Saimaa wasn't Mora, Emil decided after having spent a day in the Finnish capital, but it was a nice little town. Like Keuruu it had a civilian quarter surrounded by a wall and military barrack outside, but the civilian quarters in Saimaa was much larger. Tuuri and Emil had taken a guided tour so Emil could learn more about the country while the others had found a place in the park to sit. Lalli had been forced to play with Onni's boys since Emil wasn't there and Emil had had to endure lots of cursing about it afterwards. He promised Lalli he wouldn't leave him like that again.

Tuuri had spent the whole day asking Emil even more questions about Sweden, how his girlfriend had been, why they seperated, if he was looking for a partner, what he was looking for in a partner. Emil had been relieved when he had finally been able to take cover for the night in the hotel room he shared with Lalli.

"If she keeps going on like this I'm going to say 'Someone who doesn't ask so many questions'!" he complained as he sank down on his bed.

"She won't get it", Lalli kicked off his boots and settled down on the other bed.

"I love your cousin, but she's can be a bit..."

"I know", Lalli gave Emil a weird look.

Lalli told Emil about when Tuuri had done the same to him a few years ealier. Emil laughed as Lalli amitted he had almost ended up together with someone just to get Tuuri to stop. The person in question had found someone else who caught their attention in the nick of time. The two friends divided for a while about what Tuuri could be planning and then Lalli started telling Emil about some of the attacks he had encountered and Emil told Lalli more about his work as a captain. When they fell asleep they met up in Emil's sanctuary to continue their conversation.

Emil noticed Onni keeping an extra close eye on the two of them the next day. Kielo and Onni almost ended up in a fight because Onni didn't pay enough attention to the boys and they had ended up pushing some of the mannequins in the museum over. While Onni was busy getting his ears chewed off Emil grabbed Lalli's hand and snuck away to another room in the museum. He tried asking Lalli what Onni was doing, but the Finn merely shrugged. They found Tauno in the other room and Emil and Lalli settled down with him. Emil and Tauno ended up talking about the expedition to the Silent World. Tauno asked about details Emil hadn't even thought about, like what went through his mind when he first met Tuuri and Lalli, and what actually happened on the train, and why didn't he get angry when Lalli stole his onlay. Emil was starting to suspect that something was going on, but answered the questions to the best of his ailities.

The last day in Saimaa they spent the day looking through stores. Emil tried to stay away from both Tuuri and Tauno, tired of all the questions, but they always managed to find him. Kielo and Onni did their best to to soften the questioning, but Tuuri always found a way to get to Emil. Lalli had managed to hide somewhere and Emil spent most of his time trying to find his friend. He got himself a souvenir from one of the stores, a snowglobe with a miniature of Saimaa inside and as evening fell they made their way back to the boat. Emil looked forward to meet Lalli in his dream again, but as he went asleep the other wasn't there. Emil leaned against a tree and looked at one of the lynxes who was sneaking around in the forest-part.

Lalli had explained a little, but far from enough for Emil to understand what was going on. He had tried forming his own theories, but without knowing anything it was hard. To start with, how had the animals found him? How large was the sanctuary even? Emil had tried following the barrier but always woke up before he had returned to the starting point. Were all sanctuaries this large? Lalli would never let him see. Emil looked towards the barrier, pondered going out there to see for himself, but decided to trust Lalli. The Finn had said his soul would be vulnerable out there and while he wasn't entirely certain what a soul even was he didn't want to risk anything.

He woke up when the boat pulled into port since one of Onni's boys was jumping on him. He settled up, shook Lalli awake, but didn't ask about the other's absence in the sanctuary. They hadn't promised to meet there or anything, he had just gotten used to it. Lalli blinked towards him, strutted out of the sleeping area and Emil grabbed his backpack and followed Lalli outside. Onni's boys ran around him, he lifted the youngest one and put him on his shoulders. The boy squeed, then slid back down to the floor and ran away to play with his brother. Emil settled down by the table with the rest of the gang as the passengers started leaving the boat. Onni and Kielo said good bye and hurried away to get the boys to kindergarden on time. Tuuri and Tauno stayed around a little longer, asked Emil what he had thought of Saimaa, and then they hurried away to work.

"So, what do we do now?"

Lalli shrugged. Emil looked at the buildings infront of tmen, then looked at Lalli again.

"How long are you free from work?"

"Depends."

"Depends?"

"On you."

Lalli walked towards the barrack, and Emil looked after him, his grip around the packpack tightened. What did Lalli want of him? He didn't know and he didn't know how to ask. He scratched the back of his head, pulled the backpack to his back and ran after Lalli. He'd figure it out later.