Conflict debilitated Lea. With conflict came risks of making wrong decisions that could not be undone. Conflict was the initiation of Tranquils. It took time to to break a behavioral pattern that had been ingrained into him from a tender age. His fear of templars and their punishments would take the hardest work to overcome.

Lea avoided Isa as much as was possible. When nighttime came he lingered outside until he decided to go to Roxas. The shed was on the other side of the yard, near the stables. With the other workers gone, Roxas had it all to himself. He left the door unhatched for Lea at night. Though his heart threatened to burst with every playful flirt, Lea had no intention of pushing things too far, too fast. Roxas could be confounded, he could have kissed Lea as an act of amiability and nothing else. The flirting could be the same. Should there be anything beyond friendship between them, Lea wanted to take it slow, make certain that they both felt the same before taking it further. He had lost Roxas once already and barely survived. It was not an experience he wanted to live through once more.

Try as he might, Lea could only hide for so long. The curse of a conscience was it demanded to be cleared lest he wanted to dwell in guilt. Isa had been honest with him and Lea was indebted to him, not only for his honesty, but for keeping him afloat. Had they been meant to be, a fight would not have torn at them as much as this had. Only this was more than a mere fight. Isa feared magic and by extension he feared Lea and Roxas, too. Had it been just the two them, a relationship could have worked. Lea had not minded a slow death, hiding his nature to appease another. But where Lea was, Roxas was, too. And Lea could not hide who he was without hurting Roxas.

Early morning, Lea woke to an empty bed. He had hoped to find Isa here last night, braiding his hair, but Lea had not heard him come in, nor had he heard him leave. Lea sought him in the dining space and heard Myde in the kitchen attempting alchemy to make ice cream for breakfast.

"Good morning," Lea greeted.

"It will be if I get this to work," said Myde.

"Did you see Isa before he left?"

"He's at the back hanging laundry to dry. Said he couldn't sleep." Myde put the Ice Rune down and turned to Lea. "Is he feeling well? Twice now I've caught him speaking to himself. And he seems a bit off."

"We had a bit of a squabble." Lea rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"He told me that much, but he was asking me about Vanitas and if I had seen strange things or if I've felt out of sorts around Roxas. I've been scared of my own shadow since. I asked him, 'Strange things?', but he did not answer. Are there ghosts on the farm, I wonder? My sister did leave in an awful rush."

"Don't dwell on it. Isa is merely acting out a grudge against me, Myde."

"Careful, friend. An elf with a grudge is like a hungry wolf lurking on its prey. You'll never see the bite coming."

Lea walked out to the back of the house where laundry lines stood stretched between thin but sturdy poles. Crisp white sheets swayed in the breeze. Isa hand washed them by a creek uphill. The array of flowers made it a pleasant place to be, Isa had said once when disclosing where he managed to find the flowers he brought home.

Isa stood hidden behind the washed laundry by a nearly empty basket when Lea approached him.

"Isa?"

Isa hung up the last piece of clothing slowly. Lingered and sighed once he had to face Lea. A rift had emerged between them. Avoidance had only made the distance greater. Lea wondered if he had ever known the man before him. A lonely soul would cling onto anything akin to a raft in a stormy sea. Lea had been lost in the world outside the Circle. Isa had given him direction and protection whilst Lea put his feet on the ground. He was not out on the sea anymore. The raft had to be left behind once it was of no use.

"We have to talk." Lea crossed his arms to keep warm.

"Talk."

For his stern tone Isa's hands were restless. He brushed stray hairs behind his ears and cleared his throat, eyes pleading.

"There is no easy way of doing this, but... you have been mostly honest with me and I think I should be the same with you." Lea took a deep breath. "I'm grateful for everything you have done for me. You helped me when no one else would, but… when we first met I didn't think I would see Roxas again. I thought him dead, and I... I..."

"Say no more," Isa interrupted, voice thick. "I understand." He cleared his throat once more.

"You said once that we could still be friends, regardless of my answer. I hope that still stands."

Isa said nothing, only nodded in reply.

Myde had asked Lea how elves functioned as though Isa had divulged every custom and tradition to Lea. Myde speculated that elves might be driven by pain like plants by the sun for Isa had taken to work long into the night. There was barely anything left to do on the farm in the mornings. When Myde was put out of work, he drank. Combined with his ability to make ice cream, his belt was near buckling.

At day, Isa went into the woods to hunt, sometimes gone for hours on end. Birds were going to be a thing of the past, Myde warned when he served two pheasants for dinner for a fifth time that week. The villagers were overjoyed by the meat and were happy to buy them off Lea when he went into town. Myde whined but welcomed the new source of income. With the earnings, Myde could purchase a bull to have it mate with his cows.

The wooden floor of the porch creaked as Lea threw himself back against his chair with groan of disbelief. Myde cackled as he put his cards down to collect his winnings.

"You must be cheating," Roxas said in awe. It was Myde's third win.

"I don't think I can afford winning my dignity back." Lea rubbed his chin and watched half of his coin disappear.

"I will win it back. Deal." Roxas was determined as he had been during their first two rounds.

They sat swatting mosquitos away on the porch. Summer would soon come to an end and evenings such as these had to be enjoyed while there was still time.

Isa came riding on horseback and stopped by the stables. Today's hunt had stretched on for longer than usual yet he came without a kill. Lea watched him while Roxas and Myde decided to play a third round of Wicked Grace. The horse paced back and forth and pulled at the reins. Isa swayed and gripped at the horse's mane to steady himself. Myde's sense of balance was in a better state and he had been drinking wine. Lea sighed in relief when Isa did better in walking back to the house albeit with a limp.

"Well, look who the cat dragged in. Sit with us, Isa!" Myde said as soon as he saw Isa. "Lay your bet and watch me become all the richer."

"Do you want me to take a look at that?" Lea asked, referring the Isa's leg.

Isa walked past them without a word. He walked inside and all they heard was Isa closing the bedroom door after himself. He did not come out for three days.