To put this into context, if Alex was mentioned in this chapter, she'd be nine years old.

1

Ruva was running through the field with her dog Basil. Basil's golden fur was a large tangle of fur along with the deep green leaves from the summer trees. Ruva's own blond locks were hip length and as knotted as her dog's. A crown woven from wildflowers sat upon her head, with flyaway hairs whipping her face.

Ruva ran over to her parents. "Look Mama, Look Daddy!" She cried out.

She skidded to a stop in front of them. "Look what I made!" She said, pointing to the crown on her head. Ruva was bouncing with joy, in the way only a six-year-old could.

Her mother smiled knowingly. "What a pretty crown, Ruva, can you show me how you made it?"

"Yes Mama I can! Can I show Daddy as well?"

"Daddy is busy setting up the campsite." Said Ruva's mother. She saw Ruva's smile dampen. "How about we make one for Basil instead?" Ruva's uncontainable excitement returned.

"Yes yes yes! Let's go Mama!" Ruva burst off towards the centre of the field, with Basil close behind.

"Edward!" Ruva's mother called to her husband.

"Yes Jacinta?" Edward replied.

"I'm just going to play with Ruva for a while, can you set up the tents yourself tonight?"

"Only if you cook dinner!" Laughed Edward.

"Sure I'll cook dinner. I hope you enjoy your burnt buffet!" Jacinta was still laughing when she caught up with Ruva.

Ruva sat on a small rock as she taught her mother how to make flower crowns.

"… And then you keep doing that until it is big enough to go on your head!" Ruva finished her explanation triumphantly. Jacinta smiled good naturedly and finished her own crown. She held it up to Ruva.

"Is this big enough to fit my head?" She asked the child. Ruva examined it closely.

"Yes." She said decisively. "You can put that on your head now."

"Do you want me to show you a special trick?" Jacinta said, a secretive smile enveloping her face.

"Yes yes yes!"

"Watch this." Jacinta opened her palms so the crown had no shield against the wind. The crown slowly floated up on an anomalous draft of wind. It hovered through the air, rotating slightly as it went. It descended softly, landing on Jacinta's head. Ruva's jaw dropped, her eyes opened wide. Jacinta saw her daughter's bug eyed look, and laughed heartily.

"Did-did you do that Mama?" At Jacinta's nod, Ruva looked up to her mother with newfound awe.

"Can you teach me how to do that trick?" Ruva whispered. Her uncontainable excitement was nowhere to be seen; replaced with awe filled seriousness and poorly hidden hope. Jacinta was disappointed in having to burst Ruva's bubble. But she couldn't let her daughter live a life of lies. She had always tried to be open and honest with her daughter, now more than ever.

"Before… Before I tell you about that trick, I need to… I need to have some dinner with Daddy." Ruva was satisfied with her Mother's answer, and continued to make Basil's flower crown.

After experimenting many different ways to try and keep the crown on Basil, they gave up and were drawn back to the campsite by the enticing aroma of Edward's cooking. Ruva ran over to her father.

"Daddy that looks yummy!" She shouted. Edward chuckled.

"It's almost finished, but I need some extra help."

"I can help! I can help!"

"I don't know… Do you really want to help?"

"Yes! I really want to help!"

"I'm still not too sure…"

"You can be sure. You should always be sure with me. I can be a really sure-y person." Jacinta and Edward both laughed. Ruva started laughing too, although she had no idea what was so funny.

"Okay, I need you to find me some wood for the fire. Do you remember which wood to get?"

"Yes yes yes! You get the dry wood from birch and kindling from stickleback trees!"

"That's right! Off you go." Ruva ran towards the trees as if her life depended on it.

Jacinta started building the fire as Edward continued to cook the scrumptious smelling meal.

"I showed Ruva my gift today." Jacinta said. "She had the most adorable look on her face."

"Is that so?" Jacinta laughed at her husband's feinted disinterest.

"Yes, that is so. The first thing she asked me was to teach her how to do the trick."

"Aww, how sweet. Was she disappointed when you told her that it wasn't her gift?"

"I haven't told her yet, I thought we should have explained to her together over dinner."

"I can show her my gift then too." Edward continued cooking dinner as Jacinta prepared their fire. After a few minutes Ruva came back, her arms were filled with sticks, even Basil was carrying one!

Ruva piled her sticks a few metres away from the fire Jacinta was preparing. Jacinta grabbed some of the birch sticks and a handful of kindling. "Can I light the fire? I know how to do it! Please?" Ruva asked. Jacinta nodded. "Yay!" Ruva cried. She sat on her mother's lap and lit a match, she lit the woodpile Jacinta had stacked, and it quickly caught on. Soon their campsite was filled with light and warmth.

"Dinner's ready!" Edward called. He brought a large pot of soup over, serving them a cup each. Ruva sipped at her soup, Edward gave Jacinta a look from across the campfire.

"Sweetie, can we talk to you about something?" Jacinta asked.

Ruva swallowed a mouthful of soup, "Yeah, you can talk to me."

Jacinta was about to speak, but she didn't know what to say. She looked to Edward for support. Edward got the hint.

"Ruva, I am going to tell you a story." Edward had Ruva's attention now, Ruva loved stories. Basil came and snuggled against Ruva.

"Since the beginning of time, some humans have been gifted with special powers, these powers are referred to as gifts." Ruva looked awestruck. Edward turned to Jacinta. Then Jacinta started talking.

"Not everyone has a gift, but nearly all gifts are unique, each gifted person has their own special power. I am gifted, and so is Daddy. My gift is wind, I can create currents and updrafts, and I might even have the strength to lift you from the ground!" Ruva's jaw dropped, her eyes comically wide. She was silent for a minute, trying to comprehend what she had been told.

"Daddy, what's your gift?" She asked. Edward let out a nervous chuckle, his gift was more difficult to explain.

"My gift is the ability to see connections. I can see thousands of tiny ribbons coming out of you, each one connected to something important to you. These ribbons are different shapes and sizes, some of them stretch all over Medora. The closer you are to an important thing, the brighter the ribbon is." Ruva seemed even more stupefied.

"Can you tell me about my ribbons?" asked Ruva.

Edward chuckled, "I have a better idea." Edward activated his gift, he saw ribbons in all the colours imaginable stretching from everyone and everything. He narrowed down what he was looking for, all the ribbons disappeared except three. They were lime green, one of them was connected to Jacinta, the other to himself.

Edward looked at Jacinta's green ribbon, it was her gift. The ribbon swayed about like the wind itself. Edward looked at Ruva with his gift vision, she had a green ribbon as well, but it hung loosely, it hadn't yet found a connection. Edward smiled. That ribbon confirmed that Ruva would someday have a gift, but it hadn't yet decided itself.

Edward looked at his own green ribbon, there were multi-coloured strands woven within it, showing that he could see the ribbons that connected everything. He grabbed onto his ribbon, pulling it towards Ruva. Edward knew that when the ribbon was touching Ruva, she would temporarily be able to use his gift. He concentrated hard on the ribbon, making it thinner and less potent. She would become overwhelmed if she viewed all the ribbons at once. The thin ribbon would show her only the ribbons connected to herself.

Ruva watched her father grab at air and carry something over to her. "Close your eyes." He said. Ruva obeyed and felt Edward press his hand against her head. "Now open them." Ruva opened her eyes. She gasped out loud and saw thousands of rainbow coloured ribbons flowing from her, they pulsed with life, matching her own heartbeat. Two white strands were connected from her into her mother and father. Edward pointed out those strands.

"See these? They are ribbons of love, showing that we trust each other and love one another. If our love for one another is tested, these strands will turn silver if we succeed." Ruva could do nothing but gape. She noticed a white ribbon flowing from her into Basil as well. Edward pointed to a ribbon.

"See that yellow ribbon? That is connected to your lifelong friend, even though you haven't met them yet." Finally, Edward pointed to a purple strand.

"This strand is joint to your future beloved, you have been connected since you were born, and you will stay connected until you die. When you meet this person that the strand connects you to, it will turn a bright pink."

The ribbons around Ruva flickered then disappeared, all she could see now was the fire and her parents. Everything seemed dull compared to the ribbons that were connected to Ruva. Jacinta was waiting patiently for them to finish, it would've tired Edward too much to hold both Ruva and Jacinta to his gift. Ruva sat in silence as she admired both of her parent's gifts.