Namaari was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling of her room. It had been two hours since the meeting with Benja and her mother and her mind was still whirling, not letting her anywhere close to sleep. She sighed and sat up, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked around her room. Her eyes fell on her áo dài, which was still lying on the chair where she had thrown it a few hours earlier. She rose and went to pick up the dress, running her hands of the embroidered dragon that took up most of the front. Then she frowned, bunching the fabric to distort the image and tossing it back on the chair.

One of the sleeves brushed across the table, knocking something to the floor. Namaari bent down and found it was the dragon necklace Raya had put on her earlier that evening. She picked it up and stared at it in her palm for a moment, biting down on her lower lip as she thought. Then she took a deep breath, put the necklace in her pocket, and headed to the door.

Namaari crept through the hallways as quietly as she could, making her way toward the guest wing of the palace. She paused outside the door to Raya's room, raising and lowering her hand several times before she finally knocked. She heard movement inside almost immediately and Raya opened the door a few seconds later.

The scowl on Raya's face softened when she saw it was Namaari on the other side of the door. "Oh, it's you," she said, standing aside for Namaari to enter the room. Once Namaari was inside, she shut it harder than necessary behind her. "I thought it might be my Ba."

Namaari watched as Raya began to pace back and forth across the room. "So, we're back to this again?"

"I just…" Raya clenched her fists and made a frustrated noise. "I love my Ba, but he still treats me like I'm a child." She spun around to walk across the room again, throwing up her hands and gesturing as she ranted. "And the way he calls me 'dewdrop.' Most of the time, it's fine, but sometimes he uses it to show he has the final word and I'm not allowed to say anything after that." She flopped down on the bed with another exasperated groan.

Namaari hesitated for a second, then moved to sit at the other end of the bed. She pulled one of her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around it. "I know how you feel. I feel like I can't say anything to my mother without her telling me I'm being 'too emotional.'"

"Ugh. They're just so infuriating." There was a beat of silence before Raya sat up, looking at Namaari curiously. "Did you need something or why did you come to bother me in the middle of the night?"

Namaari looked away, hoping that the darkness would hide her blush. "I couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, me neither." Raya sighed and shook her head. "You really just came to talk, though? You're not getting soft on me, are you, dep la?"

Again, Namaari was grateful for the shadows in the room as she felt her face heat up. "No, I…" she trailed off and her hand suddenly went to her pocket, pulling out the dragon necklace. "I came to give you this," she said, offering it to Raya without meeting her eyes.

Raya raised an eyebrow as she looked between the necklace and Namaari's face. "That couldn't have waited until morning?"

Namaari shook her head but kept her gaze on the floor.

Raya's eyes softened and she reached out to take the necklace from Namaari's hand. "I hope you know I'm not just going to give this back. You'll have to win it from me in a duel."

Namaari grinned. "If that's the case, you won't have it for long, then."

Raya returned her smile and gently knocked her shoulder against Namaari's. She fastened the necklace around her neck, then laid back on the bed. Namaari hesitated again, then followed suit. They were both silent for a moment as they watched shadows from the moonlight dance across the ceiling.

Raya broke the silence first. "Why do formal clothes have to be so itchy?" she asked.

Namaari snorted and earned a gentle shove from Raya.

"I'm serious!" Raya insisted, smacking Namaari's arm again. "We could all just decide to wear more comfortable clothes to parties, but we don't. We all hate it, but we won't change it. It's ridiculous." She smiled when Namaari laughed. "Your outfit tonight was beautiful, though."

"It was," Namaari said, then sighed. "But I do wish my mother would stop commissioning clothes for me with dragons on them. It feels really weird to wear them when there are actual dragons around."

Raya chuckled. "Yeah, I could see that."

"It also…just doesn't feel right. I don't really feel worthy of wearing it. And I feel like it makes me a target." Namaari frowned, her fingers absently twisting part of the bed sheet beneath her. "Especially for people like Bayani."

Raya didn't say anything for a long moment, and Namaari was worried she had fallen asleep. She tilted her head slightly to see that Raya was still staring at the ceiling, but quickly looked away before Raya could notice her gaze.

"Do you think..." Raya trailed off, taking several deep breaths before she started speaking again. "Do you think he's right? That we have to pay for what we did?"

It took a long moment before Namaari was able to respond. "The Druun caused so much pain and suffering. I don't know what I could give that would even come close to that." Her voice was barely a whisper, but she couldn't bring herself to speak any louder.

She felt Raya shift and turned her head to find Raya looking at her, but the shadows falling across her face made it impossible to read her expression. Raya rolled onto her side, and Namaari mimicked the movement, shifting so they were facing one another.

Raya watched her for a moment, but Namaari wasn't sure how clearly she could see her face. "Just you?" she finally asked.

Namaari nodded. She heard Raya sigh, but couldn't make out her expression. Her gaze drifted down to where her fingers continued to pick at the bed sheet. Raya's hand suddenly moved next to hers and she froze. She shivered when Raya's fingers brushed hers, but offered no resistance, letting Raya lift her hand and slowly lace their fingers together. Raya held this position for a few seconds, then gently squeezed Namaari's hand.

The air around their hands seemed to vibrate with energy and a soft, blue light shone from between their fingers. They both stared at it for a split second, then pulled back at the same instant, so quickly that Raya slammed into the headboard of the bed and Namaari tumbled onto the floor.