I thank Cat, then accidentally let out a yawn. Goodness, how rude of me.

"Don't worry I am tired too. Go on up and get some sleep. Sleep as long as you want to, you don't work until tea time tomorrow. Are you feeling up for a fan dance as well as performing with me tomorrow tonight?" Cat asked.

"Yes, I absolutely am ready and willing to do that." I tell him firmly.

I was going to throw myself headfirst back into everything. There would be no holding back from here forward. There was something that I needed to accomplish no matter what else was in my life. I was going to save Zayne.

'You hear that Zayne. I am going to be saving you. So, umm, any boosts that you can provide will not be rejected.'

I didn't really hear a response, just laughing in my head. Well, that was a rather odd reply, but I did not plan on questioning it. I suppose it was a positive response.

"Now go to bed. I can't sleep until you leave." he said. His words were not the most polite, but the way that he was smiling let me know that he was saying it good naturedly.

I do as he says and make my way upstairs and to my room. I am hardly able to change into my pajamas and remove my make-up before I fall down face first onto my bed. I do recognize that it was a rather undignified way to get into my bed, but I did not feel like being dignified at the moment. I was simply a fourteen-year-old girl that wanted to get some sleep before another long day.

I pull back the bedding and slide into it. It was warm and comfortable. My body was a bit sore from using it so much after being sick for so long. I was content. Happy even. I was a little homesick, but I think that was going to be pretty normal, at least for a little while.

As soon as I close my eyes I slip off into a dream.

"Nila come on, come play with me!"

"Okay Sakura, what do you want to play?" she asks me, and I hear the excitement in her voice. Nila had come to live with us one year ago, and we became best friends right away. She had been stand-offish at first but was able to warm up to me rather quickly. Within the first night actually, which I found adorable.

"Do you want to play the Princess and the knight? You have to go set up some traps for me to get around so that I can rescue you! It's your favorite game, right?"

"Yes! Is there anywhere that is off limits today?"

"When I was talking to Momma earlier, she said that we shouldn't be playing around the hot springs as it would be distracting to the clients."

"Okay, that makes sense. How about in the garden and our club house?" she asks me.

"Okay!" I really liked our club house. The patrons had helped build it for us. The ones that visit a lot ended up really caring about me and Nila, and wanted to do something nice for us. They might have also done it in order to look more favorable in the eyes of our more popular cortisones. It worked.

"You have to go sit in the flower room and come out in... Hmm... Twenty minutes okay?" she says. I don't know how to track the time, and I don't think that she does either but that's okay because I know how long she needs to get ready.

I go to the flower room and sit to organize some of the flowers. While I really liked to play and get dirty and run around, I also liked things like flower arranging. I liked all of the pretty colors and the way that they smell. As I have such a sensitive nose I did arrange them a little differently, arranging them in ways that I think they smell prettiest, even if people don't think it looks as nice.

After I made two flower arrangements I leave the room and am very excited to see how Nila had set up her traps this time. Since she spent so long living on the streets, she was actually really good at setting traps.

"Ready or not, here I come!"

I wake up feeling very refreshed, although I missed Nila even more after having dreamed about our childhood together. I should write her a letter tonight. Even though it would worry her, I did plan on telling her about how I got sick. One of the reasons that I wanted to introduce Kay and Cat to my family was in case anything does happen to me. It was the lesser of the reasons, but I do know how important it is.

I bathe and get ready for the day, putting on one of my short, flowered dresses for the tea ceremony. I also grabbed my fans. No one would come near me when I was doing the ceremony which I found to be a rather good thing. I have told them that fans are a weapon I use, and they keep a respectful distance so that no one gets injured.

As I am finishing getting ready I hear a knock on my door before I see Emmelina come into the room.

"Hello Amaya, did you get enough rest?" she asks. I wonder if she is worried about my doing the tea ceremony today.

"I am feeling rather well rested. Thank you very much indeed for checking on me Emmelina. How are you feeling today?"

"I feel a little odd actually. I had gotten used to teaching Cat’s class, but he is returning to that and now it feels like something is missing. It turns out I really like teaching, an odd thing since I wasn’t the best student" she admits to me. "There is a little bit more time before tea, do you mind if I do your hair for you?" she asks me.

"Oh I don't mind at all. I like it when people do my hair." I say and take a seat on the bed. Back at home we often bonded this way, styling each other for the day ahead. Sadly, I wasn’t particularly good at it, but it seemed everyone enjoyed working with my hair.

I close my eyes a bit while she starts to work. "Is there something that you were wanting to talk about?" I ask her. I get the feeling there was something she wanted to talk about but I wasn’t certain as to what.

"I don't know. I thought it would be fun to talk about crushes.” Emmelina paused for a moment running a comb through my hair. “This is one of the ways that girls bond with one another isn't it?" she asks, seeming to genuinely not know.

I would like to get to know Emmelina more, although I have a feeling that she is not the type to open up to others easily. That was okay though I was a patient sort. "Alright then, that does sound like it could be fun. It seems this isn’t something that you, Vita and Hillie usually talk about?" I ask her.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Well, not so much. Hillie doesn't really like telling me about the girls that she likes, and Vita and Crestin have been going steady for a little while now. I do care for them dearly but it just isn’t juicy anymore."

"Oh I see. I did not know any of that, though I would not have guessed you were one for gossip. Are you sure that they are alright with you talking about this with me?"

"Are you sure you have healed up well, it seems you have forgotten what type of tavern we are. No one cares. We are all very open about our romantic inclinations. Our patrons also know very well our leanings and preferences."

"Oh right, how foolish of me. It is the first thing in my morning and I fear I must still be waking up, yes that is my explanation. Are you wondering if I was planning on taking anyone to bed with me when I get a little older?"

"To be honest, that is something that I have been wondering and had yet to find a courteous way to ask. If you are interested in such, some of our past workers have altered their uniforms in specific ways to show that they may be open to an amorous and fun night."

"I see. Thank you very much for letting me know. I was unaware of some of the more nuanced practices. And at this time that is not something that I am interested in. I have nothing against the practice, but it does not suit me. I have my eyes too set on a goal."

"Haha, I thought that might be the case. If your mind changes at any time let one of us know, okay? This will not get you out of answering the rest of my questions about what type of person you like and why."

"I will keep that in mind, but I fear I will disappoint you in your quest. Despite being surrounded by such attractive and interesting people my body has yet to inform me of its preference. Honestly, I sometimes worry about that, how did you decide that this was something that you are comfortable with?"

Emmelina sets the comb down as she seems to be thinking over the questions. "It's fun." she says and shrugs her shoulders. "Though recently I have been thinking that it might be fun to be in a committed relationship. Its practically like I am growing up and maturing, but don’t tell Hillie I said that.”

"Do you have anyone in mind?" I ask, having a hard time hiding my growing curiosity.

"Haha, I am not sure. There is someone who amuses me, but I am unsure whether our age difference makes him uncomfortable." she says.

Age difference? Surely she can’t mean… No it couldn’t be that, I would have noticed something right? I was however unconscious for the better part of a week and a half, I supposed that it was possible I missed a few things during that time.

"I see. You do not seem very much older than I am. How old are you if you are comfortable with me asking?"

"Oh, not at all. Me, Vita and Hillie are all 18. As is Cat" she says and finishes with a wink.

"Yes that would make sense, I’m guessing you all tested as young as you were able to as well?"

"Yes, the lure of adventure calls to all of us strongly, well called."

"We are adventurers. With such short lives I don't think that age means very much to us. I mean, Kay is the oldest amongst us." I say and laugh softly.

"Ami, how do you feel about Kay? The two of you seem to be rather close. You and Cat as well." Emmelina had picked out a few ribbons and was weaving them into my hair.

"What is the best way to describe it? He is like an older little brother? A new friend that I feel I have known all my life? Its Kay, I find him hard to pin down with words. And Cat seems like an extension of myself at this point. I would say he is like a familiar, but in fairness I would be the familiar in that pair wouldn’t I?”

Emmelina laughs as she puts the finishing touches on my hair. “Ah, there we are you are all done.”

"Thank you Emmelina." I say as I walk over to the mirror. She had done a partial up-do style, leaving some of my hair cascading over my shoulders and also left my bangs. "You really are talented at this." I tell her.

A thought I couldn’t get out of my head lingered on my lips. “Emmelina, do you think relationships in a guild would do it harm?”

“I wish I could say no, but the closer someone is to your heart the more pain they can cause. And that, well that can hurt any friendship. Still, I don’t think that is too much of a concern with our guild.”

"Thank you for your words of wisdom. It was fun to talk girl talk with you, although it seems neither of us have a well-defined romantic interest in anyone." we both laugh a bit like young girls and go down the stairs together.

I slip into the kitchen and see what treats George had made. I woke a touch too late to be able to make treats with him today. It was a bit sad, as I liked baking with George.

"Hello George, what tasty treats do you have for us today?"

"Tarts and cookies. Raspberry and lemon." He says and shows me.

I look them over and take in their smells as well. I wanted to mix my own tea today to go along with it. I had not been able to mix tea for a little while now and thought it sounded rather lovely.

"Do you mind if I get into the tea?"

"Nope. Have fun." He firmly places one of the tarts in my hand, of course I do not refuse such a delicious treat.

I take him up that and end up making a rose, lavender and citrus blend. I am satisfied with the way that it smells and I am hopeful that the people attending tea would be satisfied by the way that it tastes. As a test I take a large chomp out of the tart followed with a second sniff test, perfect. I bring it out and give everyone a smile.

"I am so glad that you are back."

"I was so worried about you!"

"You look so beautiful, not at all like you are recovering from being sick."

I heard these and other positively kind and wonderful comments.

"Thank you all. I am glad to be back with you all as well." I tell them. "Now, please do make sure to keep a distance from me as I am dancing with weapons. I just think that they are so beautiful that I cannot help but use them.”

People gave a positive response, and I began my dance. I almost lost myself to it completely. The way that I felt when I moved was grace and freedom, my body felt light, nimble and agile. It was glorious. The steps flowed like water, one movement gracefully moving into the next.

When I was done with the fan dance, I was a little disappointed. It was truly fun, but I did need to go review my notes before evening. I thank everyone for joining me and make my way up the stairs.

I review until evening, feeling as though I do have a good grasp of the information, which is a relief honestly. I had my concerns that I would be too far behind to be able to understand the material. Just to be certain I look over Kay’s notes and determine that since I am able to understand them I must fully grasp the concepts. I smile, I was ready to return to my courses.

It seems as though I had gotten lost in my notes as I was the slightest bit startled when Cat came into the room.

"Sorry for scaring you, I thought it was normally cats that got scared." He says and gives a teasing smile.

"Not a problem. I am tough. And who says that you startled me." I say, wondering if he was able to see my bluff. Well, honestly, I knew that he was able to, but Cat seemed to like playing games and I did as well.

"Uh huh, I guess your hair jumped all on its own."

"How ridiculous. Such things do not occur." I tell him earnestly. He laughs, and I do too. "You know Cat, after all of this I am beginning to wonder if my lute skills are doing to be higher than my blades."

"Hmm, it will be fun to find out if that is the case and I always have wanted a bard in the team." He says and I suppose that it is true. I don't care how things look on paper, I know how I wished to fight, and that was enough for me.

We decided to play the music game again this time, but the patrons asked if they could be the ones to sing the verses today. We happily agreed and allowed them to do so. Some of the lyrics that they came up with had me laughing so hard that I felt as though I wasn't going to be able to continue my strumming. It is difficult to play while laughing, but it was so genuinely happy.

When we are done, I leave Cat waiting for me while I ran upstairs. I quickly changed into clothes that were easy to move around in. My rather short shorts, cropped top, and cloak. There we go, I am ready to fight. I plan on being even more clever this time somehow than I was last time. My dreams reminded me that I have always been good at facing a challenge and coming out of it with my head held high.

I did, however have a few questions for Cat.

"Cat, I have a few questions that shall make my training with Alice all the more fun, and most likely entertaining for you."

"Sounds fun. Ask away." he says.

"Well, I was able to use my faux fire last night, but I do have another skill. Is there a way to use it that will not actually hurt Alice, but instead possibly jolt her, as though she was zapped by static?"

"Well, there are ways. You should be sure to test it against yourself before someone else though with the difference in your levels and stats I don’t think you could hurt her if you tried."

"Yes, that does sound like the reasonable thing to do." I say in agreement.

"Now what skill is it?"

"Elemental weapons."

"Interesting." He says and explains to me what I need to do on our way to the practice field.