Ibukun Valley

"What did you find?" Haoran asked when he saw Emma's face beam. He narrowed his eyes and reminded Emma. "Be careful when walking while checking your phone."

Right after saying that, he pulled Emma's hand, so she wouldn't trip while walking down the stairs.

"Ahh... right... Thank you," Emma replied. She started to pay attention to where she's walking. In her heart though, she grumbled. If she didn't have to hide her abilities from other people, it'd be so much easier for her to just fly. She wouldn't have to worry about tripping over something.

"Did you find anything interesting?" Haoran asked again.

Emma looked back at Haoran and thought for a moment. Should she share what she found with Haoran or not?

Finally, she handed her cellphone to him. Haoran put on his sunglasses and read the news on Emma's phone. The article quickly grabbed his attention; he even paused to read its contents.

"Wow, it really did happen. Can the news source be trusted?" Haoran asked enthusiastically. He didn't wait for Emma's answer because he scrolled up her phone and checked the name of the media who wrote the article and found it's legit. "This is a well-known media, that should mean this news was accurate. Whoa! It's great that something like this happened. It turns out there's really someone like that. The government should have given them a medal for what they did."

Emma was struck by Haoran's enthusiasm. "You think so?"

"Yeah. I'm sure there'll be many companies in the world who would want to get their inventions. Imagine how many starving people in the world would be fed if this technology was made public," Haoran said excitedly.

When she heard Haoran's words, Emma's chest suddenly felt tight. For some reason, she thought she had heard those words before. But why did her chest feel tight?

"Hey, are you okay?" Haoran asked again. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

Emma shook her head. "I'm okay. I feel like I've heard the same thing you just said."

"Of course, right? If there really are people who could boost farming in such a way, they'll be able to feed so many people. There'll be no more hunger in this world," Haoran said and Emma nodded. Haoran handed Emma's cellphone back to the girl. "This is very interesting. Let's walk faster. Our friends have gone far ahead of us."

Haoran and Emma refocused their minds and tried to catch up with their schoolmates. Emma stored the phone in her bag and held back the urge to check more articles. She felt that if she kept browsing, then she wouldn't be able to stop. She didn't want to be called out by Madame Delaval.

"All right, kids. We've arrived at the second garden. You may now sit on the grass and enjoy your lunch. We have such a beautiful view to accompany our meal and half an hour to finish our lunch and rest. After that, we'll enter the Palace of Versailles to see its splendor," Madame Delaval said. She waved to the students with her yellow umbrella so that they would gather in a grassy field near a beautiful fountain.

Madame Delaval's timing was great. The moment they entered the second garden, the sun wasn't too hot. The wind's cool breeze blew as the forty-four students delightfully searched for pleasant shades to sit and open their lunch bags. Haoran and Alex sat next to Emma because they walked the slowest, so they were behind everybody else.

While munching on her croissant, Emma couldn't help but think about the mysterious harvest in Limoges fifteen years ago. Indeed, with her father's ability to control plants, he should be able to eradicate famine throughout the world. She then thought about her parents time in West Africa and how they had worked together to bring rain and grow plants to make the entire desert valley green.

But she was stumped as to why didn't her father reveal his power to the government? The government would surely be pleased to have someone with that kind of ability. Anyone who could succeed in eradicating hunger on earth would be considered a hero. They'd be adored and praised by all humans, Emma thought to herself.

But why didn't her father do that? Did her mother and father were trying to avoid attention?

"Hey, look at this," Haoran tapped Emma's shoulder gently. Apparently, he was also thinking about the same thing when eating his lunch. Haoran had taken out his cellphone and typed in some keywords about bio-hackers and the mysterious harvest.

"What's wrong?" asked Emma, breaking out of her thoughts.

"I was searching for more articles online using the keywords bio-hacker and mysterious harvest. You know what, I've found some interesting articles a few years prior," he said to her, showing his cellphone to Emma. The girl examined Haoran's cellphone screen and skimmed its contents.

[The Ibukun[1] Valley in West Africa is a miracle phenomenon by nature. The hungry people's prayers were finally answered...]

As soon as Emma read the first sentence, her chest immediately pounded. This article must be about what her father and mother did at that time. Emma remembered when she was a little kid, they were in West Africa and Arreya Stardust brought down rain while Kaoshin Stardust grew plants on the entire desert valley.

"This is amazing!" exclaimed Haoran. "Come on, keep reading. You'll be amazed by the contents."

[On a typical hot day in 2042, an area in West Africa had experienced heavy rain after five years of drought due to global warming. When the rain stopped several hours later, the people living around the valley reported a miracle. The whole deserted valley had grown trees and food crops seemingly overnight throughout the entire valley.]

[The valley remains green to this day and has become a source of natural spring that gives life to so many people, as well as animals, around it. Now, the valley has been declared a natural reserve by West Africa's government and has been called the Ibukun Valley by the people ever since.]

"The valley is still there..." Emma murmured. "This is good."

"Right? I'll try to persuade my father to allow me to travel to Africa if you want to go there," Haoran said out of the blue.

"To Africa? Why'd you want to go there?" Emma asked in surprise.

"I said, I'll go to Africa if you want to go there,"—Haoran smiled meaningfully,—"or to Limoges. Whichever you want."

Emma looked at the young man with a surprised look. She didn't expect Haoran to say this kind of thing. Why would Haoran want to accompany her to Limoges or West Africa? Was Haoran suspecting something?

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[1] Ibukun = Blessing (Yoruba)