The run up to the holidays had been really confusing Wanda. People kept referencing a girlfriend that she didn't clearly didn't have and that got particularly old. Her parents were confused when she called to discuss flight plans for her to come back to Uppsala. They seemed to think that she was going somewhere with her girlfriend.
Something about all this made Wanda angry and she told herself it was all just some strange misunderstanding and it was just the frustration of the school year and that strange situation with the vampires. She sighed as she boarded a plane for Stockholm.
Maybe the university was a bad place for her. Maybe she just needed a simpler life. Isolde had said that people like her tended to put down roots somewhere and get away from it all. Her time at the university just felt so temporary. Something was making her drift and she felt like she needed something more. On the other hand, if she hadn't been at the university, there wouldn't have been anyone to come save her when she needed it most.
She was still brooding when she got off the train in Uppsala. Her parents were there to pick her up. They talked to her all the way home, a litany of conversation that Wanda barely heard. Christmas morning was quiet and her parents looked worried as her as she opened presents mechanically and stared into her morning coffee.
Later that day, family was visiting, including her great grandmother. The old woman just sat in the most comfortable chair in the house, staring hard at Wanda. The tension in the room was thick enough that the rest of the family naturally migrated to other places in the house to avoid it, leaving the two of them alone.
"What is wrong with you, girl?"
"Nothing, mormor. I'm just tired," Wanda said, looking over at the woman.
"Don't lie to me, child. I know tired. I live it every day."
Wanda sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "It would sound insane if I told you, mormor."
"You talk to the wind, child, and the storms listen. I'm not so set in my ways that I can't appreciate that."
Wanda sighed and it all came spilling out. All the semester's weirdness, all the difficulties, and finally the strange cap-off. Her great grandmother listened quietly, never asking questions, but occasionally offering encouraging noises. Finally Wanda had exhausted her story. At some point, though she couldn't remember when, she'd migrated to sit at her great grandmother's feet. The old woman patted Wanda on the head, "How long have you been talking to the Earth, child?"
"My powers started around 13, mormor. You know that."
"No, child, I asked when you started talking to the Earth. My father used to desribe it as a quiet whisper when he was out on his hunts. He said it warned him about the dark parts of the woods and led him to the best places to hunt. My mother always thought it was just his way of talking about the woods, but I could see in his eyes it was something different."
Wanda bit her lip as she listened. She knew it had been a voice at times, but she had filed it away as an expression of her powers. She could sense her great grandmother studying her face, seeing the truth written plainly on it.
"Maybe you've done too much talking to the wind and not enough listening, Älskling." She reached down, picking up her voluminous purse and rifled through it. She fished out a small set of keys and held them out to Wanda, followed by a set of directions. "There's an old cabin that's been in the family for a long time. I was going to get rid of it, but a Miss Weaver convinced me that one day it might still be useful."
Wanda stared at the key and the directions. At first she wasn't sure what to make of them, then she recognized them for the life preserver that they were. She took them gently and then stood to hug her great grandmother. "Thank you, mormor."
"Merry Christmas, Wanda. Now go, find what you need. I'll deal with the rest of the family."
Wanda nodded and retreated to her room. She was used to packing light, just the essentials. After a moment's thought, she climbed out her window, gathering the winds around her as she launched into the air and headed away.