Reply to Kiki (review ch.33): Thank you so much for this elaborate review. I love it! Skylar is a loveable character for many. There are girls who have a (secret) crush on him, while his father is indeed protective of him and Nico. Thanks again for your review!

Dulce tells Shaniqua the secrets of having sex. Then the jaquins flock together before they head towards the speed race.

While Elena helps out her sister by undergoing the mechanics of the automated changing wardrobe, Shaniqua approaches her pink-and-blue friend for a morning chat after having completed her quota for today. "Dulce! I just need to tell you how adorable you and Migs woke up this morning, all entwined with each other. So cute, hihi."

"I know! I love waking up like this, feeling his body touching mine completely. Romantic, right?"

"Yeah, totally.' Shaniqua says with benevolence over Dulce's relationship but rolls her eyes as she adds, 'I wish Tudor would be like that… Sometimes, boys are just stupid."

"They certainly can be. I bet they will be thinking the same about us ladies, hihi."

Shaniqua shrugs and repositions one of her wings to fold more neatly alongside her slender violet body. "Maybe… So, how come you and Migs are such a lovely couple? It seems you two never argue over anything. Unlike me and Tudor…"

These last words have Dulce giggle. It's partially because of Tudor's infamy but also Shaniqua's description being recognisable to her own relationship. "Oh, we argue. We definitely do but never in public. Why would we burden others with disagreements that Migs and I alone are involved in?"

"Fair enough. Then tell me, how do you two cope with that, fighting over things and all? Just being curious, you know."

"I understand. It seems each couple will argue over something at one point in their relationship. Sometimes petty, sometimes serious. It is an inevitable hurdle. Even though you and Tudor are together for a long time already, the two of you are young still. Undoubtedly, you will get to endure the struggles Migs and I go through now. But I am sure the two of you must have had more than one arguement? I cannot fathom you and him never sharing disagreements."

"More than you know. But never anything harmful, just annoying… As always, really." she replies with a certain resentment in her voice.

"That simply sounds like Tudor by default. I bet you must have become used to that. And you might see those things coming by now. In the end, all that matters is that arguements must be, or at least must become, constructive in nature. Only then can differences be overcome and can you and Tudor take aim for a mutual goal. The same goes for me and Migs. Even though he and I do share an intimate relationship, we have had our share of heated discussions. Mainly because we look at things differently. Which is not a bad thing, at all. I think when building on the foundation of mutual trust, two opposite personalities can bring harmony together. Migs, for example, tends to be nervous while I am calm. Thus, I can help him act calm more often and he reminds me to be more engaging. This is what makes us endorse the personalities of each other. After all, two halves make a whole."

"So, you tell me Tudor and I have different quirks and mannerisms through which we can help balance out each other?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Huh… I guess I never thought about it that way. But if he and I both are like-minded, then you say our relationship would become more difficult?"

"The way I see it, two identical personalities will clash more often as they tend to compliment the flaws. That is why I would not see myself in a relationship with, say, Veje. Or look at my Migsy. He is quite like Tornado. They both want to make the calls whenever they feel the need to lead. Thus they get in the way of each other. Therefore, he dislikes Tornado and feels inclined to avoid her whenever possible. I can only assume this feeling is mutual."

"Okay. I think I get it now. Thanks! And by the way, you are such a lovely character. Do you know that, Dulce?"

"Aww, thank you, Shaniqua! I love hearing that, hihi. I am glad I could help you. See you at the Palace." Dulce remarks amiably and smiles at her before taking to the skies.

Meanwhile and back inside the Inventor's Fair in Avalor, Isabel is truly thrilled with winning the inventor's competition. Her eyes twinkle with intense happiness, so much even that Elena can almost feel that euphoric energy radiating from them. She feels so happy for her little sister.

Things then start developing quickly. Shortly after Isabel's awarded the first prize, emperor Toshi declared to become a trading partner of Avalor. Elena's grandparents then congratulate everyone on how the day turned for the better, which Elena agrees wholeheartedly with. After helping her sister load her prize-winning invention, which got her the first place, onto the cart, Elena decides to return home on Skylar. Her sister accompanies her, while Gabe oversees bringing the invention back to the palace safely.

Up in the air, Isabel hugs Elena tenderly from behind. "Thanks again for being there for me, Elena." Isabel says softly.

Elena looks over her shoulder. She smiles at the sight of a happy Isabel. "Always…" she says amicably and gently strokes her sister's hair.

The return flight to Avalor palace goes smoothly for all three. Being high up in the sky, they can feel a gentle breeze that occasionally makes both Elena's and Isabel's hair dance. The breeze feels good to Skylar; it makes his body feel relaxed which he experiences through the fading of build-up tension, caused by hurrying Elena back and forth between her home and the Inventor's Fair. "Almost there, princessa. Better late than never on such a busy day.' Skylar comments excitedly and he lays eyes upon Mooncliff that makes him remember why he came to Avalor in the first place, 'Ooh! Speaking of busy. I almost forgot. This afternoon, I will enter a speed race in Vallestrella."

"Well, that sounds exciting. I bet it'll be great. Did you organise this race?"

"No. But nearly everyone is participating. It will be fun! I hope I will win."

"I bet you will, Skylar. I'll be rooting for you."

"Aw, thanks! Okay, here we are once again." Skylar says happily as he lands on Elena's balcony.

"Thanks for the ride home, Skylar. I would love to go with you and watch you race.' Elena states joyously but adds with some reluctance, 'But it has been an overwhelming day for me and my sister. I'll stay here if you don't mind. Once you get back, though, I want to hear all about it."

"Deal!" Skylar agrees excitedly still and lifts himself into the air quickly.

After saying their goodbyes, Skylar flies off toward Mooncliff. He hastens toward Zephyr as he's a tad late, which he can tell because the sun is high up in the sky already. The speed race will be starting soon…

As he draws near Mooncliff, Skylar notices a couple of jaquins playing skyball. He's eager to join them; skyball is a fun pastime activity, after all. Yet, he also notices a pair of impatient eyes looking his way; chief Zephyr is awaiting him and by the look emanating from those eyes, that's for some time, already. It's why some of the Mooncliff clan are playing Skyball: to kill some time waiting for the yellow-and-blue jaquin. Skylar gets the cue and decides to approach the grey jaquin, instead.

From underneath his discerning eyebrows, Zephyr watches the yellow-and-blue jaquin land in front of him. "Finally. There you are, Skylar. We already gathered here some time ago to wait for you. It took somewhat longer than expected… So, shall we say better late than never?"

"Hey, that is what I just said to Elena!" Skylar replies excitedly while bearing a triumphant smile.

This oblivious remark by him makes some of the Mooncliff clan sigh inaudibly. Apparently, they'd been waiting for no good reason… And while they contemplate their wait, Cruz shows up on the edge of the clearing after returning from the Avalor palace gardens. There, he waits alongside his twin sister Vestia who's grinning. They've come up with a more elaborate plan to become victors of the speed race. She went through the course a few times yesterday. It gave her insights on a few locations where she can pull some tricks that'll aid her in winning. One of these tricks is a shortcut that apparently no one else knows exists. At least, no one is talking about it as far as she knows. "Okay. So here is the plan. I will race the course at a regular speed. I take the shortcut to beat everyone else. You must fly behind everyone an–"

Cruz gives Vestia an angry look. He hisses: "No way! I am not losing to anyone, sis. I am the Navegera. I deserve to wi–"

"Let me finish!' Vestia hisses back at him before continuing quietly, 'You will go fly behind everyone else. Then, you use that – round thing to… Well, whatever you said that thing around your finger does, and you cross the finish line first. That way, no one will see you use it."

Vestia feels self-indulgent about the outcome soon to be. Cruz smirks. His expression is of devious nature, as is the plan. "Yes! After I emerge as the victor, I will vow for you if king Verago or the chief have questions about your practices."

"Of course, you will.' Vestia says confidently and grins malevolently before adding, 'But first, we need to join the others into Vallestrella. Come on."

Cruz and Vestia jump from the tall grass and into the clearing. "Hey, everyone! We are back. There is so much a Navegera has to do in a single day. I mean, time flies fast. As will all of us when we will be racing, right? So, what are we waiting for?"

Zephyr looks up from that statement. He knows Cruz isn't putting much effort in guiding his two remaining trainees in becoming guardians of Avalor. Surely, they'll fail the test with their current level of training. Zephyr hates when this would happen. However, he's not going to confront Cruz with this yet as there's a more pressing matter requiring his attention. As he goes to stand on all fours, he states: "Okay! Listen up, everyone. We can finally proceed toward Vallestrella. Follow me and Skylar to the portal. We need to quicken our flying as we are somewhat late. We do not want to let king Verago wait unnecessarily long."

Skylar gulps. He knows how strict his father can be regarding the rules. He doesn't like receiving yet another reprimanding lecture. Therefore, he definitely wants to step up his pace. "Time to go!" he shouts and lifts himself in the air.

It doesn't take them much time to enter Vallestrella and before long, everyone arrives at the Palace. King Verago has himself seated on his throne, sitting upright in a gracious pose. He eyes everyone entering the throne room carefully with stern-looking eyes, ever watchful as the king he's known to be. His youngest son is sitting beside him. Unlike his father, Nico smiles at everyone contentedly. Occasionally, he waves a wing at arriving jaquins he knows well. "Sit still, Nico. Like me. A king, and his children, must claim respect while showing decency." Verago says calmly without making eye contact.

While Nico does as he's told, Cruz and Vestia arrive behind everyone else as a sort of preparation for their plan. While hovering over the Palace floor, Cruz, suddenly notices that he's not the one trailing behind everyone else. "Huh? Stop following me… Oh, but I know you. What do you want?"

Apparently, Kamil had snuck into Vallestrella behind Cruz. His little twinkling eyes kept focused on the purple-and-plum jaquin he was following all the way into the Palace. "Admire you!" he says with great enthusiasm.

"You admire me? Hah! Of course, you do. Everyone knows I am the best. You want to become like me, eh?"

"Quiero ser Navegera."

"I want to be a Navegera…' Cruz mumbles sulkily as he'd hoped Kamil wanted to be like him in personality instead of in title, 'Oh, fine. Then you need some good skills. Skills like mine. You need to be strong, smart, fast, good-looking, intelligent and – and smart. It will take time before you have acquired all that."

"O-kay!"

"Hmpf. You make it sound easy, do you? Well, it will be difficult. So you need to train hard. Tell me, how old are you now?"

The saffron-and-cayenne cub gives Cruz a difficult look as he needs to do some counting, which is one of his lesser abilities. With certain insecurity in his voice, Kamil starts counting slowly: "Eh… Uno, dos… Tres – quat… ¡Quatro años! Four years!"

"Hah! When I was your age, I was five… I think."

A female jaquin walks underneath them, partially overhearing their conversation. She winks at Cruz and shows a coy smile. "Look at you, doing so well with the cubs. Clearly, you have a talent for making them look up to you. As you do with me." the female says flirtatiously.

"Heh. Thanks. It must be the looks that make the talent. And I know I look good." Cruz says back flirty with a sense of selfishness.

"Hihi, that you certainly do…" she continues the flirting and winks again as she moves toward a group of chatty females.

"See? You also need good looks to be liked. I am blessed wi–' Cruz states to boast his "talents" even more but looks around as he starts missing something, 'Oh. You are gone… Pfft. Ungrateful cub."

By now, Kamil has found his brother Tudor sitting with Shaniqua and Dióntan. Excitedly, he tells him how he'd followed the Navegera here. Tudor immediately pricks his ears. Like Migs, Cruz is an easy target for his jokes. He smirks at the thought and walks over to Cruz. "Hehe! You did not notice Kamil at all when he snuck in here behind you. You got bested by a cub."

Cruz isn't impressed at all. He considers the green-and-maroon jaquin inferior to himself. He expresses this by blowing him a raspberry. "That cub was following me. And with good reason. I am a natural-born leader unlike you. Those who follow me are smart for doing so."

Tudor rolls his eyes. Cruz hadn't responded the way he'd hoped. Thus, the mischievous jaquin convinces himself that he'll succeed later today. In the meantime, he still wants to make fun of someone and looks around as he moves away from Cruz. When noticing his little brother again, he gets an idea. He moves to one of many murals within the throne room. Being almost filled to capacity, there are enough jaquins around that'll enjoy his next prank. Glancing at the mural he's standing in front of one more time, he now confirms to himself that this is the right one. An uncontrollable grin runs across his face as he eyes several jaquins. "Watch this everyone… Kamil, buddy! Come here, Kamil.' he calls his little brother over to him and waits until he has drawn enough attention from jaquins close by, 'Hehe, what is this?"

The blue cub follows his big brother's green-and-maroon wing. It's pointing at a mural. Depicted is an island with a square-like rock formation on it. Towering over it is the sunbird Quita Moz, a serpentine creature both slender and winged. "Well, how do you call that creature again?" Tudor asks in anticipation.

Kamil skews his head as he watches the mural. His parents once taught him about this oracle but he cannot seem to remember. With his eyes solely focused on the creature, his face starts displaying a difficult gaze towards the mural. He seems to recognise it faintly. Three days ago, during Solyestra, he again was taught about the oracle. Somewhere deep within his memory, the cub has a recollection of this depicted creature. Then, being filled with elation, the saffron-and-cayenne cub shouts lively: "Sky-fish!"

"He always calls Quita Moz that." Tudor says and starts snickering at his little brother.

In response, Kamil starts laughing as he believes to have said something funny. Some of the jaquins who'd gathered around them join the snickering, while others find the cub's remark rather cute.