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“You what?” Sunflower and Daffodil had near-identical looks of shock on their faces, their ruby eyes wide and their tails twitching.
“I’m thinking about it,” Rahn said desperately, trying to keep his eldest sisters calm. If they squealed any louder, their other sisters or worse, their parents might show up, and he was not in the mood to talk to them about this.
“You’re thinking about leaving, forever!” Daffodil sobbed. She pressed herself against Sunflower, who frowned deeply at Rahn.
“Not forever, Daffodil!” he shouted, against his better judgment. The three of them stared at each other, breathing heavily.
Aster stuck her head in his room, her red braids flying. “What’s going on? I heard shouting.”
“Rahn is thinking of leaving,” Sunflower told her, her eyes never leaving Rahn’s.
“But he and Olivier are always going away,” Aster pointed out timidly. She came into the room, shutting the door behind her. “Why is that a problem?”
“Not with Olivier, dummy!” Daffodil hissed. “The past!”
Rahn growled. “That wasn’t for either of you to say! It’s my business who I tell.” Is it going to be this difficult talking to Olivier about this? Gods, he hoped not.
“You’re a fool, Rahn,” Sunflower snapped. “And we will tell everyone who asks so they can keep you from making dumb decisions!”
“You’re the one who told me—!”
“I know what I said!” His eldest sister leaned forward, pushing Daffodil back as she came inches before Rahn. “I know what I said. But you never, ever said it was someone in the past!”
“Stop it!” Aster cried, rushing in before Rahn could draw himself to his full height and use his considerable knowledge to intimidate the eldest. “Stop it! Calm down. Start from the beginning.”
Tails lashing, ears laid flat, and glaring daggers at each other, all of the siblings sat down on Rahn’s floor. Just when Rahn noticed that the only one missing was Marigold, their youngest sister came flying into his room. “Rahn!” she sang, and then stopped abruptly. “What’s going on?”
“Rahn has something to tell us, Goldie,” Sunflower said, and patted the open space next to her.
Marigold nervously took her spot in the sibling circle, confused by the tension between the eldest three. “What’s going on?” she asked again.
Rahn looked at his youngest sister, who had only just turned fourteen. He sighed and rubbed one of his ears. “You all know that I’ve been time traveling. I don’t know how. I don’t know why me. But anyway, I was thrown years into the past a while ago. Years ago, even. And… back then… I met a young woman.”
“A girl!” Aster and Marigold gasped as one.
“Her name is Violet. Anyway, I was completely hopeless. I loved her the second I saw her.” And he couldn’t help but blush as he said it.
Daffodil choked on another sob. “Just like Dad,” she whimpered.
“Ending up in the past wasn’t so bad when it meant seeing her. Of course I missed all of you, and our parents and Olivier, but Violet… She really did make everything better. I could bear the loneliness because of her; in fact, I didn’t feel lonely anymore, and she made me appreciate what I have with all of you.”
Aster pulled on her braids, reminiscent of her mother at a young age. “She sounds nice, Rahn.”
He smiled, and all four of his sisters saw exactly what kind of effect this girl was having on their brother. They had never been able to associate this smile with its cause, but now that they knew, it was obvious: he was in love. “She’s wonderful. I wish you could meet her. I think you’d love her.”
“And so we come to the crux of the issue,” Sunflower said through gritted teeth. She had been his first supporter among his sisters, and it was painful to feel so betrayed. Rahn didn’t belong in the past. He belonged with his family, where he was loved and appreciated, where he would always have a home. Of course she wanted him to be happy, but to lose him to a time he didn’t belong…
Rahn reached into his pocket and pulled out two rings, which he placed in the circle. They were flawless bands, and they all recognized them instantly, having seen them on their parents’ hands their entire lives. “I want to ask her to marry me.”
“A wedding!” Marigold cried in delight. “Oh, but that’s—” She stopped, and then closed her mouth. “You’re… going to go away?”
“I am thinking about it,” he said firmly, glaring at Sunflower. “That’s all. I am thinking about staying with her.”
“You can’t!” Marigold leapt to her feet. “You can’t, you can’t! You can’t!”
Rahn was rather taken aback by her exclamation. Having already faced opposition from the twins, he hadn’t expected it to come from the youngest. “Can’t I?”
“No! You can’t, the dead—the lifestream—it—No, you can’t leave, you can’t go back there. It’s not safe. And Mommy and Daddy won’t let you.”
“I’m twenty-two, Goldie, I can do as I please.” Even if she was unfortunately correct that their parents, particularly their mother, wouldn’t want him disappearing forever. “And it wouldn’t be forever! I would still come home sometimes! It’s the same as if I got married to anyone in the present.”
“But Rahn, your duty would be to your wife,” Daffodil pointed out, still patting her eyes with a tissue as tears kept falling. “No matter how sweet and wonderful she is, she would want you to come home less and less often. A man’s wife is the most important person in his life. You’d be building a home then.”
Right when he was about to retort, Aster spoke up. Timid, quiet Aster. “He can go where he’s happy.”
The other four stared at her. “What?” Sunflower asked, gaping.
“Rahn can go where he is happy,” she repeated. “He loves her. Is it really fair of us to demand he stay here, where he wouldn’t be happy? Our brother here never did anything with us until he met her.”
He jerked, affronted. “That’s not true—”
“Yes, it is,” Aster cut him off. “But ever since he met her, he’s been a better brother than ever. Can we really take him away from the woman who changed him into a better version of himself?” She prodded the ring that was nearest to her. “And besides, think about Violet. Would it be fair to ask her to come here?”
“Stop playing devil’s advocate and encouraging him, Aster,” Sunflower said, pursing her lips.
“Apparently, not one of you has considered that I literally cannot control this time travel ability,” Rahn said irritably. “I haven’t got a choice.”
All four of his sisters immediately pounced on him, knocking him onto his back and hugging him tight. “Silly, foolish Rahn,” Daffodil said. “Of course we’re not upset about the time travel.”
“No, of course not,” Sunflower agreed, patting his hair.
“Come on, get off!” he laughed, flailing. “Let go of me!”
“No!” said Marigold, who was firmly latched to his stomach while Aster was attached to his waist. “Not until you promise.”
He shook a leg, trying to make his sisters let go. “I promise I won’t leave you all forever. No matter what.” It was an easy promise to make, as he knew Violet would never keep him from his family. They were just frightened by change, and that was all right.
“Well…” The girls looked between each other and released him. “You’re still not allowed to leave forever,” Marigold huffed.
Rahn picked up the rings and inspected them to make sure they were all right. “I’m not going to leave forever. How come you never ask me that when I go adventuring with Olivier?”
“Olivier is cool, Rahn! He would never take you away forever!”
“She’s right that he’s cool,” Aster muttered under her breath.
“Forget about me, should we be worried about you?” he asked with a laugh.
“What? No! You don’t get to make me the center of attention, Rahn!” Aster shoved his arm. “Just make sure you know exactly what it is you want, okay? That kind of decision isn’t for us to make for you, it’s for you and Violet.” She climbed to her feet and brushed her dress. “I’m going to my room, and I’m going to pretend we didn’t talk, but only if you don’t tease me in front of Mama and Daddy.”
“Oh, so we should be worrying about you too, then?” Sunflower teased.
“No!” Aster shot back, and left in a hurry.
The twins giggled before looking back at their brother. Daffodil wiped her eyes again while Sunflower sighed. “I’m sorry for shouting, Rahn,” she said. “I can only say—I’m worried about you.”
“We both are,” Daffodil said quietly. “But we can talk more later. I think Marigold wanted something?”
The three looked at their smallest sister. “What is it you came in for, Goldie?” Rahn asked.
She pulled out ribbons from her pocket. “Rahn, will you braid my hair?”
His shoulders relaxed. It had been a stressful morning, what with arguing with the twins and nearly losing his composure completely, so something as innocent as braiding his sister’s hair seemed quite nice. “Yeah, come on, sit on your chair over here then.”
The rhythm of brushing and braiding her hair while Marigold chattered was a nice way to show his baby sister that he loved her, and it wasn’t something he wanted to give up.