We were staying in a village – a small one, I can't even remember the name of it.

After the forest was burned down, Pipsqueak and the Duke left for Omashu, Sneers just disappeared, and most of the others went their separate ways, so it was just me, Jet, Cinnamon, Honey, and Bee.

Everything was going fine until Honey came to me with an idea. I already knew it couldn't go well, but I listened to her anyway.

"I was talking to this girl," she said, eyes bright, "and she was talking about her friend, who she swears met her soul mate 'cause this fortune teller, Aunt… something, predicted it."

I stared. I was completely lost.

Seeing as she was a foot and a half shorter than me, she grabbed my arm and shook me. "Go see her, you idiot!"

I yanked my arm out of her grasp and raised an eyebrow.

"You know why!" she yelled.

I shook my head.

She rolled her eyes. "Love life. You. Bee. Go. Now."

"Um, I'm not really the fortuneteller type–"

She grabbed my arm again and started dragging me. "I don't care! You are doing this!"

I sighed. Once that girl starts something…

She dragged me to the front of a building and let go of me with one hand to knock. I could've easily broken out of her grip, but I knew if I ran, she'd just chase me down later.

A younger girl, probably about Honey's age, maybe Cinnamon's, with a missing front tooth and crazy hair answered the door.

"May I help you?" she asked, grinning and with a voice that matched her looks–goofy. Very goofy. She looked at Honey. "Oh, hey!"

"Hey. We're here to see the fortuneteller," Honey said, smiling at least as big.

The girl's eyes went to me. She smiled even bigger. "Hello…" she said. She snapped out of it. "Right this way." She opened the door wider and we stepped in.

She led us over to a row of cushions on the floor. "Why don't you take a seat right over there. Snacks? Be right back." She ran off.

We sat down. Honey turned to me. "That's the girl I was talking about. I didn't know she worked here."

I shrugged.

A girl around my age came out of the other room, beaming. She twirled – yes, twirled – over to Honey and kneeled in front of her.

"Aunt Wu just told me that my true love is a friend from my childhood!" she said, looking like she was already in love.

"That's awesome!" Honey said, looking at me pointedly.

The girl's smile got so wide I wondered how her face was still intact, and she jumped up and twirled out the door.

I turned back to Honey, eyebrows raised.

She smiled wider and shrugged. "According to what I've heard, her predictions are never wrong."

(Should you really be telling me this before I get mine?)

She shrugged again. "Probably not, but hey!"

I rolled my eyes.

An older woman came in from the other room. "Next?" she asked. She looked at us. "How about you, sweetie?" she asked Honey.

"Oh, no," Honey started. "We're not here for me, we're here for him."

(Go,) I told her. (You know you want to.)

"Well… Okay." She looked more excited than she sounded. She got up and left with the woman.

I glanced at the door. It was unbelievably tempting. We'd only be there for a few more days, could I avoid her that long?

Before I could leave, the other girl came back with a tray of something I didn't recognize. She set it down next to me and sat down in front of me.

"Hi! My name's Meng!" she said, grinning.

I nodded.

"You've got some pretty big ears, don't you?" she asked, still grinning.

Um. I really didn't know what to say to that.

I reached up and touched the strap. My hat was hanging around my neck.

I put it back on my head and shrugged.

She looked like she was trying to think of something to say. "So… That girl your sister?" she asked after a moment.

I shook my head.

Awkward silence.

"Why do you wanna see Aunt Wu?" she asked after another moment.

I gestured to the door to the other room. I had no idea how to talk to this girl without words.

"Can't you talk?" she asked.

I frowned. That question just got more annoying every time.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be rude, I was just wondering!" She was panicking.

I held up a hand to stop her from blabbering on and waved it away.

She looked relieved.

Before she could say anything even more embarrassing, the other door opened and Honey stepped out, looking happy and confused.

I turned to her. (What happened?)

She turned to me. She looked thoughtful. "She said I already met my true love. Huh. Wonder who it is."

I was pretty sure I knew.

The fortuneteller came out. "Next?" she asked again. She looked at me.

I shrugged, got up, and followed her into another room.

"Why don't you sit right there?" she asked, pointing to a spot.

I sat, she sat across from me.

"So," she said, "your friend tells me you're having trouble with your love life."

I laughed bitterly. "More like lack of one." I don't know why, but I automatically felt like I could open up to her. Like I could trust her.

That did not happen often.

She smiled, pity clear on her face. "Here, give me your hand," she said, holding out hers.

I did. She studied it. Then she looked up at me. "You have an interesting past, don't you?"

I started and looked away.

She looked back at my hand and traced some of the lines. "Sadness. Rage. Pain. Hatred. Betrayal… Love." She looked at me again.

I blushed.

She looked at my hand again. "I see something. I'm not sure what, exactly, but something will happen soon. Something that will change you."

"In a good way?" I whispered.

She shrugged. "I can't tell. As for love, I didn't see anything in particular, but maybe if you could convince this girl to see me…"

I knew it wasn't self-advertising. I shook my head. "I don't think I can. She's not into this stuff."

She nodded. "I understand. Actually, when I was your age, I wasn't, either. But I believe that, if you truly love someone, things will work out. One way or another."

Not encouraging.

I nodded, got up, and walked out.

Honey was waiting. When I came out, she jumped up. "How'd it go?" she asked brightly.

I guess I looked pretty depressed, 'cause she said, "That bad?"

I nodded.

Meng looked at me. "What'd she say?"

I "told" Honey. She looked kinda surprised.

"Nothing," she said to Meng. "All she said was there would be a change." After a moment she added, "She didn't tell us what we came for."

"What was that?" Meng asked, standing up.

Honey looked back at me. "Can I tell her?"

I nodded.

She turned back to her. "Love. More specifically, he has a huge crush on our best friend, and somehow she's too thick to notice."

Meng looked kinda disappointed. "Oh." She took a deep breath and got over it pretty quickly. "Well, there's one trick that's never failed."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, you know the volcano outside of town?"

I shook my head. The town was surrounded by black rock, you couldn't see anything outside it.

"Well, it's got these flowers growing around the crater. Panda lilies. If a boy gives you one, you'll be together forever." She looked wistful.

I looked at Honey, who voiced my concern. "Around the crater of a volcano? Is that really safe?"

Meng shrugged. "Well, as far as we know, it's only blown once. And we only knew about it 'cause someone went to go get a panda lily."

Honey looked back at me. I sighed mentally. Okay, I was getting kinda desperate.

I nodded. (How long a walk is it?)

Honey asked Meng.

"About… two hours each way?" she guessed.

I frowned. You have got to be kidding me.

That time, she understood me perfectly. "But it'll be worth it," she said. "Promise."

Another mental sigh. But who knew, maybe it would be. I turned back to Honey. (You ready to go?)

She nodded. "Bye," she said to Meng as we walked out.

"Bye!" Meng called back, grinning again.

Honey turned to me. "So, about my prediction… Who do you think it is?" She had a hopeful grin and was fluttering her eyes.

I shook my head. If I told her and he found out, I'd seriously be blown to bits.

She pouted and stuck her tongue out. "Meanie."

I tried not to smile. And failed miserably.

She punched me in the arm. Hard. I flinched. "Oh, and you're one to joke about love," she said.

"At least I'm trying," I muttered, rolling my eyes and rubbing my arm.

She stopped walking, turned to me, and glared. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I would've kept walking, but she stepped in front of me.

(Oh, you know you like him.) Her jaw dropped. She froze.

I ran past her, seriously hoping I could get to Cinnamon–the only person who could calm her down–before she could murder me.

"Longshot, get back here!" she yelled, running after me.

I could see the house we were renting. I started sprinting.

Right before I got to the door, it opened.

"What's going on?" Bee asked, half asleep. There were bags under her eyes.

I twisted around her and ducked inside. She glanced back at me, then seemed to notice the 10-year-old changing right at her.

"What did you do?" she asked, now fully awake. I didn't answer.

"Honey!" she yelled. The girl skidded to a stop right in front of her.

"Please, just forgive Longshot and be quiet. I'm exhausted."

I'd forgotten her shift had ended an hour ago. She and Jet had both gotten jobs at a restaurant in town, just to make enough to pay for the rent and some food while we were staying there. If they'd had another spot, I'd have helped, too. But, again, small town.

The murderous gleam in Honey's eyes was gone. "Sorry," she said. She looked sincere. "I just… overreacted." And now she didn't.

Bee looked at me, eyebrows raised. Then she turned back to Honey. "Please, just keep it down," she said, the fatigue returning to her face. She looked so much… older.

Honey nodded. Wow, Bee was getting better at this. She looked back at me.

(Do you even need to ask?)

She chuckled, then sighed. "Anyway, 'night." She walked into the only other room. A second later, she poked her head back out.

"Oh, and Cinnamon's out back if you want her." she ducked back in and I could actually hear her head hitting the pillow.

I turned to Honey. She glared at me for another moment, then softened and said, "Come on." She started walking for the backdoor. I followed, happy she didn't feel the need to drag me, like Bee did.

We stepped out. Cinnamon had a fairly large bowl and was making a water whip. "Hey, where were you guys?" she asked, not turning around.

"The fortuneteller's," Honey said. She walked over to Cinnamon, looked at the whip, and said, "You're doing it wrong."

Cinnamon bent the water back into the bowl and turned to her sister, hands on her hips. "Waddaya mean I'm doing it wrong?" Cinnamon was as defensive of her bending as Honey was of her crush.

"Here," Honey said, bending it out. "Just shift your weight through the stances." She demonstrated, moving her right foot back, moving her arms as fluidly as if they were made of water, and making the water snap against the empty air.

Cinnamon scowled. Then she sighed. Her being mad at Honey was as likely as me being mad at Bee.

"Let me try," she said, bending the water away from Honey and trying again. She moved her foot back, moved her arms forward, and made the water snap against the air, maybe not as cleanly as Honey, but snap nonetheless.

I cleared my throat. The girls turned and Cinnamon bent the water back. "Oh, yeah," she said. "You guys said you went to the fortuneteller's?"

Honey grinned–evilly, I might add–and nodded. "The girl…" She couldn't remember her name.

"Meng," I said.

She nodded. "She told us what we could do." She looked like The Duke with a new… toy. Meaning completely evil and slightly insane.

I resisted the urge to facepalm.

"And that would be…" Cinnamon asked, eyebrows raised.

"A flower," Honey said, evil turning into wistful.

Cinnamon looked doubtful. She turned to me. "You're going to give Smellerbee a flower? Are we thinking about the same person?"

I shrugged. "It's not like the actual fortuneteller was any help," I said, bitter again.

"What do you mean?"

"She didn't see anything," Honey said.

Cinnamon looked even more confused. "What do you mean?"

Honey shrugged. "She didn't see anything in his future."

"Well, that's not true," I said.

"Okay, she didn't see anything about love," Honey said, slightly annoyed.

Cinnamon looked like she was about to ask what she did see, then thought better of it. "So you're getting Smellerbee a flower."

I sighed. Maybe it was a stupid idea.

"Yes, he is," Honey said, arms folded across her chest. "It's better than nothing."

Cinnamon's hands went up. "Hey, I'm just saying. When are you gonna do this?"

I looked at Honey.

"I say now," she said.

Cinnamon looked confused. Again. "She's asleep," she said.

Honey nodded. "Exactly."

Cinnamon looked at her like she was crazy.

"It's, um… a bit of a hike," Honey explained.

"Define 'a bit'."

"Oh… four hours…" Honey said, not looking at either of us.

Cinnamon looked at me. "You're crazy. Sweet, but crazy."

"Thanks," I said, rolling my eyes and walking away.

Okay, I'm pretty sure I can skip this part. Two hours. Up a mountain. Pretty much speaks for itself. Tiring, but not too bad. I grabbed a flower and started walking back.

And cue the jinx.

It started raining. More like pouring, really.

I sighed and clamped my hat down with one hand, the other trying to find a way to keep the flower at least reasonably dry.

Another two hours. I knew I'd get sick, I just hoped it'd be worth it. It had to be, right? Right?

I finally dragged myself to our house. Bee must've heard me, because, again, she opened the door right before I reached it.

"Longshot, where have you been?" she started yelling as soon as I got inside. She slammed the door shut behind me. "You've been gone for hours! I was worried sick!" She ran off before I could answer and came back a few seconds later with a blanket. She forced me into a chair and draped it over me.

"Well?" she asked, like she'd given me enough time to answer before.

I didn't say anything, just took the flower and held it out to her.

Her eyes widened.

And she jumped back.

"What the heck is that!" she yelled, sneezing.

"A… flower?" I said, wondering what she meant.

She didn't answer, just ran off, still sneezing.

Honey ran up behind me, dragging Cinnamon along. "Did you get it? Did you get it? Did you get it?" she asked, about to hyperventilate.

I nodded, hurt and still confused.

"And…?" she asked, obviously not noticing my expression.

"She ran off," I whispered. Honey looked as confused as I felt.

Cinnamon eyed the flower. "Is that a panda lily?"

"Yeah, why?" Honey asked.

Cinnamon facepalmed. "Bee's allergic to panda lilies! I could've told you that!"

Honey and I gaped a moment.

"And you didn't because…?" Honey asked, breaking the silence.

"You never said what kind of flower it was!"

I sighed. Just my luck.

"Well, you could've–"

"Stop," I said, holding my hand up. They shut up. "Look, if it was anyone's fault, it was mine. I was stupid enough to think this would work."

They both started to say something. I held up my hand again. "Look, I was out for two hours in the rain, so if you don't mind, I think I'm just gonna take a nap."

They nodded and walked away. I leaned back and closed my eyes. And for the next week, I was the one sneezing.

Note to self: Never. Listen. To Honey.