***
"MeiPieh, please come away from there."
MeiPieh looked away from the beautiful mirror. "Father, why do I not look like you?"
Chung I pulled his adopted daughter away from the mirror. "It think it is time for us to talk, MeiPieh."
He led her outside, into the garden that grew behind their small home. They sat among the flowers.
"MeiPieh, even though I love you like my own daughter, you are not my child. I believe you are old enough to learn of how I found you."
"Found me?" MeiPieh pulled her sky blue bandanna over her shoulder and twirled the end around her two fingers.
"Yes. Nearly ten years ago, while I was visiting one of my old students in America. She lives in New York and asked if I would like to visit her for a short time. One night, during a terrible storm, we witnessed an accident. A large truck hit an open manhole and crashed."
MeiPieh gasped. "Was anyone hurt?"
Chung I smiled down at her. "No, but a little boy lost his bowl of turtles, and the truck lost a canister of something. They both fell down the hole in the street. A few blocks later we saw a tiny turtle floating in a puddle. I picked it up and we brought it back to her apartment."
"Was that me?"
Chung I nodded. "Yes, MeiPieh, that was you. In the morning, you had grown to fill the small bowl we had put you in. We were amazed and my student suggested that I take you back to China with me. One, because she could not care for you properly in the city, and two, we both sensed the potential in you for magick. Here, you have grown in peace, and are doing very well in your studies."
MeiPieh chewed on the end of her braid. "Who was your student? I think I remember her."
Chung I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, do you now?"
"She…she smelled like lavender."
Chung I laughed. "Yes, she wore it all the time. Why do you want to know about her?"
She looked up shyly. "Well, she's almost like my mother."
Chung I paused. "I suppose she is. Her name was Amelia Cheng. She came to me when she was young, wanting to learn my art. She was very gifted, but only studied with me for five years."
"Then what? Why'd she leave?"
"Didn't you hear the story?" a voice behind them asked. They both turned and stood in one movement. "I moved to New York."
"Amelia." Chung I greeted his old student.
"It's been too long, Chung I." She was not as old as Chung I, only thirty-five, with shoulder length black hair and dark almond eyes. She smiled warmly at MeiPieh, who sniffed and caught a faint scent of lavender. "Hello, MeiPieh."
MeiPieh stepped forward and bowed. "It's an honor to meet you."
Amelia smiled. "And it's wonderful to see you again. You've grown so much."
"How long are you here?" Chung I asked.
"Only for the summer, but I'm afraid I've made no plans as to housing," she smiled mysteriously.
MeiPieh pulled on her father's sleeve. "Can she stay with us? Please?"
Both adults laughed. Chung I took his daughter's hand. "Of course she
will, MeiPieh."