The warm scent of various spices and herbs greeted me as we entered the cozy shop. An older woman, appearing to be around fifty, ran out from behind the counter and gingerly touched the gash Haru's forehead.

"Haru! Are you alright?"

Haru looked slightly embarrassed by the woman's concern.

"I'm fine, mom."

Haru's mother led him to the back of the shop, where she proceeded to dress his wound.

"Where have you been? How did this happen?"

I felt slightly guilted by her question, and spoke up from my spot near the doorway.

"Sorry. It's my fault, Ma'am. He was saving me from a mugger."

She turned to look at me, then back at Haru.

"Really." she seemed to mutter to herself. "And Haru, who might this be? The girl that your father has been telling me about?"

She looked back at me, a warm smile not unlike her husband's on her face.

"This is Harmony."

Haru almost appeared to boast my name, looking proud as he spoke it, much to my surprise. I extended my hand to his mother's.

"Harmony, it's nice to meet you. I'm Yunsi Lijing, Haru's mother."

"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am."

"So polite!" She clasped her hand in mine. "My husband has told me quite a bit about you."

"He has?"

"Yes. It appears that he's taken quite a liking to you. If you don't mind me asking, do you have any place to go?"

"No."

"Well, that just won't do. You can stay with us as long as you like."

"Um, thank you Ma'am."

I was a bit surprised by her kindness and generosity towards a complete stranger.

"Please, call me Yunsi. I'm about to close up shop and head home. Come on, you two. Let's get going."

The chill of the night air was sharp compared to the warmth of the shop. The half moon shown dimly among the bright stars, just enough to illuminate the path we were walking on. The rock on the ground began to cut up my bare feet. For some reason I felt a pang of longing for the smooth metal of the ship's floor to which I had become accustomed to, and at one point I even had to lean against a tree to rub my soles. The whole while, Haru stuck close to me, as if challenging the darkness of night to come near. I found it to be quite silly after a while; he was acting similarly to an overprotective coyote-dog. I even made a game to amuse myself, telling him that I'd heard something in the bushes and watching him investigate, examining the entire area before coming back. After a while, we came upon a small farm, nothing more than a small house and a barn, near the edge of a cliff. A few candles were lit in the house, making it seen quite homely. Haru turned in a silent goodbye, and made his way into the house, while Yunsi led me over to the barn. She held the door for me and stepped in. "I hope you don't mind. We don't have guests very often, and this is the only vacant area."

Yunsi began fussing about the barn setting up a place for me to stay. She walked over to a shelf below the loft and pulled down a stack of blankets.

"Here you go."

She handed me the stack, and the blankets smelled surprisingly fresh. She then headed back towards the door, turning to me before stepping out.

"I'm headed off to bed now. Just come right in the house for breakfast in the morning."

She hesitated for a moment.

"Are you sure you're alright here by yourself?"

I almost laughed at her concern; she sounded like my mother.

"Yes, I'm fine Miss Lijing."

She smiled.

"Yunsi. Goodnight, Harmony."

Yunsi shut the heavy barn door behind her, and I was alone in the barn. It was mostly dark and shadowed, the only light being the moon lightly beaming through a dusty window. I walked over to a stack of hay caught in light and lay down a blanket to protect myself from the rough straw before settling myself down into it, like a nest. I pulled another blanket up to my chin, and soon enough I was fast asleep.

Ooh, longer than I expected this chapter to turn out, but it's not one of my favorites. Anyways, please review!