Author's Note: This is kind of a transitional chapter, but it has a lot of scenes that were fun to write. I just thought it was good to flesh out the actual journey a bit, plus there are lots of cameos from various party members. Also, obligatory warning for Tooth-Rotting Fluff(tm) in the opening section.

Chapter Four: Travel On

Frederica smiled, keeping her eyes closed, as she stirred the next morning. She was too comfortable to get up, but she knew she needed to soon. It was tempting to indulge, though, lying here next to Serenoa. He was still breathing softly, and their hands were close together; they must've fallen asleep holding hands.

Finally, she opened her eyes, turning to look at Serenoa. Frederica reached for his hand, then leaned over and rested her other hand on his cheek. He smiled as his eyes fluttered open, and he squeezed her hand as he turned towards her.

"Good morning," Serenoa mumbled sleepily. "It's not too late, is it?"

"I don't think so. I just wanted to enjoy the moment. Is that selfish?"

Serenoa grinned and shook his head. He brought his free hand up to rest on top of hers—how warm his hands were! For a few seconds, they rested together like that; then, Serenoa loosened his grip on her hands and started to shift. She realized he was trying to sit up, and Frederica quickly sat up and rested an arm under his back to help him.

"I'm sorry," he said guiltily, glancing down as he used his hands to draw his legs into a better position. "I still can't…"

"Don't worry, my love." Frederica leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "It was a simple enough matter. …Shall I tell someone you're up?"

"That would probably be best," he admitted. "But I'd like it if you came back soon after."

"Of course."

She gave him another smile before ducking out of the tent. It was silly, really, but Frederica still marveled at all the love she felt from (and for) Serenoa. But was it so bad to be so affectionate?

At the moment, Frederica had other things to do, though. Fortunately, the camp had begun to rise; there were several people walking around already. She nodded at Narve—who greeted her through a large yawn—before her eyes fell on Geela and Medina. They were digging through some supplies, and they glanced up at her approach.

Fortunately, they didn't need much explanation. Soon enough, they were off to give Serenoa a checkup, and then Frederica just had to wait.

Apart from adjusting their pace to accommodate the people currently carrying Serenoa, their marches from then on out weren't too difficult. For that, Frederica was grateful.

The further they got from charted Norzelia territory, the smoother their path was, surprisingly enough. After the rocky, muddy terrain near the Great Falls, the land gave way to grasslands and fields. The river was still to their left, and there were often woods to their right. Beyond that, the worst they had to deal with were occasional patches of wiry plant life that had to be stepped around.

Their journey was becoming easier than she thought it would be, but Frederica was glad all the same.

"Marvelous how green it is out here, isn't it?" Giovanna muttered at one point. "And to think it was so treacherous just a few days' walk from here! I wonder—"

She scribbled notes as she walked, and Hughette shook her head. Still, Frederica noticed that Hughette had the tiniest of amused grins on her face.

Not long after that, the group spotted thick clouds rolling over the sky ahead of them. They were mostly white, fluffy clouds—nothing to herald a serious storm—but it was something different, anyway. Their journey had been mostly clear so far.

Then, Ezana had an unusually sly look on her face. She raised her staff and muttered a quick incantation under her breath. The lightest possible rain quickly began—not enough to muddy their path too much, but enough to cause a fine mist in the sky.

Several Rosellan children proceeded to run around and try to catch raindrops in their hands. Frederica noticed Picoletta darting around with them, laughing all the while. Further back, Naomi paused to sit on a fallen log, and she waved Eden's chubby hand up at the sky.

Watching her people experience such a simple pleasure was overwhelming, but in a good way, Frederica decided. It was one more reason why her decision to free them had been the right one.

A day or two later, Cordelia suggested that Serenoa try to stand up. He bit his lip and glanced down at his legs—Frederica knew he still had to move them manually with his hands when he wanted them in a different position. Serenoa was nowhere near ready to walk, but that hadn't been Cordelia's intent, either.

"Just for a moment," Cordelia said gently, correctly interpreting the look on his face. "You need not try and walk yet. I know that won't be for a while, even if your legs do recover."

"Well, I suppose I should try sooner or later…" Serenoa sighed. "All right, then. Help me up, if you don't mind."

Cordelia nodded, carefully slipping an arm around his back. Frederica was sitting nearby (they'd paused for a meal break), and she quickly moved over to help. Once they'd gotten a good grip on Serenoa, Cordelia took a deep breath.

"All right; here we go. Slowly now…"

She and Frederica stood up, inch by inch, and Frederica felt like it took a dramatically long time. Serenoa's hands gripped their shoulders, and he closed his eyes and inhaled slowly. Finally, Frederica could see that Serenoa's feet were on the ground, and his legs were mostly straight. It was clear he was only standing up because of their support, though; his posture was rather awkward.

The second he tried to straighten up, Serenoa buckled, and all three of them gasped as they tumbled back to the ground. Luckily, none of them were hurt beyond the initial surprise of the impact. Serenoa chewed the inside of his cheek and glanced away, and Cordelia looked apologetically at him.

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have tried to rush you. Are you all right?"

"Fine enough," he mumbled. "Nothing needs to be healed, I think."

Frederica tentatively reached for his hand, and she smiled when he let her take it. She squeezed Serenoa's hand, hoping the gesture was comforting. Finally, he glanced over at her, smiling briefly before he spoke.

"I really am fine. Physically, at least," he said wryly. "I'm just so used to being able to do this myself that I'm a bit frustrated. It used to be so simple a task."

Serenoa frowned and glanced down at his currently-useless legs. Once again, Frederica found her heart aching for him. She knew people could get by with such difficulties, and she'd never dare to think any less of him now. Still, having to adjust to such a sudden change had to be hard, despite his previous attempts at positivity.

"I know," she said softly. "But we just want to help you. And that includes knowing what you can and can't do right now. If you do need help, then so be it. I will do whatever you need me to."

He finally looked back up at them, his expression a complicated one. Serenoa was at least trying to smile, but his eyes were distant. However, he nodded after several long seconds of silence.

"I do appreciate everything that's been done for me. I just need to swallow my pride and carry on, I suppose."

It would be difficult—everyone knew that. But he wouldn't be the Serenoa who Frederica loved so much if he gave up so easily. She was sure he'd adjust eventually, and she'd help him as much as she could until then.

They kept marching, continuing to use the river as their guide. Unsurprisingly, they'd caught a decent number of fish to supplement their previous rations. Still, Frederica couldn't help being nervous about their supplies. The longer this took, the more they risked running out.

"We'll have to watch our provisions," she heard Julio mutter to Lionel one day. "We should have enough to last a while, but…"

"Lionel thinks you are saying we should adjust what we've been distributing. Is that so?"

She knew it was something they'd need to consider, and she knew neither of them meant it as an insult towards her. They were a fair distance from her, so they probably didn't realize she could hear them. But—

"We're back, everyone!"

Jerrom's announcement was followed by loud cheers from the camp. They'd stopped to rest about an hour ago, and Jerrom had led a few people into a nearby stretch of woods. He and Hughette had gone off with a few other skilled hunters, and they'd brought back a mercifully-large haul.

Several of them had bags swung over their shoulders—probably rabbit, or whatever other similar animals lived out here. The crowning jewel of their hunt, though, was the large deer that Jerrom and two other men were carrying.

They'd cook some of it now and smoke the rest to save for later. As Frederica watched everyone else prepare the meat, she sighed in relief. Really, it had been a few weeks now; she'd convinced herself that the river had to end somewhere, and they had to arrive eventually. But, well…they wouldn't have to worry for a while now, anyway.

It was nice, too, to listen to some comments from the Rosellans when they were finally ready to eat. Those who had been at the Source had rarely gotten to each such fresh, well-cooked food, after all.

She decided once again that it was the small moments like this that made their journey worthwhile.

Finally, after several more weeks' travel, the path ahead of them widened out. The forest that had been to their right for the past several days suddenly stopped. Ahead of them, the grass gave way to patchier dirt, and then to a broad expanse of sand. Beyond that was the largest amount of water Frederica had ever seen in one place.

This was the ocean, she realized. The vast water beneath the brilliantly-blue sky was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Even if it weren't for the odd combination of nerves and relief growing in her stomach, Frederica wouldn't have been able to look away.

"Is this it?" Jerome asked, his tone uncertain yet hopeful.

"Everyone, look around a bit more," Frederica called. "We must be getting close!"

The group nodded and spread out to search. In less than an hour, they'd spotted some buildings off to the east. Most of them were in ruins, missing parts of their roofs and walls. But many of them were strikingly similar, design-wise, to those in the Wolffort village.

They were there—they'd found Centralia.

They were finally home.