A New Beginning: Passing The Torch

Chapter 37

Tasha's POV:

"Yes, I'm pretty sure," Tessa told me. "I still like Soranto the best."

"And Maria and Adeline?" I asked.

"Maria is fun. I'm happy that Soranto has brought her over so much lately. Adeline is nice, too. Especially since I brought her some flowers and acted cute. She smiles whenever she sees me now." Her mindvoice was bright and happy with the memories.

Her preference for Soranto wasn't very surprising. She had always gravitated to the very easygoing Kymari. The decision was one she was taking seriously though, and she had spent the last three weeks hanging out with various Kymari.

My eyes were half closed in thought. "Hmmm... I know you have been meeting a lot of people over the last three weeks. None of them stand out?"

"Not really. I thought hard about Sadria and Rasha, but I like Soranto's personality."

That was about what I had expected as well. As much as Tessa loved playing Ply-Ball, Rasha wasn't an adult yet. Not to mention that he was still in school. Having a dragonet choose him would seriously complicate his education and restrict him to this planet.

It would prevent him from remaining on the Ply-Ball team since most of the matches were in a different star system. Tessa also knew it, and she liked him too much to do that to him. Even though she counted Rasha as a friend, she still liked Soranto more.

I didn't really care who she chose as long as she was one hundred percent certain of her choice. As much as I wanted her to think about it until she was a year old, both Taureen and I had noticed that she was getting a bit restless when Soranto wasn't around.

It was barely noticeable, but it was likely a sign of things to come. She was beginning to look around as if searching for someone, yet this behavior stopped if Soranto was around. Just like I looked around for Taureen if I hadn't seen him in the room for a while.

Even more interesting, was that both Tessa and Dirk were no longer quite so friendly towards strangers. Both of them were growing up so fast. The scent of a crawler or sicora had them growling and looking for it, no longer ready to flee the area. It would still be several months before they could breathe fire, but their instincts were maturing and kicking in.

Dirk had never been as ambitious or as outgoing as his sister and seemed content to remain as he was for now. He would likely remain with Taureen and Aeria for months to come while contemplating his options.

Tessa was a bundle of energy that liked to do things with people. Since she wasn't as willing to approach strangers anymore, it meant that she needed more one-on-one attention. Taureen and Aeria were willing to spend most of their free time with us, but there were four dragonets they had to divide their time between.

It was no wonder that a family like Soranto's intrigued her so much. Even if one person was busy, there were two others around. Even though he annoyed me, I had to admit that his personality made him an almost ideal match for Tessa. Neither of them were overly serious, and both of them liked to keep busy, even if it was just silly games.

"What do you think?" Tessa asked me hopefully, interrupting my thoughts.

I sighed faintly. "Honestly, I think it is a bit too soon. You are only four months old, and it won't be easy to change things once this ball starts rolling. But, if you are completely certain, we can ask Taureen to occasionally invite Soranto along."

Her ear tufts perked up in excitement. "I would really like that!"

"I do want you to promise me one thing, though."