A/N: Wow! This took a lot longer to get out than I thought it would! I'm not dead guys, promise! Not leaving this story in the dust either.

Thanks so much for your comments too, I really appreciate them!

Breaks:

[L1,2 or 3] represents the beginning of a flashback to one of Elena's past lives. There is more than one past life, which is why I have put up the numbers. Though, these memories are usually told as she sleeps and Elena herself cannot remember them.

[/L1,2 or 3] represents the end of a flashback to one of Elena's past lives.

[P] represents the beginning of a retelling of a memory in Elena's current life.

[/P] represents the end of a retelling of a memory in Elena's current life.

~3~ is just a timeskip

AN: Enjoy the story!

After some time, there were no more tears left to give. Slowly my hard breaths calmed and my body no longer shook with every one I tried to force into my lungs. Practically boneless, I stayed where I was until the deep tiredness one can only get from expending all their emotions fell over me. Only this time, the drain wasn't nearly as taxing as I had expected. There was no deep ache left in me, like how there would always be when I cried alone- no emptiness. Instead, all that was left was a calm peace within me that left me content to simply be.

Through it all Yugo had only held on to me. He hadn't said anything more, nor had he needed to. He just... stayed. It was an action that, despite the all encompassing hurt that had run through me, brought a sense of relief that I hadn't ever really felt before.

Until a startling thought occurred to me which ripped my mind out of the peace I had been enjoying.

"Yugo?" With how comfortable I was mixing with my tiredness, the last thing I wanted to do was move. A questioning hum answered my call, informing me that he was listening, and I got the feeling he didn't really want to move either. "Yugo... please be weary of the villagers. Do not be alone around them."

That got his attention. Yugo tensed, then pulled away just enough for our gazes to meet. His brows had pulled together with worry while his mouth pursed with confusion. "What do you mean?"

In that moment I wished that he could simply see into my thoughts and just understand. At least then I wouldn't need to find a way to get my jumbled worries and reasons straightened out enough to be spoken aloud. Maybe my fear was unnecessary, maybe the villagers had changed. Still, I didn't want to risk Yugo's safety on a mere chance. If he wasn't careful he could get hurt. Like I had.

"They... they don't like the magic I have." I tried to explain. My voice fell even quieter, "and they... get rid of the things that they're scared of." For a moment I paused as his eyes widened and realization seemed to pool there. I hesitated but soon added how, "we have the same type of magic," just to make sure Yugo could know what I was trying to tell him. "So... please, try to be with someone when you go near them."

Gaze sharp with alertness, Yugo gave me a nod. "Okay."

Relieved, I felt my shoulders drop with a release of tension. Then I blinked, surprised. Small purple flowers were gently floating down from above. We both sort of stared, stunned at the pretty but odd sight. Then Yugo held out a hand and one of the blossoms landed on his palm for him to inspect. I lifted one up that had landed on the ground and I let out a small gasp of surprise. It was the special flower that can be used to create more of my pain tonic! With how rarely the flower actually bloomed, it had been hard to come by.

When I looked above, it was to spot how Moon held a little more than a handful left in his arms. He grabbed one at a time and let them fall onto us, his mouth wide with a grin that showed all his teeth.

"What?" Yugo asked, head tilted somewhat. He looked between the flower in my hand and the expression on my face.

"These are flowers that cure pain." I told him excitedly, quickly picking up some more from the ground and carefully placing them within my bag. "They're pretty rare though." When I looked up at Moon again, the little monkey had already stopped his throwing of flowers. He was watching me intently. I opened my bag invitingly, "bring them here, Moon!"

He gave me a coo of understanding as he slid down the side of the tree he'd been in, one arm close to his chest to loose as little flowers as possible. One or two more fluttered out of his grip as he approached, but he managed to pour all the rest he had into the bag without issue. I gave Moon an appreciative scratch under his chin.

"Good job, Moon!" A few more purple flowers were poured in, making me blink at Yugo with surprise.

He was searching the ground around us with his eyes, "I think that's all of them..." His gaze met my own. Then his mouth pulled in an amused smile as his eyes slid off mine and onto something just to my left. "One more," he leaned forwards some and I found myself unable to move. I'd lost my breath. His fingers brushed the rim of my hat, near my ear. My skin felt like it was on fire. Then he leaned back again, a little purple flower between his fingers. Yugo dropped that in the bag too.

"Thank you," I stated after a second, my voice returning. What was wrong with me? Why was I so hot? Quickly I looked away, to Moon. "I should see where he got these from. But... we can get started on cutting the trees for real right after, if you want."

When I glanced back over to him, there was that glimmer of excitement back in his eyes again. Somehow, the sight of it made me feel rather pleased. I relaxed, the too-hot feeling faded away.

"Yeah!"

~3~

We followed after Moon through the trees, having to keep up with our portals while the little monkey used his totems to get to any tree he couldn't really reach properly. Eventually, after reminding Moon a few times what we were supposed to be looking for, we arrived near one of the Summit Tree's many petrified roots. It was only partially crumbled away near the top, where the sun hit it the most. There was just enough room there, between the stone of the mountain and the top of the crumbling root, for a monkey precisely of Moon's size to fit. He disappeared inside until all I could see of him was the end of his hammer.

While Yugo awed over other- more crumbled away- roots nearby and their tunnels that lead further into the mountain, I crouched near where I had seen Moon disappear to. Inside was rather dark at the moment, but I knew that when the sun got lower in the sky, it would fill the space completely for several hours. This hole was at the perfect angle towards the sun for it. A minute or so later Moon reappeared, more purple flowers in his palm displayed proudly to me.

"What are these?" Yugo called up to me when I'd straightened, Moon happily on my shoulder and enjoying another rewarding scritch. With a glance down I could see how he watched Az curiously fly around one of the smaller tunnel openings that lead into the mountain. Moon gave me a look at that moment, like he knew exactly what I was thinking. He moved to be more comfortable on my shoulders before I used a portal to get down to Yugo's height.

"They're the roots of the Summit Tree." I responded. With one hand I shielded my eyes from the sun to look up. From down here all I could see of the massive tree were it's branches. It looked like it was holding up the sky. "It's been dying for a long while."

When I looked over to Yugo then, I could spot the bit of sadness in his posture and the surprise in his eyes. I didn't like it. So, without really thinking on it, I had already taken his hand in mine and brought him over to my favorite root tunnel. Confusion danced in his eyes as he looked at me then. There was no explanation that I could think to give right away. Instead, I tried to convey my reassurance through my eyes for him as I tugged him along gently.

The mouth of this tunnel was just a little bigger than I was tall. Small blades of grass grew wherever the sunlight touched. Further in, as the sunlight faded, grass gave away to barren dirt that occasionally gained puddles when it rained. Moss began to grow on the walls as the ceiling and width of the tunnel steadily grew larger all around. Just when it began to get too dark to see, a faint glow could be spotted ahead. Blue, white, and faint pink colors. They were mushrooms, large flat caps, round domed caps and even ones that looked like flower corals that are supposed to be in the ocean.

While the light that the mushrooms gave off was soft, it was still plenty to see by. I directed Yugo over to the nearest one, a large flower coral mushroom, and flicked off a few of it's blue glowing petals to gather in my bag as I finally explained my thoughts.

"Most of these tunnels are dead ends," I informed Yugo as we looked at a few more of the plants, "since the roots haven't gone completely yet. But almost all of them connect in some way and it can get a bit like a maze if you forget which way you came from. And, there's all sorts of life that decided to make these tunnels their home."

"Have you been through it all?" Yugo asked with awe while he experimentally brushed his fingers across some of the moss on the wall. Abruptly he pulled his hand away, as though he'd touched fire. Only when he held up his fingers to inspect there was a white glow to them. With a funny expression on his face he wiped his hand on his leg, leaving a white smear on the clothing, on the side of his thigh.

"No, definitely not." I answered, barely holding in a laugh. He must have touched one of the snot-like slime patches that tended to grow in these tunnels.

Nose still scrunched, he turned to me and narrowed his eyes like he was trying to tell if I was actually laughing at him or not. After a second or two he seemed to let it slide, "how come?" Yugo questioned.

"Well, Moon doesn't like to come in here with me very often." I stated a little quietly, glancing at my monkey companion as I did so. He clutched at my shoulders with his hands and feet, like some sort of badly made scarf. Moon's eyes darted around the tunnel, probably following Az's flight pattern through the gloom. His ears twitched at every echo that traveled down the tunnel though the distinct sound of Az's frantic flapping echoed the loudest.

"I'm a little surprised he hasn't run off already, actually." I gave Moon another pet, and he seemed to relax somewhat at the attention. "He's being really brave."

"Do you..." his words were a little hesitant, unsure. My head tilted curiously as I watched him with the same intensity he seemed to watch me. "...ever want to explore more?"

"Of course!" I was sure of that, "who knows what other plants have grown in here? What effects could they have?"

"Effects?" Yugo asked as we started to make our way back out.

I nodded, "plants like citronana's, for example, can heal burns if applied properly. But there's lots of different effects plants can give! By combining them, using them on their own, changing the way you use it and the various ways you harvest it can change them too. Scraping the inside of a citronana peel and putting that onto a burn will heal it. But what if you dried it into a powder? Soaked the peel first? Combined it with other plants that have similar effects?"

He shook his head, bewildered, but his eyes told me he was happy. "I don't know."

Az made a loud chirp, as though he'd just noticed our retreat, and I felt how quickly he flew by me to get ahead. Moon let me know how much that bothered him with a small grumble but he held on to me still. Absently I noted how surprising it was that he hadn't bolted from being startled like that, like he would have done usually.

"Exactly! Wouldn't it be fun to find out?"

Yugo tilted his head in an uncertain fashion. "You sure it wouldn't be too much work?"

"On this island? Definitely not." I disagreed. There were some days where it didn't feel like it was enough. "But I usually keep my experimenting during the Frost so I can gather things and prepare them properly during the Heat." A thought occurred to me then and I turned to Yugo questioningly, "is your life very busy, Yugo? You have four seasons to prepare for."

"It can get very busy," he nodded while he looked ahead. There was something wistful in his tone as he spoke, "especially during the Heat and the Warm seasons. Dad has me run a bunch of extra errands for the inn near the end of each season, to make sure we'll have everything ready for guests on time. If any of the wears are late then that makes mine and dad's jobs a lot harder to do."

As I listened to him I wondered what he meant. I'd never heard of an 'in' before. Was it a person's station? If anything it sounded like Yugo and his father spent almost all of their time working for this 'in' and they dealt with visitors too. From his tone though, I could tell it was important to him and that he seemed to miss something about it. Perhaps simply spending time with his parent? Or maybe he just liked being busy.

I started with the simplest question. "Guests? Do you get many visitors, Yugo?"

"Definitely!" There was an excited gleam in his eyes as he said this, "since Emelka is on the way to the Sadida Kingdom travelers often stop by my dad's inn for the night. There's always something going on as a result, the fun never ends."

"What do you mean?" My head tilted at that, curious.

"I once met an old Enutrof who had heard that there was a wine in the World of Twelve so expensive that the king of the Sadida's couldn't afford it even if he'd sold his entire kingdom! He told me that he had spent years searching for the person who had the map that would help him to find this treasure and that he was very close on their trail... but he was pretty out of it at the time, since he had an obsession with tasting all the alcohol that dad had stored up." He shook his head with disbelief, before he lit right back up. "And there's our regular guest, Rio- That Feca never has any idea where he is! He just showed up one day, completely lost as to how he ended up in Emelka, but he was rather determined to get home. I gave him directions, a map, and once I even walked with him to the edge of town... he kept switching directions at random and going in the opposite direction that I'd tell him to go. Now when he stops by, I just make sure he has all his camping supplies restocked so that he'll have something to eat when he eventually wanders off into the wilds again."

While being unable to find one's direction so badly that they constantly got lost was rather baffling, it was also interesting to know that there were items out there that some people found valuable enough spend years searching for.

"That's really weird." I remarked, unsure of what else to say to that. We had exited the tunnel some time ago and had started to make our way through the forest once more. Our pace was unhurried while we went in the general direction that the felled tree was in. Above us Az wove between the high branches but always stayed within sight. "Does that mean your job is to prepare others for travel?"

"Not exactly," with a shake of his head, Yugo continued, "it's more that I... help the weary?" He seemed to think on the words for a moment, before he nodded with satisfaction. "I let them have a place to relax for as long as their kamas last. My chores involved with it are pretty varied, actually."

At that he began to make a list on his fingers, "I help dad with making meals for our guests, keeping said meals from burning, or even helping with the spices. I also keep the rooms in the inn clean for travelers, selling any items that are left behind which might be worth a kama if the guest doesn't come back to get it within a few days... stock the room with seasonal necessities, and general upkeep really. Mostly though, the one chore that's pretty constant, is to make sure that whatever goods dad ordered all arrived in a timely manner and without anything having gone missing. After the first few times that there's been a mishap, though, I don't think anyone would dare mess up my dad's orders anymore."

"How come?" My volume lowered somewhat. A hesitant feeling welled up within me, unsure if I should bring it up at all or if the question would bother Yugo. In the end I decided to ask it anyway, "is he... scary?"

[P]

A small hiss left my lips as I walked, trying to alleviate the pain on my shin. The skin there was scraped messily, prickles of blood poking through. It wasn't anything too serious, from what I gathered, but it was still painful. With every step a sting of pain would make itself known to me. I just wanted to sit and let the thing heal on it's own. Of course, with how dark it was getting, I had to get to Mommy's hut before any resting could take place.

Luckily, I didn't have much further to go. Already the hut was in sight. It hung in the trees near the edge of the village, closest to the stairs that led up to the canopy. My steps hurried somewhat then, I was eager for my bed. I could practically hear it calling for me from here. If the scrape wasn't outright gone by morning, then it would be scabbed over at least. Either way I wouldn't have to feel it's sting any longer.

When I finally entered the round hut, it was to the unusual sight of Mommy already waiting for me. Usually she was busy with doing one thing or another by this time, which meant that I would have gone unnoticed until I announced myself. In the mornings she always left early which meant that I'd have the space to myself until her return.

"Elena."

Instantly my curiosity morphed into dread within my stomach. Her tone had been full of warning. Mommy was incredibly upset with me for some reason. Mentally I went through the list of things that put me on Mommy's bad side. I couldn't think of anything that I had done recently, accidentally or not.

"Did you or did you not push someone earlier?"

Caught off guard, I couldn't help but stare with wide eyes. I hadn't pushed anyone. I'd been in line with the others, listening to Saul explain how the jobs in the village all help one another in some way. Someone behind me had pushed and I'd lost my balance. I fell onto the child in front of me and now we both sported scrapes on our person. While the girl I'd fallen on had cried enough to go home right away, I'd stayed behind to listen to the rest of the lesson.

Too late, I realized that I was answering too slow. Mommy had pointed towards my room with one stern finger. "Go. Her parents will arrive soon and you better have your apology ready by then."

"But-!"

"Elena!"

I flinched back at the tone. Her eyes were so cold as they bore into me. In that moment I knew that nothing I said would change her mind. Mommy had already decided what I had done. What else could I do? Feeling small and unheard, I begrudgingly did as was asked.

[/P]

A shiver went through me at the memory. I always hated it went Miji gave me that look or had used that tone.

Oblivious to my thoughts, Yugo shook his head. "Nah. Dad tries, but he isn't scary. He just knows his way about businesses pretty well. Their employers made sure there were no more mishaps." A snicker left him at that. I tilted my head, amused by his amusement despite not really understanding it myself.

"You know..." when Yugo looked at me then I could tell that he seemed rather pleased. A small smile tugged at his lips and his features lit up with the happiness he felt. It was rather dazzling to witness. Who knew one's face could portray so much about a person? Was I just as expressive? "I bet you'd have a lot of fun learning from the doctor in Emelka. He's versed in a lot of different ailments. He has to be, due to all the travelers that come through town."

My eyes widened. "M- me?" Just the thought of learning under someone made my heart jump with anticipation. "Do you really think they'd let me..?" My words trailed off as I realized something absolutely crucial. I'd have to leave the island. While I didn't care much for the villagers or the pack of bow wows that made their home here... One of my hands went up to my shoulder where I could brush my fingers through Moon's fur. The little monkey let out a happy noise at the attention.

"Of course." When I didn't reply to that right away, Yugo tilted his head at me curiously. "What's wrong?" I had to look away.

While something in me sang happily at the notion, of learning all I could under someone who was willing to teach, enticing me to accept and finally get away from this island... I couldn't help but hesitate. It was with difficulty that I reminded myself of how little I actually knew of these travelers. I'd really only spoken with Yugo enough to start to get to know him. What about the others though? They seemed kind enough, but would that hold true after who knows how long of travel? Would they feel on edge if an outsider joined them? I'd had enough hostility from the villagers here to last a life time. It wouldn't bode well for me if these travelers started to treat me similarly sometime down the road. How long would travel be anyhow? What would I even need to bring along for that?

As much as I hated to think it, this island was still home. There was little here I didn't know about. The best places for food, the cleanest of waters, which animals hunted where, the safest places to be... did I really want to go through the painful trial and error of getting to know a new place all over again? A new place where I wouldn't even have Moon as comfort if the people there turned out to not be as friendly as they were advertised.

Would I be traveling with Yugo and his friends until we reached a place near this Emelka and I'd have to go the rest of the way on my own? Or would I be joining Yugo in his quest to find his family so that he could show me Emelka afterwards? Would he even be going back to Emelka after he found his family? He sounded like he missed the place, so I supposed the chances were pretty high that he would. But would he stay? Would he bring this new family he finds with him? There wouldn't be any time to show me around his Emelka if he did, I'd need to be on my own for the most part. What if Yugo decided to stay with his new family for a while? Would I then travel with his friends to Emelka so that I could go learn, leaving Yugo to catch up when he was ready?

Could I do all that without Moon's presence? Without anything familiar around me? Everything would be unknown. It was rather scary, to be honest. Not only that, but I didn't really want to be left on my own.

[P]

There was a snicker. It made me pause my task for a moment as I automatically listened.

"Look at that work...!"

The exclamation was loud enough for all of us to hear. There were ten of us, all sat near one another as we worked on knotting the rope that would be made into new walkways. It was one of the ways the adults had all us kids help around the village before they set us free for the day.

"What the... why does it look like that?"

"That's just sad."

"Ugh, we'll have to go over that again!"

Concentration broken, I finally looked up. The others had their masks faced in my direction, gazes hard as they spoke with one another as though I couldn't hear. I glanced down at the rope, saw how immaculate everyone else's knotting was, how perfectly uniform they all were. My eyes then landed on my own work, the knots were slipping and messy in comparison. With a jolt I realized that it was me they spoke about.

"No, we don't. We'll just leave her here to go over it herself." I couldn't bring myself to look up again and see who spoke. They let out a scoff, "besides it's not like she can play with us anyways."

That comment had me wince. It hurt, but it was true. I couldn't get the plants to dance at my call. I couldn't make a plant wrestle with someone else's to see who was better at telling the plants what to do. Nor could I compete to grow the biggest plant in the shortest amount of time. I wasn't like the others. Something about me was different and it wasn't just the fact that I wore a hat with large cat-like ears on it or even that my skin wasn't the same color. I just... I didn't have magic like they did. If I had magic at all. In that sense I was... wrong. Strange. Even the adults were disturbed by it.

True to their word, not even a few minutes later, they all began to leave one by one, their parts finished. Alone again. This wasn't the first time that I had been left alone to my own devices after all. It was just the first time that the others had said their intention to leave me alone aloud. It hurt.

Still, I stayed. Went over my rope work again and again.

I had to get it to look the same.

No one had shown me how to do it before but I hadn't seen anyone go over it with the others either. I figured that it was something else that they just knew how to do. When I finally get it right... maybe I could work out a way to get the plants to listen to me next.

[/P]

While I was no stranger to being alone, after being around Moon for so long I didn't want to go back to it anytime soon. With Moon near by I knew that I would be alright. Without him...?

Suddenly rather insecure, "I... I'd have to leave though."

"Yeah." Out of the corner of my eye I could see how he'd nodded. When I still stayed silent, he seemed to falter. Slowly, "would... would you rather... stay..?"

My response was instant to that. "I don't..." but my mouth felt rather dry. Like I'd swallowed a handful of sand. Tone lower than before, "but... I don't know if I could leave Moon behind like that." I admitted. It made me feel silly. Said aloud, it didn't sound like such a big deal... and yet I knew instinctively that it really was. To me at least. Moon was... Moon cared. He was with me when no one else dared. How could I just leave him after that? Abandon him...? It wasn't like I could actually talk to him about it to reassure us both either- he was still a monkey and couldn't actually understand me.

I ducked my head and felt the fabric of my hat move as my 'ears' fell flat like an upset cat.

There was a clear frown on Yugo's face now. It only made me feel worse. As though he agreed that it was a silly notion without really saying so. But then he surprised me.

"Why would you have to leave him?" He asked, tone concerned, "we could just take Moon with us."

For a brief moment it felt like my world froze as my mind got stuck on that one word. Us. An official confirmation to an invitation to travel with him and his friends. When my eyes snapped up to meet his, I could see the sincerity there clear as day. Again, my mind couldn't help but go over all the scenarios that I could imagine such travel would involve, it's outcomes, and how it could be handled. What if, what if, what if...

...Maybe I should spend some time with the others, like I have been with Yugo, even if that made me feel rather uncomfortable. Perhaps it could ease some of my thoughts? But that still left the issue of Moon.

Within a blink I was brought back to the present. To how Yugo waited patiently for my reply. Sadly, I had to shake my head to Yugo's question. "No. Moon is the protector of this place. He can't just leave." As though to confirm my statement Moon gave another happy coo which pulled a small sigh from me. "And I doubt he'd want to. It's his home."

"Oh," the disappointment in his tone nearly made me cringe. Something heavy fell in my gut. That tiredness from earlier came back to hit me all at once. I wanted nothing more than to just head back to the Summit Tree and sleep atop it. It wasn't something that I could just go and do though. Not for a while yet.

We walked together in silence for a bit. To keep myself awake, I directed my thoughts back to travel. The possibility of actually leaving this place. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I battled with myself on whether or not I should just ask Yugo my questions outright.

Eventually I was able to look at Yugo again. "Yugo?" All I got was a hum from him. I took it as confirmation that he was listening. A bit tentatively, "your home sounds lovely... do you plan to return to it after your adventure? Or stay with the family that you find?"

"I..."

The look in Yugo's eyes then, felt torn. Either he hadn't thought of it or he had been putting that particular question off for a while now. When he looked at me next an emotion I couldn't identify flashed across his gaze. I found that I couldn't look away. He tilted his head, an action that felt almost curious in nature, but relayed a sense of hopefulness.

"I think I'd want... for my entire family to live together somewhere. In Emelka, or on Oma, I don't really mind... so long as we'd all be together. If not then..." he let out a breath that sounded resigned. "I guess I'll be traveling quite a bit in my future."

"You could always visit." The words were out of my mouth before I could do any processing. Almost immediately I bit my tongue.

Oh that made it sound like I'd made up my mind already...! On top of it- I can't believe just how much I'd let my desire bleed into my tone. Because, if I did stay, I knew that I would like it if he visited again. My heart began to race in my chest as nerves built in my stomach. Why had I said that though? Those words were going to come back to bite me the moment that he disagrees. They needed to be taken back.

"N- not... not that you'd have to. Just... if you want..."

I... I could not look at him. I had not taken back my words! Out of the corner of my eye I could see how he opened his mouth with a response. He was going to reject the idea, I just knew it. Something painful stabbed through me at that and it became hard to breathe. Hot tears had started to prickle at the edges of my eyes, only serving to make me more nervous. I'd already cried in front of him once, I wasn't ready to do so again! As discretely as I could I pinched the side of my leg, hard. Focus my attention away from the emotions for a bit. My eyes started to clear which helped to calm some of the panic that had built up inside.

"I will." The words knocked me out of my thoughts. Disbelieving of what I heard, I had to look over at him. There was a calm determination that started to build in his gaze. When our eyes met, his features became set with it. He was sure of it and repeated, "I will."

As though he had taken a salve and put it on a burn, I felt soothed by both his words and expression. He wasn't lying. There was no hidden deceit here. On instinct the sides of my mouth lifted to form a soft smile in response.

"Okay." I acknowledged. My own words seemed to have a similar effect on him as relief lifted his shoulders and lightened his stride.

We walked only a little further before we arrived where there were trees perfect for the purpose of rebuilding a boat. The first tree that we had felled earlier rested not too far away. I stopped us in front of one of the widest trees in the area and placed my palm on it's bark.

"Well, ready to get started?"

His hand was placed next to mine, eyes alight with anticipation.

"Lets."

~3~

After that it was just a matter of timing.

The moment that a tree was to appear from an exit portal, two portals were created within the moving wood to slice it into planks. The portals that were to slice the tree wouldn't be easy to create; we obviously wouldn't be able to touch the tree to make those portals appear, they needed to be made within the second that the tree appeared, and the portals needed to be placed precisely as to not create planks that were too thick and too thin.

At first work was slow. Yugo felled the trees and I sliced through them when he released it through his exit portal. It took several tries before we managed to get the timing down enough to cut through the entire tree instead of leaving a few inches of one end still completely attached together. Once we'd managed that, everything began to speed up.

The tree would be cut. A few seconds of silence. The exit portal opened. With a whoosh the tree would reappear and the bark would sing as two portals opened within it. Three perfectly made planks would clatter to the growing pile. Repeat. On we went as the sun steadily made it's decent in the sky.

Soon there were several piles of cut wood throughout the area, each stacked ten planks tall and five planks wide. Yugo and I looked over our work proudly. Even if this wasn't enough to finish the boat- which was doubtful- there was still a lot here for a single day's labor.

"Do you think we over did it?" Yugo asked me then to which I could only shrug.

"Maybe," I answered, glanced over at him. He had wandered over to another tree to inspect it's straightness with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes. As we cut the trees down, we had been careful to choose from among the ones that had been clustered especially close together. Yugo had pointed out that by choosing some trees and leaving the rest, we would be causing less damage to the forest than simply choosing a spot to clear all the trees we could see. "I guess it'll depend on how much can be reused from the wreck."

"That's true..." Yugo hummed. He pointed to the tree he had inspected, "this one looks like it'll make a really nice mast."

My reply was on the tip of my tongue, mouth opened to deliver it, when my eyes snapped up to the familiar sound of Moon using his hammer to summon his totems. With a startled yelp I leapt back, stumbling to stay upright, only to let out another startled sound when I realized who that totem was lined up to hit next. Luckily, Yugo had been paying enough attention to get out of the way, though just barely. The totem hit the ground at the base of the tree where Yugo had been standing and caused a large dust cloud to erupt around it while tremors ran up the trunks of the nearby trees and forced leaves to fall off their branches.

Yugo and I both stared at where the totem made contact with the ground, silent and frozen with disbelief even as relief rushed through me at the fact that neither of us were caught in that attack. It would have hurt. Angry twitering came from above, drawing my attention anew. The sound came from Az. The little yellow bird had his wings beat furiously as he twisted and turned around Moon's head, expressing his anger with his entire tiny being. From his spot in a nearby tree Moon watched Az fly about curiously, occasionally chittering back at the bird as though trying to ask what the problem was.

Out of the corner of my eye I witnessed Yugo lay back with a huff. Amused, I went over to him. He'd landed on his side, in his own leap away from the totem, and had been holding himself up with his good arm. My shadow fell over him as I approached and I saw that he had closed his eyes.

"You alright?" I asked him as I crouched down beside him, set my chin in my hand and my elbows on my knees.

Briefly he opened an azure eye to spot me, as though to make sure my voice matched my person. Then it closed again and he let out a small tired noise. After a moment, "I think I did something to my shoulder again..."

With that miserable confession out of him he seemed to slump all the more bonelessly onto the forest floor. Despite the instant concern I felt for him at that, I found myself suddenly struck with the notion that I found him rather cute as he was just now. It was the same way I felt whenever I happened to come across a litter of bow meow kittens that were playing together carelessly. So for a few seconds I found myself enamored by that cuteness, until I realized what I was doing. That is, nothing. I was simply sitting and staring and admiring while he had just said he was in pain. What was wrong with me?

With (what I hoped was) a discrete shake of my head, I put my priorities back in the right order.

"If you want I can look at it quick." I offered, already moving to sit behind him on my knees. "But we should take the wood to the ship before Moon tries to initiate play again. I don't really want the work we put in today to get ruined."

"Play?!" Yugo asked incredulously, eyes opening instantly and catching my own. I had to lean forwards slightly to see his azure gaze from beyond the rim of his hat.

"Yes?" I gave him a smile even though I felt rather confused about his unasked question on Moon's behavior. "Don't you play games with Az?"

"Well- yes. But-" he stopped, clearly thinking on how to string together the words he wanted to use. "Just. Not like- like that."

"...okay?" At my lack of understanding, Yugo seemed to deflate some. Instead of addressing it further, I pointed to his shoulder. "Do you want me to look at it?"

Like it had just occurred to him that his shoulder was still hurting, "oh. Yes, please." Slowly he sat up for me, and I leaned back to give him the room while I took note of the pain in the action. Instead of directing my attention to his shoulder right away, I instead found myself measuring the back of his ribs with my fingers.

"How does this feel?" I questioned him aloud even as I felt it with his wince when I had touched the rib that had moved out of place. He gave me a hiss in response and I checked against his other side carefully to know what to do. "Ah-hah." Gently I pressed the pad of my finger against the agitated bone and pushed. With little to no effort it moved back into place, a hiss of relief leaving Yugo this time. "That's better."

That's when I turned my attention to his shoulder, comparing it to his other one with as much care that I had used with his ribs. He tensed where it was sore the most but there hadn't been anything out of place visually nor when I double checked physically.

"You're still okay," I assured when I was done. Stood up, I went around him to offer my aid with my hand. He gave me a smile, his eyes conveying all his relief.

"Thanks."

Confused for a second, I considered asking him what he'd be thanking me for. After all, I saw no reason for it. But the genuine sincerity in his tone had my face heat up and I found myself unable to hold his gaze.

"Of course," I accepted, the quickest route to end any more conversation about it and redirect to somewhere else. My gaze went up to the animals again and saw that Az was finally loosing steam. Moon stared at the little bird as though he were trying to figure out the solution to a particularly difficult problem. "We better get going though."

The sooner that we got the wood to it's destination, the sooner that I could return back to the Summit Tree. Already I could picture myself basking in the last rays of the sun as I drifted off to sleep.

"-bility of coming across something valuable, he'll given in and come with anyways. But when would you want to?"

A bit guiltily, I snapped back to attention just as Yugo had finished speaking. Whatever it was he was asking about, I could always find out more later, though. For now, I just wanted sleep. And I needed to formulate an answer. My response was slow and a little unsure, "I think... anytime would be fine...?"

"Great!" With an absent circle of his arm, Yugo made a portal around be base of one of the wood stacks. At the sight of the wood disappearing Az had let out a high pitched chirp of alarm only to make a bee-line for Yugo's front pocket right after. A confused noise left Moon but he made his way down the tree anyways. "Then let's get these over so I can start asking the others!"

Nerves suddenly bloomed in my gut at that. What had I just agreed to? But then I spotted the brightness to his eyes and registered the excitement in his tone. Well... whatever it was, it couldn't be too bad.

With Yugo grabbing the stacks of wood with his portals, I was the only one who would be able to portal us over to the beach safely. I created the portals that would start the journey there- one in front of me and the other high in the air. Just before I could step through, I remembered how I hadn't placed my mask back on. I gave a quick gesture for Yugo to wait while I put the mask on before we could head out.

Yugo stared as he waited, brow furrowed slightly with a gentle frown pulling down at the corners of his mouth. For some reason it gave me the impression that he was troubled. By the time I ready a few seconds later he hadn't said anything about it though. Moon had climbed up onto my shoulders, grip tight on the fabric.

"Okay," I stated, and Yugo's features lit up all over again. We stepped through my portals, with several new ones that had to be made before we got to the beach.

Soft sand cushioned our landing when we arrived. Nearby villagers suddenly skittered away in every direction that was away from the portal. Ahead was the broken ship, it's loose wooden pieces now collected and put in two piles- boards that looked as though they could be reused and wood that was splintered and cracked beyond repair. It was beside the pile that looked usable that Yugo's portal appeared, any villagers near it dropped what they were doing to quickly scramble away. Then the pile of wood we had collected was spat out there, the boards clattered loudly against one another in their arrival.

"Woah!" The exclamation came from Dally. His wide eyes were set on the new pile of wood that had appeared on the beach. A pile of junk in his arms had a few pieces fall into the sand as he rushed over to the new wood for a closer inspection. "You guys did all this in only a day?!"

While the others of Yugo's group gathered closer, the villagers slowly started to shuffle towards the trees as though to escape the situation. Only Botan was an exception. I wondered if they thought they were being discreet.

"Yup!" Yugo's reply was full of mirth. "There's more too. It'll just take us a few trips to get it all here."

"Amazing." Botan replied as he came to a halt right before the pile. He turned slightly to face Yugo and I, "I wish I would have known of this ability of yours sooner, Elena. There were many a Frost were this would have been helpful." Something in my gut squirmed uncomfortably at that. Out of the corner of my eye I could see how some of the braver villagers had turned their heads towards one another at the words, their whispers too far away to truly make out. It gave me the solid impression that none of them would accepted my help, even if I had given it. Then Botan turned back towards the wood pile and spoke as though he hadn't just riled up the entire village. "From the looks of this alone, I should think that we can get your ship repaired much sooner than we had originally determined."

"Really?" Yugo questioned eagerly, "how long then?"

"If we can get the ship pieces close enough together for mending..." Botan gave a hum as we all turned to the fractured ship. The two fractured masts had been placed on the sand closest to the ship, their torn sails set aside in great heaps. That hole in the hull looked a little less jagged than before, the pieces of the collapsed deck cleared away. In fact, there was no more broken debris left on the deck at all. All the broken and battered barrels were gathered close to the rocky beach, tucked out of the way for the meantime. "We might just be able to accomplish this in just a few days."

Somehow an odd mixture of happiness and disappointment decided to fill me at that. On one hand I was really genuinely happy for Yugo, since this meant that he could find his family faster. While on the other, my stomach churned for entirely selfish reasons. The thought was there in my head, dangerous as it was but undeniable as I spotted how he practically floated up off the sand in his sudden enthusiasm to things done faster.

I...

...I didn't want Yugo to go just yet.