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Letter Ia : December 19th

Dear Himika,

You wouldn't believe how awkward it was with Sash Lilac near, we decided to meet at a local cafe where most of my co-workers would go to get a quick bite to eat before resuming work. Thank the ancients that yesterday was a 'break day' for me and my co-worker. Could you imagine? The girl or… erm guy in your case, who you've had a crush on for three years, seeing you in a raggedy work clothes with several different workers, wearing the same dirty clothes are found scattered throughout the building. Granted my co-workers are actually nice people, however I choose to be slightly isolated, mainly to avoid any pointless or uncomfortable questions about the Red Scarves. Unlike you, I dislike controversy… a lot.

Thankfully that wasn't the case, I dressed fairly casually, as in all I wore was a jacket, t-shirt, pants with snow boots.

When I saw Lilac, she wore her usual attire, however her boots were more designed for snowy terrain and she had a violet light jacket. Honestly last time I checked, water dragons were endothermic, so when I saw her with such light clothing in a cold climate such as this I appeared worried and anxious for her. I honestly didn't want her to freeze on account of my issues. With that said, Lilac certainly noticed my expression, I had no clue how to respond.

"Well, long time no see. So…" She opens, either she felt as uncomfortable or just wanted to get this over with as her body slowly reach dangerously low temperatures; I betted on the latter, alright.

"Eh… yeah… it's been a while." This was my pathetic response.

"Hey you're alright, you don't look to good. You know I wasn't expecting Helms to suddenly appear in my front door, we chat a bit and he already told me about the whole situation before I even read that letter, so… you want to go to your house now or would you get something to eat first?"

"Let's get something to eat, I haven't eaten anything today yet and I need to get Lily breakfast."

After that short exchange we bought some food from the cafe, me and Lilac decided to have coffee while we bought Lily hot coco, finally we got a large box of donuts for all three of us.

At my cottage me and Lilac discussed what we've been up to, we both found it amusing how both of us, former Red Scarves, played a part on Avalice's salvation(Just as note, I technically have fought Brevon before escaping Shuigang during the rebellion, however I only barely survived). Of course, Lilac, had done so much more than me, and yet despite my modesty and denial, she seemed to have understood my reasoning for leaving the scarves and aiding the rebellion. She actually called me out for scoffing at all the people who sacrificed themselves for their kingdom, she didn't like my tangent on how I considered them fools and how they should've retreated instead of throwing their lives away, yet she remained oddly sympathetic towards me. I could only assume she related to those rebels who died in vain however it was obvious that she agreed with me despite her feelings. I don't know how, but I felt as though she was a different from the girl I met about four years ago, unlike said girl, she was sympathetic, caring, strong willed and understanding.

She've definitely grown since I've last saw her.

Letter Ib : December 19th

Lily was simply sitting in front of the television, her tastes in shows were… peculiar… for six year old girl she had fairly mature taste for her age; I think I've already stressed this in my previous letter, either way no matter how much I try to change it to an appropriate channel for her age group, she somehow manages to change the channel, what's worse is that this happened once in front of Lilac. Honestly, a seventeen year old and a six year old arguing over the remote, the irony is that the older person wants something kid friendly, meanwhile the younger wants something more mature. Also when Lily gets annoyed or provoked she would normally claw my face as though she was some kind of godforsaken cat, granted her claws are sharp, though unlike cat claws, dragon claws are more broader, rough and technically not nails, they were far worse than nails and if you're as unfortunate as me to have been attacked by such things, they will burn like the flames of hell, thankfully Lilac intervened before I had to feel such excruciating pain again, her attacks would literally land me in the emergency room if it wasn't for my skills as a fighter, but she was still faster and would always get a cheap shot on me, however in the end I would overpower her.

"Hey, watch how you use those!" Lilac calls out to Lily as she grabs on to the little girl's arm.

"Well he's pain in the ass." Lily comments, I certainly didn't appreciate the insult, so obviously I would object in response, however I used her use of vocabulary as an excuse to scald her, mainly because I didn't want to look like a whiny boy in front of someone else.

"That's no reason to claw his face apart! Though for a little girl, your not that bad of a fighter, huh?"

"Eh…" It amused me how flattered Lily was, she obviously never felt flattery before.

"Well the last time I checked, Raiku used to be a high ranking Red Scarves veteran, so I don't think he would be an easy opponent."

"Alright, anyways…" I started before Lilac interrupted.

"Relax, I know you want to find a home for her." Lilac mentions. Lily was surprised to hear this, however she didn't seem very happy. I would assume she thought that meant she was going to end up in some kind of orphanage, which in retrospect would've been a better decision, however that wasn't the case…

"No… I want to find her home." I assured, even though I wasn't certain I'd ever find where she came from, though I suppose it's worth a try. Both dragon girls just look at me, Lilac in particular knew that what I was saying was just to calm Lily, she knew very well that I couldn't promise her such a thing and her uncertainty showed.

Lilac however played along, "Yeah, I'm sure we'll find your family…", she didn't waste any time taking me to a private room and what she said, made me felt both uneasy and guilty. "You can't keep a promise like that… and you know it…"

"What else can I say, I honestly don't want her to be in some orphanage, trust me I've known people who have went through that kind of torture… no one deserves it."

"I just want to let you know it's better than being abandoned without any help, and I have two friends who had to live with that, and one of them can't even recall who her parents were."

"Your talking about…"

"Of course I'm talking about Carol and Milla."

I could not make a response, let alone a counter argument, she had a point, however she digressed, it seemed reluctant given the sigh she made prior to her next statement.

"Though you're right to find her real home, It's a long shot but I'm sure you can help her find her family."

"What's with the sudden agreement?" I questioned.

"I suppose it's because I can relate to her."

"Where you that much of a pain in the ass when you were her age?"

"Very funny, but what I mean is that I know how it's like to be a dragon in the three kingdoms. Yeah, we have flashy abilities, but it's not as easy or amazing as it sounds."

"You know, I never thought about it like that… like… I mean… I never thought of dragons like-"

"Hey, there's no need to finish that sentence, funny part is that as a little girl I thought of my ancestors as gods… how wrong was I, but in a good way."

"Well then, what do you recommend I do then?"

"Maybe you should go to Shang Mu and do a bit of research, also the winter festival is starting soon, so you matters well give the girl a time of her life, don't worry I'll help you out with all of that."

"P-pardon?!"

"What? I was going to say I'm just gonna spend the night here and we leave first thing this morning to Shang Mu, what's wrong with that?"

"I-I… I… I mean… s-sure?" Yes, you can scald me for being a babbling idiot, not exactly a very good response, I know. In my defense she was younger and you already know about my feelings towards her, my main concern was the crap the nosey towns people were going to insinuate. Thankfully my stupidity was heard by deaf ears at that point, she had already went back to the living room to spend some time with Lily.

Well, I guess I should send a letter to Helm about my trip to Shang Mu, ah and I suppose I'll pay you a visit, I can only hope for my sanity that my parents won't be there.

Letter II : December 19 [Edited by Etherdrone]

Dear Raiku,

I'm here to inform you about the events that followed after receiving your letter. Conveniently enough, you sent the letter at the best possible time, as I had just finished an important expedition for my research… or perhaps calling it important may be an over exaggeration? Whatever.

I'll admit, I'm intrigued as to how you plan to approach this recent development. Though I personally am rather interested in who Lily is, I think it's best if I don't pry on your personal life. But still, as my feelings as a friend are concerned, I only wish you the best of luck and hopefully you'll make the right decision with Lily. My only worry is how you would care for her; from my research on the dragon race, they're quite a handful to raise. Though what the hell do I know? I'm just as under qualified as you are!

My real reason for sending this letter, though, is regarding my encounter with Sash Lilac, Carol Tea and Milla Basset. Firstly, I will admit that your request was… bizarre to say the least. Though your motives were logical in theory, I still found myself questioning them for a while, you know how this song and dance goes.

But don't you worry. I get it.

When I arrived at Lilac's treehouse, it was no surprise that she hadn't expected me. Frankly, it was the first time I even set foot in her house despite being former neighbors. It was nice, cozy and quite big for a mere treehouse, I could only assume she had some skills at decorating and designing, because her living room was so open that I was convinced that was all there was for a while. So as I informed Lilac about your situation with Lily and how you found her, she admitted that she haven't seen you in... about three to four years ago, and that she wasn't quite sure if she would trust you or not. You know, being a Red Scarf member and all. But this was before I explained your departure from the scarves and what you did for the Shuigang rebellion despite its failure. She was quite delightfully shocked by this and then apologized about her rants; I could only assume that whatever happened with her and the Red Scarves certainly left a lasting impression... though her tone of voice suggested she wasn't sure how to feel.

Carol and Milla were eavesdropping on our conversation, but I remained quiet about it because of the sheer curiosity about what Lilac was telling me and I didn't want any disturbances. Also, knowing Carol, she'd cause a scene if I called her out. And no, it's not because I wrote a letter to Lilac prior to those events about how Carol was sneaking some crackers in the middle of the night to eat them in the woods, okay?

This is just about as relevant to the topic at hand as the food I ate yesterday, which is, for the record, not relevant at all. But you get the point, I hope.

Anyways, what intrigued me the most is that Lilac was unsure about the favor you asked. She actually argued that I would be a better option on helping you with this matter. I obviously questioned this and she responded with an explanation about her insecurities with how she was raised and that she had close to no interactions with another dragon at all… But she did know basic information about the race, like the five main types of dragons that exists and strangely the common stereotypes behind her own type… which, by the way, was a contradiction to her claim… I wonder if she noticed or not. Whatever, I eventually convinced her otherwise and when she finished reading the letter, she found it quite amusing.

Also, as a fair warning, she told me she plans to stay with you for a while and planned a trip to Shang Mu with you and Lily, so don't be surprised when she tells you about it. As for Carol and Milla, I decided to confront them. Milla clearly was clueless about the situation, but when it all kind of subsided, Carol pulled me aside to tell me some rather interesting info about your, uh… personal interests regarding our mutual acquaintance, wink wink, nudge nudge!

Hehehehe!

Don't worry, Raiku! As a friend, I'll keep those things close to my heart, and I'm guessing your sister knows this as well… Thus, I can only wish you luck after learning that! Also, as a friendly heads up? She's head over heels for sushi. Strike while the iron is hot, brother!

Also, don't you worry about Carol or Milla. I was honestly looking for help, too, so I will likely take them with me for my next expedition – nothing that will take long at all. I did inform Lilac about this as well, and both girls seemed excited… I hope they won't be nearly as much trouble to me as Lily is to you.

Sincerely, Helms Willow