We all gathered in the lounge, people taking seats and what not. I didn't sit, my legs were too fidgety to sit still. So I stood and leaned against the wall. Zeus stood in front of the roaring fire, facing us all.

"Has everyone done whats been asked?"

All of them nodded except Sozin, "I haven't because I haven't had the chance to go into any bars, however! I will be spreading bullshit like wildfire tonight."

Zeus nods, "Good because we're gonna need that." He takes a step forward, "Dylan here has provided us with some contraption of his. Dylan, you wanna show us?"

Dylan takes a drag of his cigarette, "Yeah sure, why not." He stands up and takes his bag off the couch. He opens the tiny thing and took my shock put his whole arm in it like it was a whole tent inside. Must be a magic thing.

"Alright, don't panic because this is only the model so it's not gonna blow your faces off."

"Good to know," Eudora said.

Dylan brought a flat plate looking thingie. He raises it up to present it to everybody, "This is a mine. But my version of it. I was very very stoned one day when I thought of this," Dylan began to giggle, "Oh good times," He waves his hands dismissing himself, "Anyways. I was thinking..."

Dylan pitched his idea of using his mines in the overall battle plan. His ideas were actually pretty good. Good enough to impress Zeus which says a lot.

After Zeus had told everyone the general plan, he assigned people to do certain jobs for the day in order to prepare.

By the end, people knew what they were doing and dispersed. Everyone, except me. Zeus didn't assign me to any jobs probably because he thought it would stress me out and as much as I am stress, I think I would feel worse if I wasn't doing anything.

Zeus had left the room without saying anything to me. I wasn't hurt by it which was surprising to me. I feel like the Lily from a few months ago would be devestated if Zeus did something like that. But I guess I'm not her anymore...or maybe I am just a more...grown version. I let Zeus go. He knows I'm here to talk, so I'm going to wait until he decides to come to me to talk.

For the time being I went outside and saw Donny and Sozin carrying some shovels into the woods.

"Hey!" I called out.

They came to a halt and turned around.

As I walked toward them I said, "What're you guys doin?"

"We're diggin the holes for the mines," Sozin said, "Why?"

"Can I come and help?" I asked.

Donny and Sozin glanced at each other, "Are you allowed?" Donny asked.

I raised my brow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Donny shrugs his shoulders, "I dunno, hasn't Zeus assigned you to anything else?"

I rolled my eyes, "He hasn't told me anything. And besides, he doesn't decide what I can and can't do."

Sozin chuckles and turns around, "Well come on then. We've got an extra shovel."

I smile triumphantly and walked with a skip in my step as I followed the boys. Do you remember that feeling when you were a little girl and your brothers finally let you hang out with them and their friends? I felt like that.

We shifted into our wolves and ran for a couple of hours. We finally arrived at the place where Zeus wanted the war to happen.

We shifted back into our human forms and grabbed a shovel.

"So is there a certain pattern or area that we're supposed to dig?" I asked the boys.

Donny took a piece of paper out from the back of his pocket and made his way over to me and revealed what was on the piece of paper. It was a layout of the area.

"You see here? This is where Nikolai will come from, and at this point is where we are going to draw them in-"

I pointed to an area on the map, "So when they follow you want the mine field to blow up?"

"Yup!" Sozin said, "Now it's time to start digging."

I grabbed a shovel and stuck it into the ground, breaking the earth up. It felt good to do some active work.

After a while I saw Dylan and Eudora and Ozai arrive in a truck. They opened up the back and began to carefully distribute the mines in the holes we were digging.

"Hey, Donny?" I asked since he was the closest person.

"Yeah?" He said while breathing heavily.

"What happened between Ozai and Eudora?"

His brows raised in surprised, "Who told you about them two?"

"Dylan," I said with a knowing smile.

He rolled his eyes, "Of course he did. He loves his craic." Donny stuck his shovel in the ground and said, "Ozai couldn't do the whole mate thing."

I frowned, "How could he not? He's a hellhound. Wouldn't it be like a relief? A comfort to have somebody?"

Donny chuckled, "That's what you'd think, but no. Not with Ozai. Ozai is a very closed off person. He hardly shares anything to anybody, even us. Eudora couldn't handle it either. Having a mate that didn't talk to you, didn't show any affection and didn't make any effort to change."

I threw the dirt to the side and continued to dig deeper, "Why? Ozai is so nice and kind! I could never imagine him like that."

Donny chuckles, "Yeah I know. He doesn't seem like it, but he is. She was emotionally starved by Ozai. He wouldn't talk to her about anything. He would avoid subjects she would try push on. He kept things very shallow."

I frowned, "But why?

"I don't actually know. What I've always thought is he found his own comfort in having no real intense emotion. He was always trying to be so righteous, so good, but as a hellhound, you have the urge to do bad stuff. He hates himself, Lily. He hates himself to the very core. I think that's why he locked a part of himself away so that he could cope. It was his defensive mechanism that protected himself from the hellhound inside of him. Eudroa threatened that comfort he had with having no emotions."

"So did he not care about her?"

Donny scoffs, "Of course he did, they were mates, they were made for each other, destined for each other...Ozai just knew that he couldn't give Eudora what she wanted with the way that he was. He knew he could end seriously hurting her...so he rejected her."

I felt sad for Ozai, even in his darkest of days he was always thinking of others, but what he also didn't know that he made a mistake. Eudora could have helped Ozai if he just told her what was going on, but I guess it is hard to deconstruct a defensive mechanism that you have cemented in your mind.

"What about you, Donny?"

"What about me?"

"Are you ever going to give Anna her memories of you back?"

Donny stopped digging and leaned against the handle of the shovel, "She's old...very old. I think her time is nearing, Lil. If I get out of this alive, I want to give her memories back. I want her to know my face and for us to talk and laugh like old times as a send off."

I smiled, "That's sounds like a good plan, Donny."

"Since we're on this relationship topic," Donny said as he continued to dig, "How're things with Zeus?"

I took a deep breath, "Things are a little tense... but I think there's no issues between us, it's just this whole damn thing with Nikolai. Zeus is dealing with a lot right now, and I understand that. He puts the whole world on his shoulders and thinks it is only ever his responsibility to carry it. He doesn't accept help from other people easily."

Donny chuckles, "No he doesn't. If I know at least one thing about Zeus is that he is a very independent kind of guy. He's a leader, leaders think like that, I guess. They always take the burden all on their own. However, their strength can also be their weakness."

"Tell me about it. I'm letting him think about whatever he needs to deal with right now and when he's ready, I'll be here to talk."

Donny smiles and shakes his head silently.

I stop digging, "What?"

Then he stops diggin, "You still amaze me, Lil."

I giggled self-caunsciously, "What?"

"You've changed. You've become stronger. More confident in yourself. As hard as the past few months have been...you've come out the other end stronger."

I smiled sincerely, "Thank you, Donny. But we haven't come out of the other end just yet. We have to win this thing first."

Donny came and pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead, "Whatever happens, I just want you to know that I think of you as my best friend, Lil. And I am still very sorry about cracking your skull in half earlier in the year."

I laughed and pulled out of the hug and playfully his arm, "Stop it! That was months ago and I didn't die! At least it's a good story now."

Donny laughed, "True."

We stood there in silence and as I stared at Donny my are filled with such love. He was there at the very beginning. When I first came here and I was scared out of my mind, he was there to comfort me, and even when I had problems with Zeus, he helped me see things clearer. He was my best friend.

"Thank you, Donny."

He frowned and tilited his head in question.

I smiled, "Thank you for being you. For everything you've done for me. I don't think I would still be here if it wasn't for you, I'd probably reject Zeus by now if it wasn't for you. You made living here a lot more easier. So thank you for always being there."

I could see Donny's eyes slightly shimmer with tears.

I giggled, "Are you tearing up?"

He scowled down at me and quickly rubbed his eyes, "No!"

I laughed and Donny gave me a cheeky smile.

I froze when I felt my body vibrate with tingles. Zeus was near by. I looked around in the distance to see him arrive. His eyes scan the area until they landed on me. I could see his shoulders relax slightly in what looked like relief.

I ignored him and continued to work. I felt the electrifying tingles get stronger, he was coming nearer.

And then I saw both of his shoes in front of me. I stop digging and look up.

"Who told you to come out here and dig?" Zeus asks with no hint of anger, disdain, annoyance..nothing. He had no feeling in his voice. To my surprise...I wasn't hurt by it. I understood where he's at right now.

I stop diggin and stand up straight, "No one did, I decided on my own."

"Do you know where you're digging?"

"Donny showed me the lay out."

He nods silently. He stares at me intensely as if he was wanting to say something. I waited. But he never did.

"Hey guys?" Sozin said as he approached.

Zeus and I both gave him our attention. He nodded toward somethings behind us, "We have company."

I walked passed Zeus and gasped. A couple of metres away I saw my father and my uncles. I ran towards them and I jumped into my father's arms.

"Papa!" I shout in joy. He wrapped his arms around me immediately.

"Lily! My little girl!" He yells in joy. It's been so long since I heard my father's voice. I laid my head on his chest and felt the familiar comfort that only a father could ever give.

"I've missed you so much."

My father tightens his hold on me and said, "Yeah I've missed you too, little girl."

I stepped back and felt my cheeks hurting so bad from smiling. I went to my Uncles, Xander, Soul and Noah and gave them all giant hugs. As weird as it was, their scent was very comforting.

They smelt like home. Xavier, Kieth and Milo came along and greeted their father's and uncles with a manly hug, as men do haha.

"Where are those damn Hellhounds?" Eddie snarled.

I rolled my eyes, "Papa, you can't just go talking to them like that."

My father scoffs, "I'm gonna call them whatever I damn well please."

I sighed and took a step back to have a look at the men in my family. They are very dominant and masculine guys, the Hellhounds are as well. They're going to clash hard and I don't want that.

"Okay look," I said with a little louder voice until I had everybody's full attention, "We're gonna have to set some rules if we wanna make this work with as little as drama as we can prevent, okay?"

My father crosses his arms and said, "What're the rules?"

"I want all of you...and I mean ALL of you," Looking at my father, "To respect the Hellhounds. I'm not saying you have to be best friends, but I don't want you guys to be fighting all the time."

They all stood silent for a moment.

"She's right," I heard my Uncle Noah say. I sighed in relief that someone ended up saying something!

"At the end of the day, we all want the same thing and that is for Lily to be safe and for all this curse shit to be over with and working with them is the only way...or else we lose our little Lily here and I'm not gonna let that happen."

I smiled at my Uncle Noah as a thank you. He gave me a nod and a cheeky wink.

My father steps forward and sighs, "I don't like him...but he cares for you, they all do, and I can see...they would do anything for you. I won't argue...or at least I'll try my best not to."

I jumped into my father's arms and said, "Thank you, Papa! It must be really hard, but thank you!"

My father's chest vibrates as he chuckles.

I felt a presence behind me. My father lowers me to the ground and I turned around to see the whole gang there, Zeus at the very front. He steps forward and holds his hand out to shake my father's hand.

My father hesitated and looked down at his hand for only a second. He glanced at me and the clasped Zeus's hand in a handshake. I internally smiled.

"Thank you, Eddie, for coming."

"Of course, it is my daughter afterall. I'd do anything for her."

"As would I," Zeus said, "You and your men must be very exhausted, I'll have my servants prepare rooms for you and the others."

My father nods his head, "I'd appreciate that."

Xander steps forward, "Before we do go though, does this damn magical land have like a bar or something? If we're going into another god damn war...I'm gonna need a drink."

"I am very familiar with the bars here, and I too want a little bit of a buzz before possibly dying." Sozin said.

"Aye. I'm right behind ya," Dylan said.

"Hey I wan to come too!" Donny said.

"Well I could use a drink," Eudora said.

I glanced to the side and saw Zeus roll his eyes, "Fine! We'll go to the bar for a bit."

Everyone seemed more relaxed with that plan made. No more talking or thoughts about war and death, for now let's just think about here and now.