I came home not long after that, Lindent nodding his goodbye to me near the restaurant. Light on his feet, he bounded off with that pot still clutched preciously in his arm.

When I called out my thanks (that was, haha, a bit self-conscious) towards his back, he only spun around to give me a half-shrug before he spun back forward and disappeared.

I was closing the door to our little home in no time, and as soon as the door clicked behind me, I dropped into bed face down.

"How was your walk?" came mom's gentle voice.

"Good," I mumbled into the pillow.

"Did you have dinner?"

"Mm." I rolled my head over to face her. "I had a sandwich. I met a few... friends." Was Dan a friend? He seemed the type to say 'oh yeah, we friends!' enthusiastically in his booming voice. Eh, we were friends.

"Oh? That sounds nice." She reached over and smoothed my hair away from my face. I closed my eyes and let myself be soothed.

Nice... was it? Well, the crying had been kind of painful, but everything else after that... "Yeah," I decided. "It was nice."

Then I smushed my face back into the pillow and took a deep breath. Today had been a long day, and even with the nap early on, I was still pretty drained. Which meant it was time to sleep!

"Filian, dear, do wash up first."

Which meant it was time to wash up, and then go to sleep!

---

I woke up just in time to hear all six bells ring after the customary bell tower tune.

Ooh, up at six AM and on a day I wasn't working for Gramps? That was rare. I was usually conked out until, like, ten at least.

I contemplated going back to sleep, but seeing how my mind was now all perked up and raring to go behind closed eyes, I probably wouldn't be able to even if I wanted to. It did feel good to be awake feeling nicely refreshed, instead of groggy and gross like every other day.

The silence outside our window, so unlike the rowdiness of this street at ten o'clock, was nice to enjoy, too. Apparently, the peace and quiet of mornings felt really good, especially when you weren't rushing to get to work.

And you know what else peace and quiet was good for? Some good ol' thinking, that's what.

Careful not to wake mom up, I didn't even open my eyes, just relishing the quiet and letting my mind wander. Now, what did I have to think of first?

The answer popped up in my head so quickly that I held back a small snort of laughter. Rosa. Of course it was Rosa-- she'd been the recipient of my rant from yesterday.

Speaking of yesterday, I'd gone to sleep last night thinking I'd have a lot to process in the morning, but now that it was morning, I felt way too refreshed to be brooding. What had I been so confused about again?

Again, the answer popped up in my head immediately: Rosa's proposal (demand?) about saving the world.

Riiight. Now what was I to do about that?

A small sigh escaped from my lips, and I slowly and carefully rolled over to my side, facing the door with my eyes still closed. Eek. Save the world. Oof. Yeaahh, I was still not up for that. But maybe I could hear her out, and see what I can do.

Chirp chirp!

I smiled. Aww, okay, that was a really nice chirp. Mornings really were nice, weren't they? When you were well-rested and not stumbling off the bed about to be late for work?¹the author wouldn't know, she's never not late

Chirp! Fuofuofuo.

My smile faded. Well, okay, that was still a nice chirp... and whatever that bird sound was. Still, birds were cool. 

Fuofuofuo chirp! Fuofuofuo chirp!

The slightest frown came over my face. Why did it feel like the bird was... or the bird sound was coming closer and closer? Louder and louder?

Fuofuofuofuo chirp! Fuo chirp chirp! Fuofuo chirp!

Yep, that was definitely louder. Had a bird flown into our room? But how? Our window was closed! Unless it was opened by some kind of spy-- I gasped in the inside. Like that last time! When Rosa had given me that letter on purpose!!?!

I bolted upright and twisted to the window, eyes wide. I had to squint them right after, though, because it was bright outside, but from what I could see, the window was fine.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I rested back onto the bed and slowly turned back, about to lie back down.

"Oh, you're awake."

"EEACKK!" I cried, jolting my mom into a surprised cry of her one.

"Gwah! Filian! What's wrong!" she yelped.

"Ueh!" exclaimed the one who'd set it all off. Rosa, who'd been crouching on the floor halfway from the bed to the door, sat back with a thump. She gasped, then had the audacity to frown at me.

I glared back at her, saying, "It's nothing, mom, sorry. Rosa just surprised me."

"Oh," she sighed, then fell back onto the bed. "That's a relief."

Still glaring at the girl (who was finally looking a bit guilty) in question, I hummed in agreement. "And what are you doing here? Six in the morning?"

"It's six in the morning?" I heard mom mumble faintly behind me.

Rosa twiddled with her thumbs, her eyes cast down. "I didn't know if you were working in the morning today, and I really needed to catch you as early as I could?" And before I could respond, she slammed her forehead down onto the ground.

"Rosa!"

"I'm sorry!" she squawked, into the ground. "Don't hate me!"

Without thinking, I'd half-scrambled out of bed, mouth gaping open. "What?"

"Sometimes you're so nice I forget how forceful I can get! But I realized, like, super last-minute yesterday that my way of speaking made it seem like I wasn't giving you a choice! Okay, I honestly kind of wasn't giving you a choice then, but I'm giving it to you now!" She peeked up at me after that, her entire face morphed into puppy eyes full of pleading.

I stayed exactly as I was, frozen, not even sure if I was breathing. "...okay, what?"

"Forgive me?" Then, when I didn't answer, she added, "And maybe save the country with me, if you feel up to it?"

Incredulous laughter bubbled up my throat before I knew it. "Rosa!" I half-gasped, half-scolded. "That's not how you--"

"What was that noise," Mom mumbled into the pillow. "Did Rosa accidentally fall over?"

"No, she literally just slammed her forehead into the ground."

"Ooh. And you say it wasn't an accident?" I could hear Mom's frown in her voice. "I see. Are you alright, Rosa?"

"No problem! I'm good at this kind of thing. But that's not all!" Rosa scooched over to one side and twisted to the door, still half-folded onto the floor. "Hey!" she hissed to the back. "Bring it in!"

The door creaked open partway (Rosa was kind of blocking the entrance, so they had to squeeze through), and a small wheeled cart slithered in. I eyed the thing warily-- it had a couple platters covered with a fancy domed metallic plate covers²a cloche, apparently set on top, but I had no idea what that was for.

"Um, okay?"

Rosa looked at us proudly, flinging one hand towards the cart. "Behold, breakfast in bed!"

"Breakfast?"

"Or lunch, if you already had breakfast, of course."

"Lunch? It's six in the morning!"

She shrugged. "Can't be too strict about these things-- I'm all for accommodating your schedule."

I sputtered. "Rosa, when did you get all these ready?"

She flashed me a grin. "I've been ready since five AM!" When I inhaled sharply, she held up a palm of her hand and said, "Don't worry. These cloches will have kept the food still hot and fresh."

"That... wasn't what I was worried about, but... great," I said faintly. "Great."

Mom rustled behind me as she sat up, taking a long sniff. "I know that smell. I..." I turned to her as she inhaled deeply once more, then nodded, a sleepy smile spreading on her lips. "Yes, that smells like bacon."

"Aha! Auntie is correct; bacon is part of this beautiful ensemble that awaits your morning. Wait! But that's not all!" Rosa clapped her hands twice, and a pair of hands inched out through the doorway, with yet another cloche'd plate held between its fingers. "And here we have...."

One dainty hand lifted the dome, and I gasped without meaning to. 

"The one, the very, the one and only-- lemon meringue pie!"

"Lemon meringue pie?" Mom echoed breathily.

"Lemon meringue pie!" I cried out, unable to hold myself back.

"All yours!" declared Rosa, spreading her two hands out with a dazzling grin. Confidence oozed out of her very pores, along with all the sparkles in the world. Or maybe I was seeing sparkles around that lemon meringue pie? I very well could be! "All yours, free of charge!"

"Free of charge?!"

"Wow!"

"That's amazing!" I breathed, eyes wide and probably sparkling too. Then I frowned. "Wait, who said that?"

"Nobody," Rosa said, too quickly for it to be the truth. She waved the question away. "That's not important. But really, Filian." She leveled me with a somber, serious look of her own. "I'm sorry."

I hesitated, but Mom gave me a little push from behind me. "She'll forgive you later, Rosa," Mom said, "but let's have that bacon and lemon meringue pie first, shall we?"

"Mom!" I shook my head, then flopped sideways back onto the bed. "Fine, I'll forgive you. For now. But we're going to have to talk."

Rosa brightened up immediately. "Alright!" she yelled, jumping onto her feet. "Then--"

"Hey!" bellowed Cook, from three doors away where he lived. "It's six in the morning!"

I winced. That's right, it was six in the morning.

"Oops," Rosa whispered, but her grin didn't die down. She turned back to us, and I rolled my eyes. "Then breakfast in bed, it is!"

---

A/N: I have a legitimate excuse for being late this time, haha. I was in the middle of a move! The move officially ended today (blegh), but I also just learned that we won't have internet at home until, like, next week Tuesday. Sooo... ahahahah see you then, I guess? :') I'll be, like, knitting or something in the meantime ._. (whatdoyoumean,livewithoutinternetforfivedays)

Also, happy April Fools! Wish the internet thing was an April Fool's joke too! hahahaha crying