Fleck knew there was a ship out by the pink ocean. And he knew people had gotten off by now. But that wasn't super closer, and the smells of ocean and spaceship were stronger than the smell of any individual person.

He wanted to know who was there, and he knew Harmoni did too. She was just, having a little trouble.

Using the trunk to support herself, Harmoni shakily got to her feet. At one point, a leg buckled, and Fleck caught her.

They started for the ocean, going off the trail. There wasn’t enough undergrowth for cutting through the forest to be a problem.

Something was unusual here. He could tell two different people had left the ocean, their scent getting stronger. And they seemed. . .familiar. As they got closer, he was pretty sure one of the people was a colbber. And the other. . .seemed like a dragon.

He stopped, eyes widening.

Harmoni figured it out at the same time as Fleck. She knew who it was when the bushes started rustling in front of her, and two blurs came racing through. It was still a surprise though.

“Harmoni!” Cooper cried, launching into a hug. He lifted her up, and it was a good thing, because she was not sure she’d stay standing otherwise. “It’s so good to see you!”

Moon’s greeting was similar. She jumped on top of Fleck, only one leg and her tail landing on the ground. Her tongue hung out a bit, like a dog. Then she pulled away and started jumping back and forth, getting a better look at him.

Fleck had liked the bit of tussling. He rolled his eyes at the change, but looked at her as well. Moon had gotten bigger, about the same height and a little longer than him. She was lean, compared to his boxy build.

Harmoni laughed, just a little, thanks to Fleck’s overwhelming feelings. But, she had her own feelings to work on.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Cooper. “How are you here?”

“We came to see you, obviously,” Cooper said. “And uh, it was sort of hard to get here, but a ship was coming from Xentron anyway. Made it possible to get a lift.”

Ah.

That wasn’t insignificant. Sure, maybe you could fly one way, but there was the trip back as well. And spaceships weren’t common to Iva. Harmoni wasn’t even sure if they had any spacestations, or if all ships just landed where they could, like this shallow ocean.

She sort of wanted to yell at Cooper.

She wanted to be mad at Cooper in general, but she wasn’t. Not completely. And Fleck wasn’t at all. He was touched, and excited to see the familiar faces.

‘You’re just glad you have someone you can speak out loud to,’ Harmoni thought. Before now, she and Asplenium were the only options.

Well, maybe. But that made Moon and Cooper’s action more sweet, not less.

“I’m glad we found you. What have you been doing?” Cooper stepped back and held his hands out. He didn’t sound angry, just . . . concerned. “You just vanished without a trace. I went to Udo, but he didn’t know where you were either, and apparently he couldn’t call you on the Link? I traced the Link when he mentioned that. It’s how I knew what planet you were on. But even then, I couldn’t get a very specific location, and the Link died shortly after? It's a good thing you were close by, so Moon's sense of smell could help.”

Yes, colbbers could trace technology like that, couldn't they? That's how they'd found Harmoni when she was kidnapped. But last she checked, Cooper hadn't been able to. It's why they'd used a different colbber.

“Udo and I were really worried,” Cooper finished.

“You were?” Harmoni managed, putting that thought aside for the moment.

Cooper sputtered for a moment, mechanical hand twitching. “Of course?” He sighed, and his voice and expression became a little slower. “You’re my friend. I don’t know exactly how Udo sees you, but you matter to him too. Someone I care about vanishing without a trace, on a planet with a shaky idea of law, right after you were kidnapped? Yeah. I was going to worry. And, you know, the galaxy is a big place. Nine planets? Where do you even start when someone disappears?”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The dragon’s reunion was less intense. The two were content to lightly wrestle each other, and catch each other up on what they’d been doing.

"We saw the baby dragons! You know, the ones you two rescued from the Dalton labs?" Moon had been telling him. "They're doing much better. They were playing with the other dragons their age when we went. And they're looking healthier. Some of them look like nothing ever went wrong at all. They wanted us to pass along their thanks. Which is what I'm doing. Right now."

But it would be hard to ignore the rider’s conversation, even if they wanted to.

Harmoni was having a bit of trouble keeping up. Oh she was processing the words, and she felt a little bad as Cooper's sank in. But it was taking longer to do that and form a coherent response than usual, still tired from trying magic and listening to two topics. At least it was nice to hear about the babies.

“Sorry,” she said. “I thought-with Cembra and Ferren-”

Cooper cut her off, putting a finger to her lips. “Woah, wait. This has to do with Ferren?”

“Sort of.”

Ferren had told her to get lost, and she had done so. But that was only because she’d rightly called out Harmoni’s dark magic, after Harmoni used it to kill someone.

“Sorry.” Cooper took a step back. “It’s just, Udo and Ferren had some sort of falling out. I don’t know if she’s officially fired, but something happened, and I haven't seen her at the spa in a while. I guess it has something to do with you.”

Maybe that was supposed to make Harmoni feel better, but it just made her feel worse instead. Maybe it was time to change the subject.

She looked back up at Cooper. This really just involved not looking at the ground. Harmoni was taller than him. She hadn't been before, when she last saw him.

Filing that away. She let herself smile sincerely. It wasn’t hard. “I’m glad you came. It’s good to see a friend again. But, uh, about getting back. . .”

“Oh. Don’t worry. The spaceship here goes back to Xentron in a week. Apparently the planets are doing some kind of supply trade?”

“We helped!” Moon exclaimed, poking her head up.

Fleck was pinning her shoulder down, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Yeah, apparently Moon’s ability to freeze things was nice.”

“And your ability to lift,” Moon snorted.

Given space was already cold and frozen, the bizarre nature of Cooper’s statement was not lost on Fleck.

“So uh, we can go back in a week.” Cooper rubbed the back of his head, with his flesh hand. “I was sort of hoping you’d come back with us.”

Harmoni smiled still, but it was strained.

Fleck would describe it as sad.

“I’m afraid I can’t. I loved Xentron.”

And she was a little surprised to realize she meant it. Despite its problems Harmoni had liked Xentron. It wasn’t just a place she passively accepted being in, and it wasn’t just Fleck’s emotions sloshing into hers (though that probably played a role). It was a place she genuinely enjoyed and would chose to be at.

“And I missed you.” And Udo and Aqua. “But I started going to the magic school here.”

“You mean like, the one I took a pamphlet for?”

Harmoni nodded. “The same. So. If I left now, I wouldn’t get much learning done.”

“Oh. Well, it’s a shame you won’t be coming back, but I don’t blame you!” Cooper quickly assured her. “That sounds really cool! In fact! Do you think, maybe, you could show me around?”

Fleck and Moon paused what they were doing.

“What do you think?” Fleck asked. “Think we should tour with them?”

“Of course.” Moon seemed pretty eager to explore a magic school that wouldn’t be any good for her. But then again, so was Cooper. “But you have to show me where you’ve been hanging out as well. I doubt it’s just this school.”

~~~

Harmoni, Cooper, and the dragons had a fun wander. Harmoni showed him the stables where she worked, and the tower where she lived. She showed him the cafeteria, and mentioned what the classrooms were for as they passed, if she knew.

Moon and Fleck listened, but also talked a bit as they traversed the halls. There was certainly time in between destinations.

Apparently, Moon had joined some other dragons in playing ice ball. It was a bit like hockey, but instead of a puck there was a round ball made of ice. And the dragons used their legs or tails to hit the ball. (Using their wings or mouth was against the rules.) And since the dragons used their own ice to make the "rink", and they were creatures that could fly, the playing area could take on some interesting configurations. Slopes or platforms were common. Apparently, Moon had helped make some interesting spiral configurations. There were regular meetings, and she'd had fun playing.

Without Cooper. Or any other riders. Harmoni had never felt like Fleck was overprotective, and she still didn't think so, but now she was a bit concerned. After all, the only time he seemed to meet other dragons was when they were with a rider of their own.

'I can't play ice ball. I can't breath ice.' Or anything else.

Harmoni frowned. 'You need to breath ice to make the rink, but you don't need it to play the rest of the game, do you?'

'Don't lose track of your tour.'

She hadn't.

They poked their heads into a few classrooms, but Harmoni didn't want to disrupt things if there was a class going on, and the empty rooms themselves weren’t that interesting. Except maybe the potions room.

It smelled like it had never been damaged.

But the door was locked, and Cooper couldn’t put anything in the key hole. It would fail like he was pressing it against the door, instead of an opening, bouncing away.

“There was a little accident with the potions room,” Harmoni told him.

‘Keeping it vague I see.’

“I guess they put up some magic defenses.”

“Oh.” Cooper drooped, but it only lasted a second. “Maybe I can see the room when there’s a class.”

Fleck remembered how it had gone when a dragon tried to go into the room. Harmoni was remembering that, and Rasha’s situation as well. But while Harmoni was worried, Fleck thought it would be hilarious. And yes, even if the same potions teacher did dare show his face, it would be safe. There'd be two dragons to make sure of it.

"But, uh," Cooper continued, "We can leave for now. If there's anything else you want to show me, let's go there."