I imagined you would want to go back to your own people.

Nirla’s words kept echoing in Gyamma’s ears as she stared at the Atharottae peaks from the balcony.

The breakfast conversation had left her more disturbed than she had expected. The view of home from the balcony had brought in too many old memories, both bitter and sweet, and she found herself hanging in between two worlds.

From the distance, the mountains called to her, coaxing her to return to the embrace of the ice-winds, and the rugged, rocky cliffs. The call only grew louder in her ears when she thought of the oddity she was in the university, and all the plainsfolk who didn’t want her. As her three years of study came to a close, a part of her was relieved to be free once again.

But this would mean leaving everything here behind. There would be no more visits to the city, and it’s glorious mess of cobbled streets, no more quiet exuberances with Myaddan and his tavern. So many undiscovered mysteries would lie forever asleep in the shades of the Soul-trees. It would mean abandoning a life she had come to love and hate.

It would also mean abandoning Narme. Gyamma bit into her trembling lips, forcing brimming tears back down with painful swallows.

Somewhere behind her, a throat was cleared, startling her. She turned around with a jump, to find Narme standing there with a gentle smile on his face, but his eyes were pools of sadness.

Gyamma’s voice broke as she spoke. “After three years, three long years, they still don’t see me as their own.”

“I do,” Narme said, simply.

That was enough, for now. Gyamma smiled tearilly back, and before she could help it, threw her arms up around his shoulders, hugging him tight.

“H-Hey, there, there!” said Narme rocking back in surprise, as she squeezed his shoulders harder with her hands.

“You’re hurting me, please don’t Pin my shoulders,” Narme laughed. “Ouch. Ouch!”

And just like that, the dark clouds that had begun to burgeon over Gyamma’s head were dispelled.

The two of them spent the rest of the day in study. They didn’t speak of what they knew was imminent - Gyamma’s three years of scholarship were almost over. One way or another, her time at the university was coming to a close. Instead of mulling over this, Gyamma focussed on the next steps before her.

Like her, most students from her year were furiously at practice, trying to wrap up their work to present to their respective Gurus as proof of skill, or preparing for applications to the various Congresses of Science or other employers.

Gyamma surprised herself by not feeling too worried about the final tests - Guru Para’s confidence in her budding pupil was obvious. However, her application to the Congress of Greens still made her nervous, even with Para’s blessings.

As immense as the university was, it was only a stepping stone to the true use of her knowledge, the goal her father had dreamed of. Joining the Congress meant access to knowledge and resources simply unavailable anywhere else. While she had excelled in learning the fundamentals at the university, and even making some new discoveries she was immensely proud of, she was unsure if that was sufficient enough for the Congress to accept her.

With just a week left, Gyamma was trying to cram in as much knowledge as she could, before she made her case to the Congress of Greens to join them as an apprentice.

Eventually, she found her concentration waning. It was evening already and the sun had been soothed into an orange twilight, taking away the hard distinctness of bright daytime, blurring all edges into soft shadow. The Charge lamps around them started blinking on one by one, adding to the glow with their deep yellow light.

Gyamma suggested taking a walk to soothe her anxiousness, and they soon found themselves walking in the university’s Oldwoods and its criss-crossed shady bowers. Its silent avenues of rustling leaves led them to the central courtyard, where the two ornate Time-trees shimmered in the dusk.

“They’re almost… magical aren’t they?” said Gyamma dreamily as she gazed at them.

Even now, after three years of walking past them to the Oldwoods, they enchanted Gyamma as powerfully as on that first day, when their world had thrown its doors open to her. The Moon tree today was an iridescent pink-tinted white. It looked almost crystalline in the soft light.

“Mystical,” agreed Narme, “And we still know almost nothing about how they work…”

Gyamma grimaced, her professional pride slightly hurt.

“Well… we do know how to grow them in almost any climate and environment. We know how to make different breeds with increasing precision, and we’re constantly producing new varieties every year -”

Narme caught the look on Gyamma’s face. “Oh. Yes, of course, I mean… I know very little about the field is what I meant! Say, why don’t you show me your tiny Touch-groves again, I love those!” he said, trying to change the subject.

Gyamma rolled her eyes in mock reproach.

“Alright, come on!”

She led the way through the Oldwoods to a cluster of greenhouses, each labeled with several student schedules and ongoing experiments, and stepped into one of these that bore her own little handwritten note -

Naynatharottan Gyamma (Gr. Para) - Healer’s Grove Project #726

Inside, they made their way through the clutter of vines and leaves to a set of large wooden planters.

“Here they are,” she said proudly.

Within each planter sat a miniscule replica of the majestic Touch-groves that grew outside the greenhouse. The tiny Mother-tree was easily recognizable, still protective and enveloping in her diminutive avatar, surrounded by several other little saplings, bushes and creepers, delicate and verdant.

“They’re so adorable!” gushed Narme, “Like baby Soul-trees! I always feel like a giant, towering above an immense Touch-grove when I look at them.”

Gyamma laughed. “Well, they are quite young, I’ve only been growing them for two years or so now. But with the proper care, they might even live for decades like any other Groves.”

“I’m still amazed by them,” said Narme, “Do you realize no one has ever accomplished miniaturizing a Touch-grove down to these sizes? I’ve never seen a Touch-grove small enough to be carried about. You must be some kind of genius!”

“Well,” said Gyamma, blushing a little, “it’s not an entirely new idea. At least, not new where I come from. High up in the mountains, we often find plants and trees growing in the cliffs. In those unforgiving environments, with limited sunlight and natural resources, they don’t grow very big: even the tall Renzo Pines from the foothills are shrunk down into sizes that could fit on your palm!

“We call them dwarf-trees, in the mountains. Many highlanders make a hobby of growing them, carefully pruning them and caring for them over many years - even decades - to resemble shrunken down woods and forests.

“When Guru Para first told me Soul-groves can’t live on the mountains, I immediately thought of those little trees. I don’t know if any of my experiments could survive in the snows, but I simply applied the same techniques my people have known for centuries. It turns out it’s possible to grow even Mother Trees to full maturity, while keeping their sizes quite compact. However, two years is too little time to know how well they’ll do in the long run.”

“Well, at least you have can rest easy about your future,” said Narme, “Ground-breaking research like this is what the Congresses go frenzied with excitement. Sponsors will be lining up at your door soon!”

Gyamma sighed. “I don’t know if it’s enough - there’s still so much to do here! These mini Numbing-groves are very nascent, they don’t quite have the energy and capabilities of a full Healer’s grove. For example, once Touched, it takes a long while before it can be used again.

“That is why it is very important that the Congress of Green accept me. Why, with their experience and knowledge, we could take these from the mere demonstrations they are today, to something so much more!”

Narme snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered you a full fellowship, let alone an apprenticeship!”

“Er… that’s kind of you,” said Gyamma unsurely.

Narme pointed to one little planter with an exclamation.

“Hey, I recognize that one! That’s the one you used on me isn’t it?”

He knelt down to stroke the Mother-tree.

“Hello old friend! You’ll be happy to see I haven’t broken out in strange warts since. You know, I’ve never asked you… what were you doing with one of these planters out on the balcony where we first met?”

Gyamma looked furtive. “Er… an experiment of sorts. I was taking the planter for a… walk,”

Narme frowned. “A walk? What would that achieve-”

Then his eyes widened in realization.

“You’ve been taking them out into the city?”

Gyamma hushed him frantically. “Yes, and don’t speak so loudly. I’ve… lent a couple of the mini Healing groves to Myaddan’s construction crew. With their line of work, injuries are all too frequent. You’ve seen how they live - they can’t afford the big hospitals in the city, and the smaller ones are always over-crowded. They have to sometimes wait days in pain before they’re seen!

“But with the mini Groves, they can just ask nearby plainsfolk who know basic Heat or Water to help out, in exchange for letting them use the Grove when needed.”

“Besides,” she added, “it’s a great chance to test the survivability of these groves in various environments, like the dusty streets in the city.”

Narme looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “I see, so it’s all for science is it? And does Guru Para know of your experiments?”

She nodded conspiratorially. “It wasn’t hard to convince her when I insisted. Para is as curious about the outcome as me,” she said, “although she did warn me not to mention it to any others, in case they make a scene of it.”

Narme shook his head in disapproval, but with surprised awe in his eyes.

“When I called you a genius, I didn’t think I’d need to prefix it with mad!” he said.

But immediately his face grew drawn, and he looked hurt.

“And you didn’t mention all of this to me once, in two years?” he accused.

“I- I’m sorry, I was sworn to secrecy, and I didn’t want to cause Guru Para more trouble! And I’m telling you now, aren’t I?”

“Only because I thought to ask!”

“Well, you should have asked before, then!"

Narme sighed in mock exasperation.

"Fine. But you owe me another secret for keeping this one from me. Now come on, it’s getting dark and we really ought to go back for dinner duty.”

They walked back to the glimmering lights of the university, ushered by the silent swishing of the Oldwood groves.