Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

"Oh thank god," said Shouri, as they pulled up to Pacifica's childhood home in Canolapra.

Pacifica looked up from her tuner, but understood the reason for Shouri's relief almost immediately. Flakes of gentle ice began to collect on the windshield as the promised "bad weather" arrived to the Northern Lakes region.

"Maybe Rebby and I should take up your uncle on some driving lessons," Shouri said, tilting the rear-view mirror to catch Pacifica in its periphery.

"Probably not a bad idea. It dumps a lot of snow here in the winter, so if we want to drive around it wouldn't hurt to know," said Pacifica, staring at the already accumulating snow with disdain.

"We're here," Taika noted, looking up from her book. The vixen blinked a couple times shaking her head as she returned to the real world from her stint in the world of fantasy. "It's dark out," came the second observation.

"Yeah, it gets dark out earlier here, especially in the winter," Pacifica informed the lunar fox.

"Mhm." Taika nodded.

Pacifica had the feeling Taika already knew that little factoid and decided to just drop it.

"Alright, let's get in the house, I see your mom patrolling from the door." Shouri pointed to the foyer where the ever-familiar presence of Priscilla awaited like a hungry beast.

Not wanting to waste anymore rhythm on the heater, Shouri cut the power to the car and the quartet hopped out to grab their bags and head into the comfort of the warm home.

"Hello my little otter!" Priscilla greeted her daughter with a tight hug. Jack, who waited with his wife, also took his opportunity embrace his daughter once she had gotten her fill.

The process repeated as affection was shared with the rest of the party. Finally, they were allowed to drop their bags off in Pacifica's room and rest on the couch in the living room.

"So how was the drive?" asked Priscilla. She and Jack brought out bowls of warm stew for the weary travelers.

"Nothing too crazy, it only started snowing as we got near the city," Shouri said, accepting his meal with quiet gratitude.

"It was quiet, for once," Pacifica added.

"I don't remember it," Taika helpfully chimed in.

"We do need to learn how to drive on slick roads, since neither Sho or I have done it," Rebecca threw out their quiet ask.

"Aiden and Syrus will be back tomorrow morning. I'll have him take you two out while the roads are good for practicing that," Priscilla said.

Shouri spoke up, "We don't want to impose--" but was cut off by the father of his otter.

Jack chuckled. "No worries at all. Aiden loves slick roads; he's an adrenaline junkie. He'll be excited to have the excuse."

The chatter settled down as the quartet were allowed to polish off their meal in peace. Peace, however, was not long for this world. No sooner had they set their bowls down, Jack was up.

"Alright my little pup! Let's see your ad-Lib!" demanded the elder water element.

"Oh, sure!" Without a second thought, Pacifica flicked her wrist and the water in the cup on the table came to life, splashing up into the air. She wouldn't let it out of her grasp though, like a conductor directing an orchestra she swept the air with her fingers, the water following along like a Resonator to her Maestro. The liquid twirled, spun, and twisted in the air before she directed it back into the cup, never losing even a drop.

Priscilla and Jack just stared in silent awe.

"How long ago did you figure this out?" Jack asked.

"Uhhh, when did we go again?" Pacifica looked to Shouri.

"Beginning of November. You were battle ready within a week, if I remember correctly," replied the Maestro.

Once more there was a hushed wonder at the absurdity on display. "Surely you know-"

"-how crazy it is?" Shouri cut Priscilla off. "Yeah, we get that a lot. Comes with the territory."

"The territory?" Priscilla questioned, sensing there was more to that claim.

"à deux, we got diagnosed with it. It's terminal I'm afraid," Shouri said, gesturing dramatically towards the older woman.

Pacifica elbowed him. "It's not a disease," she chided.

"With how scalatologists treat it, might as well be," Shouri countered.

Priscilla remained quiet for a moment; the young Maestro and his three Resonators fell to an uneasy silence.

Finally, she cracked a smile. "Of course you are," she chuckled. "I've always seen the way you've looked at them. Of course you're an à deux user."

Shouri released a held breath, his tense shoulders relaxing as they weren't instantly chewed out for doing something dangerous, again.

"Have you felt it?"

Now the four looked to the elder Maestro, perplexion was shared across the younger group.

"Felt what?" Shouri slowly questioned.

"The sting of à deux, of course."

Pacifica shivered as she stood on the battle court in their neighborhood. Snow gathered on the pavement as more continued to flutter to the ground. The otter didn't like seeing her breath, but…

"There's only one way you're going to hit me," Jack said.

"And that's by throwing yourself into à deux," Priscilla finished.

"Wait, are you an à deux user too?" Shouri questioned warily.

"Nope! There's something about my scale that makes me incompatible with the technique!" Priscilla grinned brightly. "I've helped someone else hone it in the past, so I know what to look for," she continued.

And now confusion spread through Shouri's ranks. There were other à deux users out there? It made sense given the technique was a known quantity, so much so that doctors were able to diagnose and dissuade its usage.

"Paci!" Shouri called out.

He didn't need to say anything more. Pacifica knew he wanted to dive deeper than they had ever attempted to in the past. There was a tinge of pride that she was the one he was trying it with. She licked her lips as she did what she thought she needed, what they needed.

They were already on the same wavelength, or more accurate to say the same tempo. Pacifica gave herself up to Shouri as he did her.

"Woah…" Rebecca gasped.

"What is it?" Taika asked.

"They're totally in sync," whispered the fire fox to her lunar counterpart.

"Jack," Priscilla leveled her tuner.

"Right," the elder otter lost his calm bubbly demeanor, and dropped into a combative stance.

Without another word, the spar began, Jack ran at his daughter. Pacifica remained firm, and as soon as he got close, she dodged. Just in time, as his powerful tail swiped the airspace she had just occupied.

The way he moved allowed him to turn to her, ready to attack again.

"Idrante, Fortissimo!" Priscilla called.
"Idrante, Fortissimo!" Shouri matched his elder counterpart.

Where they called the spells at the same time, Pacifica was just faster, her spell sent before the modifiers were called. This put Jack in the awkward position of aborting his own spell or risk piercing water to the face. The decision was easy, and he ducked out of the way to continue the spar.

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While Jack was distracted with dodging her attack, Pacifica made more distance.

"Nebbia, Lento Staccato!" Priscilla shouted.

Suddenly, the already cold air grew chillier, as a thick mist radiated from the elder otter, cutting visibility.

Rebecca and Taika huddled close to their Maestro, their ears perked up as they both tried to listen for the other otter. Rebecca noted Shouri was shivering, where he should have been immune to cold of this level--she was fine after all.

Pacifica ground her teeth in frustration. It was so bitterly cold, and now the dark of the night was accompanied by a thick fog not even the court's spotlights could hope to penetrate. She had to focus. Pushing her rhythm out, she activated her ad-Lib and began gathering the water around her. It was so thick in the air that she found the task simple. Before not too long, she cleared out a bubble within the mist, where she could see (alongside having some water to strike back with).

THWICK!

"Gah!" Shouri and Pacifica cried out.

The Maestro grabbed his shoulder, nearly dropping Pacifica's tuner.

"Sho?!" Rebecca and Taika yelped.

"Shoulder." He glared at the fog impeding his vision. He knew inaction would do nothing but hurt them both. He maintained his link with Pacifica. He could feel what she felt, it was coming through so sharply.

He didn't need to speak his plan into existence, she moved with his will; as long as he thought up the strategy, she'd execute it.

"Meravigliare Bolla, Rubato, Ghiacciolo, Rubato," was what he decided on.

Pacifica spread a minefield of bubbles with needles ready to fire around her. Her eyes flicked about the misty terrain to keep herself safe but to feed Shouri any new information she could intuit from the battlefield.

Her dad was so quiet--how? Was he remaining still?

Suddenly she spotted him! With her still active Ghiacciolo linked up, she fired off several large spears of ice, Forte rank for good measure.

As soon as one struck, she knew she needed to get out of there. Her attack landed head-on, but the target she hit collapsed into a pile of snow. She heard Shouri cursing in her mind that they had struck a Scambiare Neve instead of the otter himself.

THWICK THWICK THWICK!

"GAAAH!" Maestro and Resonator cried out. Several ice needles stuck out of Pacifica's back, as she dropped low. Five more sailed overhead. The young otter breathed hard. This was how her dad fought. He might as well have been an assassin with how quietly he moved; with how much subterfuge he utilized in his combat. It was insane to think about.

Calm down, Paci.

Right, they were still fighting him. How could they deal with an opponent who had an advantage like this?

Wait…

His ad-Lib…

He didn't have Poigga Fragole! He may have been faster under the waves than she could ever hope to be, but Pacifica controlled the water. She knew where it all was. Even if he cast the fog, she could still touch it.

We can know what is a clone and what is him.

Exactly! Pacifica brought her bubbles back in and stood straight. She took a breath and began to move. With her eyes useless, she closed them, and gave herself up to her hearing and rhythm. Step by step, she moved through the dense fog, gathering it up and whipping it out, striking snow clones that tried to position themselves for Jack to cast through. They might as well have been screaming their positions for having the audacity to be made of water of all things.

It didn't take long to find him. Rather than making distance she charged him. Shouri and Pacifica grunted, taking several needles to the face and shoulders, but they weren't deterred. She reached him and slid to his side, she pulled him behind her and using her tail as leverage hip tossed him straight into the ground.

Needles formed in her hands as she prepared to launch them at her downed father. He was faster though, and from his position on the ground launched a huge blast of water in an instant, throwing Pacifica into the air and causing her to slam hard onto the ground.

Shouri finally dropped the tuner recoiling from the shock of the pain suddenly invading him all at once.

"Sho!" Taika and Rebecca managed to catch the boy as he seized up and could barely remain standing.

"Sotto," Priscilla's voice cut through the fog. The one word alone dispersed the veil of white that clouded the battlefield. Jack stood over Pacifica pointing a blade of ice at his daughter, his gaze cold, merciless.

Priscilla smiled with pride, despite what they just did. "You're the real deal," she said.

"You were holding back," groaned Shouri and Pacifica in unison.

"Well, I'm not out to kill my daughter and her boyfriend. That'd be rude," Priscilla pouted.

"Fuck you," the pair grumbled.

"What was that?" Priscilla asked, louder.

"Nothing!" came the panicked shouts of the two.

"I'm serious though," Priscilla said when they returned to the comfort of home.

Shouri and Pacifica trembled as they held Rebecca on the couch. A couple of Famiglio Incendio cuddled around them to aid in the rewarming efforts.

"We weren't fooling around out there. And thankfully you took us seriously," Priscilla continued.

"Yeah, we could tell," snarked Shouri and Pacifica.

"Are they stuck like that?" Rebecca asked.

"No, think of it sort of like an à deux adrenaline rush or something, it'll wear off after a little bit," Priscilla replied. "It's harder to get à deux to click while not in the heat of battle. Though you two were able to turn the key so to speak to get it going right when we started. You're already in a better position than my friend."

"What was it like, Paci?" Taika asked.

"Hard to say," Pacifica and Shouri looked at each other. Shouri nodded and closed his eyes.

"Ahem." Pacifica nodded, now speaking alone. "I felt like he was right over my shoulder, seeing everything I was; like he truly had my back. If I needed any advice, he was quick to chime in, our thoughts bounced back and forth," she tried to explain.

"Except when he dropped the tuner cause of the pain," Rebecca pointed out.

Shouri and Pacifica both deflated at that comment. "Yeah," they both said.

"If I really wanted to stop Pacifica and I knew about à deux, I'd have focused entirely on Shouri," said Jack.

It was disarming hearing him speak so methodically like that, but he did raise a good point.

"So that means we really need to be on point then," Rebecca said.

"Yeah, if Sho starts getting hurt when we do…" Taika trailed off. She was thankful she was a healer but…

"I liked it," Shouri spoke, free from Pacifica. He grinned. "Sorry girls, but I'm not letting go."

What little doubts the three Resonators had were assuaged by that; but now Rebecca and Taika wondered the same thing:

"When's my turn?"