The human realm(2)

She looked around to be certain, and her eyes started to well up. She was really in Dahlia's school! Did she just teleport? It didn't matter how it happened, only that it made her immensely happy.

"Jasmine?" She heard a small gasp of disbelief which sounded familiar. She shot her eyes to the direction of the voice, to see Dahlia who was dragging her school bag.

"Dahlia!" She called out emotionally.

"Jasmine!" Dahlia dropped her school bag and ran to throw herself into her sister's arms. "It's really you." She wrapped her arms around Jasmine's waist as the latter held her back tightly.

She pulled away and wiped her tears. "Where were you? You are so mean! Do you know how much we missed you? Mama almost died from crying and Papa almost looks like a grandpapa." She scolded in a single breath amid her tears.

"I'm sorry Dahlia." Jasmine had nothing else to say. It was not her decision to leave and neither had she wished to stay away from her family for so long.

"Is school over?" She asked as she wiped Dahlia's tears, having caught sight of other kids leaving the school compound with their bags.

"Yes. Papa promised to pick me up." Dahlia's innocent heart had already forgotten about the pain she felt from her sister's absence.

Picking up her school bag, she held her sister's hand and skipped excitedly towards the school entrance, and Jasmine had to quicken her steps to keep up. "There he is!" Dahlia pointed excitedly at Harry and rushed forward.

"Dahlia, I'm sorry I'm…" The rest of Harry's apology was cut off as his lips trembled from shock. "Jasmine?"

He rubbed his eyes and took a clearer look. Was he dreaming?

Jasmine threw her arms around him. "Father, I'm back."

He had so many questions to ask and things to say that he was in a daze. He had thought about what to do when he saw his daughter again but now that she was right in his arms, he could only embrace her tightly.

"How are you? You look so different." He rubbed her back, afraid that she would disappear as soon as he let go of her.

"I've missed you so much." She sniffled against his shoulder.

"Let's hurry home before it gets dark." He caressed her cheek as he pulled out of the hug. "I missed you, my dear. I'm glad you are back and so will your mother be when she sees you."

"Mama will scold us to death if we don't hurry." Dahlia urged.

"Dahlia's right. Let's go." Harry took his daughter's hands in each of his as they went home.

"You are back. I was thinking of cooking Jasmine's favorite meals for dinner this evening. Perhaps the aroma will lure her back home." Sophie joked when she heard the front door open. If this was before, she would never have been in the mood to joke around but she had a strong feeling that Jasmine would really be back soon. She was already cheerful as she looked forward to the return of her daughter.

Harry creeped behind her and held her shoulders. "Perhaps your thoughts lured her back already."

"Stop joking around." She turned to scold him, catching sight of her elder daughter behind Dahlia.

"Mother." Jasmine took a step forward and held her hands out.

"Jasmine!" Sophie didn't dare to believe what she was seeing. She gently took one of her daughter's hands and when the latter didn't disappear, she pulled her into a tight hug. "Where have you been?"

"It's a long story, mother." Jasmine sniffled as she pulled away.

"Let's not overwhelm her. She must have been through a lot." Harry took his wife's hand, who hugged him emotionally as she nodded.

"Jasmine, can you help me do my homework?" Called Dahlia, as she opened her school bag to take a book out.

"Of course. What do you have to do?" Jasmine happily went over to take over the elder sister role that she had missed so much.

She took a pink-colored pencil and opened the notebook, sitting at the table. "We have to bake cakes for our siblings. We should then write a report on how our siblings reacted to the cake and why."

"But I'm the sibling." Jasmine pinched her slightly as a reminder, to which Dahlia's eyes lit up.

"Exactly. Which is why you should help me. You know what you like best so you will definitely love it." The little girl explained with a bright smile, making the entire family burst into laughter. She didn't know what was so funny and continued stating her reasons. "I'm certain that Miss Helena is trying to teach us how to make the people we care about happy. I must not fail."

"She's smart." Harry whispered to his wife, who agreed with a nod.

"How interesting. What if you don't have siblings?" Jasmine asked.

"I don't know. I would have given the cake to mama and papa if I didn't have a sister." Dahlia answered and frowned. "But Miss Helena would not give us this kind of homework if we didn't all have siblings."

"She has a point." Harry took a seat next to his daughter. "Your mother should help you. Just get changed, okay?"

Dahlia stood up when she realized that she was still wearing her school uniform. "Okay. But why mama?" She was curious about her father's preference.

He glanced at his wife and elder daughter before pulling Dahlia over to secretly whisper to her. "If there's anyone who knows everything about baking, it's her. Besides, she knows Jasmine best."