A/N: Gah. This is a long chapter, compared to the others. Most of them won't be like this. I tried to find a good point to break it up ( the last two chapters were originally part of this one, too), but I couldn't. Sorry about that.

…-…

Fizz could see that I was up to something when I started asking him if there was a way to create isolated pockets of magic and then trigger them using non magical means—because even if we could send the pockets over, it'd be useless if Fizz was the one who needed to activate it, right?

That look he gave me…I could have been plotting the downfall of his civilization.

Anyway, my trip to see Brath hadn't lasted long at all, so when I go back, it'd barely been any time at all. Sometimes I think that, with all this morbid stuff I'm forcing myself to do, that Fizz and the others think I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm not, really.

Maevlen had gone on a lunch break, so it was just perfect timing. I was harassing Fizz about pockets of magics and spells and stuff—it's not that I don't trust Maevlen, it's just…well, he works for the vindicators and I don't want him tipping them off that their window might not be around too much longer if I can help it—when Fizz asked me, if my world had no magic, how they would have the energy to trigger the spell, even if he could make one.

"Charge a bunch of electrical stuff at once." Granted, I wasn't considering that maybe power grids would be out, but still. What better way to get a bunch of energy, right?

Well, when he saw that I had an answer on the tip of my tongue, I guess it occurred to him that other humans would think of that just as quickly and he paused and glanced around, like he thought someone might be eavesdropping. "Look. There's—lean down, would ya?" I squatted down in front of him so I could look him in the eyes. He lowered his voice and I got the feeling that we were discussing something illegal. "I may have a spell like what ya talkin' about." He clamped a hand over my mouth as I started to cheer. "Listen, the draenei are very against destroyin' this window. Ya said the Legion's invisible in ya world and they wanna know how they're able to do that. Do ya get it? If we send a message through, we destroy their chance of findin' out."

"Unless someone responds."

"I'm sorry, kid, but ya realize that's unlikely, yeah?" He motioned toward the window. "Even if we do get a message through, what's to say one of those invisible demons don't get it? I mean," he looked at the image himself. "We could be starin' at twenty felguards right now. Maybe the only reason they're lettin' us see this is to rub the draenei's noses in their failure."

"Then we use their arrogance against them." I admit, I'm pretty sure that's from a movie. I just wanted to inspire a bit of confidence, not that it worked. I frowned when Fizz got that look that implied he felt like he was talking to a brick wall. "Look, I really appreciate all the draenei have done for me, but I don't think they realize how big my world is. They've covered a few hundred miles, maybe. There are thousands and thousands of miles to go. And…people always say that humans are resilient and adaptive," I paused when he stared at me like I was losing it. "We're hard to kill. So give us a chance. If you have something—"

"Alright, alright." Fizz paused and glanced around. His ears perked up and I realized he must have heard the hoof-steps of someone coming over. "Just…write ya message and figure out what we're sendin' it in, okay?"

I have to say, I've been on a roll since my breakdown. Even as he said that, it occurred to me that I needed a way to make sure I was writing a message in a language people would understand. With my luck, I'd be writing in goblin or draenic and then whoever got my note in my world wouldn't have a clue what to do.

"Fizz, can you make me a hardcopy of one of those signs?" When he stared at me blankly, I frowned. "Can you put those images onto a piece of paper for me?" I respond to whatever language I hear with the language I need, so I thought maybe it would be the same for writing.

Fizz didn't respond. Instead, he offered a quick wave, looking over my shoulder. "Maevlen! Welcome back."

Maevlen sighed and nodded. Poor guy. If we succeed in getting a message through, I wonder if he'll get in trouble for us destroying the window. I'll stick up for him if they try to blame him. It's the least I can do.

Well, even as I stood up, Maevlen held up a hand. "I am sorry, Amy, but would you mind taking the rest of the day off?" When I gave him a horrified look, he apologetically motioned toward the shimmery image of my world. "I am falling behind. I need to find the demons and see what magic they use to conceal themselves." He patted my head, his huge palm practically covering all of it. "I will work hard today to catch up and you can come back tomorrow, yes?"

I wanted to argue, but Fizz caught my attention and shook his head. "Okay. If you find any people, come get me, okay?"

Maevlen looked pained as he nodded and turned to his work.

When we were outside of the building, Fizz rummaged through his stuff and then held up a piece of paper. It had a few shakily written words on it. As I took it from him, I noted how it looked like he'd tried to make a capital J with a single swipe of the pen, which left the top little bar looking really weird—though the letter was recognizable…for the first time since I'd come to Azeroth, I didn't have a strange nagging in the back of my mind that I shouldn't have understood what I was looking at. Even when I looked at all the signs from my world, I'd felt like whatever they were saying should have been foreign to me, but I guess since French uses the same alphabet, that's why I could finally recognize the J. That made me feel even more hopeful.

Fizz shrugged. "I was curious about ya language, so I've been tryin' my hand at writin' it. No clue what they say, but they're copies of some of ya world's words."

He'd copied down an advertisement from a hair salon's window. I hugged him and he batted me away, going through his bags again to get me a pen and blank paper. "Go work on ya letter. Remember to include somethin' about the spell and needin' energy."

I blinked. "Where are you going?"

"To take a break from all this depressin' stuff," he paused and eyed me. "Not that I don't wanna help, but everybody needs to rest from time to time. …That includes ya, ya know."

Well, after Fizz was gone, it occurred to me that the draenei might have already figured out that our interests were on the verge of clashing—they wanted that window opened, I wanted a portal—so they might be watching me for signs that I was going to screw them over. So, instead of immediately rushing to the inn and plopping down to write my letter while Brath no doubt harassed me and made sure it wouldn't be understandable, I wandered around for a little bit. I thought about going to the quietest corner in the Exodar I could find to write without fear of hearing draenic or draconic, but then they'd probably find that suspicious.

So instead, I went to Neesera's shop. When I walked in, she looked up and smiled, the upper half of her face covered by some weird goggles—like something you'd see in an eighties or early nineties sci-fi movie—with her long curly hair bunched up around the strap.

She was a draenei, but she was also my friend, you know? Not that Maevlen wasn't, but…still. So I appraised her for a minute and then trotted over and explained my crazy plan. She was quiet for a long, long time before finally walking to the back corner of her shop and moving a few boxes. "You can write here."

I perked up and followed after her. "So…you're not gonna report me to the guards or anything? You'll let me try to get a message through?"

Neesera leaned against one of the crates near the seat she'd cleared for me. "Honestly, why should I not? If the demons have found new power, we will find it when we find them. I have spent time thinking on this, and I think perhaps their invisibility is much more basic than people fear. I think, we will not have trouble fighting them. And it is more important to save the lives we can, yes?"

I grinned and nodded. However, the whole problem with hearing other languages occurred to me and I asked her if I should come back later when she was out running errands and the shop would be closed—not that I wanted to wait, but I didn't want to screw up, either. Well, she set a few gadgets in motion so that their gears and stuff would drown out any casual conversations of people passing by. She went about her work on another scrapbot, a much smaller one, and I set to writing my note.

At first, I was a little worried. Like, if this was a sign from France, it was probably in French, right? What if I ended up sending my note to a Spanish speaking country? Or any country where French wasn't the main language? I don't want to sound whiny or anything, but I really wish it could have been an English sign. So many people across the world know that language, right? So it'd increase my chances of whoever found it being able to read it.

Why couldn't I have been one of those prodigy children who excelled at linguistics or something? Would they be able to understand it even if it was a language from my world?

And then, what if, because it's a language from my world and not Azeroth, the translation spell doesn't work and I screw up what I'm trying to say anyway?

I've had an odd sort of luck, though. Like stumbling through a portal, falling forever and then still making it to Azeroth. And getting to the draenei even though it was with the help of a crazy dragon. So I figured that I'd bank on that luck that I would write it out successfully and that whoever got it would understand it.

I tried to avoid any of the less common words, anyway, so that if whatever language I was writing in was their second language and they weren't great with it, they'd be more likely to understand. I explained that there would be a spell with this note that would need lots of energy to activate and that it would create a tiny, flash of a portal for them to respond. I told them to send something from our world through so that we could send something back. Open a dialogue, so to speak. And on dialogue, I told them to write in whatever language they were most comfortable with. No need for them to struggle with French and not be able to get their message back to us, right? Because I may be able to understand languages, but I still have trouble if it's been written/spoken poorly. I know this because Fizz is trying to learn draenic.

I also said that I had found people who had fought the demons and that they would help us, but it was important we proved there were still people to help. When I was done, I read it over a few times for spelling errors, couldn't find any, and then went over to Neesera to let her know I was done. As she went about turning off all the noise, I headed out to find Fizz. However, Neesera stopped me when I was at the door. I turned around and she reached out and took my note from me. For a split second, I was terrified that she had lied about helping me, but instead, her brilliant gaze focused on the words I'd written.

A little off topic, but I really wonder how their eyes work. I mean, they're so, so bright, right? You'd think you'd see the light gleaming through their eyelids, but when they close their eyes, they look like they could be normal. And their eyelids don't look thicker than a human's or anything. It's really weird. I wonder if they ever have trouble sleeping in well lit areas, or if their light eyes counter the outside light and neutralize it?

Anyway, after a few minutes of inspecting the paper with a narrow gaze, she handed it back to me and smiled. "I do not understand a word of it." When I just stared blankly at her, she laughed. "You were worried of switching languages, yes?" She tapped the note in my hand. "This looks, to me, to be in the same language through and through, and it is nothing I understand."

Even as I thanked her and admitted that I hadn't thought to check on that, she held up one of her scrapbots, the one she'd been working on while I was there, and flipped open its stomach. She'd emptied out all of its gears. "Put your note in here, yes? Then they will have something of this world to focus their portal through."

I have to say that my friends here are amazing. Not only Neesera, but all of them.

It turns out that Fizz didn't spend his day lounging around. Instead, he made that spell he was talking about. And I'm not sure, and neither of them will probably ever admit it, but I think he got Brath to help him, even if it was just holding something while Fizz figured out how to get things to work. They just both looked kind of proud—Brath was trying to hide it, though.

Anyway, when I went back to the inn to drop off my scrapbot and read up a bit more on the species of Azeroth, he hopped up on my bed and held out this little orb. Brath was already passed out on one of the spare beds in our room. He seemed to sleep a lot, now that he wasn't welcome to join us. I was kind of worried that he wasn't feeling well, but I wasn't about to ask and have him say some stupid remark about me 'fretting over his health' or something like that. And he did get up to watch us show off our toys.

Anyway, when I showed Fizz the scrapbot, the goblin grinned and tapped he little glowing ball of magic. "Release a bunch of energy into this and they should be able to open a portal here. Just make sure this is on whatever it is that it's using as a portal focus and that whatever is coming through is pretty much on top of that."

I paused to add that to my note and had Fizz check it over. I think Brath wanted to be included too. It's really weird, because he normally seems to prefer screw things up, right? But even as I was rewriting a few words, he tapped the page a little further down so that I would see there was another one that needed changing. I hope whoever gets the note doesn't think I'm lying about being from their world. Maybe they'll just assume its Russian or something.

Another odd thing. Brath actually waited until I was finished to start talking. And then it was all sorts of questions. Had we found someone? Would we be going to my world soon? Should he start guilt tripping the vindicators into rallying their forces to come after us?

When my response was, "No, no, and no," he seemed kind of disappointed.

Well, since he was up, Fizz decided to find somewhere else to be, since he can't stand Brath. He keeps asking me why don't we just send Brath off to pay for whatever horrible crimes he probably did. I don't have a real answer for that, you know? So I always mutter something about dragon claws seeming like they'd work well in a non-magical world against demons. I don't think Fizz is buying it.

But it's not like I'm trying to hide anything, so…meh. Whatever.

Well, Fizz headed off to check the auction house and I wanted, more than anything, to run over to the window and tell Maevlen to find some people so I could send my message. It was hard to sit around and do nothing, you know? Here I had this beacon of hope in my hands and I couldn't even use it yet. I might never get the chance, either, at the rate that dumb window goes. Especially if it's heading north.

I was all sorts of fidgety and couldn't concentrate on what was written in my species guide, so Brath did quite possibly the first honestly nice thing ever for me. He suggested we head up to the island and take a walk, to get our minds off things.

I don't know what his mind was on that needed distracting, but I knew I could use something. And at the rate the window was going, I wouldn't miss my chance to send my message, right?

Well, I insisted on leaving a message for Fizz or Maevlen or whoever else might come by needing me for something—hope against hope, right?—and Brath fell back into his usual antics. When I tried to write, he'd whisper stuff from different languages in my ear and I nearly gouged out one of his eyes with my pen. Not that I was trying to. I was trying to wave him off and the pen was in my hand and I hit him in the eyebrow with it.

Then he wouldn't shut up about how horribly abusive I was.

When I gave up writing and just told the inn keeper that we'd be wandering the island for a bit—she started to tell me to be careful and then changed it to, "You make sure that dragon takes care of you, yes?"—Brath told her that I was beating him. She didn't believe him, but still.

I think she probably figures the same thing I do: if Brath really felt threatened he'd just go dragon mode and it would be game over for whatever pissed him off. A little off topic, one of the guards tried to intimidate Brath once for doing something, I don't remember what, and he just laughed at him. And not because 'intimidating' draenei are still super polite. The guy had kind of towered over him and I think it amused Brath to no end that 'the silly mortal' thought being bigger than his human guise meant something.

Well, it was nice to get away from all that blinding light and see that there was still a world with pine tree-like trees and bushes that vaguely reminded me of stuff from my world. And you know, with birds chirping and cricket-type things making those bug noises, when I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine that I was out camping with my family. Any second, my dad would be offering me a s'more and I'd complain that I was trying to stay in shape and my mom would yell at me that I look fine and a single treat won't make me gain ten pounds. Ha. And Greg would probably join in, complaining that I was complaining all while muttering that he wanted his computer.

I suddenly didn't want to open my eyes, because I knew that it'd all go away the second I did, you know? I'd see Brath and those plants I couldn't name. Even if it wasn't real, even if it was only for a minute, I wanted my reality back.

"Amy."

It took effort to will my eyes open and when I did I saw that Brath was a little ways ahead of me on the path—Brath might be able to fend for himself, but the woods were crawling with wild animals and I didn't want to get eaten by one as he dealt with another. He'd stopped and was watching me, like he wanted to ask me something.

I frowned, annoyed that it had been him and not my dad who'd called my name. "What?"

My tone was snappier than I'd meant it to be.

Brath simply mirrored my expression and walked back to me. "Isn't there something that can be done to expedite this little adventure?"

"I'm sorry?"

His frown deepened as he leaned toward me. "Why do you always apologize when you don't understand my words?" I just shrugged. He was irritating me. Well, it wasn't really him. I just…after thinking about my family, I felt like I was gonna cry again and I'd been doing so well about that. When he realized that was all the answer he was gonna get, he cracked his neck slowly. The look on his face made it clear he was trying to figure out how to dumb down what he'd said so that even little me could understand.

For some reason that really made me angry. Misdirected anger, probably. Not that that helped.

"I am…on a limited schedule, if you will," he spoke slowly, choosing his words with care. "And I was hoping we could do something to get to your world, sooner than later."

"Why? If you're idle too long, is that guy gonna send Nicolas after you?"

I had meant it as a joke, you know? And it was a bitchy thing to say, even as a joke, but I was just… I have plenty of excuses, though they don't make it any better. Anyway, even when I said that, he gave me this look and I realized that I was dead on.

So, on top of my world, if I don't find a way to save it soon, I'm gonna loose Brath, too.

Memories are so weird, you know? Like I know that the birds and bugs had to have kept going, even after that realization, but I can remember it being so quiet. Like the world stopped to see what would happen.

Finally, I told him, "Look. Can't you…explain to him that we aren't just sitting around? I mean, we're looking for people and when we find them—"

"The problem is, I am not needed for that," Brath replied. "I need something that I can do to help. Proof of my goodwill, if you would."

Well, I know that he's just doing this to save himself, but I realized that I want to save him, too. So I tried to think. Something that would be really good for a dragon to do. Everything I could think of really involved us already being in my world and when I offered that he'd helped me with brainstorming, he'd seemed disinterested in claiming credit for something 'so trite'.

That I couldn't think of anything put me in a worse mood and I finally just turned around on the path and told him we needed to head back. Maybe I'm bipolar. I mean, I was so happy and then I was just not.

Or maybe this whole thing is just finally taking its toll on me. I don't know.

But, when we got back to the city, we were walking by the stables when one of the griffons let out this whine. So, I'm gonna say that I guess animals have languages of their own. I can't understand them—I guess even Fizz's spell has its limits—but Brath's head snapped toward the creature and he watched it ruffle its feathers and claw at the ground for a minute before the stable master hurried over and herded it back to its pen.

Oh, you might be wondering, but there are a few other adventurers around. I tried talking to this dwarf guy, but well...apparently sober dwarfs are not very agreeable and something had happened to his stash, leaving him with nothing for like half his trip here? And he was on his way to the tavern when I stopped him to say hi, so…yeah. He's not too fond of me. Or maybe he is now, but I avoid him anyway. But there's a few people around and that's what keeps the stable master busy.

And I guess that griffon belonged to one of the adventurers.

Back on topic…not that I really want to go there.

You see…

Argh. Just argh. And the why makes it so much worse. And I can't explain to people why I'm angry without incriminating myself…

So, we were walking past the stables and the griffon makes that stupid noise. I really hate griffons. And all of a sudden, Brath spins around, catches me by my waist, and kisses me.

First kiss.

No romance. Didn't even have a chance to be nervous, like they do in the movies. Didn't have a chance to register that his lips tasted kind of sweet, or that I felt kind of safe in his arms, or that I might have liked the way his stubble brushed against my face. I didn't, by the way. I don't like anything about that stupid dragon.

And then he just let me go and walked off. And left me there. Jaw dropped and not sure what the heck was going on as a few draenei eyed me. I guess public shows of affection are a little weird to them.

You know what? It was weird for me, too, so I just glared at them and started toward the inn, or at least a different part of the city where people hadn't just seen me make out with a psychopath. Well, I mean, we didn't make out—and I so don't want to—but…

Argh.

Argh, argh, argh, argh, argh. Argh.

Well, I was originally going to go back to the inn, but then it occurred to me that Brath had probably headed there and I never wanted to see him again. Maybe.

Anyway, so I decided I'd go check out the auction house, since Fizz seemed pretty invested in it and always spoke about how you could turn a profit there. Maybe start my own war fund or something, if I could figure out how it worked.

Well, just as I got to the entrance, I heard a stern voice call out, "Miss Ford?"

So I turned around and guess who I ran into? The one and only mean draenei in existence. Well, I suppose he's not mean, but…he's not nice either. His armor was really shiny, so I took that as a sign that he was important. And I'd been in the Exodar long enough to recognize a vindicator when I saw one.

When it finally dawned on me that he and his four cronies were waiting for an answer, I said that yes, I was me. And then he asked if I wanted to go somewhere more out of the way to talk. I didn't want to be rude, so I went with them. And they surrounded me and led me off to this part of the ship/city that I wasn't as familiar with. And then, when we were in what I guess was his office or whatever, he turned and finally started talking again.

"Losing a world can be devastating," his words sounded practiced and mechanical, "and we do not wish to meddle in your grieving. However, it has come to my attention that you are hoping to make contact with your world."

Uh oh.

I think I got a deer-in-the-headlights expression because all of them looked kind of grim. "Miss Ford, we have seen the images of your world. There is nothing left. Nothing but the demons, assuming that they have not moved on by now. If they are using magics we are unfamiliar with, it would be best to learn of them now, so that we are not at a disadvantage whenever next we meet them in battle. To destroy our chances at learning of our enemy to try to contact a dead race would be…pointless."

I couldn't even begin to think of anything to say to that. Sensing my loss for words, he continued. "I believe your reaching this world is nothing short of a miracle of the Light and we would not turn you away. You are welcome to make your home here and we do not expect you to take up arms and join our battles. We realize you are a civilian and…."

He kept talking. About how Azeroth was a good world, how I could find a place for myself here, how he understood that grief came in stages. I know the stages of grief, too. I'm not in denial.

Am I?

Has this whole endeavor, getting Fizz and the others to stare for hours at mangled corpses while trying to find bits of street signs and store front windows been a huge coping mechanism? And where would that leave Brath? He has to save my world or Nicholas will kill him.

Even as I started panicking that something was going to happen to my dragon, that that awkward kiss would be the last time I'd ever see him or something, a knock from behind me interrupted the guy lecturing me and jolted me to my senses.

Maevlen.

He stepped into the room, a resigned look on his pale blue features. "The window has been spent."