"Please, you have to do something." The first thing I see when we get to Elise's clinic is a pregnant woman pleading with her. "If I never see another piece of liver it will be too soon."

"I'm sorry Marie." Elise replies with a tone of tired resignation. "If you had come to me before the pregnancy, or even just right after you found out, I could have taken care of the ulcers without a problem. But, until the baby comes there's just too much resistance for me to treat your anemia other than prescribing iron-rich foods."

"Is it safe for me to help?" I ask Apricot but Elise looks up at the sound of my voice and her eyes light up when she sees who spoke.

"Sorrel! Excellent timing." She beckons me closer, but I only approach after Apricot nods to say it's safe. "If anyone can help, it's you. Don't worry Marie, Sorrel may be new to healing, but he's one of the best I've ever seen. He has a knack for slipping past the body's natural interference like it's not even there."

"Hello." I give the tired looking Marie a small wave. "May I touch your belly?"

"You might as well." She sighs. "Everyone else seems to want to. I don't see why, it's not like they're even kicking yet."

"People do that here too? It drove my mom nuts when she was pregnant with my little sister." I say with a smile while gently probing her and the fetus with my magic. "Oh, I can see why you're having trouble, it's like the interference is multiplicative between mother and child. I can and... have taken care of the bacteria causing the ulcers, but doing much more than that will be difficult without using the healing sap."

"How well can you see?" Elise perks right up. "Can you make out the baby?"

"Oh, yeah. He's fine." The healer and mother-to-be both go wide-eyed when I mention the baby's sex. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry, were you waiting to find out?"

"It's a boy, really?" Marie starts tearing up a little. "Oh, Cornell is going to be so happy."

"Would you like to see him?" I break out my art supplies. "I can't make out all the fine details like I did with Annette, but the little guy is healthy. A bit funny looking, but all babies are before they're born... and for a bit afterward."

"Is that what he looks like?" Marie tilts her head to one side and looks at the drawing funny.

"Don't worry." I smile. "His body will catch up to the head by the time he's born. Just be glad he looks human, I've seen pictures and up until eight or nine weeks they look like some weird sea creature."

"Your bedside manner needs a little work, Sorrel." Elise says with a laugh. "Is she alright otherwise?"

"Slightly anemic, her blood sugar could stand to be a little higher, and she has a sore back, and feet. In other words, she's pregnant." This earns me a dirty look from both of them but it was worth it.

I pull some apricots and a few oranges from storage. The oranges get juiced and the apricots get pulped and then dried out into fruit leather.

"Dried fruits have a surprising amount of iron, my mom started eating fruit leather when she was pregnant and, to this day, will always keep some in the kitchen." I hand over the snacks. "Prunes, raisins, dates, figs, what have you. They're all good for a snack when you're tired of eating meat and green veggies. Nuts and seeds are good too; just make sure you eat them with uh..."

"Sorrel?" Elise prompts when I trail off.

"Sorry, the word doesn't translate properly." Neither vitamin C nor ascorbic acid would come across properly. "But, basically any food that you would use to treat scurvy. The same vitamin that cures that also helps the body take in iron. Citrus fruits, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, and oh, potato skins. They're high in both that vitamin and iron, along with several other nutrients."

"Potato skins?" The pregnant woman looks at me like I'm teasing her.

"Oh, yeah." I nod, nearly drooling just thinking about them. "You bake the potatoes, scoop out the insides, coat the skins with oil, sprinkle in some crumbled bacon and cheddar cheese. A little salt and pepper, and then bake them again for a few minutes. Add a dollop of sour cream and some chopped green onions and... Mmm, so good. Oh man, we should not have skipped lunch." I pull out a smoothie and start sucking it down.

"Okay, you are making those for dinner." Apricot orders. "And, did you save any of those apricots?"

"Plain, dried, or fruit leather?" I ask after pulling a few more out of storage. "All three?" I add when she just smiles. "All three."

"At least you have him trained well." Marie says with a laugh. "But, what is he drinking?"

"An everything smoothie, named so because it has a little bit of everything." I say while handing over Apricot's apricots. "I'd offer you one, but there's a lot of tea in it. I removed the bit that makes you excited, but if I remember correctly, all the other stuff in tea is bad for anemia."

"I wanted to talk to you about that." Elise speaks up again. "Erick loves the tea you sent him, and both Granville and Seymour want you to show them exactly how you made it. I, on the other hand, want to hear about this crazy plan you have to build months' worth of muscle in just days."

"That's why I'm here today." I hold up my hands in surrender. "I'm monitoring myself closely the whole time, and it's perfectly safe. I'm hoping that you'll see that and tell Amelia so she can quit worrying. Well, that and I was hoping to help out a little and get some healing practice in."

"I'll be happy to look you over, just to see what it is you're doing to yourself." Her tone is half-chastising half intrigued. "But, Marie here is likely to be the only patient today. The quarterly free healing is in just a couple days, so no one is going to come in unless it's a real emergency. I was hoping you'd join in too; the crown pays all the healers for the day, but most of us just do it for the experience. We're all limited by our mana, but with you there we can help a lot more people."

"I'd be happy to help." I agree immediately. "Will it be alright if I set up a few trees to keep my mana topped off?"

"We take over the market square, so that won't be a problem." Elise replies with a happy smile.

"Am I okay to leave?" Marie asks after finishing her snack.

"Unless you want me to use the sap to finish healing the ulcers. I can take care of that soreness too." I offer. "Don't worry about the baby, the spell just transfers some of my vitality into the recipient, letting me bypass the interference altogether when I do."

"It should be safe." Elise nods. "And, healing the ulcers now would help with the anemia."

"Anything that keeps me away from another meal of liver." The mother-to-be looks nervous, but she clearly trusts Elise. "But, can you really help with my feet? They were so swollen I could barely lace up my shoes."

"Mhm, I can help with the soreness." I screw my face up. "But, even if I drain the swelling it will just come back. I can offer you some compression socks and new shoes though, they might help. Just consider them as payment for letting me train my skills." I add when it looks like she's going to decline.

"Compression socks?" Elise inquires.

"Made by adding elastic to the thread." I answer and turn to Apricot. "Can you bring out that stretchy bra I made for you?" I may have irreparably damaged her gym shorts that night; a surprisingly common problem when you have super strength and the ability to make new clothes on a whim.

While the women are examining the sports bra, I mix up enough rubber for a few pairs of socks and four sneakers. One pair for when her feet are swollen, and one for when they aren't.

"Speaking of clothing." Elise says. "How is that new silk of yours coming along? Erick's girls may have dominated your time the other night, but they aren't the only ones who would like some new clothes. Especially if you can make something like silk."

"Good." I reply while knitting up the socks. "Melanie and her new apprentice have been testing different dyes. And, I was hoping to make some hosiery and other intimates when we get home." Apricot rolls her eyes at me.

"You can make silk?" Marie's eyes go wide.

"It's a pretty simple alchemical trick that breaks down cotton before reforming it into something with a similar feel as silk." I explain.

"But, you can make silk?" She looks just like Erick's daughters in that moment.

"Yeah, I'm calling it cotton silk, mainly because the names for it in my language sound kinda weird in Varecian. *Rayon*, *Viscose*, *Cupro*, all different names for the same thing, and none of them really work." I shrug while stitching up her new shoes. "The first is completely made up, the second one an intentional mispronunciation of viscous, and the last is just another way of saying copper. At least rubber was easy enough to translate, named for an early use of removing pencil marks."

"I don't think she heard anything beyond silk." Apricot titters.

"Yes, I can make silk." It's my turn to roll my eyes. "Now, drink this so I can finish healing you. I promise the new silk will be on the market soon, we just need to finish a few tests, scale-up production, and then find a weaver and a seamstress or two to work with."

The pregnant woman drinks the healing sap mechanically, her thoughts lost on a silk road. I use her distraction to quickly mend the holes in her stomach, soothe her muscles, and increase circulation to lessen the swelling in her legs.

"There, all better." My words snap Marie out of whatever daydreams she was having. "I did what I could for the swelling, but it won't be permanent. So, I suggest using the socks and just try to stay off your feet if you can."

"Which spells did you use?" Elise asks while helping her patient into the new socks and shoes.

"Nature and light to speed the healing and replace the stomach's protective lining." I explain. "Water to increase her circulation and soothe the soreness. Plus the same low-level growth spell I use on myself after a big healing combined with a bit of earth magic to spread the iron and other nutrients around."

"Well-chosen." She nods and then looks pointedly at Apricot. "I wish all my students were able to learn spells as quickly as you did."

"Heheh." The pixie smiles and laughs. "I'll be there with Sorrel for the free healing day; I might be willing to offer a few tips... if there are some decent snacks, that is. Teaching magic builds a mighty hunger, after all."

"Well..." Elise draws out the word with a sly smile plastered on her face. "Every healer in the city is going to be there along with their apprentices. But, I might just happen to have come into possession of a high-grade mana gem." Apricot's eyes go wide at that statement.

"Truly?" The winged woman looks like she's about to start drooling. "Oh, it's been over a century since I last tasted a mana gem. You can consider all of your healers... well, not as good as Sorrel, since he's a bit of a freak."

"Gee, thanks." I snort.

"I meant it in the nicest possible way." Apricot takes on a simpering tone.

"Sure you did." I chuckle and ruffle her hair.

"Wait." Marie finally finds her voice again. "She eats mana stones? No wonder you invented a way to make silk." I can't help but laugh at that. "Thank you for the healing... and the footwear, these are very comfortable by the way. But, I'm not sure I or the baby could take any more revelations like that, so I think I'm going to follow your advice and get off of my feet."

Elise walks her out while setting the time for her next appointment.

"Probably a good thing I didn't mention the mana node nightlight in our bathroom." I joke after Elise returns. "So, shall I break out the weights while you give me the once over?"

"I was hoping you would show me that spell you made to see bacteria first." She asks. "And, umm... if it's not too much trouble, could I see your blood too? Dulcette told me that it was green, but I just have to see it for myself."

"Heheh, sure." I'm about to smear a drop of blood on paper again when I remember the glass in storage. "These are a bit large for microscope slides, but they're clear enough that they should work."

"Oh, it's just like in your illustrations. Only... well, green." Elise laughs at herself. "Is what you told Dulcette true, that your biology mimics an animal's but is made entirely out of plant cells?"

"Yes." I nod. "Though it might be better to say that my cells are a fusion between plant and animal."

"Care to elaborate?" Elise glances from the projection to me.

I scrape the inside of my cheek with a toothpick before smearing it between the glass next to a cloverleaf. Then I hand her a fresh stick to provide a comparison. Moving the three different types of cells right next to each other before continuing

"As you can see, my cells still have a wall like plant cells do, if somewhat thinner." I point out the barrier made from cellulose and then move onto the other notable differences. "But, they don't have the large vacuole and only my extremities have chloroplasts. In exchange, they've gained the organelles of an animal cell."

"This is fascinating." The healer peers at the three cells on display, comparing their differences and similarities. "Could you walk me through the spell again, I need to try this myself."

"Sure." I go through the whole incantation and Apricot helps her properly align her mana. "I just wish I knew more about light, we're missing out on a lot that is just too small to see even with the magnification. Well, you and I are. I'm sure Apricot and her pixie eyes can see everything clearly." A smirk from her proves my suspicion.

"What do you mean?" Elise asks while struggling with a ten times zoom.

"Our eyes can only see a relatively narrow band of light." I draw out a diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum. "Some of the organelles are so small that the light that you and I can see just slips right past them, too large to bounce off and into our eyes. But, since Apricot can see into the ultraviolet, which has a smaller wavelength, she's getting a much better image."

"Wavelength?" The healer goes from confused to annoyed when the distraction causes her to flub the spell.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be distracting you when you're learning a new spell." I apologize.

"No, thanks to Apricot, I have the spell down." She dismisses my worry with a wave of her hand. "I'm just not used to working with light and need a bit more practice to make it look as easy you do it. I'd like to hear more about this."

"Well, I don't know all that much." I hedge. "Do you remember how the ear has tiny hairs that act like tuning forks? Well, light waves act similarly to sound waves. Some will pass through an object, some will bounce off, and others be absorbed."

Now that I'm thinking about it, I remember that the human, and presumably Plantkin, eye has a lens that blocks ultraviolet light that we would otherwise be able to see. I'm almost, but not quite crazy enough to try shapeshifting mine out of the way and manually focus using the cornea.

"If I knew more about light magic, I might be able to shift that light into something we could see." I sketch out a quick diagram to demonstrate what I mean. "Actually, dark magic might be better since I'm taking energy away, but the only dark spell I know is cleanse."

"There are a couple more advanced healing spells that use that school, but I doubt they'd help much for this." Elise offers. "I'm not sure about dark spells, but when you get to the capital you should speak with the court wizard Oliver Long. He specializes in light, fire, and air magics. If anyone is likely to know how to do what you want it will be him."

"I'm sure we'll meet... thanks to your cousin." I purse my lips for a moment before laughing it off. "With a specialization in air and light, he might be able to help with a diagnostic spell that would be great for you and your pregnant patients. See my people had a device that would use sound to see, much like a bat does. They would use it too 'look' inside the womb to monitor the baby during pregnancy."

"That..." She takes a moment to swallow her saliva. "I'll make sure to include a letter of introduction to Wizard Long in the packet that Erick is planning to send. So, please work that spell out, it could be a literal lifesaver."

"I'll do my best." I promise. "The basic principle isn't very complex, it's just too far outside my expertise for me to cobble something together on my own. But, enough seriousness. How about I take off my shirt and get all sweaty for you?"

"Hah!" - "Snerk." - *Ding* Apricot, Elise, and the Goddess Temmie each let out an exclamation at my surprise question.

"Mhm." The healer shakes her head. "I heard about your offering to Temmie yesterday, so I suppose I should expect statements like that, but... oh boy. I'm just glad that Glynda isn't here, she'd tease me for weeks after that reaction."

"Don't worry, Elise. Your wife never has to find out." I have to bite my lip to keep from howling with laughter at the look that crosses her face.

"Hahahahahah." Apricot shows no such compunction.

"Do you want me to tell Amelia that what you are doing is safe, or not." The healer brings out the big guns.

"Fine, fine, I'll quit." I raise my hands in surrender. "I'm assuming you want a baseline before I start exercising?"

"Yes, and thank you." She nods before taking my hand and sending her magic throughout my body. "Could you shapeshift so I can compare to the last time I checked you over?"

"Just let me loosen my clothes first." No need to pull a Hulk and tear my pants. Or would that be a reverse Hulk since I'm already green?

"Oh, my." Apricot lets out a low whistle and then licks her lips as the t-shirt that I didn't bother adjusting now clings tightly to my torso. "You show Amelia this and she won't do any complaining about your workout program."

Looking down at myself in this form for the first time in a few days, I see that I've gone from slim to athletic. My well-defined muscles now clearly visible through the tight fabric.

"I'm not particularly attracted to men." Elise states. "But, even I have to admit that your training regime is rather effective. I can't sense any issues either, it simply appears as though you've been exercising normally for several weeks or months rather than several days."

"It's always good to get verification." I nod to the healer before pulling out a handkerchief for Apricot. "But, I think it best I shift back before one of us slips on the puddle of drool forming beneath the pixie."

"Nnh, no." She whimpers as the excess definition fades away as I regain my full height.

"I'll shift back tonight if you want." I offer to mollify her, and not at all because I'm hoping it will buy me some leniency. "For now, Elise needs to see the magic in action and that's best done when I'm not shapeshifted." I turn to the baron's cousin. "I planned ahead and brought the dumbbells along, so you can watch what happens."

"Aww, you aren't going to carry her on your back while running through the city?" Apricot teases.

"This will be fine, thank you." Elise deadpans.

"I'm pushing hard for bulk right now." I explain while struggling to maintain my form while lifting the heavy weights. "But, I will shift to toning exercises soon. Mainly because this hurts too much to do day after day."

"I can see that." The healer comments through clenched teeth. "That is an impressive mix of spells you're running though. I have no idea how you're managing it while painfully tearing your muscles apart, but it works."

"You should have seen him doing the same to a dozen guards this morning during his run." Apricot purrs, as attracted to me flexing my magical muscles as much as the physical one.

"I've been through worse, and at least this fades quickly." A shadow crosses my eyes as I recall the handful of times where my death was not brutally swift.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Elise asks, her tone considerate of my feelings.

"Not especially." I sigh and trade the weights out for another smoothie. "Let's just say that I took a hard path to reach here. I'm dealing with it though, and the girls are aware and helping me work through what happened."

"Well, the offer remains open if you ever need someone to talk with." I can tell that she's not happy with my response, but isn't willing to push it. "About that or anything else."

"Thank you." I give her a terse nod. "But, all I need right now is a clean bill of health so that Amelia won't worry as much."

"As far as I can tell, you are physically fine and will remain so." She replies with a sad look. "I'd still like to monitor your progress, but I don't see any true risk in what you're doing. In fact, I'm likely to steal the idea to help patients recover from illness and injury more quickly."

"I can make you a batch of smoothies." I offer, needing to make a bunch for my new running buddies anyways. "I wasn't a nutritionist, so I'm sure there's a better recipe. But, I crammed in as many nutrient-rich foods as I had access to, and it seems to be working out alright so far."

"That would be nice, thank you." She nods, her mood starting to recover. "And, if it wouldn't be too much trouble. Could you write down what you do know about nutrition? I'm not aware of anyone studying it, at least not around here."

"Of course." I smile, always happy to spread a little knowledge. "Some of the vitamin names may be a little arbitrary though. I remember most of the scientific names but they may or may not translate, and their common names were usually just 'vitamin' plus 'letter of the alphabet'."

I hand over most of my smoothie supply since I was planning to make more when we get home. I also include the recipe for it and several other much tastier varieties while I'm writing out what I remember about this field.

"Alright, as I feared not everything translated properly." I say and hand over the sheets of paper. "And, please remember that this is all based on human biology, they were very much in the majority where I came from." This earns a little smile from Apricot. "So, there may be different needs between the species."

"This is fascinating." The healer comments while poring over the information I just gave her. "I was aware that these diseases were caused by poor diet, but to have it broken down like this is extremely useful. I have a couple of older patients that have trouble seeing at night who will soon be eating a lot more orange food."

"I should try breeding some orange carrots." I reply feeling somewhat nostalgic for a tuber. "I haven't seen any around here, but they were popular back home. So, much so that it was rare to see the purple or white ones."

"Orange carrots?" Elise looks at me funny.

"Yeah, they were first cultivated in tribute to some political leader named Orange, or maybe he came from a place called Orange." I shrug. "I dunno. I'm good with plants, not history."

"Heheh, I'm much the same." She chuckles. "I used to detest my history tutors. I only learned as much as I did because one of them learned to couch it in subjects that I was interested in."

"Lucky, my teachers usually just droned on." An involuntary yawn escapes from me just by thinking about them.

"Oh, I had a couple like that myself." She bobs her head in agreement. "Alright, I can see you want to get going, so I won't keep you. But, don't worry, there will be more than enough people to heal in just a couple days."

"Thank you." I send a bow in the healer's direction. "I do have... more than a few things I need to work on. Why did I think it would be a good idea to start a business again?"

"Because you were trying to impress Amelia." Apricot answers with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah." I return her smirk with a sly smile. "How's her lunch going, by the way?"

"Great." Her smile grows wider and somewhat sinister. "Helen invited all of their friends and Amelia has been asking them all advice on how to punish you for your little prank earlier. Some of those girls are pretty inventive too, you're going to be in for it tonight."

"Mnh." Despite my best efforts, a small whimper escaped from my lips.

"Don't worry, I'll talk her into wearing the guardswoman outfit." The pixie laughs. "I have to admit that I want to see her in those black silk stockings you were talking about."

"What kind of guard wears silk stockings?" Elise looks like she was just about to kick us out when that question short-circuited her brain. "Wait! Never mind. You're followers of Temmie, that's all I need to know. Just get out of my clinic, but... uh, let me know later what colors you can make. Glynda does look good in red."

""Heheheheh."" Our laughter trails us out of her clinic.

***