Seeing

11- All Good Things

Sitting on the mossy fallen tree, or climbing around in the woods, the five children laughed and played about for hours.

The air slowly get colder and the sky darker, as the time slipped by.
Eventually they headed back to J's cafe, and J's two friends went home.
Dan was eating a bowl of the day's soup special, and waved over to the kids as he saw them enter.
J patted Pip and Bon on the heads and went into the back to get more food.

"Hey kiddos! Did you have fun today? J's dad said you all were probably in the woods or something." Dan put down his spoon and looked at the two kids as they walked over to the table.

Bon sat down and told an engaging story of all they'd done and the fun they'd had, her hands moving about excitedly with her tale.

Pip closed his eyes to relax, and his mind drifted to J. He saw her carefully balancing three bowls of soup and bread on a tray. He smiled and pulled over a fourth chair to their small table.

Bon had completed her enthusiastic recollection of the evening, and J layed out food for everyone, sitting with them for dinner.

The night got older, and as the children and their Uncle get ready to leave Dan commented, "oh, hey, we'll be leaving in the morning, so maybe you want to go ahead and say bye to your friend?"

It wasn't just the time of night that made the air suddenly seem more cold.

Pip swallowed thickly and took a deep breath, blinking more frequently then normal. He had know very well that it would all come to an end, but his heart still flopped defiantly into his stomach.

"Oh..." Bon's expression drooped as well. Then she shook her head and smiled, ran over to J and queezed her in a tight hug. "Thanks for the fun, and food, and being our friend! I'm really glad we met! And, haha, sorry again about the way we met. But, I'm kinda glad about that mistake now!" Bon loosened her grip and grinned up at her friend.

"Aww, jeez, I'm glad too, kid!" J laughed and hugged the little girl back, picking her up and spinning around once before plopping her back on the ground, both giggling.

Pip walked up to J as Bon stood back. "Uhm, I... It was very nice to meet you." He forced a smile and held out his hand.

J looked at him with a sideways grin for a moment, before kneeling down and hugging him. "Pfft, silly! We're friends aren't we? Why so formal, little man?"

Pip inhaled sharply and bit his lip, he didn't want to cry here! "Oh, I- haha! I mean, yeah, friends..!" It was too late, his vision started to blur with tears, and couldn't hold back sniffling a little.

"Oh, boy! Man, it's ok!" J patted his back and tried to comfort him, "This isn't the end forever! I'm sure we'll run into each other again! We'll keep in touch!" She stood up and ran over to the counter, scribbled something on a piece of paper, and ran back to hand it to the crying boy.
"Here, this is the address of this place, when you get home, maybe send me a letter or something!"

Pip sniffled and took the piece of paper, smiling and wiping his eyes with the other hand.

"Haha, I hope you can read my handwriting." J laughed.

"Thank you..." Pip smiled, took a deep breath and folded the paper carefully into his pocket, still keeping this hand around it. "Ahh, I'm so sorry for crying. Gosh, what an embarrassment." Pip mumbled tensely.

"Hah, there's nothing wrong with crying! I'm honored that you care so much. It's ok." J comforted as she patted his shoulder.

They all waved a final goodbye as they walked out the door.

The night passed, and the next morning the group was on the road again.
In the next town, so close to the children's homes, Calista told them she would be going in the other direction, as there wasn't much for her the way they were going. She wished them luck.

"You've both improved very much over this time. I'm proud to say that I trust each of you to use your powers responsibility." Calista smiled down at them with such a soft expression, she was like an entirely different person in this moment.

"Wait," Pip said, reaching up and taking his hat off. He took Calita's hand and softly placed the grey beanie in it. "Well, we can't check in with letter since you travel all the time, but maybe with this item of mine, um, you'll be able to, well, find me, or something..."

Bon cought on and took her hairclip, placing it on top of Pip's hat in Calista's hand, "Ohh, me too!"

The sorceress closed her hand around the items and drew both hands over her mouth, her eyes betraying the overwhelming joy and pride she felt.

Wordlessly, she took off two of her own necklaces, and placed them around the childrens' necks.
"And, for you two... You may not be able to see me, Bon, but I hope you'll both remember that I'll be keeping an eye on you."
She looked off into the sky and blinked for a moment, before turning back to them with an emotional smile, "so, keep safe and be good!"
She hugged the two children tightly. That minute or so felt like time had paused, yet it could never have lasted long enough.

Calista, the fortune teller traveled on, exploring new lands, helping new people with their lives, and frequently checking in on her former students, filled with joy and pride whenever they managed to help someone with their powers, or do well on a school project.

Uncle Dan went back to his lonesome in his beautiful old house on the mountain, after bringing the kids back to their homes.
He still enjoyed photographing every little thing, and hung up pictures from the summer all over his house.
He went and visited his niece and nephew regularly.

Pip returned home to his mother, step father and young half-sister.
He fondly looked over all he'd written in his journal over their journey, and he taped the piece of paper with J's address to his wall before sitting down to craft the perfect letter for her.
It took him several days due to overthinking and rewriting, but he was still excited and nervous when he sent it.
He still used his distant vision to check in on his friends as often as he could, and practiced diligently to be able to see farther. He was also proud whenever an opportunity to help someone came along.

J was happy to find the letter in her mailbox, and enjoyed reading and replying to it, as the two became regular pen pals, writing a summary of their lives for each other every week.

Bon greeted her dad with a hug when she got back to her country home, and held onto the memories of the summer while happily moving on to another year of school. She told her friends all about what happened, and never missed an opportunity to help someone or show off her "magic powers".

That adventure had surely changed the course of all of their lives, and they would likely remember it forever. Tho, while it may have been the first time they all met, it surely wouldn't be the last.