Ella woke up the next morning to someone fanning her with a hand fan.

“Wake up Ella!” Soren cried, pulling Ella out of her semi sleepy oblivion.

Ella sat up in bed. “That time already?” she groaned, rotating her head and neck in hopes of shaking away her grogginess.

“Yep,” Soren chirped, her voice bright. It was clear to Ella that Soren was more of a morning person than she was. “You’ll miss out on breakfast otherwise. This family descends on food like dragons descend upon their prey: real fast. Food disappears like you wouldn’t know. If you’re not there at the beginning of the meal, there’s no guarantee that there will be a full serving of food left for latecomers.”

“Sounds chaotic,” Ella mumbled.

“I guess it is,” Soren remarked. “I’d never thought about it that way before.”

“I think that when you’ve lived a certain way for as long as you can remember, you might not think about what it could look like from the outside,” Ella commented.

Soren combed out her short, curly, dark brown hair. “Wise words, Rocky.” Her brown eyes glinted with laughter. She’s pretty much the spitting image of her older sister.

Soren’s dark skin and hair brought out her eyes.

Ella broke out into a grin. “You remembered my nickname!” she exclaimed.

“How could I forget it?” Soren asked. “You’re unforgettable!”

“That’s sweet of you,” Ella replied, “and you’re welcome to use that nickname for me now and again. Just don’t overuse it.”

Soren gave her a mock salute. “Aye aye, Captain!” 

Ella returned the salute. After a moment, her face turned serious. She voiced the question that crossed her mind every morning without fail: “What’s for breakfast?”

“Can’t you smell it?” Soren teased, putting away her hand fan.

Ella sniffed the air to get a better sense of what she smelled when she first woke up.

“French toast?” Ella guessed, naming the first thing that came into her mind.

“Not far off,” Soren told her, rolling the covers off of Ella and dragging them off her bed.

Ella smacked at Soren, missing by inches. Soren managed to dodge by some quirk of destiny, avoiding Ella’s attacking arms.

Ella rubbed her arms adjusting to the cooler air while Sorn folded the sheets and left them in a neat pile at the end of Ella’s bed

“We’re having pancakes and bacon for breakfast,” Soren admitted with a grin. “It smells like breakfast’s nearly ready.”

Ella needed no further prompting. She vaulted off of her bed.

“Then we had better get down there before the vultures descend upon the food,” Ella spouted, looking around for something to wear.

I had to travel light when I left Aunt Mabel’s place. She told me to bring only the things I would need. The only things I needed were my longbow, quiver and rapier with its sheath and buckle belt. I couldn’t carry extra clothes. That would have attracted extra attention.

Soren tapped Ella’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about changing out of that right now. My dads can find you something later,” she said.

“If it won’t be any trouble,” Ella responded.

“It won’t,” Ailish called from the doorway.

Ella and Soren jerked their heads toward the doorway, startled. Soren rushed to finish putting her clothes on for that day. “Good morning Lisheria,” she greeted.

“Yeah. Good morning, A,” Ella reinforced.

“A?” Soren quacked.

“Don’t you dare call me that,” Ailish fumed. “Only El gets to call me that.”

“Why’s that?” Soren implored.

“Because Ailish and I are best friends,” Ella stated. “We gave each other these nicknames when we were little.”

“Oh,” Soren laughed with a look of shock on their face.

Ailish and Ella cracked up at the look on Soren’s face. After a while, the laughter subsided.

“We need to go downstairs now,” Ailish shouted at the volume of a whisper, “before Da and Dada eat all the food.”

“Agreed,” Ella and Soren murmured in sync.

With that, all three girls dashed downstairs and joined Jasper and Victor in the kitchen.

“Glad you kids decided to join us,” Jasper acknowledged, serving himself a plate of pancakes and bacon.

“I’m going to guess that my daughters have revealed the key to getting food in this house,” Victor assumed.

“You got that right,” Ella confessed. “I have been told that food disappears very fast around here.

“Sounds right,” Ailish replied with a smirk.

Everyone served themselves some food and the meal began. Ella felt for the first time that she had somewhere to call home at last. Every so often, she glanced over at Ailish. Ella was sure that Ailish had something on her mind. Ella couldn’t begin to guess at what was on her friend’s mind.

I guess she’ll bring it up when she’s ready, she thought.

***

During breakfast, Ailish pondered her next steps. 

I’m not getting anywhere near mastering my powers and I don’t want to ask my parents for help. They’ve tried to help me in the past and it’s all come to nothing.

Ailish recalled what Andrew had said to her yesterday. “You just don’t have the right teacher.”

Maybe all Ailish needed was someone her own age to train with her and practice magic at the same time as her. Who could possibly do that?

The answer leapt into her brain when she looked through the corner of her eye.

Ella! I’ll ask Ella. She must have learned a lot over the years. Maybe she can help me.

A voice even deeper inside her lashed out at her. But you’ll be useless at protecting her from her parents!

Neither of us can do this on our own. We’ll have to help each other. The voice that began this inner argument retorted.

So Ailish decided: She will turn to Ella for help when she can bear it no longer.

After breakfast, Ailish, the other Rivershores and Ella washed dishes. When the dishes were clean, the group moved into the living room.

“Thanks for letting me stay here,” Ella said.

“Stay here as long as you need,” Da offered.

“If there’s anything we can do for you, just let us know,” Dada added.

“Do you have any extra clothes lying around?” Ella inquired. “I had to travel light. Didn’t want unwanted people on my trail.”

“Of course,” Dada comforted.

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Da reassured.

“Ask and you shall receive,” Soren murmured.

Wise words, little sister.

Ailish, Ella and Soren followed Ailish and Soren’s parents upstairs. The Dads led Ella and the others to a place in the house that Ailish didn’t recognize. Soren appeared not to recognize it either.

Da slid a large piece of wood over to the left to reveal a hidden room.

An invisible door! How come I never noticed it? I’ve always been good at investigating but how have I never noticed this?

“I never knew this was here!” Soren proclaimed, voicing Ailish’s thoughts.

“You couldn’t have known,” Dada reflected. “We never told you.”

Everyone entered the room. Da and Dada dug through a closet and pulled some dresses and some leggings out of it. They shook them to ensure there was no dust and there were no critters on them that shouldn’t be there.

“Would any of these do?” Da queried.

Ella picked up dresses and leggings one by one and held them up to her, checking their size. Her face shone as a smile came out in full flower.

“They're perfect!” Ella enthused, hugging some of the clothes to her chest.

“Take them all if you want,” Da provided. “The less we open this room the better.”

They all grabbed an armful of the clothes and took them to Soren and Ella’s room. Ella put the clothes away.

“I have some pajamas that I don’t wear anymore,” Ailish mentioned. “They should fit you, Ella. Remind me later and I’ll get them out for you.”

“Sounds good,” Ella rumbled.

Da and Dada went downstairs and Ailish and Ella went to Ailish’s room. Soren remained in her own room, the one she shares with Ella.

“We have some catching up to do,” Ailish said once she’d closed the door to her room.

She crossed the room and sat on her bed. Ella sat down in the comfy chair across from Ailish’s bed.

“I saw you with Andrew yesterday,” Ella prompted. “Is Lucca still in town?”

“You’re the only one in our friend group who had left the town,” Ailish inserted, giving Ella an earnest smile. “I’m so glad you came back.”

“Me too,” Ella imparted. “I always meant to come back. I would have sooner if my parents didn’t have such a grip on me.”

Ailish shifted in her seat, not breaking eye contact. “I always hoped you would return. I never gave up hope. I knew I would find you again.”

“I thought I would never see you again,” Ella whispered, her eyes becoming wet.

“Why?” Ailish inquired.

“Because I thought that if I returned right away, my parents would find me in the blink of an eye,” Ella splurted. “They are powerful and dangerous. All they want is to control me and my powers. I can’t let that happen.”

“I won’t let that happen,” Ailish vowed. “Not if I can help it.”

Ailish and Ella talked for hours. The sky grew dimmer as time passed.

“We’ve been talking for hours!” Ella shouted, her face swimming with worry.

Ailish stood up, a look of determination taking form on her face. “We’d better go down for dinner,” she muttered.

Ailish and Ella sprinted down the stairs. When they got there, everyone else was already seated. Ailish and Ella served themselves each a bowl of stew and joined the others at the table.

***

When Ella and Ailish entered the kitchen, Soren was seated opposite their parents. They gave Ailish and Ella a wry smile when they sat on either side of them.

I’m not a girl! I’m not a boy either. I wish you would see that.

Everybody began to eat and Soren kept their thoughts to themself.

“Where did the clothes you gave me come from?” Ella quizzed.

Da paled. “I guess we should tell all of you.”

“Tell us what?” Soren demanded.

“What don’t we know about you two?” Ailish piped up.

“A lot,” Dada began. “Jasper and I have been best friends in high school. I was already out as a trans man and my parents were very accepting.”

“My parents weren’t so accepting when I came out as trans,” Da continued. “They kicked me out and I had no choice but to live on the streets for a while. Victor found me and immediately took me home to his parents despite my protests of not wanting help.”

“I took him home anyway,” Dada reinforced. “No one deserves to live on the streets”

Da put an arm around Dada.

“I love you,” he murmured.

“I love you too,” Dada responded. “So much.”

Ailish pressed on “Why did you hold onto your clothes from back then?” 

“We knew that one day someone we knew would need our help,” Dada admitted.

Soren pressed further, “How would you know that?” 

“Fatherly intuition,” Da claimed.

Bedtime rolled around and everyone parted ways for the night except for Soren and Ella. The two of them went up to their shared room. Ailish had already left the old pajamas of hers that she mentioned earlier on a chair by Ella’s bed.

“I guess you didn’t need to remind her after all,” Soren said, closing the door.

“I guess not,” Ella replied.

Soren and Ella change into their pajamas and sit on their beds.

“Ella?” Soren asked.

“Yes?” Ella nodded.

“I’m nonbinary. I haven’t told anyone else yet,” Soren confessed, trembling.

“If you need me for moral support when you come out to the rest of your family, I’m here for you,” Ella assured them. “Do you feel better having told me?”

“Yes,” Soren uttered, “but I have no idea why.”

“Sometimes it helps to tell someone from outside your family first,” Ella explained. “It doesn’t make coming out any easier though.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Soren agreed. “Is it okay if I cuddle with you tonight? I know I’m thirteen and probably too old for that but sometimes I have nightmares, coming-out or otherwise.”

“I certainly did until I escaped my parents’ clutches,” Ella revealed. “I knew it wasn’t safe to tell them because it would give them more control over me.”

“I’m glad you’re here now,” Soren comforted.

“They/them?” Ella inquired.

Soren nodded.

“You can definitely cuddle with me tonight, my young nonbinary friend,” Ella whispered, her voice warm like honey.

Soren started to climb out of bed but Ella motioned for them to stop. Ella turned out the light. To Soren’s surprise, a cat climbed up onto their bed and curled up on Soren’s stomach. Goodnight, Soren, Ella’s velvety purr drifted into their mind through telepathy. Soren reached out and stroked Ella’s soft, dark fur and gazed into her emerald green eyes. Goodnight, my wonderful cat shifter friend, they thought back in response. The last thing Soren saw before falling asleep was the light of the moon shimmering through the side window.