They were 2 1/2 months into their journey to take Zym, the dragon prince, to Xadia, and just recently it started happening.

It was the same scenario every night, and she didn't know how to stop it.

When Rayla closed her light violet eyes to sleep at night, She opened to find herself crying. She was surrounded by trees of multiple kinds as she sat at the edge of a stream hugging her legs to her chest looking at her reflection through the water.

Everytime Callum would have followed her and was there to keep her from berating herself.

He would gently take her hands in his and lift her to her feet and away from the water.

"You're too good to feel this bad about yourself," He'd always tell her. "You have true courage and a big heart, I've seen you get knocked down, and every single time, you get back up, again, that's true strength,.. and and You're 10x funnier, than any human I know," He'd always manage to make her laugh wipe her tears.

"See, see? You know, you're amazing. You're smart, and fast, and beautiful," He'd say taking the hood of her vest off from over her head.

Then he would tell her,"Rayla, you're the most amazing person I've ever met."

At that moment, every night, They leaned into a kiss, pressing their lips against one another's. Then Rayla would wake from her dream, instantly sitting up as if waking from a nightmare.

And Frankly, She couldn't tell.

All she knew was that, this happened every night and she'd wake to find nothing was happening, nothing had happened and Callum was sound asleep near his little brother, Ezran... That was right, Ezran wasn't in any of her dreams. It felt assuring knowing if Ezran wasn't in it, it was just a dream, and would only be a dream.

But then why? Why did she dream this every night, all night?

Normally when the morning occured she would try to forget the many times she drempt throughout the night, and paid more attention to the mission at hand even if it made her a tad grumpier than usual for the lack of restful sleep.

Rayla would avoid speaking about the night before, to avoid thinking about.

Of course, she naturally was awake before the other two, so if she woke earlier than usual they wouldn't know.

It'd started two weeks ago, and Rayla found many ways to keep herself from thinking about it, but truthfully her methods only seemed to cause her to think of it and it didn't help that she saw and interacted with Callum, throughout the day, only to dream about him in the night.

As the day passed, Rayla would catch herself subtly checking him out, commenting to herself how beautiful his lime green eyes were, easily getting lost in them, and even glancing at his lips when they were in close proximity.

She wanted it to stop.

They were friends, sure, Would she risk her life for him? Of course. Would she do anything for him and his little brother? Without question. Did she find important the things he found important? Definitely. But it wasn't like anything in her dream would or even could happen in real life. She was an elf, he was a human prince. -- Even if it was an adoptive affair --

There wasn't the slightest chance.

That didn't mean that, when he complimented her, she didn't blush.Or that the dream made her wonder or even wish, Callum thought she was beautiful.

But there was no possibility, it could never happen.

She continued to remind herself, every morning, every afternoon, every night, "Stay focused on the mission, they'll go back home when Zym is delivered. We're working together only to end the war. He's a human, I'm an elf... He would never," It would strangely pain her to say.

Sometimes Callum would overhear these words come from Rayla's mouth, but he never had the courage to ask her about it.

~*~

The present morning, was no exception to the dreams, she had the same dreaded dream, but this time there was a small difference in the morning schedule.

Callum and Ezran awoke to find Rayla still sleeping. It was strange because they were used to Rayla greeting them playfully at their late sleeping. She was almost always awake before them. But she was sleeping in longer, than they believed, was possible.

Callum cleared his throat as he looked at his eight-year-old brother, "Um,.. So Who's going to wake her up?"

Ezran replied stepping back from Rayla, "Don't look at me, I don't want to know what Rayla does to those who interrupt her beauty sleep."

Callum added, "Well, I don't want to."

For a short moment, they stood in silence, watching Rayla sleep.

Ezran looked at her with worry spread across his face, he was hoping, she'd wake any moment now, so they wouldn't have to wake her.

Callum's eyes, however did not remain on her face, but roamed and examined Rayla's figure and bodily features.

Ezran's eyes shifted to Callum, not quite noticing where his eyes were.

Callum noticed eyes were on him and didn't want to be caught checking Rayla out so he quickly turned to face him. He cleared his throat again, "So,.. What do we -- How do we wake her?"

They looked at Bait, Ezran's pet glowtoad, Bait and gained the same idea.

Ezran picked up the now red and blue spotted glowtoad and placed him on Rayla's stomach as she squirmed slightly to her back.

Aside from her slight movement on her back, They gained nothing from their attempt.

Bait angrily looked at the two boy as they shrugged.

"Well, that didn't work. I wonder, what she's dreaming about that's occupying her mind, so much," Ezran shrugged once more.

He removed Bait from atop Rayla's stomach, and he and Callum began brainstorming ways to wake Rayla.

Zym was sound asleep, but normally they'd just pick him up while he slept and journeyed.

The one they really needed awake was Rayla, and Callum only successfully woke her, once, in the whole time, they'd been traveling. With how deep in sleep Rayla was right now, there was no way it would happen again.

Ezran set Bait beside Zym and asked, "What do we do, now?"

Callum looked around curiously for a solution to their problem. He found a long stick and stood at a safe distance.

He reached it over to touch Rayla's arm with it.

Nothing.

He tapped her shoulder with it and,...

No response.

Ezran and Callum glanced at each other, cluelessly.

"Well, looks like you're gonna have to wake her with your hands and voice," Ezran backed up once more.

Callum instantly replied, "Wait, Why me? What if she - What if she... Punches me or,... pulls out one of her sword and- and stabs me?" He searched for an excuse.

Ezran shrugged carelessly, "Better you than me. I have to take care of Zym and Bait. Besides I doubt she'll stab you but at least likely to break your arm or something harmless like that, You know, out of reflex."

Callum's face dulled, "Yeah - Yeah, great pep talk, Ez. Real Helpful, I feel much better, thanks." He said sarcastically nodding.

He slowly and carefully made his way to Rayla's side.

"Come on, Callum, it's not like she's gonna bite," Ezran said taking yet another step back, assuring Callum at 0%.

As Callum neared her, he practically said his prayers in case she accidentally murdered him.

He sat beside her gently placing his hand on her shoulder slightly shaking it.

"Um, Rayla, Rayla, wake up. We need to leave, soon," He said softly.

Suddenly, She instantly sat up, responding in one word,

"LIPS!!!"

Callum stumbled back in sudden shock of her sudden movement.

He quickly regained a hold on the situation, and stood holding his hand out to help Rayla stand, as he raised an eyebrow, "Lips?"

Rayla quickly realized the situation, what she'd said, and Callum's response to it. She wanted to slap herself, but that make her look even crazier than she did now.

She noticed Callum's extended hand and while normally she would take it with a smile, this time she pretended to not see it and stood herself up, though it was obvious, she'd seen it.

Callum and Ezran glanced at one another with strange looks on their faces.

Callum placed his hand on Rayla's shoulder, startling her enough for her to jump in reply.

He took a small step back in surprise, his hand not leaving her shoulder.

"Uh, Rayla, Are you okay? And did you 'lips'?"

Rayla turned slightly to face him, barely looking in his eyes. She cleared her throat to maintain her composure and attempted to explain, or better yet change the subject subtly, "I'm okay, Completely fine, and very normal."

Not really buying into her answer, Callum nodded unsuringly and said, "Uhh-huh, but what was the whole 'shouting lips thing'? What was that all about?"

Rayla gained a lump in her throat at the thought of the reason and having to explain,"Uhh, I didn't say lips, I,... didn't say anythin' Don't worry about it."

"You're sure?" Callum wondered looking back to Ezran who shook his head in response.

Ezran added in disbelief, "I'm pretty sure you said 'lips'. I think Bait heard it, too."

Bait just groaned in reply to Ezran's statement.

Rayla scoffed as she rolled her eyes, "Well, you heard wrong!"

Ezran lifted Zym and placed him in his backpack carrying Bait by hand, "Ookay, anyway, we were just waking you because it's early afternoon and you weren't awake."

At the thought that she slept so long, that she set their journey back because of mere sleep, Rayla got irritated with herself and wanted to slap herself even more.

"Did you sleep, okay, last night? You seem to be in a really bad mood," Callum asked concerningly.

Rayla removed Callum's hand from her shoulder which had been there for a while. She was unsure if she could handle him touching her for much longer without making her blush brighter than the sun.

"I slept fine, let's just go -- and stop talkin' about last night."

"Uh, Okay," Callum reluctantly agreed to Rayla's seemingly angry proposition.

He was unsure why Rayla was so on edge, with them. But coming to think about it she'd been grumpy for a few weeks, and he couldn't figure out why.

Maybe, she was homesick? Or maybe, she missed to elves she worked with to storm the kingdom of Katolis? Either way, he was sincerely worried for her.