Tsugi’s eyes filled with horror and stirred up horrible memories. Her heart raced and her breath got away from her.

“Just kidding!” Lugo chuckled and turned around to grin at her, but his grin soon faded, when he saw her in distraught. “I was just kidding! Are you okay?” He quickly leaned over the bed and grabbed onto one of her shoulders, shaking her out of her daze.

“Yeah.” Tsugi breathed.

“I was just kidding. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I was just trying to make you laugh.”

“That’s not something to joke about.” Tsugi's voice was low and she tried to hold off her anger.

“I’m sorry, I thought you could hear the sarcasm in my voice. I was just joking.”

“Well, don’t!” Tsugi’s eyes were now red and filled with tears of anger as her fists shook with fury. She blinked a few times, taking in deep breaths to calm herself. “I’m going to check on Ruzo and order some food for us.” She grabbed her cloak and stormed out of the room.

Her breathing was labored as she held onto the halls of the inn to support the weight of her body. She swallowed hard to push the rock lodged in her throat away and she knelt on the floor, hunched over, trying to get a hold of herself.

“I’m okay…I’m okay, I’m okay…” She breathed to herself and tried to soothe her horror away. The memories began to flash in her mind. All the pain seared into her body ached and burned with every flash, every kick, every whip.

***

A slobbery lick to her face wakes her as she finds herself cuddled up to Ruzo in the barn. The sun light was beaming in through the cracks of the barn and the smell of morning dew filled the air. She could hear the faint chatters of villagers as they walked by outside.

“I guess I fell asleep in here.” She mutters, running her fingers through Ruzo’s fur. He sniffs and licks her face, bringing comfort to her. The morning air had a slight chill to it. She snuggled into his rough fur, almost burying herself in it and warmed herself against his body heat. Ruzo curled himself around her when she shivered into him.

The sound of the barn door creaks open. “Alright, nice piping hot beef stew.” Lugo entered the stall with a smile on his face. His hair was tousled and he had bags under his eyes. Even in his loose shirt and messy hair, he looked absolutely breathtaking.

“Are you okay?” Lugo asked.

Tsugi cleared her throat, fluttering her eyelashes like the wings of a hummingbird. “What are you doing here?”

“Tsugi?” Lugo stared at her with wide eyes as if surprised to see her in such a place.

“Yes?”

“Oh, I…I was bringing soup for…Ruzo.”

“That small bowl isn’t going to be enough for him. You see how big he is?” She gestured a hand to Ruzo as if he didn’t notice the creature three times the size of a horse.

“Oh. Well, then…you eat it. I’ll get him some later.” Lugo walked into the stall and handed one of the bowls to Tsugi.

“Uh…thank you.” She hesitantly took the bowl.

“It’s really hot, so be careful.” He said as he blew at his spoonful before sipping it. “Hodhodhodhod.” He clicked his tongue. “I think I burnt my tongue.”

Tsugi chuckled. “Didn’t you just tell me that it was hot?”

“I just didn’t realize it was this hot.” He blew at another spoonful before eating it. “Are…are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You didn’t return to the room last night.”

“Yeah, I must’ve fallen asleep here.” Tsugi took a sip of his stew.

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“I’m really sorry about upsetting you yesterday. I won’t say anything like that again.”

“It’s not a joking matter. Things like that really do happen to some people.” She clenched her eyes and took a deep breath. “Let’s just drop it and pretend it never happened. I don’t want to think about it anymore.” She smiled wryly.

“Okay. After we eat, let’s tour the town.”

“Didn’t you want to do research?”

“Nah. We still have the rest of the week. We can take our time. We just got here, let’s relax for a little bit. I forgot we are in a different area of the world, so the moonlight festival is actually tonight.”

“Where’s Ellie? Have you checked on her?”

“No. I’ve been here with you.”

“I thought you just got here?”

“I mean, I came straight here to feed Ruzo after waking up. I didn’t check on Ellie yet. She’s probably still sleeping. I mean, I can’t even communicate with her anyways, and even if I knock on her door, she can’t hear me. I didn’t want to just walk into her room either.”

“Yeah, you definitely shouldn’t walk into a woman’s room.” She chuckled. “Although,” Tsugi rubbed her chin. “I’m curious if she’ll beat the crap out of you or just kill you.”

“How do you wake her up then?”

Tsugi shrugged her shoulders. “She’s used to me. I’ve been with her for years.”

Lugo pouted, “You are always surrounded by women and get along well with them too.”

“Jealous?” Tsugi teased. “I just have the woman’s touch.” She grinned at her inside joke.

“Uh-huh, sure. I remember there was a time when I was able to loosen up the women to talk, and you were the one that was struggling with them.”

“Oh how the tables have turned. You seem to have lost your touch over the years.”

“You have any idea how sucky it is to be stuck with Jenene? She’s so…hovering. I have no time to myself. She’s always working me to the bone, I barely had any time to warm up to anyone.” He pouts, blowing at another spoonful before sipping it.

“Boo-hoo. You’re being a big baby, just because you didn’t get to woo anyone, awe, that’s so sad.” Tsugi pouted dramatically.

“Hey, you can’t say anything, you were surrounded by beautiful women the whole time you were gone.”

Tsugi rolled her eyes and quickly finished her stew. “You can sit here and wallow in your self-pity. I need to take Ruzo out for a little exercise.” Tsugi returned her bowl to the inn and left in search of a big open field, which was nearly impossible on the mountain top. There were only short areas of grass and trees, before another climb or drop. The only area that seemed to be flat was where the city was built.

They stood on a cliff above the city below that was strung with hanging lanterns and flowery vines. The towering trees brought a beautiful sight of greenery to the gloomy day.

Ruzo and Tsugi continued to climb up the path and wound around the mountain to the very top. The mountain was surrounded by a thick fog that obscured the sea below. She could see the tops of the trees, and their green leaves poking up through the fog. The island wasn’t as small as she had thought it to be. It was still pretty vast and she could even see the faint shadow of another mountain far off in the distance.

The cool breeze blew her hair as it danced in her face. Even Ruzo closed his eyes and his nose wiggled as he sniffed the breeze. The smell of fresh rain and salty sea filled her nostrils as she slowly raised her arms to her sides, feeling the wind swirl around her.

“Why do you do that?” Lugo said quietly as he sat next to her.

Tsugi sighed and glared at him, before closing her eyes again. “I like the feeling of the wind. It makes me feel like I’m flying.”

“Why? You want to fly?”

“I think it would be nice to fly away from everything and everyone. Just me, free and serene without a single worry.”

“You can’t escape reality forever.”

Tsugi sighed and dropped her arms. “Do you always have to ruin my moments of peace? What’s with you anyways. Wasn’t it you who always tried to do ridiculous things to make me smile? Now it seems like you are doing the exact opposite and trying to ruin everything for me.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it seem like that. I was just stating the truth.”

“Yeah, but can’t you just let me have my moment of peace? If I could escape for just a moment and fly off somewhere, it would be the best thing in the world.”

“Okay, so let’s say you can fly. Where would you go?”

“I don’t know, I’d just fly around for a while, just to feel the wind in my hair and get away from all the realities of the world for a while.”

Lugo pursed his lips and nodded along. “That would be nice.”

They both sighed. “If only.” They said in unison and stared at each other for a moment before breaking into laughter.

“Let’s head back.” Tsugi said. “We still need to check on Ellie.”

“Can I ask you something?” Lugo scratched his head as they descended the mountain.

“Sure.”

“Did something happen when you were younger? I mean, like…before we met.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean like, something…really bad.”

Tsugi pushed the resurfacing memories away and took a deep breath. “Don’t everyone go through a phase where they think bad things occurred?” Tsugi chuckled nervously. “I mean, I already told you I lost my family. What else is there?”

“I mean, like something traumatic, that maybe you wanted to forget or don’t remember.”

“Well, if I don’t remember, then how am I supposed to remember it?” Tsugi smiled wryly. “Didn’t you say the moonlight festival is tonight? We should hurry back and get ready.” She didn’t want to talk about the horrible memories anymore. Shoving them back into the box, she took a deep breath. “Race you to the city!”