coparentingp [One Last Fire]

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===== Co-Parenting =====

It’s hard to find Nancy apart from Waffle these days. This time in particular, you can hear their voices coming from the Hall of Knowledge while you look around the Great Hall. You take in a deep breath then, and are about to walk inside when you notice a red rose growing and blooming before you. You look around you, confused, and your eyes land on the newly-formed Guardian Sires Plant. If they had eyes, you could swear they winked at you.

Blushing slightly, you pluck the rose, and take it with you into the Hall of Knowledge.

//Come on Paul, you can do this, just **don’t mention light pollution**.//

At the end of the corridor that connects the Great Hall with the Hall of Knowledge, you find utter and unbridled chaos – exactly what you’d expect from any situation involving Waffle. This time, Nancy and Waffle seem to have built a tent of sorts using large scrolls draped over stone tablets. Amidst screams and giggles, you also hear Waffle singing a strange song in a language you don’t quite understand. Perhaps it is a version of Ancient Egyptian that not even the Library’s translation system can decode. However, as you step into the room, Waffle stops singing and launches themselves into your arms.

“PAUL!!! HELLO!!!”

“Woah, hey there pal! You doing okay?”

“NANCY AND I BUILT A FORT!!!”

“I can see that!”

You look up at Nancy and she’s smiling that sweet, placid smile of hers. She nods towards the fort.

“We were about to inaugurate it. Care to join us?”

“Absolutely,” you say. “But before that…”

You hand Nancy the rose, and watch her face go cherry red. “Paul!” She exclaims, almost lost for words. “This, this is so sweet. Where did you even get this?”

“Oh, a friend hooked me up,” you say. And then, noticing the confusion on her face: “A big, plant-based Guardian friend. In the Great Hall.”

At this, Nancy chuckles. “Ah, I see. Well, thank you!” She chirps.

“No problem,” you say, a bit unsure of what to do now.

“FORT!!!!” Yells Waffle.

“FORT!!” You yell back.

Together, you gather inside the makeshift tent and make idle conversation. You ask Waffle how their chat with Sadiki went, and their face goes red. Apparently, they’re just seeing where things go for now. 

“But he doesn’t mind that I’m scary!!!” They say, beaming. “I mean, he’s not scared of me!! Well, he is. But not //really// scared of me!!!”

“Alright, that’s… good?” You say, a little doubtful, but Waffle’s vigorous nodding reassures you that you’ve said the right thing. Then, you look at Nancy, and she smirks.

“Just seeing where things go… that doesn’t sound half bad.”

You blush a little, and nod. “It doesn’t, does it?” And with that, you put your hand over hers and squeeze.

Pleased, she turns back to Waffle. “By the way, that was a very pretty song you were singing before. Where did you learn it?”

“Oh, I heard it from my uncle, Iumeri!!”

//...What?!//

Waffle gives Nancy an innocent smile. You look at her, wide-eyed. Could this “uncle” be who you think it is? That mysterious scholar? It would make for a compelling drama, at least: two brothers at odds, one erasing the other from history.

“Your… uncle?” Nancy asks, cautious.

“Yep!! He sang it a lot around the library! And I just sorta picked it up. Why??”

“We just didn’t know you had an uncle,” you say.

“Um, yeah,” says Waffle, suddenly a bit quieter. “But we didn’t really talk much. I was just….. around.”

“In his library?” Nancy asks.

"Yes!!"

“And what did you do around there?” You ask, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Um… I helped him with his writing, mostly!! There were things I could do and he couldn’t, like talking to snakes and so on. Although my father didn’t really like me doing that…”

“Snakes like the Serpent?”

Waffle thinks. “I suppose!!”

You think of Chaaya and the rest of Amar’s grandchildren, of how they could see the Guardians and the adults couldn’t. And then, suddenly, it all makes sense. The Guardians were visiting Iumeri’s library, Hetepheres saw them, and then began telling her uncle about them! That’s why there’s a huge mural depicting the Guardians hidden within the tomb! That’s why Iumeri was erased from history as a heretic! You look at Nancy, the same expression of realization plastered all over her face. Now, there’s just one question left to answer…

“And what were the Guardians doing in your uncle’s library?”

Waffle blinks at Nancy, confused.

“Were they looking for anything, Waffle?” You ask, trying your best to help.

Then Waffle swivels their head towards you and asks, with complete and utter honesty:

“Who is Waffle?”

Your blood turns to ice. For a moment you wonder if they’re joking, but the look of confusion on the child’s face is far too great for this to be a prank. Is this why Waffle’s mannerisms seem to have changed lately? Why their voice seemed different? Why you kept noticing something odd? “…Hetepheres?” You hear Nancy utter the name and, when you look up at her, you notice there are tears in her eyes. 

“Yes??” The child replies. And then, alarmed: “Wait!! Why are you crying???”

You watch as Nancy pulls the child close to her chest, hugging them, and your memories flash back to all the unforgettable moments you have spent with Waffle: your meeting in Amar’s Bookshop, rocking out in The Well, deactivating massive axes within Egyptian tombs. And just like that, you feel your eyes watering too.

“You too, Paul?!” Hetepheres exclaims, still being held by Nancy. “Oh man, adults //really **are** weird//.”

“Yeah, buddy,” you say, trying your best not to choke up. “We really are.”
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