Serena's POV:

The blossoms perfumed the air, subtle, but impossible to ignore. Most of the ones I kept were the types that should bloom all year long in good conditions. I had never really had a chance to organize a flowerbed with plants of my own choosing, and I was delighted with the outcome.

I leaned my head against Darien's chest as his arm was draped over my shoulders. He hadn't let me do any of the digging or lifting, merely asking me where I wanted each plant. My heart swelled with his love and how much he humored me. "Thank you."

He kissed my forehead, "Anytime."

I failed to see what I did in life to be so lucky as to find someone like Darien. He was like a dream and I was almost scared to wake up from it. I didn't think it was a dream though, my mind would not have been able to come up with half of the things I had seen the last week, nor would I have been able to come up with the Dranek.

That reminded me of why they were even on this planet to begin with. A forest was a far cry from this tiny piece of dirt that held roughly thirty plants, but I still wanted to see what I could do to help. It was also the only real way I could try to repay the Dranek for their kindness or for finding Darien for me.

I spoke slowly as I tested the waters, "The Dranek once mentioned that some of their elders were going to come and talk to us about the forests on their planet. Do you know when they might be coming?"

"You want to help the forests recover." It was a statement, not a question. He didn't seem surprised by the topic...

I turned my head to look at him, to see that he was watching me with calm eyes. I was hopeful, "I want to see what I can do to help."

He exhaled slowly, "I have no idea what their planet is like or how dangerous it may be, but if nothing else, I know the Dranek will do their best to keep trouble at bay. How do you plan to assist an entire forest? A few glimpses I caught from Saphira's mind makes me think that these forests are massive and cover most of the planet."

That was a very good question, and I wasn't entirely sure myself, "I have never really tested how big of an area I can affect when it comes to plants. I know it will require at least one song, but even if I can only help a small area, it should show me what is wrong and how to fix it. I am sure the Dranek will be more than happy to work on it from there."

Darien was quiet for some time. "I would rather not chance a foreign planet, but I know you truly want to help. Just don't leave my side while we are there."

I smiled in relief that Darien was being so open when I knew that a strange place would put him on edge. I stood on my tiptoes to kiss his lips as a thank you. He dropped the shovel in favor of holding me closer for a longer kiss.

The kiss didn't go on too long and I lowered my head to nuzzle my face against his shirt. Darien rested his chin on my head, "After lunch, we can go to the beach again. Saphira tends to appear along the road."

I glanced back at the flowers. It was odd to realize that I didn't have to really hide my singing ability anymore. The discovery also made me think of other ways I could use my ability.

It was almost lunchtime, so I knew Saphira would be awake. "I would really like to see if my magic could let her know that I want to talk with her. I am just not sure how far away it will work. I never tried it before."

I had mulled over how I had called Schlach by accident, and I was pretty sure that I could let Saphira know that I wanted to talk without putting any sense of urgency into it. I had never tried it though, and I wasn't sure if it could work over distance. Some things like lock-picking would only work on things in my immediate vicinity.

Darien suddenly looked quite interested, "Why don't you try? If it works, then it gives you a way to call me if we somehow get separated."

"I never thought of that! That could have helped so much in the past." How could I have not thought of that before? It had simply never occurred to me to use my magic as a one-way phone line, although my general help songs had not done it automatically for some reason...

He nodded and looked towards the forests surrounding the village, clearly waiting to see how this experiment worked. I slowly inhaled as I organized my thoughts and focused on my music. I was going to be going carefully with this one, I didn't want to accidentally force Saphira to come or relay the wrong impression.

I started humming faintly, focusing on Saphira and on the desire for a friendly talk. I made sure that no urgency was in the soft call. I felt my magic peak before dissipating, in a very similar fashion to the purification spell and I knew that it had done something.

I let the faint hum fade, "Well, as far as I can tell, it did something. I guess we wait and see."

Darien nodded, "Why don't we sit on the porch swing for a while? I am sure if it worked that she will come just out of curiosity."

I agreed and we went to sit on the swing.

We hadn't cuddled on the swing for more than fifteen minutes before I saw something blue on the road leading to the village. I turned my head for a better look, although I already knew that it would be Saphira.

She leisurely walked up to the porch steps, "Good morning."

"Good morning, I hope I didn't disturb you."

Saphira shook her head, "Not at all. It was quite interesting."

Darien was watching her intently, although it looked like he was more curious than anything, "Interesting, how?"

Saphira considered it for a moment before responding, "It was almost as if I could hear Serena humming, and knew that she wanted me to visit at some point."

"Did you know where she was just from her call?"

Saphira thought hard, "Not really... There was a faint sense that she wanted me to come to the house, but there was nothing really hinting at where she currently was," Saphira's head came up suddenly as she looked at Darien, "You are worried that someone may take her again and that this may help you find her."

Darien nodded seriously, "It has happened too many times already, despite my best efforts."

Saphira's eyes narrowed and her skin darkened slightly at that reminder. She shook her head before glancing between Darien and me, "I will happily help you test it, but I have a feeling that this was not why Serena wanted to talk with me."

I nodded slowly, "You mentioned that the Dranek were looking for a singer to help the forests on your planet. I am not sure what all my singing can accomplish, but I would like to try."

My words were clearly not what Saphira had been expecting and she blinked in surprise before thinking hard. "We are grateful for any attempt you may make, but we were not expecting you to want to come this early. Please wait a day while we ensure that the area around the gate is completely free of predators, then you are free to come whenever you wish."

"Thank you," I had a feeling that my visit was going to disrupt a lot of schedules as they tried to clear the forests.

She smiled warmly at me, "No, thank you."

Darien joined the conversation, "I would like to see if I can determine Serena's location from her call, would you be willing to help us after lunch?"

"Certainly. We are currently keeping all predators away from the village, but I will ensure that the scouts are on high alert. I will not leave her side."

Darien watched her intently for some time before relaxing and nodding, whatever he had picked up from Saphira's mind had reassured him that I would not be in any danger with her.

Saphira glanced towards the forest, "I will return after lunch then."

Darien nodded, although Saphira was already starting to walk away. I watched the blue-skinned woman go. It had never occurred to me that they would be willing to help me figure out how my magic worked and learn what limitations it may have.

* * *

"There you go, and that will take some time to cook, so we can peel these vegetables while we wait."

All of the foods on the counter were things from this planet, and I wasn't even sure where to start with half of it. Thankfully, Darien was a patient teacher.

I left the thin strips of meat to cook in the sauce while I turned around and started to peel the odd dark brown vegetables. It reminded me vaguely of a potato, but it had a deep rich scent with a crisp and almost minty tang to it.

Darien started to help me peel the unfamiliar roots. It was relaxing and it didn't take us long to finish peeling them. Darien then showed me how to prepare them and cover them with a bit of cheese before putting them into the wood oven to bake.

Darien put the peels into a pail and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, "I will take these to the compost bin and be right back."

I blushed slightly, but nodded as I started washing dishes. He disappeared out the door with a backward smile. I grinned as he passed by the kitchen window, my eyes followed him as he continued down the street.

Pain lanced across my hand and I winced as I belatedly realized that I had put the knives in the dishwater in my distraction. I pulled my hands out of the water and carefully dabbed the blood away with the drying towel.

The cut at the base of my thumb was shallow, but longer than I had anticipated. It was deep enough that it was bleeding readily. I wrapped the towel around my hand tightly and prayed that the bleeding would stop before Darien noticed. It wasn't the worst cut I had ever had, but it was deep enough.

I glanced out the window, but Darien hadn't been rushing and it would take him a few minutes to get to the compost bin that was at the edge of the village. I used a larger spoon to locate the extremely sharp knife in the water and push it up the side of the sink where I could carefully remove it with my good hand.

I saw Darien coming back down the street and peeked under the towel. Thankfully, the bleeding had already stopped with the amount of pressure I had been putting on it. I removed the towel, glad that its darker color would make the bloodstains invisible. I was careful to not move my thumb in case it made the bleeding start anew.

Darien would still spot the superficial injury, but it would take him longer than if I had left the towel wrapped around it. I was also hoping that it would also prevent him from worrying too much.

He had left me alone for about three minutes and I had managed to injure myself in that timeframe while washing dishes. He was never going to relax when I was out of his sight if I kept this up....

Minor healing was a rather complicated hum and I had only ever tried it once. The cut was minor and it didn't worry me, besides, Darien would hear the hum and possibly think that it had been a much larger injury. I went back to drying dishes as I heard Darien enter the front door.

I glanced back and blinked in startlement as I realized that his eyes were slightly darker than usual. He was walking quickly towards me, "What happened?"

He knew something happened, but hadn't seen the shallow hidden cut on my hand yet. I tilted my head in curiosity as I replied, "I managed to nick myself with a knife, but it has already stopped bleeding. How did you know?"

He gently turned my hands over and immediately spotted the cut. "We should clean and bandage that in case it gets infected."

I nodded, it really did need some sort of covering since some blood was already appearing even though I hadn't moved my thumb. Darien practically disappeared with speed as he went to locate the first aid kit that the Dranek had included in our supplies.

It was only moments before Darien returned with a similar speed. I tried again, "How did you know I cut myself?"

Darien dug around in the first aid kit, pulling out disinfectant and a bandaid that was large enough to cover the cut.

"I wasn't exactly sure what happened, but I felt a slight prick through the bond. Once I got closer to the house, I could pick up the faint pain with my reading ability. I thought that you might have burnt yourself on the stove or banged your head on the underside of one of the cabinets."

I hadn't realized that the bond would alert him to any small injury. That little detail could become troublesome considering how often I tended to bang my shins on any obstacle even close to my path.

Darien held up the disinfectant, "This will probably sting..." He trailed off, obviously not wanting to cause me any pain.

I took it from him, "Let me do it." He reluctantly let me take the small spray bottle from his hand. I spritzed the bottle a few times and winced as the liquid faintly burned in the cut. Remembering an old trick, I blew across the cut. It helped once more with the mild burning.

Darien took a clean cloth and gently dabbed my hand dry before putting the bandage on. He pulled me into a hug and exhaled heavily. I leaned my head against his chest. I knew the mate bond was making him paranoid over any tiny scratch, but there wasn't much either of us could do about it.