~Bilana, on the way to Yvoty and Py’aguasu’s den~

After that, Yvoty was much more welcoming of our presence. She insisted we stayed the night at their den and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Py’aguasu was just excited about hearing of our adventures, so I told him about how Psetha defeated the big bad earth spirit while he followed us from behind on our way to the den.

“Wow! You really defeated the earth spirit?” Py’aguasu asked Psetha, his eyes shining with admiration as he looked behind at him.

“Py’aguasu, look where you’re going,” Yvoty warned her son when he almost tripped.

“Sorry, mama,” Py’aguasu said and turned back, looking where he was going carefully. Psetha closed in behind him. “Yes, I did,” he said like he was giving a secret.

“Wow,” Py’aguasu whispered, and we chuckled.

“Okay,” Yvoty said after a while, “it’s here.”

We looked around but couldn’t see anything different except for an old hollow log on the ground.

Yvoty knelt by the hollow log and took out something shiny from her pocket—it was a small ball that swirled with all the colors of the rainbow.

“Um, where?” I asked, trying not to be rude.

Yvoty placed the little glowing ball in the cavity of the log, and the ball grew until it covered the cavity. She put one finger through it, and her finger disappeared behind it.

She stood up and motioned to the gate that the little ball had become.

“Here.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other side was the inside of a room with ogival roof walls covered with bark, there was a simple bed of grass to the right and a small fruit pile to the left.

It had a comfortable warmth unlike the outside, and I breathed a sigh of relief, wiping away sweat from my face.

“This is a beautiful den,” I said as we carried the lobeira to the fruit pile and placed them carefully so as not to bruise them.

“Thank you,” Yvoty said, smiling.

Py’aguasu grinned as he picked out another lobeira and flopped down on the grass bed. “Our den is great,” he said, biting into the fruit and starting to shine again.

“Py’aguasu, don’t eat so much,” his mother warned and added in a quiet voice. “We will need it in the future.”

“Why?” Psetha asked and Yvoty was suddenly angry.

“All the trees are dead if you haven’t noticed. Or are you mocking us?”

She was right, the foliage we had seen until now was either dead or dying.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Psetha said and then insisted. “You don’t have to stock them anymore.”

“What are we supposed to do then?”

“Bury the seeds and infuse them with my-Psetha’s magic to make them grow.” He motioned to me. “Bilana and I can bring rain together to water them.”

“What about the earth spirit?”

“I convinced it to stop pulling life energy from the plants,” Psetha said confidently. I shivered, remembering how he had been then. Deadly, cold, and almost cruel. He could be a very different person if he wanted to be.

“Bilana?” Yvoty asked, and I shook my head, ridding myself of the dark thoughts.

“Yes?”

“Is it possible? Can you really bring rain?” she asked with hesitant hope in her eyes.

“I…” I looked at Psetha. Was he really suggesting what I thought he was? He nodded.

I looked at Yvoty with my cheeks on fire and nodded. “We can.”

~Psetha, outside of the den at night~

This dance was said to be about two star-crossed lovers, and it could make even the sky cry—which was our goal. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. It was…embarrassing…to play the part of lovers with Bilana, but it was exciting at the same time. I decided not to look too much into the reason for that.

Bilana and I stood facing each other, ready to dance. We nodded at each other and started dancing on our tip-toes.

One step forward and one step back.

Three steps forward and three steps back.

Eyes always on each other.

I felt my heart start beating faster.

Bilana started gliding her hands by her side, the movements graceful.

My hands played as well, the movements rougher than hers.

We closed in on each other and drifted apart, again and again like lovers who could never be completely together.

The sky darkened, and then the dance changed.

I crossed my feet and waited as Bilana closed in with bigger steps, looking at me with determination.

Then I joined in with my heart beating in my ears.

We closed the distance between us quickly, almost close enough to touch, and passed by each other, still keeping eye contact.

I felt my heart break into pieces as the sky started grumbling.

One step forward, one step back.

Three steps forward, three steps back.

Eyes always on each other.

Getting close but then drifting apart, never together.

The sky complained again, and then I felt a drop on my cheek.

Then another drop, and another drop.

The sky was crying.

I wiped at my wet cheeks. I was crying as well.

Bilana sniffed and smiled at me through eyes swimming with tears.

I smiled back, suddenly feeling the urge to hug her—what was wrong with me? I shook my head and looked at Py’aguasu who was dancing in the rain, too young to understand the dance. Yvoty was running after him, wiping her cheeks and laughing at his enthusiasm.

“Rain! It’s raining, mama!”

Yvoty laughed again and, finally catching him, hugged her son. “Yes, it is, isn’t it?” She rubbed her cheek against his and then kissed him on both cheeks. “It’s really raining,” she said with wonder in her voice.

Bilana smiled, watching the mother and son, and I watched her.

With her wet hair stuck to her rosy cheeks and a smile on her lips, she was beautiful.

And impossible, I told myself, feeling threatened by my thoughts about her.

She was impossible. And I, Psetha, would be better off remembering that.