The four sat at the small bamboo table with dishes full of food and cups filled to the brim with strawberry smoothies. Ak-tu had barely taken a sip of the refreshing drink when a shadow crossed through the open doorway. He glanced up to see Jabali enter.

“YO!” Jabali called, grinning. “You’re here!”

Ak-tu got to his feet, just to be picked up by the large man and squeezed yet again. “Put me down!” he chortled.

Jabali chuckled and set Ak-tu on the ground. “Cutting it kinda close, aren’t ya? Happy Day of the Sun!”

“Happy Day of the—” Ak-tu cut himself off, frowning as he saw a second person had entered the house behind Jabali. “Oh, who’s this?” 

Jabali turned to the tall person and grinned. They had dark reddish hair tied in a bun and bright green eyes. They smiled, lifting a tan hand in greeting.

“This here is my boyfriend, Wave,” Jabali said, planting a hand on the man’s shoulder. “We’ve been together a few months. Thought I’d bring him around for the holiday… I didn’t know you’d be back today.”

“Hello, Wave. I’m Ak-tu,” he said, bowing a little stiffly. 

Ak-tu kicked himself internally, forgetting that most people merely shook hands upon first meeting each other. But Wave didn’t seem surprised by the action, and returned the bow as if he’d done it before.

“Is that why you’re always gone for hours in the city?” Zyn asked Jabali. “Because you’re with your love?”

Ak-tu snorted at Zyn’s choice of words. Love? Sure…

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Jabali said, tossing his locks over one shoulder and beaming at his partner. “Anyway, looks like a feast has been prepared in our honor, so let’s eat!”

“There’re no more seats though,” Ren said, her voice disappointed as she glanced at the crowded table.

“No matter! You can have my seat,” Ak-tu said to Wave, signaling his open chair. “I don’t mind eating on the ground.”

“And I eat standing up all the time!” Zyn said, picking up their plate and hopping out of their chair.

After trying to argue, Jabali and Wave finally took the seats given to them. Ren hurried to grab them platefuls of food as well, while Ak-tu made himself comfortable on the hard ground. Zyn sunk to the floor beside their father. Ak-tu introduced his kids and Sarala to Wave, then set about eating.

“So where’d you two meet?” Ren asked Jabali and Wave curiously. 

Ak-tu pricked his ears, intrigued as well. Jabali usually told Ak-tu everything, but he had never mentioned Wave before. Not even when we met up for Day of the Moon…unless they weren’t together at that point….

“Oh, y’know, at work,” Jabali said casually. 

“You work at Cool Coffee?” Ren questioned Wave.

Wave chuckled. “No. I’m a teacher at the school in town.”

“You’re a teacher too?” Ak-tu queried.

Wave turned in his seat to see Ak-tu properly. “Yes,” he said with a broad smile. “I love kids. I love art. So I became an art teacher.”

Ak-tu nodded. “Makes sense,” he said shortly, returning to his noodles.

“What do you teach?” Wave asked.

“Magic, martial arts, art,” Ak-tu said. 

“Fascinating!” Wave said. “I know martial arts too.”

“You do? What style?”

“Krabi Krabong. Lots of weapons. How about you?”

“Choy Li Fut Kung Fu and Yang—”

“What kinds of weapons do you have in your system?” Sarala asked Wave eagerly, leaning forward.

Ak-tu returned to his food, listening to the conversation as Wave and Sarala talked about weapons nearly nonstop the rest of the meal. Ak-tu would be about to comment multiple times, but eventually gave up. He instead spoke to Zyn.

“Are we still on for my appointment?” Zyn asked. “It’s in six days.”

Ak-tu nodded, setting down his empty bowl beside him. “Of course.”

Zyn let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I thought that, with the ship being damaged and you gone for so long, we’d miss it. I can’t wait to start the testosterone potions! Then, I can connect to my magic and actually attend school!”

Ak-tu smiled and ruffled Zyn’s hair. “You’re going to be a great little magician. I just know it!”

Zyn pushed his hand away, snorting in laughter. “Hey, who’re you calling little?”

“You are shorter than me,” Ak-tu pointed out, keeping his face serious.

“Actually, Sarala’s not the only one who grew over summer!” Zyn scoffed. “It looked like Ren is the same height as you now, and I’m the same height as her! So, we’re all the same height, and one day, I’m gonna be taller than you! So there!” 

“Maybe, maybe not,” Ak-tu said with a shrug, smiling.

“Pfft, whatever! So, Dad, why’s school starting later?” Zyn asked, their loud voice catching the attention of the others.

Silence fell as everyone looked at him expectantly. He fingered his mustache for a long moment.

“I have no choice but to start late,” he said apologetically. “The Pann government is investigating the school at the moment, after the attack that happened last year. That’s one of the reasons I wanted you three to stay with Jabali over the break. Unfortunately, the government personnel only came to the school the other day, and I’m not sure how long their ‘investigation’ might take. They’re the ones who pushed back the start date.”

“Why would they be investigating though? Are they trying to shut us down?” Zyn asked, their eyes wide.

“Potentially,” Ak-tu muttered. “But there’s nothing for them to see. We had cleaned up the mess right away, and everything was back to normal in a week. I’m not worried about it, honestly… As long as nothing further happens this year, we should be fine.”

“But how did they find out about the spirits?” Ren asked, her freckled face worried.

“Students telling their parents, their parents telling the government, pictures or videos…” Ak-tu shrugged. “I honestly expected something like this to happen. I tried to shake them off by saying I wouldn’t be home during the summer, that we all already had vacation plans. But they were so insistent and showed up at the school without me being there. Luckily, Khurshid is back to take care of the matter until we return.”

“Ooh, did the teachers find anything about Chaocat?” Ren pressed.

Ak-tu glanced at Wave, the man leaning in just as eagerly. He shifted uncomfortably, not willing to discuss Chaocat or anything else with the school in front of the stranger. 

“No,” he said simply. “Now, how’s about we go play some games? Everyone’s finished, right?”

“We’ve been finished,” Ren pointed out, signaling to the empty dishes on the table. 

“I’m not,” Sarala scoffed.

“It’s not my fault you’ve been chatting nonstop,” Ren mused. “Hurry up and eat, then!”

Sarala shot the girl a playful glare before finally turning to her food, which had gone cold. As she and Wave finished eating, Ak-tu and the twins started washing the dishes. Ak-tu used his water magic to clean the dishes quickly, merely turning on the sink and directing the water like a jet to spray off the remaining bits of food. Ren used her air magic to dry the dishes, while Zyn put them away again.

As they worked, Ak-tu spoke telepathically with his kids. {Khurshid was actually attacked by Chaocat a few days ago. That’s why he’s back at the school early.}

{What? Is he okay?} Ren asked in alarm, pausing as she dried a dish.

{He’s fine. He sensed Chaocat coming, and fought them off long enough to escape and make it back to the school. But that happened on the same day as the eclipse, which makes me wonder what happened with the hover boats…. I was sure Chaocat got involved, but even Jabali said he didn’t see any spirit magic in use when I asked….}

{Oh, yeah! I forgot he’s able to see spirit magic.} Ren remarked.

{Well, if it wasn’t Chaocat who crashed our boats, it must have been C3!} Zyn insisted.

{I hope it wasn’t.} Ak-tu replied wearily.

{I don’t think it was.} Ren said, continuing to dry the dishes. {C3 wouldn’t do something like that.}

{Yes, he would!} Zyn protested.

“Is that a new wand?” Ak-tu interrupted them, frowning at the thick wand in Ren’s hand.

“Oh, Jabali’s just letting me use his right now,” Ren said, blinking in surprise. “He offered to take me wand-shopping, but I said I’d wait until we got home.”

Ak-tu nodded, appreciating that Ren wanted to get a wand he’d crafted himself rather than a city-made one. He had plenty of wands at the school, ready for the first-years or any student who broke their wand. 

Soon enough, everyone was ready. Ak-tu expected to go to Vinetown’s large game center, where he’d be able to take a look at the hover boat ring himself, but the twins instead brought board games from their shared room. Realizing that the kids likely did not want to go near the game center after what had happened, Ak-tu did not press them about going.