Standig woke up the next morning to find that Huo Lohse had curled into him in her sleep. Her head was resting on his arm, effectively trapping him. On the one hand, he really didn’t want to wake her, but on the other hand, his arm had gone completely numb. He waited until the pins and needles sensation became too much for him before booping Lolo in the nose a few times to wake her.

“Good morning, Lolo.”

“Hm?” She tried to blink some of the stubborn sleep out of her eyes. “Standig, what are you doing?”

“You rolled into me.”

“I did?” Lolo rolled onto her back to look up at him. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, but can I have my arm back, please?” She sat up, and Standig’s arm felt like it was on fire. “Agh!” he grimaced.

“Why didn’t you just pull your arm away?” Lolo laughed groggily as Standig shook his arm out.

“I didn’t want to wake you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. So… gonna give your fake husband a kiss good morning?” he teased.

“You’ve been waiting all morning for me to wake up so you could use that line, haven’t you?”

He inclined his head, but he didn’t deny it.

Lolo decided to turn the tease around on him. She turned, pushed up onto her knees, and got right up in his face to wrap her arms around his neck. “What kind of good morning kiss were you hoping for?” she asked sweetly.

Standig blushed a deep tomato red. “I-I, uh, I wasn’t, um….”

Lolo laughed and pecked his cheek before releasing him. “'Careful what you wish for, Standig.” She winked and stood up. “Well, let’s break camp. I’ve got a long way to go today, and you need to head back home."

***

The road to the Phoenix Tribe was long but flat and pretty straight making it easy to travel. Along the way, Huo Lohse passed a few of the smaller tribes, stopping at the Panther Tribe in the early afternoon for something to eat. The Panther Tribe was full of long, lean, and graceful people with rich skin tones. Lolo felt quite out of place with her relatively short, curvy frame and light skin, and she drew a lot of looks as she wandered the village.

“Hey! I know you!” Lolo turned to see a tall, lanky young man with dark skin and hair and an easy smile. “You’re Qingchi and Rensui’s little sister. Huo Lohse Lang? Lolo?”

“Kuchezan Utu?!”

“Yeah! What brings you to the Panther Tribe?”

“'Passing through on my way to the Phoenix Tribe exchange for the summer.”

“They're still doing that this year with everything going on, huh?”

Lolo smiled. “Kind of. Most of the rest of the trainees aren’t attending, and I don’t think they are accepting any new trainees. From what I’ve gathered, I might be one of only two or three people in attendance this year.”

Kuchezan nodded. “Well, I’m guessing you’re passing through the village to find something to eat then. I’d be remiss to not invite you home for lunch.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. I don’t have much time anyway,” Lolo suddenly felt awkward.

“It’s no trouble,” Kuchezan insisted.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Kuchezan took Lolo’s bag for her and led her through the village to a large home tucked away in the back. “Mother!” he called when they walked through the door. “Mother, I’m home! I brought someone for you to meet.”

Neema Utu appeared from around the corner. “Kuchezan, no need to shout. Who is this?” Her speech was crisp with each syllable articulated to poetic perfection.

“Mother, this is Huo Lohse Lang, the princess of the Wolf Tribe. I ran into her in the village. She’s passing through on her way to the training exchange.”

Lolo curtsied.

“Huo Lohse Lang….” Neema appeared to ponder her name. “I’ve heard that name somewhere before.”

“I may have told you about her after the Wolf Tribe exchange. She won the tournament at the end of the summer as a first year.”

Neema shook her head. “No. It was more recent than that.”

“Perhaps you’ve been hearing some scandalous rumors about me,” Lolo piped in. “I was a popular subject of gossip last year in connection with Fortus Arum.”

“That was it!” Neema clapped her hands. “I see the pregnancy rumors were not true.”

Kuchezan looked shocked, but Lolo just laughed. “No, but that is quite the story!” Neema invited Lolo in for a meal so she could tell it.

“... so then the coup happened, and I’m sure you’ve heard how that ended,” Lolo finished.

Neema had been positively enthralled by Lolo’s storytelling. “Fascinating! The truth is even harder to believe than the lie!”

“Last summer was rather unbelievable,” Lolo agreed. “So, enough about me, how are you? How is the Panther Tribe handling the imminent threat of war?”

Kuchezan glanced at his mother uncomfortably and then looked back at Lolo. “We’ve been trying to build our army, train harder and better. My father has been working hard to fortify our territory, but we have limited resources.”

“How big is your army?”

“We have about six hundred soldiers.”

“What do you need?”

“Honestly, we need military leaders that actually know how to train soldiers.”

“Have you considered reaching out to any of the main tribes?”

“We’ve considered it, but you all have your hands full as it is,” Kuchezan admitted.

“I’m certain we could find you the help you need. I happen to have lots of connections in three of the main tribes’ militaries. Many of my friends specialize in training. Would you be comfortable with me reaching out to some of them for you?”

Again, Kuchezan and Neema exchanged looks, but, this time, they were more relaxed. “We’d be grateful,” Kuchezan smiled.

“First thing tomorrow, I will send a letter to my friends in the Lion Tribe military. I would imagine that someone in uniform will show up by the end of the week. If you need anything else for the next two months, write to me in the Phoenix Tribe.” Lolo stood up. “Thank you both for the meal and the company, but I’m afraid I need to hit the road again.”

Kuchezan stood up to escort her back to the main road, and Neema thanked her with a hug and a kiss on each cheek.

“Lolo,” Kuchezan said as they walked back through the village, “thank you for your help. We’ve all been feeling anxious. I think most of the smaller tribes have. We are just incredibly vulnerable. We don’t bring much to a potential alliance, and most of us have territories in between all of you main tribes, so we are closer, easier targets, and our resources, like I already said, are limited along with our numbers. If the Dragon Tribe chose to pick us off, we’d likely be utterly destroyed before we could even raise the alarm or ask for help.”

Lolo’s eyebrows came together as she thought. “Kuchezan, what can I do to help you protect your people? I can find people to help train your army, but you are right. Your position, your numbers… you are vulnerable. How many people are in your tribe?”

“We are an especially small tribe. We have about twenty-three hundred people including men, women, and children.”

“And six hundred of them are soldiers? So, over a quarter of the population?!”

He nodded. “But most of them have responsibilities outside of the military as well. Many of them are also parents, farmers, merchants, etcetera. They can’t afford to be full time soldiers, and even if they could, the greater Panther Tribe couldn’t support them full time. We’re just not big enough for that.”

“I know this may sound extreme, but would you or have you considered joining one of the main tribes temporarily?”

He shook his head and laughed. “And leave our homes? Besides, who would want us?”

Lolo shrugged. “I’m sure my dad would be happy to work with you if you wanted. Twenty-three hundred people is a small village in the Wolf Tribe. It wouldn’t take long to build housing for you. Your army could join with ours, and you could be protected within our territory until it’s safe to return home.”

“That’s a generous offer, Lolo, and maybe someday we’ll change our minds. But for now, we want to protect our own homes, our own lands, and our own people.”

“I can certainly respect that. If someday that changes, let me know. I'll do my best to help you.”

Kuchezan nodded as they came to the main road and passed her bag back to her. “Thank you. I will remember your offer. Safe journey, Huo Lohse Lang.”

***

As Lolo approached the fork in the road between the Lion and Phoenix Tribes, she saw someone sitting on the side of the road sketching something with intense concentration.

“Durfein?”

The young man looked up to greet her with a wide grin. “Hey, Lolo!” He stood up to give her a hug.

“You came to meet me.”

“Of course, I did!” Durfein smiled. “I haven’t seen you in almost two years.”

“I hope you didn’t wait too long.”

“Nah. Besides, it gave me time to fill up my sketchbook. Look at this bug I found!” Durfein flipped a few pages back to a drawing of a large beetle with curious markings on its thorax and wings tucked beneath a hard shell on its abdomen. “It was this vibrant, glowing green color, and the markings were an iridescent black.”

“I’ve never seen a beetle quite like that before,” Lolo said, admiring the detail of his sketch. “What else did you draw?”

“Oh, nothing too exciting,” he said and handed her the book to flip through.

“What do you mean, nothing?!” Lolo gasped as she turned to a picture of a graceful bird with incredibly detailed feather patterns and a magnificent tail and crest. “What kind of bird is this?”

“It’s what I imagine a Phoenix to look like,” he shrugged.

“This is gorgeous!” Lolo traced the lines of the bird with an awed reverence.

Durfein chuckled. “You can have it if you’d like. I’ve got dozens of sketchbooks like that one at home.”

“You can’t just give this away!”

“I’m not just giving it away to anyone, Lolo. I’m giving it to you! Someone who I know will appreciate it. Besides, if I take it home, it will just accumulate dust on a shelf with the rest of my sketchbooks.”

Huo Lohse was flabbergasted. “I-I don’t know what to say.” She hugged the book tightly as though it were a precious treasure. “Thank you!”

Durfein studied her face. “You’ve grown up since I last saw you.”

“How so?”

“It’s hard to describe. You seem to be carrying more worries with you. You look like you’ve gotten used to being tired.”

“Oh. Is that a bad thing?”

“No. Not at all. It’s all just part of becoming an adult.” He smiled at her. “Actually, you look quite beautiful.”

She smiled bashfully and looked down at her toes momentarily before lifting her face again. “Thank you. You’ve grown up too. You’ve been getting more sun, you’ve filled out, and your hands have gotten rough. You must be spending a lot of time in the forge.”

Durfein chuckled and became serious again. “Lolo, do you remember what happened the last time we saw each other?”

“Yes,” she said hesitantly.

“We’ve never talked about it in our letters to each other, and, from what I’ve heard, it sounds like you’ve moved on with someone else.”

“Are you talking about Fortus?” He nodded, and Lolo sighed. “Fortus and I are just friends. It’s a long, complicated story.”

Durfein’s face registered about a million emotions at once. “You’re not in a relationship?”

“No. Not with Fortus nor with anyone else at present.”

His hand found her arm. “Have you thought at all about my feelings for you?”

“Do you ask because your feelings are still the same?”

He nodded solemnly.

“I’ve thought about it, but I don’t have a response for you,” Lolo admitted. “A lot has happened over the last two years, and, you’re right, I’ve changed. I'd imagine that you’ve changed too. I’m afraid that the Huo Lohse Lang of your memory is not the same girl that you see in front of you.”

Durfein released her arm and smiled. “You really have grown up, haven’t you?”

“Well, two years worth of growing up anyway.”

“Catch me up. What do I need to know about this new version of you?” Durfein sat back down in the grass and indicated for her to join him.

“I’m not sure what to tell you,” Lolo said as she sat down.

“Start at the beginning.”

She went on to tell him about her assignment to help train the Wolf Tribe military, her nightmares leftover from the Dragon Tribe exchange, and her role in defeating the coup the previous summer. She told him how she had to actually kill people for the first time in a real battle with real weapons, about dealing with her subsequent grief and helping Fortus through his grief. She told him about battling the dragon mole at the end of the summer and watching Fortus nearly die. She tried to describe the magic that saved him and the mystery surrounding it. She ended by explaining the anxiety of preparing for war while hoping that it would never come. When she’d finished, Durfein smiled.

“Is that all?” he asked.

“In a nutshell.”

“Would it surprise you to learn that I still have feelings for you?”

Lolo blushed, unsure of what to say.

“I told you before, Lolo, I know the timing for this is insane, and I don’t expect you to feel the same way. However, I do want you to know what I feel for you.”

“Ok. And what's that?”

He looked away to collect his thoughts. “Warmth... hope... friendship... and, yes, love and affection.” When he looked at Huo Lohse again, she was staring at him. “What?”

“I envy your ability to know your feelings so clearly.”

“So you are still unsure of your feelings?”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry, Lolo. Anyway, the fact that you don’t know your feelings means there’s still a chance for them to develop in my favor.” He flashed her a cheeky grin making Lolo giggle.

“Well, so what about you, Durfein? What have you been up to for the last two years?”

“To be honest with you, my life has been pretty monotonous, so there’s not much to tell you. I’ve been making armor for our tribe’s soldiers. I’ve gotten pretty good at it, in fact. I occasionally will take on an art project or something else creative, but mostly, I’ve just tried to be helpful in any way that I can to prepare the Badger Tribe for war. Oh! And I have that surprise I made for you that you’ll have to come visit me in the Burrow to see.”

“What kind of surprise?”

“Now where would be the fun in telling you that?!” Durfein laughed as Lolo pouted comically. Taking a moment to look at the sky, Durfein stood up and offered Lolo a hand. “Lolo, you need to get going again, don’t you?”

She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. “Yeah. I should.”

The melancholy was evident as the friends hugged each other goodbye.

“Lolo, I know your feelings are still undecided, but would you be upset if I kissed you goodbye anyway?”

The question caught her off-guard. “I mean, if that’s what you want….”

Durfein caught her face to lift it into one gentle but long kiss. “Goodbye, Lolo.”

She smiled. “I’ll see you again soon. No more of this two years stuff.”

“Deal.”