Through the Night, Rayla didn't dream her normal dream, Her dream continued from a kiss into a life together between her and Callum. She drempt past the kiss, They established a relationship, they ended the war between their lands, Ezran became king with Callum and Rayla standing beside him helping him, and he proposed to her. They married, and shortly after they had children. They watched as their children grew up, and became parents themselves to many children. They knew that their life had been wonderful and they wouldn't do anything to change it.

She awoke in the morning, she gasped at the recurring thoughts, this time she didn't even try to sit up. She quickly noticed their position, her head was comfortably rested on his chest with her arm stretched over around his waist, in other words she was too close to him. She had to admit this position was comfortable and Callum smelled amazing. She'd never noticed how nice his scent was. She almost didn't want to move from this position. Still, she had to move, somehow.

She lifted her head slightly to see Callum's face, he seemed content with whatever the world he was dreaming. If she had to guess, probably some sort of fantasy sequence with Claudia.

A bright red, Rayla knew she should try to wake Callum, it was morning so he far more likely to wake up, than in the middle of the night.

"Callum, Pss, Callum. Wake up. You're not going to want to know what you did in your sleep. CALLUM!!"

This immediately woke him, he opened his eyes to find Rayla, 6" from his face. She was barely sitting up, Her body was mostly laying on the bed with her left hand stretched over to the other side of him which held her torso a few inches bent over him.

Seeing Rayla this close to him, he blushed, " Oh! Um, Rayla, What are you,..."

Rayla cleared her throat pretending she wasn't blushing, "Um, I believe, it was you who started this. So I think the better question, is what are you doing? I remember, wakin' to you,..." She gestured to his arms.

Callum quickly retracted his arms, and Rayla squirmed until she was off the bed.

"You're awfully strong for someone,..well,.. your size. I couldn't get out of your grip. I was almost convinced you were doin' on purpose," She managed to laugh about it.

"Oh, Rayla, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hold you like that," Callum apologized rubbing his neck.

Rayla looked at Callum as he finished his sentence, which caused him to rethink his statement. "I mean, I - I didn't mean to hold you, at all, Like, why would I hold you in any way," He rambled awkwardly.

Rayla searched the closet to find where she'd put her outfit the night before.

"Callum, did you see anyone come in here and grab somethin'? I can't find my outfit. I remember, placin' it here," She asked looking back to look at Callum who'd given her once-over before looking back to her face.

"Um, no, I don't -- I don't remember seeing or hearing anyone come in, maybe we should ask Helen."

"I suppose, You're right. If anyone grabbed anythin' She should know about it," Rayla subtly gave Callum a once-over before turning back around, approaching the door, and opening. She stopped and turned to Callum who followed closely behind her. "Callum, did you close the door before headin' to sleep?"

"No, I left it open, I assumed You'd closed it, didn't you?"

Rayla rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't be askin' you, if I did."

"True."

They walked out of the room and into the living room where Ezran was surprisingly awake playing with Bait and Zym. He stopped and looked up at them and sighed, "Whew, you're awake, comfortable much, were you?" He said firmly, before shuddering in disgust.

"Ez, What are you talking about?" Callum wondered in confusion not daring to look at Rayla.

"Maybe, you should've told Rayla about your problematic 'tendency', before cuddling her weirdly. I was going to wake you up, when I walked in on it. I thought, you agreed to stay on opposite sides."

"We did -- we did, but.. um,.. I did it again on accident," Callum stuttered in explanation.

"Callum, What are you talking about? When I walked in, you guys were sleeping the way you told me you used to walk in on mom and dad. Rayla was messing with your hair, practically combing her fingers through it. You started talking about ears," Ezran informed in disgust which caused Rayla to look at Callum weirdly especially when he mentioned ears.

"Ears?" She asked lifting an eyebrow.

Callum instantly knew what he was talking about.

But his little brother wasn't finished, unfortunately for Rayla, "And, Rayla, I might have sort of a clue to who or what you were dreaming about, but you were telling someone that they didn't need to be good at everything, because the person was good enough for you. You guys, freaked me out."

Callum and Rayla didn't dare look at each other.

Luckily Helen walked in and began speaking, "Good morning, Callum, Rayla, Ezran. How were your nights?"

"Eventful," Callum replied.

Ezran responded, "Educational."

Rayla answered, "Terifyin.

"Ookay, If you don't mind, I took the liberty in washing your old clothes. They're drying as we speak. Here are some fresh pairs of clothing for each of you to wear. I'll have your old clothes dried and folded and in your backpack before you leave. My husband's going to take you across the lake. I've cooked food, and prepared extra food for your journey. I'm not sure it'll last throughout your entire journey, but a good portion of it," Helen explained politely passing out the pairs of clothes to each of them.

Again, Ezran was first to shower, then Rayla, then Callum.

When Rayla came out in her new outfit, Callum practically gawked, She'd put her hair up in a messy bun to keep it out of her way as they traveled, until she'd get the chance to cut it back. She herself took Callum's breath away, she was amazing.

Ezran noticed Callum's reaction and egged it on. "Wow! Rayla, you look great. What do you think, Callum?"

"Um,.. I,.. Uh, Well,.."

Rayla didn't want to sound like she was looking for a complement, so she just stood there and tried to assure him he didn't have to answer, "You don't have to answer, Callum, I don't look that different."

Callum didn't want to go without telling her that she looked nice especially since he knew she seemed to really want to know his opinion. He wasn't sure why, but nonetheless he wanted to complement her. He also knew what Ezran was doing, but couldn't bring himself to call him out on it.

"No, no, Rayla, You look,..." He searched his mind for a word to say, when he was actually speechless, "... Amazing, The purple really goes with your eyes; it complements them."

Rayla felt like all the blood was rushing to her face. He really thought her outfit went well with her eyes? "Oh, really? Uh, thanks, Callum."

Even Callum could see how much it meant to hear that she looked nice. She couldn't keep herself from smiling brightly. Ezran practically snickered to himself, he just got Callum to complement Rayla and really boost her already low self confidence. He may be eight, but that didn't mean, he couldn't see when someone wasn't confident.

After Callum got out in his new outfit, Rayla found it hard to not check him out profusely.

To make things better, Ezran pulled the same trick on Rayla, "The outfit suits you, Callum, green is really your color, don't you think, Rayla?"

"Uh, well, yeah. It is. I have to admit, the green really makes your pretty, green eyes stand out," Rayla agreed trying to sound smooth with the complement, but internally panicked.

Did she really just call his eyes, pretty?

What had she done?

She casually called his eyes pretty and couldn't take it back unless she wanted to make things even more awkward, question answered.

"Oh, uh, Thanks, Rayla. Honestly, I didn't think you noticed my eyes of all things," Callum couldn't hide the wide smile that proved how happy he was to hear that she thought his eyes were pretty.

Could he possibly know that she did more than notice them, she loved getting lost in them. His eyes weren't just pretty, they were beautiful.

To Callum, now he sounded like he was complaining or overly self conscious or even fishing for a bigger complement.

Rayla did notice how much it meant so she didn't take it back or try to explain herself.

But They both figured they were better off not looking at one another any further, that way they could keep their composure.

Finally they were ready, food was packed, and their old clothes were folded and packed.

Rayla and Callum managed to not speak much to each other. It made it easier to for either one to not have any issues with distractions.

"Farewell, Friends. Please, visit someday," Helen smiled as she waved goodbye to the trio.

She kissed her husband's cheek, for good luck and waved to him as well.

They politely waved back to the young woman.

Luckily for Callum, Rayla wore the black cloak to conceal her elven features from Patrick, given he wasn't blind. But he wouldn't have to worry about checking her out half as much, though he knew he would, in anything she wore. She was beautiful in anything and she looked good in any color.

As they boarded, Rayla, of course, stayed below deck to avoid looking at her worst enemy, water.

Callum started random conversation with Patrick, while he drew and Patrick steered the ship. Zym and Bait fell asleep. Ezran roamed the ship in boredom.

He looked around for something to distract him from his boredom. There wasn't much to look at, but non stop water. His companions were sleeping, but he wasn't tired.

He looked at Callum who seemed to be both paying attention to his conversation with Patrick along with his drawing of what he guessed was another sketch of Rayla. She practically filled his sketchbook, anymore. It was no wonder why he didn't allow anyone to see his newer sketches not even Ezran. And now that Rayla had a new outfit, and his eyes were hardly off of her, It wouldn't surprise him if he'd memorized her, by now.

Still, that didn't matter, Rayla was acting weird a lot lately and she was incredibly distant. She acted especially strange when she was around Callum which wasn't helpful the fact that they were traveling together. And when she did seem comfortable Ezran was the one who broke the small, but seemingly, comfortable silence between them.

Just then, an idea came to him, he could talk to Rayla. She was below deck, so Callum wouldn't be there. Whatever was happening with Rayla about Callum, he could talk her into trusting him with knowing the reason why. He wanted to understand why she was acting so strange, why she seemed so lost, he wanted to help her. And maybe, just maybe, his subtle implications weren't helping.

Ezran went below deck to find Rayla sleeping in a hammock, but she looked severely uncomfortable.

He remembered seeing her look this uncomfortable two days ago, when he and Callum were trying to wake her.

Worried for her, he attempted to wake her, "Pss, Rayla, Rayla, are you okay?"

Almost immediately after he finished his sentence, she sat up awake and panting.

Ezran jerked back in surprise, then settled in a comfortable feeling, "Rayla, are you okay? You looked uncomfortable."

Rayla glanced at Ez then to the wooden floor of the deck below, processing what had just happened.

After a moment, she looked back at him.

"Rayla, you haven't been sleeping. I notice it, Callum notices it," Ezran explained accidentally causing Rayla to clam up like an oyster holding tightly to the pearl it made.

Rayla closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples mumbling the words she'd been reminding herself of. She was sure to never forget them.

Ezran noticed she was mumbling something he couldn't pick up on.

After a minute, She turned back to him once more, "I'm fine." She sat at the side edge of the hammock, and Ez sat next to her.

"Rayla, you're not fine. You're dealing with something that's causing you to not sleep and act weird. Please, Rayla, I won't tell anyone," He begged using his 'adorable eyes' to convince her and a small curve made its way to Rayla's lips, before it flipped positions.

She sighed, "Well, Ezran, I don't know, why, but it's been happenin' for about 2 weeks, now. I began dreamin' the same dream, over and over again, durin' the night."

Callum was just heading below to find Ezran and Rayla and tell them it was time to eat, when he walked in and heard Ezran ask, "What's the dream about?"

Callum didn't think much about this so he continued going down the steps, until he heard Rayla's reply, "Well, if you promise not to tell, Callum, your brother. You can't tell him, under any circumstances."

That caught his attention, why did Rayla want to keep something so important like something bothering her from him. He stopped, he thought about turning around and respecting that she didn't want him to know, but something kept him there to hear the rest of the conversation.

It felt worse when he heard, Ezran say, "Okay, I promise."