The Tree's Heart

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"Clover! Stop daydreaming and listen to me for a second."

Clover looked up at Willow, who was still covered in flour from baking bread in the morning. She had been busy reading more and more and wasn't paying much attention to Clover until now. All of that suited Clover well. Ever since meeting Avery the tiredness seemed to have disappeared. She still couldn't get him out of her head, but she also didn't want to get him out of her head anymore. She kept thinking of him every free moment of her day, she kept remembering his soft touch and the way his voice sounded.

It had been a few days since her and Willow had returned to the cabin and Clover wasn't sure whether Willow was suspecting anything or not, but Clover also didn't care much anymore. All she cared about was when she could see Avery again. She wasn't even too keen on leaving the forest anymore. Why would she want to leave if she had Avery to take care of her? Why would she want to go back?

"What is it?" Clover asked, wondering what Willow wanted all of a sudden. She hoped it wasn't going to be more rules. Willow had been keeping a close eye on her ever since she had mentioned Avery to her.

"I need you to do something for me. I need you to get an ingredient. Go and meet Dras by the river. I'll need you to get some dryad sap. He knows where to find that and how to go about it, so make sure you go with him. And don't get distracted on the way there!" Willow told her. Clover nodded and sighed.

"Why do I have to go with Dras? Can't you just tell me how to do it?" she wanted to know. Willow shook her head.

"It's a complicated process. Plus, I don't want you going anywhere on your own. Not with the fae lurking around the place."

"I don't need a babysitter..."

"You do. Trust me. Plus, you'll have all the alone time you could want on the way to the river." Willow said. There was no point discussing things any further than that. Willow was stubborn and she'd never understand that Avery wasn't a bad person. She was so set in her opinions about the fae that she probably wouldn't even consider one of them being different, so why would Clover waste her energy?

"Alright. I'll be off then." Clover just said. She grabbed a bag and put on her shoes, before leaving the cabin. She could see the suspicious look on Willow's face, but she genuinely didn't care. Avery had said he would find her again, so she just had to put her trust in that. If he meant what he had said to her, he would find a way, she was sure of that. And maybe Dras wouldn't be strong enough a deterrent.

Clover quickly made her way to the river. She knew the way well by now – it was the river they were getting their water from. It was clear and potable water and didn't need to be boiled before drinking it. And it thankfully wasn't too far, so getting water in two big buckets wasn't a huge effort. Still, it took quite some time every morning. Clover wasn't surprised that Willow had gotten grumpy if she had to do this on her own every single day.

As she got to the river, Clover could already see Dras waiting for her, a wide smile on his face. He was waving at her happily. Dras always seemed happy to see her and he was good company. Clover liked him, but she really would have liked to see Avery again. And she wasn't sure if Dras was an obstacle for that. Either way, it didn't matter. What would happen would happen and Clover was going to take any chance she could get to spend time with Avery, to hear his voice, to see him looking at her.

"Morning, Dras. You're taking me to get dryad sap I've heard?" Clover greeted him. Dras nodded enthusiastically.

"That's right, Miss Clover. Follow me and I'll take you to the place where the dryads live. It won't be easy to get the sap, but we'll manage. How was your stay with the gnomes? Miss Willow has told me about it." he said.