Her Quest : Magic in the Blood

"Is that all?" Ian questioned as he placed the last bag in her room.

After the pleasant snacks, Caroline and James had politely asked Ian to help Sonia with her bags. Ian dutifully obliged, feeling happy about not getting a scolding from either of his parents.

Carrying a couple of bags was much better than getting embarrassed in front of the new member. But when he saw only three bags, he couldn't help but ask her.

"Yes. Other things are being shipped. Will have them here in a couple of days," Sonia replied looking for her charger in her bag.

"Okay. So you want me to bring them here when the cargo arrives?" Ian asked with a raised brow.

"Huh? No, no," she waved her hand in a dismissal, "They will go in the storage. Only books and other such things will be kept here,” Sonia unzipped one of the bags and started unpacking.

"You like the room?" Ian enquired, curiosity lacing his voice.

"Yes, it's lovely,” Sonia nodded; a smile graced her lips as she looked around the room again.

"Okay, I guess I will just leave you to unpack. If you need anything, holler for me or you can find me in my room. There", he said gesturing towards his room through her doorway.

Sonia glanced up at him. He looked like a little boy. Shuffling from foot to foot, a look of boredom masked his face. One hand in his jean pocket while the other was pointing towards his room.

"Yes, Ian. I know the way to your room,” She smiled, "Thank you.”

"Okay then. Bye," He muttered, slamming the door shut on his way out.

The boy certainly has temper issues, Sonia mused before getting back to the task at hand, Aunt Carol was right to warn me about her son's temper. But I didn't do anything wrong, did I? She wondered and meticulously arranged her things.

***

"MOM.”

James and Caroline were peacefully seated in the library when they heard Ian.

"Here comes your boy,” James chuckled, “Over here, son,” he answered raising his voice.

"Mom Dad!” Ian rushed inside the library and stared at them.

His father sat relaxed on the couch, reading a newspaper and his mother sat on the rocker in front of the fireplace, with a book.

"Why did you tell me to take her bags up?" Ian demanded.

"Asked." his father corrected, not bothering to look up from the paper.

"Yeah, that. Why did you ask me to take her bags up?" Ian spat the word out and narrowed his eyes at his father.

"Because that's what a gentleman must do. And since, the said gentleman didn't even reach the airport in time to receive her, that's the least he could do,” Caroline answered, looking at her son somewhat accusingly.

"But I apologised to her as soon as I got back, didn't I. Dad?" he went over and sat besides James on the couch.

"Well, come to the point, young man. What happened?" Folding the paper and placing it aside, James turned to his son.

"She was rude to me,” Ian whined, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Aye, the girl is arrogant. She behaved rudely with me too, son." James agreed, a frown marring his face.

"There you go! I told you, girls are good for nothing. Always being rude and trying to boss over everybody," Ian said in a know-it-all tone. Huffing, he got up and started pacing around the room. "Did she behave the same way with you too, Mom?"

"Of course!" Caroline got up and came over to sit next to James, "How ill mannered she was when she helped me clean the table and wash the dishes!" She said with disbelief.

"And do you know what she did when I showed her the room?" James continued after Caroline, not giving their son a chance to shut his gaping mouth, "She thanked me and then she kissed my cheek!" He whispered the last part.

"Oh my, how rude,” Caroline squeezed his hand then looked at her son who was staring hard at the couple, "She really is rude, isn’t she?"Sarcasm dripped from her words as she glanced at Ian, daring him to say something.

Ian took a small step back on seeing the look on his Mother's face. His line of thoughts paused and his facial expression looked like he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have done. After a minute, he sighed and stuffed his hands in his jean pockets, "Okay, fine. I was wrong. I was being rude, not her." A sheepish look took over his features as he said the next words, "I even slammed her door on my way out."

"That's disgusting,” Caroline knitted her brows and looked at her son in disbelief.

"Exactly what I am feeling right now. Disgust,” Ian cringed slightly, not liking his behaviour towards the new comer.

"You will clear this with her,” James said and when Ian didn't show any sign of response, he added sternly, "won't you, Ian Richards?"

Ian winced at the use of his full name. His father rarely used that tone but when he did, that clearly indicated that he wasn't happy with his son's doings.

"Yes, sir,” he muttered and looked down at his feet, "I am sorry, Dad. Sorry Mom.”

“Apologise to the girl, Ian," was all he got from his father.

"Don't hurt that girl, son,” Caroline said softly, rising from her seat. She laid a hand on his cheek and looked at him, lovingly. She's already been hurt a lot. Life has not been fair to a sweet girl like her. You won't add yourself to the list of the people who made her sad and upset, will you?" She questioned, stroking his cheek with her thumb.

"No, Mom,” he assured her, looking straight in her eyes, "I will try to be a good friend to her."

"That's my boy,” Caroline smiled. “Now, I am going to start preparing dinner. You go up and start making amends," saying so, she left the father-son duo in the library.

Instead of doing what is Mother said, Ian stood there, staring hard at the ground.

"Do as you Mom says,” James dismissed him and went back to reading.

"Aye, aye Sir,” Ian hurried out of the library and started for steps. It should be easy, he thought and then stopped before turned towards kitchen. He went straight to the fridge and took out two beer bottles. He was nearly out of the kitchen when his Mom called out.

"She'll appreciate a girl drink, Ian." Abruptly he turned back and placed the bottles back in their place.

"Help me with the girl drink, Mom?" he pleaded.

"The pitcher of lemonade is on the second shelf. That will do,” Caroline directed him, not taking her eyes off the dinner she was busy preparing.

"Oh, thank you," he grabbed the pitcher and poured it in two glasses. As he placed the glasses on the tray, an idea came to his mind. He opened the fridge again and pulled out two pastries. Setting everything on the tray neatly, he poked his Mother's arm to get her attention.

"Umm-hmm. Will definitely do,” his mother nodded her head in approval.

Grinning, he dashed out of the kitchen halting abruptly so as to not run into his father.

"Careful, son,” James grunted.

"Yeah yeah,” Ian slipped past him and continued to trek up the stairs.

Seeing his son scurry off, James entered the kitchen. "I just saw Ian running out of here with pastries in his hands.”

"For Sonia," Caroline looked up from her work.

"What's for dinner?" James questioned, picking up pieces of carrot from the plate and shoving them in his mouth. Carolineslapped his hand when he tried to have some more pieces.

“Something she might like,” Caroline answered, placing the plate away from James’ reach.

"Fetch me some tomatoes and then stay out of kitchen till dinner's ready,” She instructed him.

"Yes ma'am,” James mumbled mirroring the exact expression Ian had. Chuckling to herself, she went back to her cooking.

Ian dashed up the steps, spilling a little lemonade on the tray. He knocked at the door lightly at first, but when there was no answer, he knocked a bit loudly. Still there was no response, making his face contort with confusion.

Must have gone outside on the terrace, he thought and called out her name. On getting no response, he sighed, Must have plugged in headphones while unpacking, he thought again and tried to reason with his temper. When he was sure it had gone down a notch or two, he took in a deep breath and turned the knob before pushing the door open. He stepped inside and glanced around looking for her. His gaze fell on her, making him freeze in his step.

The doors of the closet were wide open and so were all the other drawers in it. The three bags were open, their contents scattered in and around them. Some clothes were still inside and others were arranged neatly in the closet. And amongst all the chaos of unpacking, was Sonia. Curled on the floor, she was fast asleep, her head resting on the knapsack. She looked at peace, even though she was sleeping on the hard flooring.

"So much for wanting to make amends,” Ian muttered quietly and looked down at the tray in his hands. Placing it down on the nightstand, he made his way to her sleeping form.

"Sorry, pal. You will have to wake up. I came to apologize,” he murmured and gently shook her shoulder. All she did was curl up even more. Frustrated, he shook her with more force, "Come on, wake up!"

"What", Sonia mumbled in her sleep. "Just five more minutes, Mumma."

"No no, baby. Get up. Mumma came to make peace," he joked, not quite realising the weight of his words.

"Huh?" Sonia scrunched her brows in confusion, before sleepily turning around and blinking her eyes open, “Mumma?"

Upon seeing Ian grinning broadly, she shot up quickly.

"Sorry, I just laid down for a bit and well-", she rubbed her eyes to get rid of the sleep, "I thought you were my Mom. Sorry about that."

"Yeah, you must be pretty tired. Looks like you can use a little help with unpacking," Ian offered, glancing at the pile of things around them.

"No, that's not required. I will manage. Thank you for the offer."

She began gathering up her things and he took that time to access the state she was in.

Her ponytail had come loose and her eyes were still droopy. Shaking his head, he stood up and got the tray from the table. Sitting next to her on the floor, he placed the tray in his lap.

"Here. Have this," he offered.

She looked at it and smiled, “Oh, that's so sweet of you,” picking a glass of lemonade, she took a sip.

Sighing contentedly, she glanced at the tray and she raised her eyebrows, “You’re not going to have any?"

"I uh… I will," before she could say anything, he quickly added, "Look, I'm sorry.”

"Sorry? Why?" She cocked her head, confused.

At first, Ian thought that she was mocking him but on seeing genuine confusion in her eyes, he realised that she indeed was clueless.

She really is not teasing you, idiot, a voice echoed in his mind.

"For the way I behaved earlier."

"Oh, that! It's all right," she waved it off and picked up a plate of pastry.

"Just like that?" She shrugged and he added, “Are you not angry with me?"

"Why should I be?" she asked after swallowing a spoonful of pastry. "You apologized, I accepted it. Simple."

"Yeah, right." he muttered and picked up the pastry from the tray.

A while later, they had finished unpacking, when Ian found himself laughing along with Sonia over a joke she had cracked earlier. Sonia let him help her in only putting away the empty bags in the top shelf of the closet. That too, because she couldn't reach that far up. Other than that, all he had done was sit back, while she did the work. Small talk was going on between the two and Sonia took to making him laugh over her jokes. Much to his earlier conclusions, he was really enjoying her company.

"I must leave now,” he rose up from the chair, making Sonia turn to face him, “Oh. Of course. It was nice of you to help me out.”

"Like I had the slightest bit of trouble placing those empty bags up there." Ian make a face, making Sonia giggle.

"You helped me," she shrugged, “Thank you, anyway.” Holding out her hand, she smiled at him politely.

Ian shook her hand before frowning down at their clasped hands and asked, "Do you always have to be so polite?"

Sonia thought for a second before responding, "Depends. I am in a new place, surrounded by people I barely know."

"Yes,” Ian’s grip tightened, his eyes sparkling, "You barely know us." The words felt like acid in his mouth. Turning, he fled out of the room before Sonia could even comprehend the situation.

"What did I do now?” she mumbled lowly as the door to his room slammed shut.

"Idiot,” Ian muttered under his breath and kicked a shoe out of his way as he paced around in his room. He should not have crossed his line, he should have remembered who he was to her.

Just what were you doing in there, he asked himself. Trying to be friends was a good thing, but he should have waited before bonding with her like that. The way he enjoyed her company, how her laughter seemed to be the melody he craved to hear again and aga- Stop, he pulled at his hair, shutting the thoughts and groaned loudly.

Thinking of only one way to distance himself from this new emerging friendship, he left the confines of his room with the intention of going downstairs. But his gaze wandered over to her door. He shook his head and willed himself to continue walking. He started for the front door but then remembered that his jacket was in the kitchen and headed there. His mother was busy with dinner and his father was nowhere to be seen.

"Mom, I am going to Gage's. Might not be here by dinner. Where’s Dad?” he asked shrugging on his jacket.

“He himself headed there a while ago. He said he had some business things to deal with Dim. You both come back in time."

"Okay." He exited the kitchen and went straight out of the front door.

It was just a few minutes’ walk to his Uncle Ray's house and then two blocks to Uncle Jack's. Four of his cousins- Dimitri, Gage, Emmet and Jacob lived with their parents, just as he did. They had grown up playing together. He and Gage had their first beer together, while Dim had taught him to ride a bicycle. Emm had pulled him out of his misery when his toy plane had crashed into a tree when he was six. And all the four of them had beaten the hell out of a group of bullies, who had once threatened their youngest brother, Jacob. Although Jake was the one to start the fight, Ian smiled at the memory.

Ian climbed the steps and pushed the door open. Knocking was never necessary. Upon entering, he heard laughter coming from the living room and set off in that direction. His plan of informing them about Sonia went down the drain the moment he stepped in the room.

Of course his father would have already told about her. The girl had lured everyone. He couldn't figure out if it was good or bad.

"Finally we got one girl amongst this horde of boys," Ray spoke to James.

"Aye, I tell you, the girl's really a sugar pie. She talks sweetly and has a smile on her face all the time. Not like these frowning young men,” James joked, eyeing the said boys.

"Now you will realize the importance of a girl in the house,” Kate said.

"When will we get to meet her Uncle?" Gage all but bounced out of his seat besides Ian.

"Why so excited to meet her?" Ian questioned in a surprised tone.

Gage had never shown such keen interest in anything, let alone meeting someone he didn't even knew.

"It will be a pleasure to meet her, aye Uncle?" Dim asked from where he was lying on the floor.

"Yes. Why don't we have dinner at my place tomorrow? It's Saturday, so we can hang out later," James suggested.

"Good idea,” Ray agreed nodding his head.

"But why can't we meet her today?" Gage whined.

"What's up with you, man? Why so damn excited to meet her?" Ian repeated, anger seeping in through his tone.

"'Cause I haven't seen an Indian all my life,” Gage replied lamely.

"So, what? She’s got no horns or a tail,” Ian hissed through his teeth.

"Even if she did, that too wouldn't dim her sweetness, Ian," James said mocking his son.

"Dad-"

Before they could start arguing, Kate shoved a coke in his hand. "No arguments in here, young man,” Ian huffed and soon enough, everything went back to being normal again for the next hour or so. That was until Kate came and stood right in front of the T.V, her hands on her hips. Seeing her stance and the look on her face, everyone grunted and groaned in annoyance.

"James, Ian, off you go home. It's your first dinner with Sonia. They both might be waiting for you two,” Kate shooed them away despite their protests.

***

The dinner was delicious. Aunt Carol had even made dessert. As the cups of ice cream cake were scraped clean, Sonia's eyes were drooping.

"Sonia, be ready tomorrow. Troops are approaching to charge at you,” James’ voice jolted her awake.

"What? Who?" Sonia glanced at Caroline.

"He means the whole family. James' brothers and their families are going to come over,” Caroline explained, "they all live close by and we have regular lunches at each other's house. You are the reason for tomorrow's banquet."

"Wow. Can I help you with the preparations?" she asked, excitement oozing from her words.

"Of Course, you and Ian set the table,” Caroline said smiling at Ian.

"I mean, can I help with the preparation of food?" She pleaded.

“If that's what you want," Caroline smiled at Sonia.

Beaming, Sonia turned to the men, "And who was the one to come up with tomorrow's lunch idea?" she enquired.

"Dad," Ian instantly replied.

"Oh, Uncle Jamey.” Sonia got up and kneeled in front of James, taking his hands in hers’, "Thank you so much,” She glowed with happiness.

James caressed her cheek softly with his knuckles and smiled at her, “Wait till you meet them all."