He crossed his arms on his chest, bulging out his biceps even more. He tilted his head to the side and gazed down at Tsugi scrutinizing her. One side of his lip curled into a heart melting smile. “You’ve gotten fat.”

Tsugi’s eyes widened. “What?!” She flushed and she didn’t know if it was from anger or from realizing how breathtakingly handsome Lugo had gotten. They haven’t seen each other in fourteen years and his first words were, ‘you’ve gotten fat’?

In fact, she was in quite good shape. She too was lean and toned, but he didn’t notice it, because of her oversized shirt to hide her bound breasts, and her widened hips.

Offended, she folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “I am NOT fat!” She growled and lunged at Lugo, who took off in the opposite direction. Ruzo jumped up with excitement and wagged his tail chasing after them. His giant paws pounded the ground loudly as he pranced and jumped around them, darting back and forth.

Lugo laughed so much that tears dripped from the corners of his eyes. He dashed around the field, running back and forth, dodging Tsugi’s wild attacks. “Take it back!” Tsugi screamed.

Lugo looked back and smirked at her before disappearing right in front of her eyes. She came to a halt and looked around. Lugo had appeared across the other end of the field. She glowered and charged after him. Once again they played cat and mouse, with Lugo disappearing and reappearing somewhere else. Irritated, Tsugi chased after him and twirled her fingers, vines ripped out of the ground and bound Lugo’s hands and feet. He was moving at such a fast speed that he launched forward, wide-eyed, unable to defend himself and slid across the dirt on his face.

“Ow!” He hissed.

In the blink of an eye, Tsugi already had her arms wrapped tightly around Lugo’s neck. “Take it back!” She yelled.

“Ugh…” Lugo choked. “Oka…oka…I take it back.” He squeezed out and Tsugi released her grip. The vines returned to the earth and Lugo grasped at his neck, coughing. “Jeez.” Lugo let out a thunderous laughter. “Still as angry as ever.” He chuckled and sat across from Tsugi. They both panted and laughed with elation. Tsugi was still upset, but she felt so happy and relieved that everything seemed normal, just like how it used to be. She felt like the biggest fool for panicking over nothing.

Ruzo was still running across the field doing his usual antics of the zoomies.

“Although…” Lugo rubbed his chin with his finger and thumb. “...I have to say, you grew up to be quite the pretty boy.” Tsugi’s face flushed. “You were quite the hideous little kid, but I’d say you blossomed pretty well. Hell you could pass to be a girl if Aeris puts you in a dress again.” He roared into laughter.

“Pfft…Keep dreaming.” Tsugi rolled her eyes, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “I see you’ve perfected your magic.” Tsugi quickly changed the subject, but in truth, she couldn’t help but feel so proud of Lugo. “I didn’t even see you do anything, and I didn’t even see the door.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, moving short distances like that is very simple. Moving long distances is what’s more difficult. You’ve also improved a lot on your earth magic too! I didn’t even realize what happened until my face started stinging.” He rubbed the reddening scrape on his cheek.

“Oh, right…sorry about that.” Tsugi stood up and walked over to Lugo. Kneeling down beside him, she placed a hand on his cheek. A weird tingling sensation traveled up her arm, like electricity, making her breath hitch. A warm glow from her hand and the scrape on Lugo’s face disappeared, leaving nothing, but the dirt and grass stain behind. His cheek was warm and soft, his eyes were a gorgeous and beautiful gray as they stared back into hers, and she felt lost for a moment. Her heart pounded in her chest, up to her ears and flushed her face a strawberry red. Unsure of what was going on with herself, she quickly backed away, cleared her throat, and sat back down on the ground.

Ruzo came running over and laid down behind Tsugi, pushing his giant furry head against her hand. She chuckled and leaned back against his furry body. His towering head casted a shadow on them as he panted tirelessly. A long drool hung from his tongue and landed in a small puddle right next to her.

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“Do you need some water?” Lugo raised an eyebrow at Tsugi, but she only looked at him with confusion. “Did that little run exhaust you that much? Your face is all red.”

Tsugi quickly clasped her burning cheeks in her hands. Much to her confusion they were really hot. Was she starting a fever? "I don't know, but I feel fine."

"So how have you been doing? Have you seen Bel, Aeris or met anyone new?" Lugo walked over and sat next to Tsugi.

"I haven't seen either of them since we left, but I did meet someone new. Her name is Ellie. She's staying with us, I'll introduce you to her later."

"You are always surrounded by women." He smiled wryly and shook his head.

"You act like Jenene isn't a woman." Tsugi rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but she's too old for me. You on the other hand are surrounded by beautiful young women."

"Ugh…" Tsugi exasperated and pinched the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb as if Lugo was giving her a migraine. "You haven't changed one bit."

"You know it!" He chuckled. "I wish you would've gone with us! All the places that we've been to were amazing! You would've loved it! And on top of that, all those creatures and monsters that we ran into! Wow!" He got all giddy like a teenage girl, telling Tsugi about his adventures with Jenene and his training.

"We were at a savanna too!" Tsugi said with excitement. "I saved a tygrin from a stampede. She lost a leg, but she's all grown up now and we released her just a few days ago. I wish you could've seen her. She is absolutely magnificent, gentle and playful." Tsugi pointed a thumb to Ruzo. "She's like a cat version of Ruzo."

"A cat version?" Lugo raised a brow and let out a chuckle. "That would've been a sight to see." He leaned his head back onto Ruzo's body. "Can't believe that I even missed this big guy." He reached a hand up and petted Ruzo. "I can't believe how big he's gotten. I thought he was just a normal dog, but I guess he's a warwolf."

"What? He's not a werewolf." Tsugi was befuddled why Lugo would even say such a thing.

Lugo chuckled, amused. "I said war-wolf not were-wolf."

"Ruzo and his mother are the only ones I've ever met, so I don't know anything about their race."

"Just like it's stated, because of their giant size they are bred for war. They are powerful and fast, great for breaking ranks."

"You sure know quite a lot about creatures."

"When I was younger, all I had were books, so I read a lot." He shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly. "That and the ocarina." He smiled.

"Oh right!" Tsugi sat straight up. "Show me what you've learned with the daggers!"

Lugo smirked smugly and stood on his feet. Walking a distance away he pulled out the chained daggers that were tied to his belt. He bowed slightly before dropping the daggers and began his dance. Swinging and flinging the daggers, they whirled around him beautifully. The wind joined in and picked up the loose grass, swirling them around him.

"You trust me?" He smirked at Tsugi. She was all smiles, in complete awe at how much he progressed. She nodded with her mouth slightly ajar. She closed her mouth and inhaled deeply while fixing her posture. One corner on his lip curled into a smirk and he launched a dagger right to Tsugi's face. The tip of the dagger barely brushed the hair on Tsugi's nose right before he pulled it back and caught it in his hand.

A face splitting grin found its way onto Tsugi's face. She couldn't help but feel a great sense of elation for Lugo. He smiled proudly and sat back down next to Tsugi.

"If you like it that much, I should do that more often." He chuckled. "I have never seen you grin that much before."

"I'm just so proud of you. Seeing as how you nearly took off your own arm the first time you tried it." She chuckled at the memory.

"What are you talking about? I'm a natural, I did amazing the first time I tried it."

Tsugi smirked and rolled her eyes. "Mhm!" She lied. "Oh yeah, you were definitely a natural." She said sarcastically.

"Fine, you win." Lugo chuckled. "You definitely won hands down. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard you play. It was like a kryan's song calling me to my death." His eyes dramatically widened with fear, as he breathed the last word like it was his last. Tsugi chuckled and elbowed him. "What?" He chuckled. "I'm just telling you the truth."

Tsugi and Lugo laughed and talked for hours as the time flew by in an instant and dusk drew near. They were both so lost in their talk that they forgot the feeling of hunger.