Alisha sat on the ground in front of Lili, looking quite nervous as the bird smiled wryly at her.
'You should go with my brother. I'm sure he'd like to bring you'. She wrote on a paper between them as Bunji slept soundly on the table beside them.
"He hasn't asked me yet." Alisha shrugged. "He probably doesn't want to go with me."
'He does. Could I ask you a favor?' She looked up at Alisha after she finished writing.
"Sure, what do you want?" Alisha looked at her curiously.
'Could you bring Ichi in here? I'd like to talk with him. Then we can go get our dresses from the weaver.'
"Alright." Alisha smiled. "Hopefully they'll have something in my size."
'I'm sure they can work something out.' She ended with a chuckle, watching as Alisha smiled and left the tent to go find Ichi.
She looked around, first looking in his tent, then the elder's, and finally walking over to her and Hermes' tent. She heard people talking outside and stopped, wondering if she should interrupt them or not.
"I can't. She's the queen- it's wrong." Hermes said, sounding frustrated. "Besides, someday she has to go back. That's how it always goes."
"So you're just going to sit there on your butt and let her go because you don't feel like a little bit of pain?" Ichi didn't sound frustrated- he sounded downright angry. "I didn't know you had turned into such a coward, Hermes."
"I'm not a coward." Hermes growled out. "I'm her protector. Nothing more, nothing less."
Alisha's eyes widened as she felt a twinge of pain in her chest at those words- she had thought Hermes had at least liked her. But he was only being nice to her because it was his duty to do so. She let the tent flap close shut loudly, hearing someone swear but not caring who heard her as she ran to get away. She had started to really care about Hermes- how could he not feel anything in return? Had last night been just another duty of his toward her? To keep her safe and nothing more?
Tears stung her eyes as she ran through the city, trying to get away while not going into the jungle again. She bumped into someone and looked up to see Kandor looking down at her in concern.
"Hey- what's wrong?" He asked, holding her by the shoulders as he maneuvered them out of the middle of the street.
"Nothing." Alisha whispered, looking away from him.
"Right, and those tears are nothing." Kandor looked around, as if looking for someone but sighed when he saw no one. "Tell me what happened."
"No, you'll think I'm stupid."
"Please." Kandor rolled his eyes. "No one will think you're stupid- especially not me. Just tell me what happened, and I'll try my best to make it better." The raven smiled reassuringly, trying to cheer her up.
"Hermes doesn't like me." She whispered, looking away from him as his eyes flashed in realization.
"And you love him?" He said quietly so that no one else around them would hear.
"I don't know. I know I like him, but…" Alisha trailed off, trying to think. "He was talking to Ichi, and I heard them. He said that he was just a protector to me. Nothing more, and nothing less. Everything he's said and done was just to protect me- he was never being actually nice to me." Alisha bit back a fresh sob as the pain in her chest throbbed again, her stomach sinking.
Kandor sighed, looking particularly angry as he looked in the direction of Hermes' and Alisha's tent. "He might not have meant it." He looked back down at Alisha, his eyes soft. "I saw how he looked at you- he really does care for you more than a protector. He likes you as a person as well. It's a lot harder to say your feelings than you might think- especially if you're a guy."
"What do you mean?" Alisha looked up at him in confusion.
"Well, guys are supposed to be tough. We're raised so that is bad if we show emotion. And then all of a sudden we have to pour all our emotions out to a particular girl in order to say what we're thinking. It's hard for us- it goes against everything we've grown up with."
Alisha nodded, starting to understand a little.
"Now, what brought all of this on? Did you ask him something?"
"Oh- no. There's a party tomorrow, and I think his sister is pressuring him to ask me to it. You have to have a date to go to the party."
"A party?" Kandor said with interest. "And you must have a date to go to it?"
Alisha nodded, looking up at Kandor's thoughtful face and chuckled. "Are you going to ask Gale?"
Kandor looked down at her, his eyes wide. "How did you-"
"Please- it's written all over your face. Every time you look at her, talk to her… everything."
"Do you think she has noticed?" He asked uneasily, his voice a murmur.
"Doubt it. She doesn't seem to pay attention too much to that type of thing. You're going to have to actually tell her." Alisha smiled.
Kandor sighed, and nodded slowly. "That is much harder to do than it sounds."
"I know. You're a good guy though, I'm sure you'll manage to do it." She looked back toward the tent, and then stepped away slightly from Kandor.
"Well, Hermes' sister is waiting for me. I should probably go get Ichi and get my dress for tomorrow. It'll be a busy day. I also have to talk with Pirko sometime tonight." She looked uneasy again.
"Why, what did he say?"
"Oh- he asked me to the party already." Alisha rolled her eyes. "I had no idea I would be so popular in this world. I almost wish I had had this much attention from guys back in my world." She sighed with a smirk, and walked casually back to the other tents, making sure there would be no clues that she had been crying on her face.

Lili looked up as Alisha walked back into the tent, but knew immediately that something was different.
"Couldn't find Ichi anywhere, sorry." Alisha smiled, sitting down in front of Lili again. Lili watched Alisha with concern for a minute before writing on the paper again between them.
'It's okay- he came here while you were gone. Do you want to go get our dresses?' Lili looked eager to get out of the tent.
"Will this be your first time outside?" Alisha smiled softly.
Lili nodded, standing up and looking at the tent flap eagerly. They walked out of the tent together, Lili flinching from the brightness of the sun and looking around once she got used to it. She smiled happily at all the birds around them, looking at the different huts and the jungle around the city. She grabbed Alisha by the wrist and started running toward the hut on the far side of the street, other girls already crowding around its outside as they read a board. Alisha walked around to the board, wondering what it said but only saw jibberish, sighing when she realized it was written in a different language. Lili dragged her into the hut, looking around as her wrist was freed, and Lili walked up to the white bird, taking a piece of paper out of the belt she was wearing, holding a pen as well. The white bird looked up, her blue eyes wide as she stared at Lili, a strange blond Mohawk suddenly rising from among her white hair.
"Lili?" She stood, and gave Lili a great hug, who gasped for air and laughed silently. "I thought you were dead, girlie! Now, you can tell me what happened later- for now, I know why you're here. Are you planning on doing with that handsome Ichi of yours?" The bird grinned wryly.
Lili's face turned red as she nodded quickly.
"Oh good- he's a good boy, though a bit of a trouble-maker. Now- what type of dress would you like?" The white bird circled around Lili, looking on with satisfaction. "You're a lanky girl, aren't you? You'll have to eat more if you want to fill out." The cockatoo smiled down at Lili as she blushed again. "You'll be wanting something that will cover your neck am I right, my dear?" She said softly.
Lili nodded, smiling gratefully up to her.
"Alright then." The woman brought over an armful of scrap cloth, lying it on a table in front of her before raising her hands, the cloth suddenly raising into the air. It spun over itself as it unwove the thread holding it together, the long string falling in circles on the table until the end of it finally came loose from the rag. The string now raised again into the air, re-weaving itself and changing color and texture as it did so, turning the scrap of rag into a cloth of silk, which cut and sewed itself into a white dress, which fell into Lili's open arms. Another string of the rag formed itself into a matching white scarf, which fell on top of the dress. Lili looked down at it happily, looking back up at the weaver with a wide grin.
"You're welcome." the weaver chuckled, and Lili moved aside to let Alisha through.
"Well then, what do we have here? I'm sorry I didn't see you before, dear. My name is Maxine. I'm the magiweaver of this city. Did you want a dress for the party too?" The bird stood and circled around Alisha, looking at her with a thoughtful eye. "How do you feel about deep green?"
"I love green." Alisha smiled. She watched as another rag flew into the air, turning itself into a green and silk dress with a long black spiral spinning down the dress, matching the scar on her cheek that had brought her here. It shone in the sunlight coming through the flap of the hut, and Alisha looked at it in wonder as it drifted down into her arms.
"it's beautiful, thank you." She smiled happily. The cockatoo smiled as well, the mohawk on top of her head raising proudly.
"It's no problem dearie, have fun at the party- and good luck finding a guy." She winked as Lili and Alisha walked out of the hut.
"Don't think I'll have any problems there." Alisha sighed, Lili chuckling silently beside her.

That night, with the dress safely at Lili's tent, Alisha stood outside her and Hermes' tent, pausing to gain her composure as she walked in. She saw Hermes sitting at a desk, his head in his hand while his wings drooped around either side of him. He made no reaction to her, so she shrugged and walked over to her bed, laying down and turning on her side so that she faced away from him.
She waited in the silence for a while before closing her eyes tightly in frustration, her teeth bared. "Good night." She dared to say, but didn't see Hermes jump in surprise and look around the room. He looked over at her, seeing that she was facing away from him and sighed softly, standing with a groan of pain from sitting in the same place for so long, lying down on the mattress, facing Alisha's back. He watched her thoughtfully, wondering if Ichi had been right.