15: The Sorcerer's Apprentice?

The crescent moon rose, waxed, and waned over the Smurf Village, but the huge party celebrating the breaking of Simon's spell and welcoming Smurfette and Hefty home continued well into the moon's next cycle. Before long, Tracker was well enough to return his crutch to Dabbler and go back to happily tramping through the forest, blazing trails and sniffing out one of the Smurfs' favorite delicacies: truffles.

"Oh Brainy, oh Papa Smurf, I will never be able to thank you enough for rescuing us from that awful spell! You're my heroes!" Smurfette cried, refreshing the vase of fresh-cut flowers in Papa Smurf's lab and giving them both a big, happy hug, as she had been doing every day since their triumphant return from Lyssandra's home. The two Smurfs smiled and hugged her back, as always but, this day, as she left to join Hefty and Tuffy on their morning jog to the dam and back, Brainy's smile turned a little wistful.

"Is something wrong, Brainy?" Papa Smurf asked as he returned to his latest crop-growth experiment.

Brainy looked like a Smurfling with his hand caught in Greedy's cookie jar.

"Oh, no, Papa Smurf," he said. "I'm very happy you decided to let me be your assistant again. I truly am grateful for this second chance, and there is nowhere else I'd rather be than here in Smurf Village with you and all my friends. I really mean that!"

"But, you're thinking about Lyssandra, aren't you," Papa Smurf said.

Brainy adjusted his glasses on his nose, and sighed.

"Yes," he admitted. "I broke my promise to her, Papa Smurf. And…I know she thinks it's more important for the two of us to smurf along but… Well, I…"

"Go on, Brainy," Papa Smurf said. "Your feelings are important. Don't smurf them inside on my account."

Brainy blinked a few times, then looked down, his fingers fidgeting until he clasped them together.

"All my life, I wanted to be exactly like you, Papa Smurf," he said. "And I still respect you, more than anyone else in the world! It's just…"

He swallowed, and turned his gaze to the window.

"I don't want to…be…you anymore. Since that time we spent working together in Lyssandra's lab, unsmurfing Simon's awful spell… It made me realize…we don't think the same way, you and me. And, while I still want to become a wizard with everything that I am, I know now that…that I want to be a different kind of wizard. You're interested in crops and plants and growing things…I'm more interested in books, and people."

He looked up at his mentor, his eyes wide and vulnerable behind his glasses.

"Do you hate me now?"

Papa Smurf gave a start, then burst out laughing.

"No, of course I don't hate you, Brainy!" he said. "To tell you the truth, I think I've been waiting for this moment a long time."

"You have?" Brainy asked.

"It's important to know your own mind, Brainy," Papa Smurf said. "To follow your own talents. I want you to be the Smurf you are, not some younger copy of me. If that means your interests smurf you along a path different from mine, all the better. I'd rather work with a colleague than a copy. Do you understand, Brainy?"

Brainy looked thoughtful.

"Yes… I think I do, Papa Smurf," he said.

Papa Smurf's smile broadened and he clapped the younger Smurf on the shoulder.

"I'm so proud of you, Brainy," he said. "If you want to return to Lyssandra and complete your apprenticeship with her, I'm certain she'll take you back."

"Really!" Brainy exclaimed. "Oh…I didn't mean—"

"I know what you meant, Brainy," Papa Smurf said with a chuckle. "And don't worry, it won't be like it was before. You've proven to me, just now, that you're no longer a child, and you won't be treated like one. When you're not working, you'll be free to come and go as you wish. In fact, if you like, you can choose to study with Lyssandra a few weeks a month, and with me the rest of the time. For, you see, I've learned a few lessons too, these past months."

"You have?" Brainy asked. "What did you learn, Papa Smurf?"

"I learned my little Smurfs really aren't so little anymore. Even the Smurflings are nearly grown," he said. "And my role in your lives has changed. I will always strive to keep you safe, but my responsibility now is to respect you as the adults you are. You Smurfs don't need a guardian anymore…and I no longer want to be one for you. I'll be your guide when you need me but mostly, I'd like to be your friend."

"My friend?" Brainy looked a little overwhelmed.

"Brainy, are you all right?" Papa Smurf asked.

"Yes," Brainy said a little hoarsely. "I'm fine. I...I just..."

Brainy wiped his eyes behind his glasses, then clasped his Papa Smurf in a powerful hug.

"I love you, Papa Smurf," he said. "I love you so much!"

"I love you too, Brainy," Papa Smurf said, feeling his own eyes begin to sting.

"And I'll be worthy of your confidence in me, don't you worry," Brainy said, pulling away from the hug. "I'll finish my apprenticeship and become a full wizard and then I'll be a real help to the Village, just like I always wanted to be! And, maybe, when I've finished studying with Lyssandra, I could study with Homnibus and learn all about the origins of magical lore and the history of all the human and magical communities that live in and around our forest! And, once I learn all that, I can teach other Smurfs, and write books, and-"

"All right, all right, Professor Smurf, I get the picture," Papa Smurf said with a laugh. "That's a wonderful future career you've set out for yourself, Brainy. But, let's start off with the basics first. Lyssandra's been waiting to hear from me. I'll contact her right now and tell her you're ready to come back."

"Thank you, Papa Smurf!" Brainy said, too excited to stand still. "I'll pack my books. Oh, and I'll have to tell Clumsy I'm going, and all the other Smurfs… Oh, Papa Smurf, I…I don't think I've ever felt so much like…like me before! I think I'm going to like being a real, grown-up Smurf!"

Papa Smurf watched with a smile as Brainy ran out into the Village, crying, "I'm going back to Lyssandra! I'm going to be a wizard!"

Then, he took a seat in front of his looking glass and enacted the spell to contact Lyssandra.

"And how are you, my not-so-young Smurf?" the blind sorceress greeted without even having to ask who was calling.

Papa Smurf chuckled.

"Smurfy," he said. "Just smurfy. Has the wizard's council smurfed to a decision about that Simple Simon yet?"

"They've decided, and the sentence has been carried out," Lyssandra informed him. "And it's a very good thing. When we tracked him down, we found he had captured and transformed three young faeries the same way he'd captured and transformed your poor Smurfs – not to mention the unfortunate rabbits, ducks, and chickens he had enchanted. Luckily, the counterspell you, your Brainy, and I developed worked just as well on them, with a few modifications, and they are now home and free. But Simon has been stripped of all his magical abilities."

"What will happen to him now?" Papa Smurf asked.

"The irresponsible oaf decided to return home with Miranda Lott and take a job working at her father's inn," she said. "They'll both be all right. But this news was not the reason for your call. Have you reached a decision about your young Brainy?"

"I have," Papa Smurf told her. "I've decided to take your advice, Lyssandra. I'm letting him go, and I'll keep my arms open wide. The three of us can smurf a training course and schedule together, once he's back with you."

Lyssandra nodded.

"I'll look forward to working with you, as a colleague."

"As I will look forward to working with you, and with Brainy. When he's ready." He chuckled a little and shook his head. "His dreams are so different from mine, Lyssandra," he said. "But, at heart, I believe we both want the same things."

"You have done a fine job rearing your Village, Papa Smurf," Lyssandra said. "I've never been prouder to call you my friend."

"You are loved here, Lyssandra," Papa Smurf told her sincerely. "Don't ever forget that. Although you choose to live apart from the world, you will always be a part of our family."

The lonely elf started to respond, but choked a little and shook her head.

"What is it about you Smurfs?" she said, and smiled a warm, heartfelt smile. "Send our Brainy over whenever he's ready, Papa Smurf," she said. "I'll be here."

Her image faded from the glass. Papa Smurf stood up and strode outside, his eyes following the busy, happy bustle that was daily life in Smurf Village. Everywhere he looked, Smurfs were laughing, singing, working, playing. He spotted Clumsy and Brainy not far away, sitting together beneath a tree. Clumsy was telling his friend about his dream of one day building a beautiful rock garden for all the Smurfs to enjoy, while Brainy told him his dreams of someday building a vast library, and sharing the world's knowledge with the Smurf community.

"I have a smurfy feeling this Village is going to see a lot of changes in the next few hundred years." Papa Smurf smiled to himself. "What a future my little Smurfs will smurf for themselves! And, I can't wait to help them smurf it."

The Conclusion

That's it, everyone! The end of this story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks so much for reading! Your reviews are always welcome, and always deeply appreciated! :)