The following day when Lon'qu set out for the arenas once more, he found some burn salve at his doorstep. Scoffing, he made to go throw it away. He didn't need that silly girl's pity. He was no injured forest animal that needed coddling, he thought. He was fine on his own, as he had always been. Still, a thought stopped him from throwing away the burn salve. Salve like this could easily sell for four hundred or five hundred gold, he realized. Wasting that money would be a pity. Perhaps he could bring it to the marketplace and make some gold off of it.

Then, guiltily, he reasoned that if it could sell for so much gold, the girl must have spent a sizable amount of her own money on it. And servants didn't exactly have a lot of spare change lying around to spend. No, it was probably best for him to give it back, so she could spend it on better pursuits. He sighed, realizing that this meant he had to go back to Shuo'li's mansion once more.

He decided that he would pass by the mansion when he walked to the arenas during the day. That way, he wouldn't have to endure her meaningless chatter at the end of the day when he was tired and battle-worn.

Shuffling nervously at the servants' entrance to the mansion, Lon'qu knocked cautiously on the door. He wasn't sure who would answer, and, he thought with a shock, he wasn't sure if the girl would even be there. She seemed fairly flighty, turning up at the arenas and fooling around in treetops while others were working.

"What do you want?" a scrawny young lad poked his head out the door, and upon seeing Lon'qu, modified his tone. "Sorry, I thought you were somebody else. Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for a girl…her name is Yu'shin?" Lon'qu frowned. To be honest, he hadn't really paid attention while the girl was introducing herself, and he wasn't sure if that was really her name.

"Ah, you must mean Yu'lin," the boy nodded. "She's busy right now, helping out the cooks. Why, are you her sweetheart?" he lowered one eyelid in a slow wink, teasing Lon'qu.

"It's nothing of the sort," Lon'qu said stiffly. "She simply forgot something while she was visiting my house, and I needed to bring it back to her."

"Hm, I wonder why she was at your house?" the boy added, waggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

With great effort, Lon'qu suppressed a world-weary sigh. Naga save him from nosy servants and overly curious children. Then, a thought occurred to him. "Say, do you think you could bring this to her?"

The boy shrugged. "Sure. Is there anything in it for me?"

Lon'qu looked at him incredulously. "For bringing a small parcel to a girl who's probably two or three rooms away?"

"Okay, okay," the boy raised his arms in a placating manner. Looking into Lon'qu's eyes, he saw something very dangerous there. "I was just kidding. I'll give it to her."

"Great. Come back and let me know once you've given it to her," he instructed the kid.

He was a little surprised when the boy returned with the burn salve, scratching his head in a confused manner. "She says this isn't hers," the boy said by way of explanation. "I think you got the wrong girl, mate. And I know this is a bit bold of me, but maybe you should…you know, use that on yourself," he said, gaze darting towards the nasty burn on Lon'qu's arm. "I'm sure whoever who gave it to you intended for it to be used that way."

Lon'qu's head swirled with confusion, but he didn't let it show on his face. "Perhaps I will," he replied to the boy. Turning back towards the marketplace, he decided that he would try to sell it. While walking, he tried to unravel the mystery of who the girl really was. Obviously, she had decided to omit a few details during their last conversation, and now that his curiosity was piqued, he was determined to discover what the girl was hiding from him.

He was nearly certain that the girl had told him her name was Yu'lin. However, he remembered that she had acted strangely during their first meeting. Sticking out her hand in greeting instead of the typical bow, her knowledge of the courts and the political intrigue of Chon'sin, her eloquent speech – he frowned, trying to recall why the image of her outstretched hand seemed so familiar.

That was it! His brow cleared as he recalled Ylisse's custom of shaking hands from the stories his father brought back of faraway lands. But why would a servant know of such customs?

After three battles against far too easy opponents in the arena, Lon'qu returned home, still pondering over what the girl's true identity could be. Perhaps…no, that was too preposterous. A girl like Ke'ri was dignified and noble and most certainly did not throw acorns at passerby from trees.

In the end, he decided to use the salve on his arm. The skin was starting to peel and blister, and the pain was beginning to cloud his head. Once he applied the salve, the hot stinging sensations began to fade away and he sighed in relief. A cool tingling engulfed his arm and he closed his eyes, reveling in the respite from the burning pain that had plagued him all day.

Pooling together the gold that he had earned from the arenas in the past few months and mentally adding them to the amount his mother had saved from washing clothes, he realized with a shock that they were only a few thousand gold short from being able to afford a proper house outside of the slums. For a moment, he regretted using the salve, as the few hundred gold coins it was worth could have been used towards buying a new house. He brushed the unworthy thought away, reasoning that it hadn't really been his salve to sell, and besides, it would benefit him in the long run by helping him heal faster.

Moving to his mother's bedside, he muttered the words beneath his breath. "Only a few more weeks, Mother," he said as he ran his hands through her coarse black hair. He didn't realize it, but he was mostly speaking for his own benefit. After coming so close to his goals, saying the actual fact out loud made them seem so much closer, and he could scarcely believe that they were almost within his grasp. Feeling victorious, Lon'qu lay down on the floorboards and was almost immediately claimed by a dreamless sleep.

That night, Lon'qu was awoken by a girl's scream.

A/N: Whoa, cliffhanger! :O What's gonna happen now? I couldn't resist leaving it on a more exciting note :P In other news, I finished Nanowrimo, so I'll be updating this a little more regularly. Hurrah! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!