THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE

We're back outside again.  I'm still wearing her red robe as I lean down to a large bucket of water.  Splashing my face and drinking some, I press my hands on the edge as I finally begin to feel a bit better.  I am alive right now in this moment.

Tia leans against the barn wall, wearing her large hat again.  From a black flintstone, an ember is created and she uses it to light a new cigarette.  "You got questions, go ahead and ask 'em."

Questions, sure.  Where do I even begin?  "You said I probably died... so is this some kind of afterlife?"

She actually laughs for a moment.  "No, it's just another place.  Yes, you died, but luckily you been reincarnated."  I don't look at her.  instead I just watch the ripples on the water surface very gradually begin to settle, slowly forming a clearer reflection of myself.  "This world has a magic that flows through it, and human souls are a kind of vessel for that magic.  Sometimes the elements will grab hold of a soul in one place and time and bring them to another.  So, let me bring up my previous question.  How... did you die?"

Reincarnated.  Magic.  The human soul.  I close my eyes to focus on remembering.  Surely there's something.  "I was... walking.  I was holding my umbrella.  The rain... it was finally beginning to stop.  I was happy.  The happiest I'd been in years.  I held my umbrella up... and..."  I remember a blinding light.  A split-second of numbing pain.  "There was a flash of light.  It was so bright that it hurt."

"Touch this."  Tia holds out her staff toward me, the purple orb close to my face.  "Gently hold your fingertips on the orb... and try to think of that bright light you saw."

I truly feel she's here to help me, so I don't question it.  I touch the end of the staff.  I close my eyes again, thinking of the moment before I got here--

A sudden pink-colored spark bursts from the orb, pushing us both backward.  My hand feels tingly and I quickly grip my wrist in a panic.  "Ahh!  What the hell was that?!  Are you messing with me?!"

I see an expression on Tia's face I didn't expect.  She is surprised to the point of being speechless with her eyes wide open.  She doesn't look at me, but her mind is racing with thought.  Just before I could ask her anything, or before she could even look back at me, we were instead approached by three individuals.  Two young men with reddish brown hair, also in their twenties like Tia, followed last by an elderly man with small eyes and a permanent grouch face.  They must be the farm workers.  I would later come to learn that these were brothers, Liam and Holden, preceded by their thin no-nonsense father, Grant Rhoads, owner of Rhoads Peach Farm.  The two brothers pull a wagon filled with freshly-picked peaches.

Holden is by far the most cheerful of three as he removes his cap.  Seeing me as the newcomer, I can tell he's a naturally social person who doesn't get to see many new faces.  "Ah, we got ourselves a new addition!  I'm Holden-- nice to meet ya."  He had already removed one of his gloves and extends his hand for a handshake to me.

Before I can meet his hand with my own, his father practically slaps his son's hand away.  "Holden, what kind of attitude is that?!  You have no idea who this is, you can't go on acting this naive all the time."

"Sorry, sir."  Holden responds not weakly, but with great respect for his father.

The old man turns his glaring gaze to me almost immediately.  "So just who are you supposed to be?"

Before I could have any chance, Tia throws her arm over my shoulders and takes over.  "He is a student of mine.  He just finished a task I sent him on, and honestly didn't expect him to meet up with me so fast.  I tell ya-- he's a natural."

Grant pauses for a moment.  "A woman teaching a man how to do magic.  Now I've seen it all.  I'm not even gonna ask what happened to your clothes.  Don't tell me you're expecting to live here for free, kid?"

Wait, I've met plenty of cantankerous elders in my neighborhood growing up.  I know exactly what he needs to hear!  With sturdy posture, I suddenly give him the full saikeirei-- bowing to him in reverence to show gratitude, but most of all respect.  "I apologize for my abrupt arrival, sir!  You have an amazing peach farm and I thank you for allowing me to be here!"  I can't help but have a sly smile I keep to myself, remembering the times as a kid being respectful to my elders and often getting sweets for it.

Grant lets out a short hearty laugh.  "Show some backbone, kid, I'm just a peach farmer."  My sly smile turns into a crooked tiny smile.  "But ya know, it's good to see a new face that actually knows his place around here."  Grant side-eyes Tia who is unfazed by him.  She tosses her smoked cigarette bud to the ground, making Grant comically angry.  "Don't throw your trashy cigarettes on my land!!"

It is the other brother, Liam, who finally makes his entrance.  He picks up Tia's cigarette bud, down on one knee.  He glances up at her, slightly blushing.  "Tia..."  She looks back at him, still unfazed, as if she's been through this before with Liam.  "Will you... take this bud from me?"

"Yeah, sure."  She unemotionally takes it from him.

"She said yes!!!"  Liam is overflowed by delusional images of romance and chivalry.

His father grips him by the back of the collar and starts dragging him away from Tia.  "Get a grip, Casanova."  He tosses him next to Holden.  "I still need you boys to unload.  Hey new guy!"  Grant swiftly turns in my direction.

"Yes sir?!"

"Can you work?"

"Uh-- yes, sir."

"Good.  Now look, the work-day's already begun, so you can start tomorrow morning.  You stick with Holden, you do what he tells you to do, got that?"

I give him an energetic salute.  "Yes, sir-- no problem sir!"

"And quit with the "sir" crap!  This ain't the damn military, kid."  For a split second, I could see a deep hatred, but not towards me.  "Name's Grant, or if you really insist-- Mister Rhoads."  He then quickly points at his sons.  "That one's Holden, that one's Liam."

"Hi."  Holden waves enthusiastically to me.  Liam is comedically depressed, giving a weak wave.

"Hey, girly."  Grant's eyes point back to Tia.

She gives him a cocky smile.  "Yeah?"

"I'll make sure the kid is fed.  Anything beyond that is your problem to solve."  He seemed so serious in this moment.  As if there was a life-or-death situation looming on the horizon for us.

Tia maintains her smile.  "Wouldn't have it any other way, Mister Rhoads."

With that, the Rhoads Farm workers take their peach wagon and continue on with their work-day, leaving the area.

"Reiji."  She says my name with care, making me look to her eagerly.  She holds a pause for a couple moments.  "You're my student, now.  Best not to tell people your... specific circumstances.  Wouldn't want anything bad happening to you before you get your chance."

"My chance for what exactly?"  She remains silent on my question.  Guess I'll find out sooner or later.  I glance at Grant and his sons going further down the pathway, almost out of sight.  "What exactly is your relationship with them?  No offense, but you stick out like a sore thumb here."

Tia practically bursts out laughing.  "Now you're one to talk!"  It's hard for me to keep up with her bold personality.  I can't even laugh with her.  She flicks her red hat.  "I'm just a hired hand.  Kinda like a bodyguard.  Normally I watch this place at night after their work is done, which is why you caught me in my nightgown, you devious little pervert."  I give her an expression of resentment for the term used on me again.  Unexpectedly, Tia turns truly genuine for a moment, feeling the breeze on her skin.  "They're good people... and good people need saving from mean bastards."  In that moment, I think I saw what true resolve looks like.  Maybe even deeper than that.  It was like I saw a glimpse of her sole reason for living.  She then stops being genuine, giving me an overly-playful wink.  "And I just love peaches."

I give her a sarcastic smile.  I'm starting to feel comfortable around her already.

"Like I said... I'll answer any questions you got."  She fully stands from leaning, her staff in hand.  "Wanna learn some real magic?"  She gives her usual playful smile.

Aside from the hundred questions crashing in my mind, all I wanted was to find out how to get back home.  But this invitation.  Her odd beauty.  This peaceful place.  I couldn't help myself.  Do I want to learn real magic?

"Yes... I do."