{It's dark out here.}

{Yes it is, Alvaro. Don't be so scared.}

{I’m not scared for my sake. I am afraid of you getting hurt…or worse.}

{We both know that there isn't anything that will kill me…on earth at least.}

{That’s what you say but nothing surprises me anymore. Please be careful.}. I think about how important Huehue has become to our little family. It’s hard to define a family without a mother and father and children at its center. The people in my life have become my family. I know that Milagros needs all the adult supervision available.

{I’ll be fine. Worry about the people.}. Huehue brushes her braid to the side.

{But you are there.}

{Yes, my dear Alvaro but I'm only one person…}

{Who can multiply herself to be in different places…}

{Not without tiring myself out though and it takes a lot of concentration too. I only use it when I have to. Let's hope that if I have to use it, it won't be for too long.}

{I was half joking when I said that. You can actually multiply?}. A dozen Huehues come to mind, all fulfilling a mundane task.

{I’m not human, Alvaro. There are many things I can do beyond what you have seen or experienced.}

{What are you capable of doing when you multiply your form like that?}

{Do you mean to ask what I'm capable of doing when in a fight or in a more, mmm, intimate situation?}

[al]

{I, uh, um…}. My face grows hot. If I can feel when her body reacts to an external stimulus, can she feel when my body does as well?

{Hmmm?}. Something tells me that she knows. I admit. I’m stuck. But I won’t let her know that. I think.

{Are you sure you are at the right coordinates?}. I changed the topic as quickly as it had begun.

{You’re no fun, Alvaro. Yes. I followed the instructions on the map as per Romina’s orders. , I don't know what you see in her.}

{She’s kind, intelligent, and very educated.}

{Maybe from books. There's also experience. And honestly, she has none.}. She puffs her cheeks out with frustration.

{Huehue, on what basis are you claiming experience?}

{Wouldn’t you like to know.}. Her tail comes into view, but I can feel its weight as it swishes from side to side.

{Ay, Huehue!}. She can be fun but now is not the time. {Get ready. I think I see the camp in the distance.} I wonder to myself if she noted the exasperation in my voice…or if I was too rude to her.

{I’ll get there.}

{Why on earth did you decide not to use a horse?}

{I’m faster, and it's easier for me to maneuver. Just watch.}

And with that, my vision becomes blurred as HueHue accelerates towards the camp.

{Look out Huehue!} I start to breathe hard. My lungs begin to burn and no way to stop to rest. It’s the bad part of sharing the experience with the demigoddess.

I spot A group of soldiers on horseback from the corner of our eye. They are fast approaching. The indigenous folk are traveling on foot during the night. Now near dawn, they are settling into the nearby canyon.

{Someone must have alerted the soldiers to their whereabouts.}. I huff.

{It doesn’t…take…much…really.}. Even though Huehue is speaking to me in her mind, her interval voice is every bit as exasperated as the rest of her body. It demonstrates the strong tie between body and mind.

{Why is that?}

{Just…think…that Romina sends out people to leave tanks…of water…for these refugees.}

{They are escaping persecution from neighboring towns.}. Huehue knows about war, and humor, but is she experienced in compassion?

{Yes, but are…they…seeking…help…here.}

{Romina is offering help and a place to stay temporarily until a new route has been prepared for them.}. I remind her.

{So…there is…somewhere else?}

{Yes. This is not their journey’s end.}

{Let us hope so.}

And with that, the soldiers are upon the travelers. They corral them. A few stragglers try to escape but the soldiers quickly react. Pistols are shot into the air. One young woman runs up the canyon walls trying to escape. One soldier aims for the young woman.

“No, you don’t!” Huehue leaps toward the soldier and tackles him off his horse. He lands hard on the ground. Huehue leaps back into the canyon’s shadows. The soldier is confused as he looks around in the darkness. People scream and cry and whimper at the commotion.

“These people have done nothing to you. They have committed no crime against you.”

Huehue yells out from the darkness”. The sound of her voice bounces off the canyon walls and helps hide her location from the soldiers.

One soldier moves ahead of the rest. “We are here on orders. You are not privy to them. Now surrender or we will be forced to rein you in, dead or alive.”

“Those are bold words, Commander.” Huehue chuckles, more to her own amusement instead of the rest of the world. “Do you think you have the huevos to back them up?”

{Huehue, really? Where'd you learn to talk like that.}. I am so disappointed in her use of filthy language.

{I knew you'd like that. Heh heh!}.

…