AN: Hi everybody! Sorry for the wait but chapter 3 is here! Plus I got the artbook for the movie X) Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites everybody! This chapter has got some character introductions ^w^ Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own epic(2013) although it is seriously an epic movie ;)

I wake up to Ozzy licking my face again. My legs are dangling off the side of the bed and my head is up against the corner of the wall and the bed's headpost. I wipe the dog slobber off my face, place Ozzy at the foot of the bed, and curl up into a ball again.

I shut my eyes, toss and turn, adjust the covers but it's useless. I can't fall asleep. With I sigh, I swing my feet onto the floor and check the time on my phone. I wince a bit as the bright screen hurts my eyes, but as my eyes adjust to the brightness I can see that it reads "5:03 AM". Ugh, it's a Saturday and I have no homework. I'm supposed to be allowed to sleep in!

I grab a towel and a change of clothes from my still packed suitcase and I trudge over to the bathroom across the hall.

As I brush my teeth, I look into the mirror. My eyes are slightly puffy and my ponytail is completely messed up with tuffs of hair sticking out in every random direction. I quickly wash my face, take a shower, and thirty minutes later I my eyes are slightly less puffy and my ponytail is fixed.

I walk down the stairs in a fresh pair of black jeans and a comfy, light blue jacket. I walk to the kitchen to grab an early breakfast. I sift through the jars of leaves and old science experiments, the expired bags of food and the moldy loaf of bread on the second shelf, taking note to clean out the fridge after I eat.

I find an egg, a bagel, some ham that hasn't gone bad yet, and just enough orange juice to fill half a glass. I fry the egg, push aside my dad's papers on the table, and make myself a ham and egg sandwich.

As I eat my makeshift breakfast, my phone starts to vibrate. It's Grub.

Grub is a research scientist. He always starts chattering off about being a noble scientist fighting to protect the world from the evils that target nature, but he's really just a standard researcher. Grub's pretty smart and says he assists "the most awesomest" person in the scientific community.

As I swallow my last mouthful of food, I pick up. "Hi Grub," I say.

"Hey M.K.," he starts as I down the last of my orange juice, "I have to be out of town tomorrow for business and I was wondering if you could watch Mub for me."

"Yeah, sure" I say.

"Great!" Grub exclaims, "I'll drop him off at your place tomorrow at 7 o'clock and pick him up at around 5 o'clock?"

"Okay," I agree. "I'll see you guys tomorrow then," I say with a smile as I drop my empty plate and glass into the sink.

"Bye!" Grub says as he hangs up.

Grub's younger cousin Mub is a sweet kid. He already finished his schooling through high school even though he's only twelve and typically assists Grub in his advanced research. Yet somehow he still acts like a kid, a really immature kid, but still a kid. If only he stopped hitting on me…

After I finish my breakfast, I sort the expired, from the really expired, and I make sure not to throw out any of my dad's science experiments new, old, or otherwise. After I clean out the fridge, I write up a list of things to get in town.

Afterwards, I check the time again. It's still only 6:50. I figure since the house is around six miles from town, I'll make it by around 7:10 if I head there right now. I grab my bag and wallet from my room, quickly leave a note for my dad, and hop out the door as I pull on my boots.

I grab my bike from the shed and make my way towards town.

As I reach Moonhaven, I get off my bike and wheel it onto the sidewalk. As I walk towards Dandelions, the local market, I pass by Tara's Teahouse. Glancing through the window, I get a glimpse of the manager looking a bit ticked off. No doubt because of Nod again. I hope he doesn't get punished too much this time.

I finally reach Dandelions and lock my bike up next to the shop. As I enter the rather empty store, I immediately spot the owner's daughter, Danielle Diana, behind the basket of apples. She is the cutest little girl. She always helps her mom around the shop and has a flower and smile ready for every customer. Today she's wearing her strawberry blonde hair in two braids and a green dress under her "Dandelions" apron.

Danielle Diana is loading apples into the display and hasn't spotted me yet so I creep up behind her slowly and poke her. She jumps about a foot in the air turns around, her braids nearly hitting me and her face adorned with the cutest smile in the world.

"M.K.!" She exclaims in a high pitched shriek as she jumps into my arms, her green dress flowing delicately behind her.

"Hey there Danielle Diana," I say, as she crushes me in a bone breaking hug.

Looking up to me, her face forms a pout, "I told you to call me Dandi! All my friends do! You're the only one who won't! Danielle Diana is way too long!"

"But—" I attempt to protest.

"No buts! If you don't I'll start calling you Mary Katherine again!" she interrupts scrunching her eyes in an attempt to be intimidating.

"You'd better do what she says," a voice calls out. Looking up from Danielle Diana, I see her mother, Mrs. Lyons, carrying some more crates of produce from the back room. As she sets the crates on the floor she continues, "If you don't you'll never get out of that vice grip she's got you in."

Danielle Diana beams at her mom then turns back to me with a pair of hopeful eyes.

"Mrs. Lyons," I whine childishly with a smile on my face, "I can't resist her Bambi eyes!"

Mrs. Lyons only smiles and says, "I've taught her well."

I sigh, "Fine."

"Yippee!" Dandi says, releasing me from her hug only to jump around and then recapture me in her arms. She shoots me a blinding smile and pulls a delicate, white daisy from her light green dress. She happily offers it to me by shooting her arm up towards me and stuffing the flower in my face.

"So today's flower is the daisy?" I ask as I gently take the flower twirling it in my fingers.

"Yup!" She says taking the flower back from my hand and placing it in my hair. "They mean simplicity, faith, purity, loyal love, and innocence!" she lists the many definitions, counting on her fingers as she goes. She turns to her mom to make sure, "Did I get them all?"

"You forgot one," her mom says with a little smile.

"Darn it!" Dandi says. She shuts her eyes in concentration and puts her hands to her head like a psychic. A few seconds later, Dandi's eyes pop open and her finger points up in success, "It's cheer!" She says with a smile.

"You got it," Her mom said happily as she moved to set more fruits on display.

"Good job," I say patting her on the head.

Dandi's smile grows larger than before as she starts to talk again, "I've been learning the language of flowers! My mom says I'm really good at it!"

I smile at her gently as I remember when my mom would teach me the language of flowers too. She'd pull out her book and read me random meanings when I was feeling down saying, "You know the iris means faith and hope" or "Do you see the white heather? It means wishes will come true."

Suddenly, I remember why I'm at Dandelions and quickly snap myself from memory lane. I grab a couple of fruits, orange juice, and some vegetables to replace the spoiled ones I had thrown away and I pay Mrs. Lyons at the counter. With a quick goodbye, I leave the shop and take a bite from one of the apples I bought. I enter the deli next door and pick up some more ham, turkey, and cheese.

I unlock my bike and put my groceries into the basket. As I wheel it to the bakery a few blocks down the road, I finish off my apple and drop the core into the nearby garbage can.

When I reach the bakery I kneel to lock up my bike again, but when I stand up I see a familiar face.

"Hey M.K." Nod says with a smile.

"Hi Nod," I say as I grab the groceries from the basket. "You going in?" I ask nodding towards the bakery.

"What? Oh, no I had to pick up some stuff for the teahouse so I'm heading there right now."

"Oh, okay," I say a bit disappointed, "I hope you have fun at work. I saw Ronin there earlier, he looked a bit ticked."

Nod winces, "Aw man, not again."

"You should probably stop doing whatever you do that makes him so mad at you if you hate those lectures so much," I say with a grin.

"I can't do that," he exclaims, his eyes wide with shock, apparently appalled that I even suggest such a thing, "He'll make me all old and boring like him!"

I try to hold back my laughter, but I just can't. Between my laughs I manage to say, "That's probably why he always yells at you. Isn't he your boss?"

"Yeah, doesn't mean I always have to do what he tells me to," Nod grumbles.

"Nod, that is the definition of a boss," I say laughing again.

"Whatever," Nod says pouting with a strange resemblance to Dandi. "So are you coming around the teahouse today?" he asks casually.

"No," I say regretfully, "I have to get these groceries home before they spoil."

"Oh," Nod says with a bit of disappointment in his voice.

"But I think I can come tomorrow!" I quickly add.

"Really?" Nod asks hopefully.

"Yeah," I say quickly, hoping that I haven't started to blush again.

"Okay then!" Nod says cheerfully with his signature heart melting smile. "I'll see you tomorrow," he shouts over his shoulder as he runs towards the teahouse.

As I walk towards the bakery, I give him one last look at his retreating figure and then enter the bakery. I pick up a few loaves of bread and a couple muffins before I drop everything back into my basket and make my way back home.

After I get back to the house, I quickly put the groceries into the fridge. I grab a loaf of bread, and some slices of cheese and turkey to make some sandwiches. I make two, one for myself and one for my dad. I can tell he's already awake from all the beeping and typing noises coming from across the hall. While I cut slices of bread off the loaf, I munch on another apple. When I finally finish I put one of the sandwiches on a separate plate and call for my dad.

"Hey Dad," I shout, "I made you some lunch."

"Thanks M.K.," he says, "I was just getting hungry."

"Do you want me to bring it over there?" I ask.

"No, it's okay. I'll eat over there," He said to my surprise. Usually he takes his food over to his desk with all the computer monitors and radio equipment. He typically never takes a break from his research. Even though I'd only been back at the house for a month, I could tell that he still drops everything for his research.

I grabbed two cups of water and set them down on the table as I made more room on the kitchen table. My dad walked over from his study and we ate in relative silence until I remembered Grub's call from earlier.

"Hey Dad," I say, "Grub called earlier and asked me to watch Mub for him while he's away for the day. Grub's dropping him off at 7 o'clock tomorrow."

My dad looks up and swallows his food with an audible "gulp". "You mean the Mub that's always so…" He trails off thinking about a word he could use to describe him.

"Weird?" I offer.

"Peculiar," my dad says decidedly. "The last time you watched him I remember. He was the one who tried to make me pull his tongue so he could lick his nose."

"Really?" I say laughing, "It seems like something he would do."

"Doesn't he keep asking you to go out with him?" he adds, "Does that tea boy you like know that he has some competition?"

When he says this, I had, unluckily, just started to sip some water. Needless to say, I choked on it. After a few coughs, I exclaim, "WHAT!?"

"You know that guy you like," my dad says with a strange calmness and a hint of a smirk, "The one who works at that tea spot in town."

He's smirking again?! My dad doesn't smirk! Especially twice in two days! Where's my socially clueless, bumbling dad who trips over all his words? My "dad" calmly drinks some of his water and takes another bite of his sandwich as he waits for me to speak.

"How do you know I like Nod?!" I exclaim before I can stop myself. I slam my hand to my mouth, but the words have already been said. Now I know I'm red. I slam my forehead to the table with a loud groan and flip my hood over my head as I practically shrink with embarrassment.

"It's obvious," my dad says, "You look exactly like I did when I fell in love with your mom."

I turn my head to face him. "I look like a guy in college?" I joke weakly.

"No, well not really,"

I raise an eyebrow at this remark.

"Anyways," he continues, "When I first saw your mom, I looked like you did yesterday. I couldn't wait for just another chance to catch a glimpse of her."

My dad talks with a nostalgic twinkle in his eye that I miss from when I was a kid. "I remember this story." I say, "You and mom used to always tell it to me."

He nodded, "You always asked for the story when you were little. You were always asking us to tell it to you as a bedtime story rather than a fairy tale, or a book, or an excerpt from John Joe Rowmann's latest research on the development of technological advancements for the magnification of visuals and other various paraphernalia for the modern day scientist."

At the last one I laugh a bit. Lifting my head off the table I give my dad a soft smile before I resume eating my sandwich. My dad starts to tell me the story one more time, beginning like he always had as if it all happened yesterday. Like mom was still here and we were still a happy family living everyday as we had always done. Together.

AN: ^w^ You'll hear the story next chapter! Danielle Diana and Mrs. Lyons are the Dandelion Jinn from the movie :D I've decided that I will also be including Nod's POV in this story! It'll be coming up in the next few chapters. Next chapter is also the first time seeing Mub and Grub(but mostly Mub because Grub will be away for a business trip) Seeya next chapter! Watch out for my other fanfics and as always…

Remember!

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