a slow sip from it. "She's not at all what I expected..." Babcia added. "She doesn't whine or throw fits or boss everyone around. She's so... meek. It's hard to imagine such a thing would've been ruling our nation someday." Babcia took her own cup of coffee, both of them sharing a quiet sip in the cold fall morning.

  "She's... emotional... and yes, meek... but I think she actually has an incredible spirit to her..." Remora's thumb drew idle circles on her mug as she contempted. "I don't know... She has a lot of potential, Babcia. I see that she just wants to make us proud... I think you especially." Remora added with a smile. Babcia hummed as she pondered, before her lips turned up in a smile.

  "I do see that, but I'd have to disagree with you on that st one... I think it's you she's trying to impress. She asks about you all day long when we clean together you know." Babcia shook her head, remembering Ci's constant liveliness. Remora ughed in disbelief.

  "No she doesn't."

  "She does! And I tell her, 'honey, if you want to know so much about Remora, then ask Remora!', to which she always whines and says 'I want to! But she's so scary when she gets home from work.' Oh, the poor thing." Babcia ughed heartily, and Remora chuckled with embarrassment.

  "Gods, I guess I've been a little moody recently haven't I?" Remora looked down at her mug. Babcia's only response was an upturned eyebrow, and Remora chuckled again.

  "Perhaps I should spend some time with her today... Life has been so busy." Remora took a slow meaningful sip, feeling the liquid warm her.

  "Perhaps you should rest." Babcia advised. Remora shrugged and was about to protest when Ci appeared.

  "Ah, good morning my dear. Sleep well I take it?" Babcia greeted her. Remora smiled as the girl came into view with a bright-eyed look.

  "Yes, ma'am."

  "Eager to work today?" Babcia put her hands on her hips. Ci nodded.

  "Yes, ma'am... although... I was wondering..." Ci fiddled with the cloth of her dress. Babcia tilted her head, urging her to continue. "...if I could continue work on the garden...?" Ci inquired. Babcia looked at Remora for a moment and hummed.

  "Oh? Well, I'm sure that would be lovely, but I'm afraid I haven't the skills to teach you how to fix the structure. Weeding is one thing, but woodwork and building is another." Babcia shook her head. Ci drooped in disappointment, and a light appeared in Remora's eyes.

  "I could show her." Remora offered, and she saw Ci's demeanor immediately return to life. Babcia raised an eyebrow.

  "Remora..." Babcia was about to advise otherwise, but Remora pced a hand on her grandmother's shoulder.

  "Babs... It's fine. Besides, just look at her." Remora smirked, motioning to Ci who was practically beaming like a lightbulb. Babcia chuckled and shook her head.

  "Very well then... but like I said... keep yourself from burning out, you got it?" Babcia wagged a finger. Remora smiled and nodded peacefully.

  "Yes, yes. I'll be alright."

  ...

  The two got straight to work after what Babcia hoped to be a leisurely breakfast, until Remora was quickly stolen away by Ci to the backyard.

  Remora chuckled as she was dragged along to the garden, her face warming as she thought about what Babcia said about Ci, and it becoming evident in the girl's eagerness. She hummed in approaval when she saw all the weeds had been plucked and dug up, and she scanned the old fence and chicken wire for all its imperfections, which there were plenty. She ran her hand along the rotting wood in thought.

  "This will certainly be a project, but I think we can tackle it..." Remora rolled up her sleeves, stretching. Ci's eyes widened slightly as she caught sight of Remora's wider arms flexing, and her blouse riding up to reveal her stomach. Ci blinked and turned her head away as her face burned.

  Remora smiled with confidence and immediately started barking orders, which Ci straighted up to in an instant. She fetched tools, nails, wood pnks, chicken wire, and whatever Remora asked of her, always with questions of course. Remora showed her how to pull out nails, dismantle the old wood and chicken wire, how to measure and cut the wood, how to structure it, and how to nail the new pnks into pce.

  Babcia would often fetch them some water and small snacks, though they hardly took breaks. Ci couldn't help but notice how... lively Remora seemed... how energetic she was in expining and showing and working. She didn't look grumpy or upset or restless like she had seemed the past few weeks, and it brought a smile to Ci's face.

  "I'm amazed how much energy you have... even after Babcia has begged you to take a break like three times now." Ci mentioned as Remora sawed down on a pnk. Remora huffed with a smirk and sat back for a moment.

  "Well, it's nice to finally have someone around who can match it." Remora smiled. Her hazel eyes were beaming. "It's already looking so much better... I'm suprised Babcia and I let this pce go so long..."

  "Why did you?" Ci inquired, sitting back with her. Remora hummed in thought for a long moment.

  "I guess because we almost had a shot at getting out of here..." Remora's voice grew soft. Ci tilted her head.

  "Getting out of here?" Ci echoed. Remora huffed out a small dreamy ugh.

  "Dziadek and I... we always had this dream that we'd make enough money to buy our own boat. Once we had it, we'd take Babcia and sail far away from here. We'd see the whole world... Maybe find somewhere better than this pce..." She sighed as she rested her arms on her knees, lost in her daydreams. Her smile faded.

  "Then he died... We lost a lot of money on funeral expenses and we weren't making income for several months... Then I went to work in his pce for us. After that, things around here just never really returned to normal. Like this pce..." Her eyes grew distant, and Ci frowned. After some hesitancy, she scooted closer, ying her head against Remora's shoulder in an attempt at comfort.

  "He sounded wonderful. Your uh... Dziadek. And your dream is wonderful too." Ci looked up at her, in hopes to raise her spirits. Remora pushed past the painful memories, turning her head to smile at her.

  "Thanks. I'm still working hard at it. It's what keeps me going. Keeps me working so hard everyday." She rested her head on top of Ci's. She let out a short ugh as a thought came to mind. "Perhaps you can come with us. You're the one who truly needs to get out of this pce." Remora offered. Ci lifted her head and her eyes twinkled in disbelief.

  "R-really?" She stammered. Remora's grin grew wider.

  "Yeah!" She spped her on the back. "You, me, and Babcia... just sailing the world. We'd be our own little crew. How does that sound?" Remora beamed and Ci stared at her in awe, before her lips curled up in a giddy smile.

  "I... I'd love that..." She turned her face away as she felt it growing hot. She didn't understand why such a thing made her feel so fluttery. All she knew is that it was likely wrong to admit such things out loud.

  Unfortunately, she couldn't control the temperature in her cheeks anymore, so she stood up, dusting off her clothes.

  "I'm gonna go grab us some water... I'll be right back." She gnced at her with a nervous smile. Remora nodded and id back in the grass, taking a deep breath as she looked up at the autumn clouds.

  Ci entered the living room, Babcia was seated in her rocking chair crocheting as Ci drifted into the kitchen, a starry look in her eyes. Babcia smiled, looking up at her through her bifocals.

  "How comes the garden?" She rocked gently.

  "Good. Remora has really put her full self into renovating it. I've never seen her so beamy." Ci peeked out the window to see Remora still working away. She turned as Babcia chuckled.

  "Nothing like a passion project to cure that big grump." Babcia mused, before setting down her own project, adjusting her gsses and rocking rexingly. "Well... It's good to see she has returned to that pce after so long... Why, if it were a year or two ago, she could hardly bear to look out the window and see it." Babcia sighed, getting up to go to the kitchen.

  "What do you mean?" Ci followed her curiously.

  "Ah well... that garden was her and her Dziadek's happy pce. They built it together when she was half her height and had twice the spunk..." Babcia chuckled warmly. "It's how she learned how to be so handy... She's learned things no other young dy would ever know, and it's thanks to him. She didn't even carry the same blood as him, and yet they were both so alike. And by the Gods, she didn't care that she was a girl and neither did he. I loved that about him. Roles and traits from birth in this world didn't mean a thing to him." She scoffed. "I'm still trying to learn that for myself to this day."

  Ci's eyes glimmered with infatuation and turned her head back towards the window again.

  "They'd spend hours digging, pnting, weeding, watering... I could hardly tear them away from that pce. But when he died, it just... broke her heart. Broke mine too. He left a hole neither of us could fill, so we just... kept living on the best we could..." Babcia began filling a gss of water as Ci let her words soak in. She felt her heart sinking in her chest and she wilted slightly. Babcia turned with a knowing look.

  "You're heartbroken, aren't you deary?" Ci's eyes shot up as she felt like her skin turned clear and Babcia could see straight through her. She let her eyes fall and she nodded.

  "I left someone by running away..." Ci wrapped herself up in her arms at her admission. Babcia nodded and went to her, pcing a hand on her shoulder.

  "Time will heal it... You just have to allow it." She smiled reassuringly. Ci felt her eyes water and she stepped into Babcia, hugging her. Babcia let out an "oomph" as she felt the impact, but softly returned the gesture. She chuckled and pulled her away, wiping her tear.

  "Come now deary, shall we see how our girl is progressing?" Babcia offered. Ci nodded, composing herself as she dried her face with her sleeves.

  The two of them stepped outside, Ci carrying the gss of water. Remora was stepping down from a dder, wiping her brow with a huff as she held a few nails between her lips. She turned to them and smiled from their approach.

  "Hey. She's pretty much done!" Remora turned to her work with her hands on her hips, a glimmer of pride in her eyes. Babcia looked upon her work, seeing the new wooden pnks, the shiny, brand new chicken wire, the beds leveled and the dirt cleared from the path.

  Ci watched as Babcia's eyes filled with tears gazing upon the sight. When Ci turned to notify Remora, she also saw the girl's eyes were gleaming too. Babcia and Remora turned to each other, an unspoken understanding between them as they smiled and sniffled. Babcia stepped towards her granddaughter and Remora fell into the shorter, older woman's arms.

  "I'm so proud of you, Mora... and I know he would be too." Babcia squeezed her tighter. Remora let out a stifled, happy cry. "And so you know... you do enough, my love. You've always done enough. You're enough." Babcia added, only causing Remora's eyes to spill more.

  "Thank you, Babcia..." Remora remained in her embrace for a long while. Ci watched them with water filling her own eyes. She selfishly felt a hint of envy, thinking of her own mother... how she was never given such maternal affection and kindness before. But Babcia cut those thoughts short as she opened her dampened eyes to look at her, extending an arm.

  Ci felt her heart burst and she didn't hesitate to step into them, wrapping her arms around both of them.

  And for the first time in forever, she felt it. She soon began to cry too.

  ...

  That night after a cozy dinner, long talks that of course included Remora and Babcia bickering, cleaning dishes and final goodnights, Ci retired with Remora to her room. Ci was busy letting down her hair from the day as she spoke.

  "I had a really great day today... I'm so thankful you and Babcia are constantly teaching me new things, you know I don't want you both to assume just because I came from royalty, that I'm not determined to be better and smarter..." (she's said this spiel a million times before to Remora) "and I'm hoping to win Babcia's approval enough to where she will let me help her in the kitchen... maybe even let me make something! What do you think, Remora?" Ci turned to her.

  However, Ci was met with the sight of the peasant girl dead asleep, her head sunken into the pillows and the bnkets curled around her. Ci's heart warmed at the snuggly sight and she let out a soft hum... one she wouldn't bel as affectionate, but deep down she knew it was. She tucked herself in and faced her with a bright smile, before scooting hersef closer and closing her eyes.