“Harmoni!” Udo ran up to where she was sitting in the sand, head on her knees.

Aqua was there as well, talking with Fleck, but Harmoni focused on Udo, slowly lifting her head towards him.

Udo squatted beside her. He briefly reached for her shoulder, but paused, and dropped his arm. “Are you OK?”

“I-yes,” Harmoni said, nodding. “Just shaken.”

She was still literally shaking a bit, but she was calming down.

Udo smiled sympathetically. “Can’t say I blame you. Why don’t we go back now?”

If he knew about the puking, or noticed the shaking, he didn’t say anything.

“We can leave?” Harmoni asked.

Udo nodded. “The other three are going back on the bus, but we’ve got Aqua. We can go now.”

“Doesn’t . . . doesn’t Amier and Argone want people to stay?”

“Nah.” Udo shrugged. “It’s obvious this was a while ago. There’s nothing more you can do.”

“Oh. OK.”

Harmoni was ready to leave.

Fleck too.

Udo stood up and offered her a hand. Harmoni let him pull her up. They climbed onto Aqua. Fleck did too, being too young to fly.

“Ready?” Udo asked.

Harmoni glanced back at the slaughtered town. It looked mostly like it had last time she saw it, but somehow more abandoned, like it had been years since anyone lived here. If when she woke up was any indication, it had been between two and three weeks. Roughly.

“Is anything going to change in Xentron City?”

“From this? It’s already happened, and we know who did it, so not much. Amier might have more people on guard in Xentron City, in case anyone tries to attack the place. But Amier’s got limited resources. Even the Hidden Cult would be pretty bold to attack a place as significant as Xentron City, and he knows this.”

Harmoni frowned at the blue scales beneath her.

It sounded like this Hidden Cult would just get away with this. Fleck didn’t like the sound of that.

“I’m ready,” Harmoni finally answered Udo’s question. “I just want to go home now.”

Fleck saw Udo look surprised for a second. Then he smiled fondly. Before Fleck could process it, Aqua took off. They were going back.

~~~

It was darker than usual in the shop. Well, Udo hadn't turned on any lights, it was early in the morning, and it was cloudy.

"We might get rain," Aqua said. "It smells a bit like it."

"I'll warn you, that saying that it never rains unless it pours is rather literal here," Udo said.

Harmoni nodded, but continued to stare at him expectantly. They'd come in a little early. She doubted it was to talk about the weather, and it didn't seem to be about work either.

Udo held out a small cylinder, mostly brown, with a gray dial at the top. "Do you know what this is?"

Harmoni shook her head.

"This is a Link."

Ferren stopped writing at the front desk. Placing some sort of order? She was watching them now.

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"It's for communicating. More convenient than a phone. I'd like you to take it with you on your days off."

"Excuse me?" Ferren stated. "You want to give her something from work on her days off."

"Work has a phone," Udo corrected. "This is my personal one."

"Even worse," Ferren said. "This isn't a charity. You can't afford it, and she doesn't need it."

"I'm not giving it away. It's for communication in case something happens. If anything it could help with work."

"Do you think I care?" Ferren looked at the still silent Harmoni. "Don't take it."

Aqua turned to Ferren and snuffed. Even without Fleck, Harmoni could hear a warning when she heard it.

Udo was a bit kinder when he spoke, but still a little annoyed. With Ferren, and not Harmoni. "I don't believe you're in charge of that."

~~~

The rain drops were coming down now.

It was a normal day. Udo had been right. A few people wandering around seemed more armed, walked with company, or both. But otherwise, everything had been the same the past couple days.

Harmoni and Fleck were cleaning the floor, but they were actually on top of it today. All the pools and the bathroom for the riders was clean. Once the floor was done, they’d be done until a new customer came in.

True to Fleck's words, Harmoni could hear the faint ping of rain outside.

And true to Udo’s word, it was soon coming down hard, creating sheets on the windows, and forcing everyone to avoid the part of the building with no wall. It didn't even seem to go into the ground, the desert surface and pavement both too hard. Instead, rain ran down the street or in ditches like a river, or pooled in lower places.

But it wasn't so bad.

The sound of rain was peaceful, because they were inside.

At least, Harmoni had thought so.

They were supposed to go home soon, but maybe they could stay for some extra time today.

She and Fleck put the mop away. Harmoni moved to the front door and watched the dark clouds roll overhead, debating. It wasn't a storm per say. There was no thunder and lightning. And the clouds were light gray, instead of black. It was just a lot of water.

Good thing Ferren was off today. She'd scold Harmoni for blocking the entrance this long. She had before, after all.

Harmoni glanced back into the spa. It wasn't too busy of a day. Probably because of the weather. There was one guest right now.

Then a tapping came from behind her, at the door.

“Harmoni! Hey Harmoni!”

Harmoni turned towards the door, and stared. Cooper and Moon were standing out there, without an umbrella, water dumping on them. And yet, Cooper had some big dopey grin on his face.

Harmoni was slightly concerned. She opened the door.

“Cooper?”

Her concern changed to surprise as the two stepped just inside. Cooper shook his legs a bit, and got water to actually pour out of one of his shoes, like it was a bucket instead of a shoe.

Thankfully, they stayed in the entrance, not traipsing water all over the shop. Probably for the best that.

“Cooper!”

“Woo!” Cooper whistled. “You could use a kayak in this weather. Feels like all the water on the planet’s coming down.”

“Then what were you doing out in it?” Harmoni asked.

Cooper turned to her with a smile. “It’s dry and dusty even when you’re taking a bath on this planet.” Now that was a little hyperbolic, but she got what he meant. “This weather feels great.”

“You think so too?” Fleck asked Moon.

Rain was all fine and good for people with naked flesh, like those two, but it could get stuck in their scales and be pretty uncomfortable.

And Moon seemed to understand. She nodded. “At a certain point, any more water stops making a difference. And the alchemist and the dragon we live with, those two made a device to dry people off. Makes this whole thing much better.”

Cooper stood just inside the doorway, and stretched out his hand. “Come on Harmoni, you should join us.”

Harmoni pressed her lips together. She glanced out the door, and at Cooper’s hand, and at Udo. He and Aqua were helping a dragon out of the pool. They’d both spared a glance in their direction when Cooper came in, but had mostly ignored the whole thing.

Aqua actually gave a tiny nod in their direction. She’d given them the OK.

Cooper stepped just outside, rain falling back down on him. But he kept his hand outstretched. “Try it.”

The image would make a fantastic painting.

With that thought, she took his hand, and let him pull her out. The rain was coming down pretty hard, and her clothes clinging to her was uncomfortable. But once she was used to that, it was nice. It was colder and wetter than anything she’d experienced on this planet. So, more so than anything she remembered, really.

Cooper spun ahead of her and jumped in a puddle. She knew that was the cliché fun thing to do in the rain, but the puddles were getting so big she probably wouldn’t.

She did hold her arms out, and tip her head up. She spun on the spot, feeling rain come down on her face and outstretched palms. She could hear Cooper jumping nearby, even with her eyes closed.

Fleck watched out the window for a little, content to watch and smell. The water and rocks reminded him a bit of the cave. The faint wind was new though. He came out to be near Harmoni, and to join Moon.

Moon repaid him by splashing him with her tail. While he closed his eyes against the water, she ran off, and he was soon chasing her. They splashed each other a few times, ran up and down the path, and Moon came to a sudden stop. Fleck crashed into her and they rolled across the ground, a tangle of limbs and tails.

Soon Harmoni joined the others in laughing, lowering her head just as Cooper joined her on the side of the path.

“So?” he asked.

“You were right,” she agreed. “It’s nice out here. But, I should probably get dried off.”

If she just stood out in the rain with Cooper like this, she was going to get a cold.

“How about you come back with me?” Cooper asked. “Uh. If you're done of course. You and Fleck should join us, and meet the alchemist.”