Page 226 of Pixie Problems

"Same place as the others?" Torian asked.

"They're happiest together," Aspen admitted.

He nodded. "Ok. I'll bring the spades."

Aspen squealed excitedly and hopped up to hug him. "I'll grow you something else too, ok?"

"Asp," he said, giving her a sweet little smile, "I get it. You said you'd do this, so now you have to."

Her face fell, but she shrugged it off. And yet, when we got the box full of baby Bursts down to the atrium, Torian was there with the promised tools and a smile. Keir and I took four of the plants. Hawke and Wilder grabbed a set for themselves, and Torian moved to help dig holes for his sister.

She pointed out the best areas for them, and we all got to work. Keir and I decided to put ours beside the bigger plant we liked so much, yet before we even got close, a rush of bubbles shot into the air.

Keir stuck out his tongue and tried to mimic the sputtering sound. "Is that our greeting, hm?" Then he leaned in and petted one of the leaves.

A pair of larger bubbles popped out, almost like the plant was trying to say it approved.

"I think it's been lonely," I said, moving closer to tap a spot on the ground. "How's this, Bubbles? Good spot for the babies?"

The plant released a whole cloud of bubbles, which I decided must be a yes. So, crouching down, Keir and I began to dig little fist-sized holes. I was patting down the dirt around the first one when I realized Torian and Aspen were bickering. Worried, I looked back in time to see Aspen whisper something at him with pure rage on her face.

"Hey!" I barked, shooting to my feet and heading that way before my brain kicked in. "Aspen, you ok?"

"Worry about your own shit," Torian grumbled at me.

"Asp?" I asked again.

Aspen gave Torian a smug look. "See? I don'tneedyou, Torian. I was doing fine before you brought me here, and yes, I do like it here, but I am not going to jump through hoops just becauseyousay to!"

"You - " He stopped hard. "Rain, go away."

Instead, I planted my hands on my hips, ignoring the dirt on them. "No, that's not how this works. You don't get to run over her just because she's nice!"

"She's notnice," he shot back. "She's fae! Aspen isn't meant to play human to keep you entertained, and she doesn't need to be wasting her time with planting flowers when she should be mastering her control!"

"I happen to like flowers!" Aspen snapped, slowly rising from where she'd knelt. "Mymotherwas a gardener. Oh, but I'm supposed to ignore that because I have Winter magic. I'm supposed to despise spring because it's when my power weakens. Is that what you want, Torian? Because it's not what I do!"

"Aspen..." he tried to soothe.

"No!" she yelled. "You know what? I think a lot. I'm loud, I'm inconvenient, and I'm a complete fucking mess. I'm also nice! I'm fun, and I'm happy, and I can be anything I want to be. But the one thing I'm not?" She stepped right into her brother's face. "I am not scared."

"That's because you don't know what's out there!" he roared.

"Oh, I know," Aspen assured him. "I was right beside you when the Huntsman came at us." Then she stabbed her hand out, pointing at me. "And she was the one who stepped up." Her finger moved to Keir next. "And him!" Then over to Hawke and Wilder. "Them too. But where were you, Torian?"

"I was in front of you!" he hissed.

"You were pushing me down!" she yelled. "Always trying to make me be where and what you want. Well, guess what? We may be related, but that's it. Our goals are not the same. Our desires are not thesame!"

Torian rocked back as if she'd just hit him. "That's not what I've been doing."

"Oh, you don't think I know all about your little fantasies? You wanted my girlfriend simply because I did. You tried to push Wilder away because we had something in common. Now, you're tearing all of us apart with your attitude, because it'ssoserious. Always fucking serious! When the fuck am I allowed to actually be happy, hm? When can I get to be myself?"

"You don't know what you're saying," he insisted.

"She doesn't?" I asked. "Why, because she's just some delicate and dainty little girl?" I scoffed at that. "Right, never mind that she's more powerful than you - andsheisn't cracking!"

"She'swhyI'm cracking!" Torian growled.