Ulf's face lit up when he saw Sophia. Even though they met every day after classes as mentor-partners elsewhere, Sophia's presence at the creative circle today still meant a lot to Ulf. Aisling knew that the boy had been waiting all day for Sophia's arrival. Sophia's opinion mattered to Ulf. The serious, thoughtful, yet kind and humorous girl and the mischievous Viking formed a pair in the friend group that complemented each other perfectly. Sophia became Ulf's best friend, and Ulf became Sophia's.

  Everyone valued the girl's insightful, constructive, and kind opinions, not just Ulf. Aisling also knew that her cousin always tasted Ulf's innovations at home. She compared the dishes daily and now had a specific opinion about the star roll, the boy's exam topic.

  "If Sophia gives a good opinion about the star roll, Ulf will take the exam tomorrow," she thought.

  Today, she dressed in shades of light green again. She was almost still a child when she found her own style. Sophia and Velia were the girls in the friend group who had hardly changed their styles since childhood.

  After putting on the red apron, as expected, the girl headed straight to Ulf. The others had to make do with a fleeting greeting smile.

  "She won't move away from Ulf all afternoon," Aisling predicted quietly.

  Baalit didn't go for food and didn't put on a red apron either.

  "Hey! Sorry for being so late. We all finished preparing for the exam today," he apologized after sitting down next to Fabia.

  "We haven't even finished eating yet," the girl said gently.

  "This cake looks good," he said, picking up a slice and starting to munch on the sweet without further comment.

  Aisling examined Fionn again, but there was no trace of the strange behavior. The boy didn't avoid her gaze this time and smiled.

  "I imagined it," she thought with relief. "He can't believe what my mother and Daphne assumed about Rhys and me."

  "We should talk to Felix," Baalit's suggestion caught the group off guard, but everyone understood why and how he came to this conclusion. They also suspected what he wanted to suggest to the boy: to talk to Thana. Years ago, Baalit was in love with Aisling but never dared to approach her. Aisling had no idea about Baalit's feelings. When the girl got together with Fionn, Baalit deeply regretted never making a move. He even wrote about his suffering in a diary. Later, after he and Fabia became a couple, he told everyone what had happened. They even read the diary. This didn't break their friendship.

  "We shouldn't," Fabia said quickly.

  "We don't interfere that much," Aisling continued.

  "We're just protecting the first mutual love. Let him act according to his own personality," Fionn also objected, emphasizing the word "mutual."

  Baalit didn't argue for his idea. He continued eating the cake silently.

  "The one I should talk to is Ulf," Aisling thought. She still vividly remembered how strangely Thana behaved last night when she hugged the Viking friendlily. "With Ulf... or Thana. After all, Velia has been Ulf's partner for years," she thought indignantly.

  She didn't share her suspicion with the group. And she decided that whatever was going on between Ulf and Thana, she wouldn't interfere. If her mother and Daphne's suspicion had been true, she would have received support, not hatred. She couldn't treat Thana and Ulf any differently. If. It wasn't even certain that Thana was acting strangely because of this.

  "Even if this happened, I'll still stand by them," she resolved.

  Baalit drank a glass of invigorating syrup, packed some star rolls for later, exchanged a few words with Ulf and Sophia, and then they headed to the creative circle of the boy's parents.

  In this part of the afternoon, more people came to the creative quarter.

  On the wide promenades, young couples, friend groups, mentor groups, and families strolled and looked around. Most people peeked into two or three creative circles and participated in their activities.

  What a riot of colors! Aisling now would have preferred to just sit on a bench and watch the passing people. Sometimes she just watched them. And her soul filled with love.

  After the Gauls' victory in 4523, people were connected by both similarities and differences. It was so interesting to discover as a child what traditions others, mentor-partners, and mentees followed! The Festival of Martyrs and the year of subjugation could be frightening. It meant that the subjugated person was torn from their usual environment for a year or forever, depending on the decision made after the year of subjugation. No one influenced the decision. Just like Fionn, Aisling, Sophia, and Rhys, others also decided based on reasonable arguments which house they would continue to live in and what traditions they would follow.

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  Baalit and Fabia were walking ahead of them, hand in hand. When they reached one of Ulf's favorite creative circles, the boy stopped them with a mysterious smile.

  "Wait here!" he commanded with a laugh.

  This was where Ulf cultivated his plants in the botanical circle run by Old Larthia, tailoring them to his own ideas and taste. Most of Sophia's plants had been gifts from her grandparents, but a few had been cultivated here. Some were even created and gifted to her by Ulf, and they had planted them together in the space around the swan statue. Sometimes they had come here together to perform the entire process.

  The boy returned shortly, carrying four pots. There were no plants in them. The soil inside each pot clearly showed that something had been freshly planted.

  "You'll see what they'll turn into," he said with a mysterious look, raising his eyebrows seriously, though his eyes sparkled with cheerful mischief.

  Fabia pressed the soil in her pot, as if trying to figure out what was hidden beneath it. The gesture, meant as a joke, was followed by a shrug and a sigh.

  "Well, we'll see what it turns into," she said resignedly.

  "You'll see what it turns into for each of you," Baalit clarified.

  "I'm getting more curious by the minute," said Fionn, narrowing his eyes.

  "It won't bite you," Baalit grinned. "Just water it every other evening at dusk."

  "And then it won't bite?" Fionn asked, eyeing the nothingness inside his pot.

  "Let's just say it won't bite anyone, under any circumstances," Baalit assured the soon-to-be plant owners.

  "This is like that story," Aisling said, steering the conversation away from biting plants.

  "You mean the one where the plants warned the group of friends if one of them was in trouble?" Fabia asked.

  "See? That's exactly why each of you will have a different plant. Because you'll see something different in it. That's the story you thought of. But who knows, maybe Fionn's plant will bite," Baalit said with a laugh, raising his index finger.

  "In the end, after every member of the friend group had passed their test, helped a friend in need, what did the plants turn into again?" Fabia pondered, still thinking about the story.

  "Fairies," Fionn said instantly.

  "Goddesses of fate," Aisling answered without hesitation.

  "The story ends with: 'And then the plants transformed,'" Old Larthia chimed in.

  Baalit had forgotten the star rolls in the creative circle; he came back to get them.

  "Exactly. We all imagined something. Something amazing. But what if the plants just... bloomed? Isn't that the most reasonable thing?" Baalit asked.

  "You'll see what they'll become," Old Larthia said mysteriously, though she was no longer thinking of the story, but of the actual contents of the pots. "Truth is, Baalit doesn't know either. But you can imagine what they'll turn into."

  Aisling looked at her pot with affection.

  "I don't care what it turns into. It'll always remind me of our friendship."

  "You'll see," called out Old Larthia from the entrance. "And maybe Fionn's really will bite," she added mischievously.

  Even though she quickly closed the door behind her, her loud laughter still echoed from inside.

  No one was upset with Baalit. Even when he joked, it could sometimes lead to conflict or brief offense. But they knew him well. This time too. He just wanted to make them laugh.

  "Let this plant be for us like the one in that story," Aisling thought. She wasn't afraid of losing her friends after this school phase ended. She still regularly met with mentor-group friends from upper years. Her mother, Daphne, Rhys, her whole family, everyone had kept their old school friendships.

  Still, something about this quiet afternoon felt threatening.

  As if Fionn sensed her uncertainty.

  "Everything's going to be fine," he said so softly only Aisling could hear. He wrapped a protective arm around her. That's how they continued walking.

  They were already nearing the creative circle of Eshmun and Elisa.