i can’t remember teen dreams

Caring for others? It was her job. Her calling. Her duty. It was the thing that Halo did best, honestly. There was nothing else she’d rather be doing. When Hazel had gotten hurt that fateful say, she knew that there was nothing to rip her from the child’s side. Absolutely nothing. Between the pale healer and the Warlord, there was nearly round the clock care and support as she got better, got stronger. As the flesh knit back together, and as her body fought off the waves upon waves of infection that came after. There was no denying it, Hazel was a fighter. She wouldn’t have survived otherwise.

Frankly, Halo was still a bit surprised (pleasantly) that the little yearling pulled through. It was the same fight she’d seen in the girl nearly a year earlier when she’d turned up, thin and dirty. Scared, too, though she wouldn’t have admitted it. Halo had to be proud with how far the girl had come during her time within the Armada. She’d grown up. She’d become something. She wouldn’t stop becoming things either, from where Halo saw it. Good, as it should be.

Being Hazel’s round the clock guardian had its drawbacks though, and she was glad the girl needed less supervision these days. Halo’s planting was seriously behind, and she hadn’t gotten to properly assess the new lands for a place to put her garden. With a pang, she thought of her den by the river. The natural irrigation was a wonderful feature of their former home, and she doubted they’d get so lucky here in the north. Maybe Halo would need to ask Sirius about engineering something, but for now, the smaller beds would have to do. Mortis had been kind enough to dig the beds that Halo had staked out the days prior, or at least, find someone to help with it. Now that the beds were dug, it was a question of exactly what to plant.

Halo carefully consulted the carefully packaged seeds, all tidily packed up from seasons before. They’d shifted somewhat in the move, but for the most part her carefully partitioned box was still mostly in order. The lavender was, and always would be, her favorite. In a nice sunny flower bed, dug carefully near the entrance to where the Warlord and his immediate family lived, Halo got to work planting. It would be one of the things that should help the most with the sleep issues that Sirius, and now Hazel too, were prone to. Something that would make a nice base for a tea or tonic, and help to relax the senses. Calm the nerves. Goodness knew they would all need more of that.

There was something therapeutic about digging away in the soft soil. The seeds were gently placed into each of the tiny holes that Halo carefully dug. Gently. Always ever so gentle. Delicately placing each seed into the earth and covering it over, careful not to tamp the soil down too hard. She didn’t want them to have any problem sprouting, pushing up through the ground. Halo wasn’t entirely sure about the growing season here, not yet. There was no way to know until she’d seen it with her own eyes. That alone was enough to make her a bit nervous for the coming season. She’d need to check her storage, and figure out how to encourage things to grow more readily. Maybe they could get cattle sorted out, and Halo could compost her own fertilizer. Would it be enough to bolster the soil? Would the soil even need it? She supposed that only time would tell, but honestly, the waiting game was the absolute worst part of planting anything.

The best and the worst? Probably. At least there was the steady satisfaction that would come in a few weeks when the soft green leaves were beginning to spring up. Carefully, Halo brought one of the tin buckets filled with lake water over to the flower bed. She’d need a better system, that much the pale healer was resolved to. The water splashed up around the rim of the pail as she lifted it as best she could, not wanting the bottom to drag along the ground. Mr. Raccoon was trying to help with the lifting, but likely making things worse. That was okay, at least he was making an effort. He was a silly thing, but Halo was happy for the company. The pair made their way back to the freshly planted soil, carefully watering each pocket of lavender seeds. It would hopefully be just enough, for now. They could always water more later if necessary, but as far as Halo could tell, they’d be getting rain soon. The grey clouds on the horizon said as much. Still, she hoped she had time to get a few more flower beds planted before nature worked its magic. There was only so much time in the spring, and she’d been otherwise occupied. As always, there were the little guilty feelings playing in the background. They made her chest ache, her insides tighten just a little. Halo was doing as much as she could but… could she be doing more? She could be. She should be.

Oh heck.