Tending to the Violets

Chapter 1 - Hina: Now

A sharp splash of rainwater splatters the sidewalk as the car comes to a halt, tires squealing softly. Heat blasts from the vents and radiates from the driver's seat. Reaching up to adjust her rear view mirror, Hina's lips twitch slightly up at the sight of her three year old daughter, who currently has her nose pressed to the window, watching with those large, green eyes as her preschool comes into view.

"See, what did I tell you?" Hina asks, letting the car crawl forward behind the parent in front of her, "The rain cleared up plenty, so I'm sure you and your friends will be able to go onto the playground still."

Hoku kicks her legs slightly, glancing from the plush, floral print car seat and up toward her mother's eyes in the mirror. "What if the playground's wet?" she asks with the utmost concern in her voice.

Hina hums, turning into the parking lot and beginning to search for a spot. "Well," she says, "then you can jump into all the puddles. I had you put your boots on for a reason, you know." She winks, earning a giggle from Hoku.

"Miss K doesn't like it when I play in the puddles," says Hoku, her small hands moving to fiddle with her seatbelt buckles.

"You just leave Miss K to me," Hina tells her, turning to pull into a spot, "I'm sure I can change her mind."

Turning the engine off, Hina unbuckles her seatbelt and slides from the car. She closes her door, then rounds to the opposite side to get Hoku from her carseat.

Tiny voices of children float on the air as Hina helps lower Hoku to her feet, her turtle rain boots squeaking with each step the little girl takes. Holding her hand, Hina begins leading her toward the school.

"Mama?" Hoku asks.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Hina replies.

Hoku squints into the sky, where fluffy, cotton ball clouds drift lazily past. "How does the rain work?"

Hina gives a slightly exaggerated hum of thought. She knows that Hoku probably won't understand the concept of the water cycle, clever as she is, and there really isn't much time to explain it to her. So instead she says, "Tell you what? When I pick you up, I'll have the answer."

"But that's so far away," the girl drags out, reminding Hina, with no lack of fondness, how she used to speak when she was around Hoku's age.

Hina suppresses a chuckle. "If you can't wait that long," she says, "then how about you ask Miss K? I'm sure she would love to explain it to you."

"Okay," Hoku sighs, her round cheeks growing rounder as she fills them with a small bit of air.

When they step inside, a wall of warm, cozy air hits them. The room is rather on the larger side, with a dress up box in one corner, a naptime area in another, tables set with colorful toys, and a large, oval rug set up in front of the blackboard. Despite her grumbling about Miss K earlier, Hoku drops her mother's hand and sprints across the mostly empty classroom to hug her teacher's legs.

"Well, hello to you too," Akamai says, stooping down on a knee so she can ruffle Hoku's hair, "How are you today, Hoku?"

"Good," the little girl chirps, bouncing on the balls of her feet, "Papa's gonna show me how he takes care of his flowers after school today."

"Well," says Akamai, "that sounds like a lot of fun." She pushes herself to stand as Hina approaches. "And you, Lani?"

Hina resolved her negative thoughts about Akamai quite a long time ago. Honestly, looking back on it now, it was funny for her to have ever assumed that she was Keliana's girlfriend. Married legally, yes, but it's only for posterity's sake, as neither of them are even remotely interested in having a partner romantically. As for her hyperactiveness, well, she happened to choose the perfect line of work to handle that.