Chapter 9

" D o you feel like you're really ready for this?" Levi asked.

Margot squared her shoulders and then nodded, anxious but determined.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. At least now I'll have an answer one way or the other, even if it's bad news."

He pulled her into a hug, and she relaxed against him ever so slightly, some of the tension running out of her body as she sighed.

It had been two days since the encounter with Gale and Sylvie, though it felt like only a matter of minutes – locating the aurum lacunosa in the middle of a snow-covered forest and bringing it back safely had been a challenge, and then there had been the matter of notifying Margot's university so that they could send Professor Imari out to verify her findings. Throw in the fact that they'd been trying to tidy up the bookstore and the apartment above to make them a little less hard to navigate, as well as meeting various inhabitants of the town, and they'd barely had a moment to themselves.

Levi ran his fingers gently through her hair, and she almost made an embarrassing sound at how nice it felt, the gentle energy of the mate bond and the soft touch of his fingers relaxing her tense muscles.

He murmured, "How could it be bad news? Not only did you locate the flos nivis , but you're giving them the location of that magical mushroom as well. If anything, they should be bumping your grade up even higher. These are pretty monumental discoveries for the magical world, from what you've told me."

Margot looked up at him, staring into his beautiful eyes and almost getting lost for a moment before she remembered what she was going to say.

"Oh, so I should get a C-minus instead of a D?" she laughed, happy enough about the turn things had taken over the past few days that she felt she could genuinely poke fun at herself.

After a moment, however, her mood fell a little, uncertainty once more pushing itself to the forefront of her mind. "I don't know, though. We were only able to locate the aurum lacunosa after Gale so kindly gave us all that information and Caleb showed us where to find it – before then, I didn't even know that it was growing in this area. If anything, they should be the one getting the credit for it."

Levi's smile in return was so reassuring that she found herself starting to lighten up again before he even spoke.

"I wouldn't worry about that – out here in the human world, they call it ‘networking'. It's seen as a good thing," he said.

"Networking?" Margot mouthed the word to herself again, trying to puzzle it out.

He nodded. "It means that you're good at meeting the right people and making friends with them, so they can help you at the right time," he explained. "Humans see it as a skill by itself, just like magic." He paused. "That's my understanding, anyway."

"Well, I hope Professor Imari also appreciates this ‘networking'," Margot said hesitantly. "In any case, I will still credit Gale and Sylvie for their assistance, as well as Kira and Caleb for their aid in finding the correct location. I could not have done it without them."

"Fair enough," Levi agreed. "But just remember that you couldn't have done it without you , either. You're the one that made it all happen, Margot. You're the one who, through research, managed to discover that Girdwood Spring was the most likely place for the snow flower to be growing." He caught her gaze and held it with his own, and it was breathtaking in its intensity. She shivered.

"It's one of the things I love the most about you," he continued. "You always want to do the right thing by others, even if it means potentially hurting your own chances. Just make sure that you don't talk yourself down – you deserve everything good that comes of this."

She melted against him once more, closing her eyes, simply happy to feel the protection of his strong arms around her and listen to the slow, steady beat of his heart. No matter what, everything was going to be okay. If Levi believed in her, then she could believe in herself, too.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed wrapped up in his arms, simply enjoying his warm presence, but eventually she pulled back with a sigh.

"They'll be here any minute," she said. "I guess we'd better make sure that everything is in place."

Not that there was anything much more to do – they'd already cleared a path through the store so that everyone could make their way easily to the beam that had sprouted the snow flower, and then tidied up the area beneath it and arranged some chairs so everyone could sit. Cups were patiently awaiting the pouring of hot tea, and there were still plenty of Sylvie's perfectly-preserved cakes to go around, despite her and Levi's best efforts over the past couple of days to eat them all up.

Monty had helped, in his own way, knocking books off of shelves – So that they will be less encumbered with the weight of these silly books, and therefore easier to move, as he had so helpfully explained – as well as swishing his tail about and sending giant plumes of dust into the air.

If you don't appreciate my dusting, he had sneered, then I can stop at any time, and I will save my efforts for those who value them .

While it was typical Monty behavior, Margot had thought she'd detected a hint of apprehension beneath it all, and so she hadn't scolded him too hard for drowning Levi in a sea of dust. After all, today wasn't just deciding her fate – it was deciding his, too. And while he would never admit it, she was pretty sure that he liked being her familiar, terrible at magic though she was.

She herself was definitely apprehensive about it, though she'd been trying to keep her fears at the back of her mind. Levi's confident explanations of why she would attain a passing grade, as well as his general caring, calm presence, had done an awful lot to keep those worried thoughts at bay, and she was more grateful than she could possibly express. She really did not think she could bear to lose Monty.

A sudden fluttering at the edge of her consciousness alerted her to the imminent arrival of her parents and Professor Imari – and, if the sudden lifting of Levi's head was anything to go by, his elevated chimera's senses had picked up on it, too. The chimera was still a source of wonder to her, and she was ever so excited to spend more time in its company and learn more about it!

In the meantime, however…

She took a deep breath and stood up a little straighter, before breathing out and heading down the stairs, taking care to at least keep a somewhat sedate pace. The last thing she needed right now was to fall down the stairs and trip face-first into the deadly mushroom sample! That was definitely D-minus material at best, and she really did not want to have to call upon her mother's skills in healing magic to rescue her from a faceful of fatal fungus.

Stairs successfully navigated, she exited the shop, Levi close behind her, and went around to the back of the building.

There, dusting snow off their shoulders and standing up from a green chaise longue that had definitely not been there earlier, were her mother, her father, and Professor Imari.

"When you said they were going to fly here…" Levi murmured, sounding somewhat perturbed.

"Don't worry, they would have cast a spell of invisibility. No one would have seen a couch sailing over the town," Margot whispered back, before raising her voice. "Mother! Father! I'm so happy to see you!" She managed to force her face into a mostly natural smile for Professor Imari too, bowing to him as befit his rank. "Professor Imari, I am happy to see you also."

Professor Imari nodded to her – though she couldn't help but notice his beard was still looking a little ragged from their last encounter. She gulped – but it seemed that for now at least, he'd decided to let bygones be bygones, flaming beards or not.

"And I am happy to see you too, Margot," Professor Imari said, returning her bow with a dignified nod. "I hear that you have made quite the astonishing discovery."

"Well, I don't know about that ," Margot said automatically, before, remembering the faith that Levi had shown in her, amended, "but I do think that it will be of interest to you."

Her parents, generally the type to act formally when in company, surprised her by both coming to her for a hug at the same time; startled, it took her a moment before she thought to hug them back, wrapping her arms around them both and closing her eyes.

I suppose that this is the longest I've ever been away from home, she thought, still somewhat dazed. And they're probably thrilled that I've finally managed to do something worthwhile, and perhaps no longer bring shame upon them .

It was an unfair thought, and she quashed it quickly, tightening her arms around them. She knew that her parents loved her unconditionally.

"It's so good to see you Margot," her mother said when they pulled back, and Margot could see the concern in her eyes. "You haven't encountered anything too frightful here, have you? Have you been safe? I've been so worried while you've been gone."

"Oh, no, Mother, there was no need for that!" Margot burst out. "I know what you warned me about, but really, everything's been fine – better than fine! I've had the most wonderful time –"

"Well, perhaps we can hear more about it once we have completed the examination," Professor Imari broke in, just a little peevishly, and Margot wondered whether, in fact, those bys really were as gone as they'd seemed.

But before she showed them through to where the flos nivis was blooming, she knew there was one more thing she had to do. Turning she linked her arm through Levi's, drawing him forward from where he'd been standing a little behind her.

"I'll show you the flos nivis in just a moment, Professor," she said. "But first, allow me to introduce Levi Thorne – he helped me locate the flower, as well as providing me with accommodations, and other invaluable assistance."

"Well, it's certainly very good to meet you, Levi Thorne," her mother said, bowing to Levi as if he were a foreign dignitary.

"We're certainly grateful for any help you've given our daughter," her father added, with his own bow. "We owe you a debt."

"Oh… not at all," Levi said, lowering his eyebrows from where they'd risen on his forehead – but then, Margot supposed, he just wasn't used to magical world formalities.

And she supposed that it was a bit awkward for him, given that he was meeting her parents for the first time and they had no idea that he and Margot were mates, but that was probably a conversation best saved for another time. There was already enough going on today without bringing that into the equation – and this was supposed to be a formal examination event, after all.

Although maybe they'd give me a passing grade just to congratulate me for finding such a spectacular man.

"He's a chimera shifter and familiar with magic users," Margot said, "so you can talk freely around him. There are also some other shifters in this town, including some who assisted with the location and identification of the flos nivis , but most of the townspeople are human."

Professor Imari nodded. "You have created a network of contacts within a short timeframe," he said approvingly. "That is a fine skill for a magic user to cultivate."

She detected the slightest hint of a smile at the corner of Levi's mouth, and had to restrain a smile of her own. She supposed that Professor Imari, enchanted with human culture as he was, would be au fait with the human concept of ‘networking'.

In any case, she wanted to get this over and done with as quickly as possible – even with the calming presence of the mate bond, her stomach was still tying itself up in knots. Now that everyone was here, it had suddenly become much more real.

Margot smiled tightly. "If you would all please follow me inside, I can show you the flower that I believe to be the flos nivis ."

"Please, lead the way," Professor Imari said, and the five of them traipsed through the snow to the front of the shop. Margot knew that the others would normally levitate themselves over any such obstacles, but they were being discreet in case any regular humans happened to be nearby. She wondered how they were faring, having to use their physical muscles instead of their magical ones! One upside of being so bad at magic, she supposed, was that she was much more practiced at doing the hard physical slog than many people she knew.

"Oh, this place is charming ," her mother said as they entered, and her father nodded approvingly as he gazed around.

"I could definitely spend some time looking through these books," her father said, examining a shelf. "Some of them appear to be quite ancient, and possibly self-published at that. Some of the most innovative writings have come from those who could not find someone to publish them, but who wrote out their life's work anyway, in the hope that someone else would read it in later years."

Margot's mother turned to face them. "Do you own this store, Levi? It's quite impressive."

Levi's face twitched into an unreadable expression, as he obviously tried to work out how much to say. "I inherited it just recently, so I'm still trying to work out exactly what to do with all of it," he said eventually. "I had no idea that it was potentially made from a rare magical wood, I can tell you that much." He gestured toward the front of the store. "If you'd like to head this way, Margot can show you the site of her discovery."

Margot followed the rest of the group, grateful to Levi for turning the tide of the conversation back toward the flos nivis . The anticipation was killing her!

"Oh, hello Monty," said her father as they reached the area where the beam was located, and Monty was waiting for the. Her father leaned down, giving him a scratch behind the ear, before pausing for moment, before glancing toward Levi. "Ah…"

"It's okay," Margot said. "He can see Monty."

Her parents exchanged a confused glance, but then, apparently, waved it off as something that would be best left until later.

Margot invited everyone to sit and then poured some cups of tea, lifting the pot telekinetically and managing not to spill any despite her nerves – it was a mere trifle as far as magic went, but she thought it best to demonstrate that she at least had the basics down pat.

Professor Imari sipped his tea, sighing in satisfaction, before getting down to business. "So, Margot," he said with a patient smile. "Please tell us all about this discovery of yours. We're all extremely excited to hear about it."

Standing slowly, Margot took a slow breath in and out.

This is it.

"Well," she said, the tremble in her voice barely perceptible, "as you are aware, for my research project I've endeavored to discover the location of the flos nivis , renowned throughout the ages for its many and varied magical properties. After having spent many weeks deep in research, I narrowed down its most likely location to the Mountain of Sources – which, I believe, is located here in Girdwood Springs."

Professor Imari's eyebrows shot up his forehead, resembling nothing so much as two furry caterpillars arching their backs. "This here is the Mountain of Sources?"

"Just over there a little," Margot said, indicating with her hand. "What I believe to be the actual Mountain is a couple of hours' walk south of here… or about ten minutes via chimera."

Professor Imari shook his head in astonishment. "The location of the Mountain of Sources has been lost for generations. If you have managed to rediscover it, that would be quite the feather in your cap. Further proof would be required, however."

Margot exhaled a shaky breath. So far, so good.

She chanced a glance over at her parents. They looked excited, interested. Even hopeful.

If I could live up to that hope, it would be a marvelous thing.

She plowed on.

"While we were able to locate a tree that appeared to be the flos nivis during a spell of extreme cold weather, it was too young to yet be flowering."

The disappointment was plain on her parents' faces – not disappointment in her, but disappointment for her. She hoped that it wouldn't remain there long.

Professor Imari regarded her thoughtfully. "If indeed it is a flos nivis , then it may provide us with the flower's remarkable properties in time; however, by all accounts it is a very slow tree to grow. It could be generations before it can prove useful to us."

Margot nodded. She knew that, while an interesting discovery on its own, it was not necessarily enough for her to earn her qualifications… especially if she couldn't identify it beyond a doubt.

"Are you certain that this tree was the flos nivis ?" Professor Imari continued.

"Certainly it met all of the other criteria," Margot replied. "The color and shape of the foliage, as well as the bark and the general shape of the tree, were an exact match to all of the accounts. But I am aware that without the presence of the flower, it may not be enough for absolute confirmation."

She looked over at Levi for a moment. The love and encouragement in his eyes was enough to keep her going.

"However," she said, "if you would like to direct your eyes upward for a moment…"

Confused, the Professor and her parents stared at her for a moment, before following her pointed finger. She heard several gasps.

"Could it be…?" whispered the professor. Rising from his chair, he levitated up toward the beam for a closer look, quickly followed by her parents.

Margot looked up as well, her heart in her throat. Above her, three snow flower buds were in the process of unfurling. Two of them were only slightly open, but the third one was large and glorious, its blue-edged petals almost seeming luminous in the gloom.

With evident difficulty, Professor Imari tore his gaze away from the flower for long enough to look down at her, bewilderment evident on his face. "The flos nivis is growing out of your friend's bookshop?! "

"It would appear so," Margot said, still feeling a little bewildered about it herself. "As best as we can tell, the local populace must have used the wood of the flos nivis back when it was more abundant, unaware of its magical properties."

"Fascinating," the professor murmured, turning back to the flowers, studying them intently. "Levi, did you say your name was?" he asked, still staring at the flowers. "Do you know whether the previous owner of this store was aware of its… rather unique properties?"

Levi shrugged. "I honestly couldn't say. She never mentioned it, but then again, she pretty much kept herself to herself."

"A unicorn shifter has also moved into this town in recent years," Margot added, "so it may be that his presence has also influenced its sudden growth."

"A unicorn shifter!" Professor Imari exclaimed, shaking his head. "This town is full of surprises."

"He's going to assist me in researching it further," Margot added, barely daring to let the feeling of hope grow inside her. "He also gave me this, to provide to you."

Hands shaking, she reached into her tote and slowly, carefully, pulled out a gently glowing orb.

Holding it out in outstretched hands, she watched as the three witches and wizards descended to the ground to inspect it.

Inside the orb, protected from the ravages of time, was the original flos nivis flower that Gale had so carefully cut for her.

"Here," she said, holding out the orb. Professor Imari's eyes glimmered in its pale golden light. "This is the first flower that bloomed. I have protected it with an ageless spell, but you may wish to bolster it, since as you know, living organisms are tricky things to keep from aging."

Even as she spoke, she could feel the orb's power increase as Professor Imari strengthened it, taking it carefully from her hands.

"You have outdone yourself, Margot," he said, barely taking his eyes off the flower within the orb. Margot could hardly say she blamed him – she'd had several days to get used to it, and she still found it entrancing. "I think it's safe to say that you have most definitely passed."

"What?!" Margot exclaimed, barely daring to believe what she thought she'd heard. He'd just said it so casually! "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I mean it," Professor Imari said. "This will revolutionize the way we practice magic."

Margot stood there, vaguely aware that her mouth was hanging open, but utterly unable to do anything about it.

I've passed? Me? I'm a witch?! A real, proper, full-fledged witch?!

With a smile, Professor Imari waved his hand, and Margot suddenly found herself enclosed in a robe of deep navy blue, a tall, pointed hat appearing upon her head.

In wonder, she raised her hand to touch its wide brim, scarcely daring to believe it was real, before running her hands over the gold trim of the dark blue gown that lay over her shoulders.

I passed! I'm a witch!!

"You are now the recipient of the Diploma of Magic," Professor Imari declared, and an ornate scroll popped into her hand. Feebly, she grabbed at it before it could hit the floor, her fingers slack in shock.

Strong hands wrapped gently around hers, keeping the scroll intact, and she looked up – to see Levi smiling at her. It was a bigger, more unguarded smile than she had ever seen from him, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"This is real, right?" she whispered.

His smile broadened even further, if that was possible.

"It sure is," he said, and the next thing she knew, his arms were around her, holding her up.

She clung to him, eyes brimming over with happy tears.

"Thank you," she murmured. " Thank you. "

"Make sure to thank yourself as well," Levi replied. "You deserve it."

She could've held on to him forever, but after a long moment he pulled back, and it was only with disappointment that she managed to release her hold on him. After a second, though, she realized why he'd given her space, as the next thing she knew, she was being attacked from all sides – both of her parents were hugging her fiercely, barely leaving her with enough air to breathe.

Or maybe she just couldn't breathe because she was so deliriously happy.

I'm a witch. I did it.

She was vaguely aware amongst all of this that Monty was rubbing up against her legs. It was probably the closest he would ever get to actually expressing relief and gratitude, but she was more than happy to take it.

I would pet you right now, but it's a bit impossible, she thought to him.

Perhaps later you can give me some fish, since you're feeling so generous, he replied.

All the months – years , really – of tension and uncertainty suddenly fell away, and Margot felt almost hollow. The stress had taken up so much space within her that, she suddenly realized, there hadn't been a whole lot of room for much else. She'd been so focused on becoming a witch, even though she knew she wasn't very good at it and wouldn't be able to work successfully at it, that she hadn't thought much about what she wanted to do.

She had Monty, now. She had Levi. She had the satisfaction of locating to flos nivis and passing her degree. But where to now?

"We're so proud of you, my sweetpea," her dad said, only slightly releasing his vice-like hug.

"Very, very proud," her mom echoed, pushing Margot's hair back from her face and cupping her cheek, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Thank you, both of you," she said honestly. "You both believed in me and helped me so much, and I couldn't have done it without you. I know it can't be easy, having a child who's so bad at magic."

Her parents looked aghast. "Don't say that!" her mother exclaimed. "It was only hard in that it was hard to see you hurting so much when it didn't come naturally to you. But it's never been hard to have you as our daughter."

Her father nodded in agreement. "Of course we would never think that, Margot."

"Thank you," Margot said again, meaning it, feeling her throat closing up, her eyes growing damp. She blinked, trying to hold back her tears. As horrible and stressful as things had been, she knew she should always be grateful for having had such supportive parents.

"This discovery really will revolutionize magic," her mother went on. "We can't wait for you to come back and continue your studies! So many doors will open for you now."

Margot took a deep breath. She hadn't had much opportunity to think about these things consciously over the past few days, but on a more unconscious level, she'd realized that she knew exactly what it was that she had to do with her life.

"Actually," she said haltingly, "I… I think I want to stay out here in the non-magical world for a while."

It would have been funny, in any other situation, how round her parents' eyes went.

"B-but darling," her mom said after a short, shocked silence, "why on earth would you want to do that? Becoming a witch is all you ever wanted, and you can't do that out here."

"I – I thought it was what I wanted," Margot said slowly, picking her words carefully. "But I think I just wanted the idea of not failing at it. Of not disappointing you both."

Her parents looked bewildered. "Disappointing us?" her father said. "You could never disappoint us."

Margot shook her head. "I know how much it meant to you both that I graduate. Especially given your own standing within the community." Her voice dropped to a near-whisper in shame. "How could you be taken seriously, if your own daughter couldn't even pass her basic studies? And you were so supportive of me, always helping, always encouraging – I didn't want to let you down."

"Is that what you think?!" her mother asked, horrified. "We only supported and encouraged you because we thought it was what you wanted! You always seemed so determined."

"But that was for you –" Margot began, before she cut herself off, fighting the urge to slap herself on the forehead.

Had they really all just been entirely misinterpreting each other this whole time?! Had her parents really only fretted about her poor grades and gotten her tutors and spent so much time trying to help her because they'd thought it was what she wanted, while all the time she'd only been pouring so much effort and stress into it because she wanted to please them?

She'd always been so terrified of disappointing them – and she'd thought they'd wanted her to do well in her studies. But it seemed like they'd been misunderstanding each other the whole time. Perhaps they'd been just as terrified of disappointing her by not being supportive of something she seemed to want as she was of disappointing them.

Her father sighed, just a hint of good-natured exasperation in the sound. "Clearly we all need to work on our communication skills."

"Clearly," Margot murmured, shaking her head. If only they'd all spoken their minds years ago.

"But… are you sure you won't come back?" her mother asked. "You clearly have an aptitude for the research side of things. You managed to re-discover the location of the Mountain of Sources after all these years. You could make all kinds of wonderful discoveries."

"I'm sure I could," Margot said firmly – the words didn't come naturally to her, but she wanted to try to start putting into practice the self-confidence that Levi had been assuring her she deserved to have. "But right now, I have other things I want to do."

Should I tell them now? she wondered, before deciding, Well, what the heck. I might as well. Best to clear up any misconceptions now, if they were going to try to communicate more clearly.

Steeling herself, she pressed on. "I've decided that I'd like to tidy up this bookstore and run it with Levi," she said, raising her chin determinedly. "I would like to do so anyway, but, also… Mother, Father, I have to tell you that Levi is my mate. As I mentioned, he's a chimera shifter and… he realized that we share that bond. And for now at least, I feel that I want to stay here. With him."

Her parents took it remarkably well, really – there were some raised eyebrows and surprised mutterings, and they exchanged a quick glance. But then, apparently, they came to an accord.

Once again, father smiled and hugged her again, followed by her mother.

Three hugs in one day! Margot thought, a little dazed.

"If that's actually what would make you happy, sweetpea, then of course you have to do it," her father said, looking at her with slightly misty eyes. "I can't say I'm not surprised. But as you know, some of our best friends have mate bonds with shifters, and we've never seen them anything other than deliriously happy with each other. And I know we've only just met, but this Levi seems like a good sort. And I'm glad you finally have found the thing you really want to do."

"Just as long as you promise to come visit from time to time?" her mother asked, putting her hands on Margot's shoulders, her own eyes looking a little damp.

"Of course," Margot promised. "And you'll have to come visit me, too. There are so many wondrous things out here that I'd like to show you!"

Her parents looked a little dubious – they had lived their lives within the magical realm, after all, so it would probably take them a bit of time to get used to it – but they nodded.

Margot practically felt weak with relief. All of this had gone better than she had ever dared believe.

But, she realized, there was one more person to thank.

She turned to Professor Imari.

"Thank you for giving me this chance, and believing in me," she said sincerely. "You didn't have to do that. Especially since I, uh, set your beard on fire."

Professor Imari smiled. "You have always had talent and dedication, Margot. It's just that your skills lie in a slightly different area. There is no shame in that."

Margot smiled. As unpleasant and stressful as her studies had been, she thought that perhaps they had helped to make her the person she was today and bring her to this wonderful point in her life.

And if things hadn't happened just the way they had, then she never would have met Levi, she thought, as she turned to him with shining eyes. He'd been standing back, letting her have her moment of glory – but now, he came to stand by her side, warm and solid and comforting.

Still, she was glad to be finally be graduating, and not having to worry about… well, any of the things she'd spent the last six years worrying about. The idea that she could live her day-to-day life without having this constant fear of failure hanging over her head was going to take some getting used to.

"Oh, one more thing," she said, suddenly remembering, and she reached into her tote. "Here – it's a bonus. We found this up on the mountain as well, with some help from the locals – Kira, a human park ranger, and Caleb, a dragon shifter. I wasn't entirely sure that I could trust my own abilities with containment spells in this instance, so I have used something that Levi tells me is called ‘Tupperware' to seal its deadliness away."

She handed the container to Professor Imari, who took it, his brows pinching together in confusion.

"What is this…?" he asked, before understanding dawned on his face. "Is this… is this the aurum lacunosa ?! The curse-breaking mushroom?"

Behind her, her parents gasped. A pink glow quickly appeared around the Tupperware, encasing the deadly fungus in the container within several layers of protection.

"You really have outdone yourself," Professor Imari breathed, lifting the mushroom to stare at it with great intensity. "I do think that you may have located the Mountain of Sources. The chances of both these plants being at the same location otherwise would be so small as to be negligible."

I did it, then? I located the Mountain of Sources?!

Margot was almost dizzy with relief, the proud smiles of everyone else in the room making her feel deliriously happy. She practically collapsed down onto one of the chairs, smiling gratefully when everyone else followed suit, as if they had all been planning on sitting down.

"How about some cake to celebrate?" she said with a shaky but relieved smile, removing the ageless spell from Sylvie's spread.

"No more from you," Levi said, hopping back up to slice and serve the cake, and pour more tea. "You just take a break."

And so she did, relaxing back into the chair and listening to the chatter around her, watching Professor Imari gazing in wonder at her discoveries, her mother and father lean over to Levi to start getting to know him better – and he them.

Everything is perfect, she thought happily. I never could have imagined that things would work out this well. Perhaps this is my own Christmas miracle.