“All right, everyone; that is it for this year, I will see you in January for Japanese!” Mrs. Liang said on the Friday that marked the end of our fall and introduced us to Winter Break. Yeah, yeah, I skipped ahead again. But basically the past week has been just as quiet and lethargic as we thought it was going to be, schoolwise, at least. We had a fairly slow week in-game as well. Most of the time we were just focused on crafting, and then there was a power outage one day that kept us offline for a couple hours, and last night we managed to all get together again with Derwydd and a few of his guildies to take on a raid dungeon in the Tundralands, where we fought a bunch of yetis and winter-wraiths.

Why this dungeon? Because there was a rumor it had items that might come in handy for certain holiday quests that were due in about a week. We found a few odd things for sure, aside from all the resources and other loot we picked up, and stashed them away just in case. The last boss in that dungeon was definitely not for our usual party, even as rounded out as it's become. We absolutely needed the members from Dreamers Fables.

Maryn and Gondron, a tank from the other guild, had to switch in and out time to time so that they wouldn't get completely pulverized by his rampage attack. That was a tricky mechanic to overcome. And besides Healina and Snow Dancer, there were a couple other healers running around to keep us up as well. Belle and Derwydd focused on casting debuffs and ailments on it, and the rest of us did as much damage as we could when we could. At the end of that hour-long battle with the Abominable Snow King, we were fairly tuckered out. Our winnings were divvied out, and then we parted ways to log off.

And that pretty much sums up the week. Except that Belle and Lysandra seem a lot more friendly together than they were at the first. They'd met up in real life a few times by now though, so I guess that's not much to be surprised about.

So after school, I got out of my uniform and put on some normal clothes, then I headed out again to spend time with Rachel at the bookstore cafe we'd started frequenting. When I got there (about ten minutes early), I decided to wait on a nearby bench until she joined me before heading inside. As I sat there, I suddenly felt the same sort of feeling I had on that night the mysterious stranger had passed me a few weeks ago now. I looked up and towards my right.

I caught my breath as I indeed witnessed the self-same stranger, all in black. It was light enough outside yet for me to see that they were female. Her hair was jet black, and her eyes had a certain somberness to them. As she was about to pass me by she halted. I had stopped looking at her by then to return my attention to my phone, in case Rachel sent a message, but she came over to me, her face showing a puzzled expression.

“Sorry, you just... reminded me, of someone. I don't even know her, not her real name, but the way you're sitting there... sorry! I don't... usually talk, to anyone. I just, felt compelled, this time.” she told me.

That softness in her voice. The way she talks. It can't be.

“Ahh -- don't worry about it!” I said to her. She smiled.

“Thanks. You're waiting for someone?”

“My girlfriend, yeah.”

“Hm? I see.” she nodded. She gazed at me again, a sort of smile on her face. “If your hair was red, and longer, and your face more... girlish... you could be her twin.” she smiled, and then turned to go.

It was at that moment that I realized I had unconsciously crafted Lana's appearance to be not dissimilar to my own, by and large. With that, I was now fairly certain that I had indeed met Myanihia Black in the flesh.

Sh-sh-sh-she lives in th-th-this neighborhood? N-n-n-nobody told me that!! … I guess no one knew, really... heh? If she's Lysandra's half-twin, wouldn't she also be a college student? Or does she do something different? Private tutors? Online courses? Heh? How exactly do you keep siblings apart yet still in the same family or so without them really knowing about each other until practically adulthood anyway?

These sorts of questions racked my brain as I sat there, and then Rachel put a hand on my shoulder, smiling.

“Thanks for waiting! You didn't have to do it outside, though!” she giggled.

“Ahh... I mean, it's fine, really. Ah! Wind!” I said as a cold gust made its presence known, sending us to scurry on inside.

We sat down at one of the booths that came with a small bookshelf instead of a window, and a server came to grab our orders. Once these were placed, we sat for a brief moment in silence, content to be together in what had become a special place for us in the real world of our lives. Rachel leaned her head onto my shoulder, and I gently wrapped my arm around her. After another moment more the two of us became preoccupied with the selection of games from the holo-board selection, browsing through titles and trying to decide on one.

“Maybe just a classic checkers game?” she suggested.

“We can do that,” I agreed, pressing a button that brought up not only checkers but several derivations or variations of it, as well as options for chess and related games. “Ah! Look at all of them...” I said as she reached a hand to flip through them.

“Hmm...” she mused. “Diamond Checkers, Go, Shogi, Hnefatafl, Five Lines... neat!”

“We can try classic checkers for a bit and then try one of the others?”

“Definitely. Think we'll see Go or Shogi in Mrs. Liang's class next year?”

“Oh that'd be fun. She might even bring in a real board and pieces, too, knowing her,” I said.

“True! We can ask Anhe about it later.” Rachel nodded.

“Right,” I returned.

Our orders then arrived, and when we had eaten a bit Rachel pressed the button to activate the red-and-black checker board with its pieces. After I had lost a few rounds of this (much to her amusement), we played a couple rounds of Diamond Checkers, then moves on to Go, which was much harder than it seemed at first. After that we settled for a game of chess, where I managed to checkmate her, only to be beaten by her quick adaptation to Shogi shortly after.

I didn't mind a bit. I was just happy. By the time we got around to ordering dinner I had even forgot about going home to get on for Panarena. We were completely absorbed in the moment, selecting board games to outwit each other at or snitching something from the other's plate and smirking at them as they returned the favor. This. This is living. This is having fun. I enjoy Panarena, a lot, I really do. But right now, I want to be here, I thought as I reached over to kiss her. And I knew she was thinking the same.

Well, eventually, we had to go home. I walked Rachel back to her and Andrea's house, where we parted in the real world for the night, and then headed home. It was now about eight, and when I got home it was nearly quarter past. I exchanged greetings with my folks, who told me that grandpa was slowly recovering, much to our relief, and then went upstairs to join my friends again in that magical otherworld.

I materialized in Cloverbell, which I had come back to after one of our bounty quests to get things in order for our being away nearly a week, and found the others were gathering in Xuanpu. I finished with my current task, and then wayported to Queen's Haven to meet up with them.

“Hey, Lana!” Lizzy called as she caught sight of me. “We might end up doing some dungeon raiding again with Dreamers for the night. Looks like that's the way things are going.”

“That's fine,” I replied. “Ooh, I know what we could do... let's try some Memphani dungeons!”

“Oh right! They're supposed to have great crafting dungeons there,” she replied as the two of us headed inside.

“I've read that too,” I nodded.

“Read what?” Ari asked as we entered the foyer.

“Details about dungeons in Memphani,” I replied.

“Oh! Speaking of which, we haven't decided where to go yet,” she said.

“Hmm.” I nodded as we turned into the hall, where I was not surprised to see a few members of Dreamers Fables already gathered with us.

“Lana! Great!” Derwydd sighed in relief. “Any ideas on your end that don't involve returning to that jungle-dungeon in Yucu?” he asked me with a hopeful look.

“Ahh... Memphani...?” I replied with a half grin, remembering how we had needed to rescue them last week.

“Oh, excellent!” Snow Dancer clapped her hands. “Let's take the wayport to Harmonia City and then find a train to Xandria!” she said at once.

“Good plan, but maybe we should try Pithoeses; it's closer to the Ancient Tombs there, as well as a few quarries and crafting dungeons.” Lysandra suggested.

“Ahh, right, good call,” the other girl agreed.

“Sweet! We have our all-nighter plan! Let's go!!” Lizzy beamed happily, and we were off to Pithoeses.

***

So yeah. We did an all-night run in Mephani, near the City of the Dead close to Pithoeses, where we quickly overcame a couple of regular dungeons only to be surprised at the crafting ones, which gave us more trouble than we bargained for. It was clearly meant for a larger group, but we stubbornly pressed on. It helped that a couple of Dreamers members had their own personal pets or mercenaries, and we ourselves had decided to bring Fyu along. It took us the better part of that day and most of the night to get through those two dungeons, but it was well worth it in the end. All of our more dedicated crafters were certainly pleased, eagerly dividing the plenteous shares we had uncovered.

Then we found a couple of open-air dungeons with an endless horde of monsters assailing us. There didn't seem to be any end in sight to them at all. I then asked one of the Dreamers mages, a guy who had put some major focus into movement and transportation spells named Cylodel, if he could open a dragon-sized portal. He said yes, and I guarded him with Snow Dancer while he opened a portal to the Torching Mount, whereupon I summoned Dracuoatlax to help us get rid of our enemies. He all too happily obliged us, and after a few minutes we saw them start to decrease rather than increase.

Side-note: portal magic, as it's called, has some very stringent limitations and long cooldowns. You can't just go opening portals willy-nilly. That'd be majorly broken.

Anyhow. With our dragon ally helping us out we managed to clear the open-air dungeons on that second day in Panarena, claiming our rewards after a hard-fought victory and then going off to treat ourselves for an evening. Dracuoatlax and I talked about our group's further plans, involving heading in to the Grand Pyramid, where he ruefully remarked he would not be able to go but did say that he would be able to distract the great cobras that guarded it long enough for us to get inside.

“That'll be fine, just don't get caught by them somehow,” I told him.

“Who do you think I am, master? No mere snake can take down Dracuoatlax, Bane of Empires!” he said with an almost merry twinkle in his eye.

So the next day, after a brief logout to get breakfast or whatever other meal or necessity had come upon us, we ventured to the Grand Pyramid. As I suspected when Dracuoatlax had mentioned them, the great cobras were kill-all mechanics like the ones we had seen in the Marshes of the Wyrd. Even so, our personal kill-all mechanic, this one airborne, managed to actually damage their health bars. We quickly headed on inside while the scene progressed, and before the door closed I saw our dragon fly off, loudly chuckling in amusement.

Th-that's something you don't see every day, I thought to myself with a wry grin.

“La-na?” Ari gently poked me.

“Coming!” I said, and we descended into the pyramid, fighting our way through a variety of Ancient Egyptian-themed monsters, including scorpion-men, wedjats, mummies, and a few elite jackal-headed guardians, before we arrived at the boss chamber.

Here in this dimly-lit part of the crypt we awakened the Nameless Priest-King, a mummy who had been cursed for vile and profane deeds to the point of having his name stricken from known history. Either that or his namelessness was part of the curse; none of our lore-readers were sure. But anyway.

With our doubly well-rounded raid group, we managed to thwart every surprise and trick the boss had for us, including raising his minions several times over and creating duplicates of himself that appeared at random times during the fight, and then Lysandra and Derwydd changed into their were-forms to rapidly knock out the last five percent of his health as he tried to invoke a restoration spell on himself. We cheered their practically simultaneous victory stroke, and then once more divvied out the winnings.

Then we entered the quarry, and spent the rest of that third day gathering up stone and the occasional deposit of ore. Cloveroak, the party-leader on Dreamers' side of the raid, then stumbled onto a mine-shaft. We eagerly delved into this, gathering up quite a lot more ore and loading it into the waggons that we had brought along for the task. When this third day began ending, we decided to call it all a success and head for home, spending one more night together for a feast in Pithoesis and then heading our separate ways. We returned through a wayport to Queen's Haven, and after a lunch break (a real one, not a virtual one) we were back in Panarena once more to continue with crafting.

“Hahh...” I sighed a bit wearily, looking at all the cloth we had inadvertently gathered. “Good thing it's so light, but now there's so much of it,” I muttered.

“We will have lots to make sails with.” Anhe said in agreement.

“And still have enough left over for a big-top circus tent, I bet,” I remarked, to which she softly giggled.

“And Lizzy definitely has her hands full with all that ore.” she noted.

“Maryn's in the same boat with all of the stone,” I nodded towards another part of the grounds, where Maryn was busy shaping stone for walls and foundations.

“Hmm... we had enough for a small fort, did we not?” Anhe then asked me.

“Hm? I think we had enough for about five before all of our excitement today.”

“Should we test one out?”

“Hrrmm... we could.”

“You went and found that wayport there the one night, yes?”

“For Paxwiss, yeah,” I replied. “Good thinking.” I said, and she smiled.

“What's up?” Ariana asked as she joined us.

“Wanna go and test something?” I said to her with a grin, and she gave me a curious look.

About forty-five Panarena minutes later, Ariana, Anhe, and myself were in the Wildlands with Fyu. We found a fairly secluded spot in a mostly-desert valley where no one could see us, and I brought the fortress components up for placement, setting them down easy. In about a minute, the twenty-by-thirty meter structure, fifteen meters in height, was perfectly assembled. Ariana then put them back into her Mystic Storage, courtesy of some silver oak we had laced the walls with.

“Well, that works.” she smiled mischievously, and Anhe and I grinned back.

“Now we have a definite advantage!” the younger girl remarked enthusiastically.

“As long as we get more than just a building, we definitely do!” my partner nodded.

“Of course! We will have to do our very best to negotiate with Gears and Wheels.”

“Right?” I agreed, and we turned to head back for Fyu, who had been watching with interest.

“Very clever, masters!” the dog-beast said in appreciation.

“Thanks, old buddy!” I said, patting him on the head.

“We will be the talk of all Panarena in the days to come, that I can tell for certain,” he added with a chuckling sound as we got into the waggon, heading back to Xuanpu for the day.

***

The rest of our Saturday passed by all too quickly as we leveled our crafting skills and readied ourselves for the upcoming guild competition in the spring. I made some notes on our note-board in the hall that we should definitely check out the Wastes on our next big crafting run, and then we logged out for the night.

Sunday started as it usually did, and after lunch I was let free to roam in Panarena once more. We headed around the Tundralands to get some more wood and some rare quality stone that you could get in an abandoned quarry there, and after that the eight of us settled in for some relaxing at Cloverbell, Derwydd arriving later to make it nine.

“Cozy little place,” he remarked happily.

“Isn't it?” Ariana smiled.

“I was one of the first to try the quest for it, you know,” he said, and Ari and I looked at him with interest.

“Oh??” she wondered in amazement.

“Ha-ha, I got beaten by the second wave or so, and then never attempted it again. By the time I thought about trying, the two of you had beaten the quest instead!” he grinned.

“S-sorry,” I said with a wry smile.

“No harm!” he returned, Healina smiling next to him.

“Personally, I can't imagine this place without Ari and Lana's touches.” our healer said.

“Oh def.” Lizzy nodded.

“It's so cute!!” Belle smiled. “Speaking of which, we get to meet you all tomorrow, huh?” she then said. “All packed up and stuff?”

“Definitely, and my aunt said we have our five days for free!” Maryn told us.

“Sweet!” Lizzy clapped her hands. “Der and I managed to get our week off, too!”

“Yay!” Belle cheered.

“Nice,” Lysandra smiled.

“So about six or so at your place, huh?” Belle then turned to Healina.

“That works. We can all sort out who's going with who then, and head on out.” the Sea Elf nodded back.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Oh, hon, don't worry about that. Maryn's not the only one with a well-connected aunt.” Belle remarked with a grin and a shrug.

“Hmm?” I wondered, but our two college girls only looked at each other and grinned.

“Well, I guess we'll see you bright and early!” Derwydd then said.

“For sure!” Lizzy smiled. “Anhe, you and Maryn will need a ride to Andi's house, right?” she then asked.

“Huh? Oh, yes,” Anhe replied.

“I'll get you first and Maryn second; it'll be about five-thirty or so. That okay?”

“That will be okay.” Anhe smiled.

“For me, too.” Maryn nodded.

“Is somebody getting Lana?” Belle wondered.

“Lana has arrangements in place.” Ariana quickly smiled.

“Great!” our pixie girl beamed. “Ughh, I can't wait to meet you all!!” she squealed in delight.

“We'll have plenty of time to gush over our high schoolers on the way up tomorrow, Belle,” Lysandra said with a laugh. “Let's let them get some sleep. You and I have to get it ready, after all.” she then said, and Belle nodded.

“You're absolutely right! Go to bed, kiddos! We'll see you bright and early tomorrow!” she said to us, and after exchanging farewells for the night we all logged off at nearly the same time, Ariana and I sharing a bemused smile as we poofed from Panarena.

I took off the Dream Machine, setting it aside on its tower. I looked at it for a moment, and then smiled.

“I'll see you again later. For now... let's do some real things.”

***

Fortunately, Andrea's house had some extended parking in the back, so when Ellie and Thomas showed up here was plenty of room for them. And by five-fifty the seven of us were sitting together on the front porch, huddled in the cold around our luggage while we waited for our older friends to show up. Five minutes before six, a small tour-bus began heading down the street, stopping in front of Andrea's house. We stared at it in uncertainty for a moment, and then the door opened to let a black-haired girl in dark clothes hop out.

“That's Lysandra, or I'm Holly Christmas,” Ellie remarked at once.

“The top gives it away, huh?” the older girl called back with a grin. Her real eyes were blue, and that was practically the only difference between her real self and her virtual self. On the other hand...

“Hahh!! No fair, Chrissy!” a more adult voice cried out as a young lady with platinum blonde hair ran up to join the introductions. She was shorter than the girl whose name was apparently Chrissy, and on the curvy side where the darker haired girl was fairly trim. She panted from her short sprint, and then looked up with a pleasant smile. “So I'm Mandy, and this is Christina!” she said, holding out her arms as Rachel ran to hug her at once.

“Definitely Ariana.” Christina smiled.

“Rachel here!” my girlfriend said.

“And that's Anhe, there's Lizzy, and -- ooh, what pretty red hair! You're Heali!” Mandy exclaimed, “And that's definitely Derwydd.” she added with a grin as she saw Thomas.

“Thomas! Anhe is Anhe, Lizzy is... more or less the same, except she goes by Ellie here, and this is Andrea!” the young man replied as he gently squeezed his girlfriend as the others smiled.

“And Maryn.” Christina smiled as she saw the other girl with dark hair.

“Without the 'n', here,” Mary smiled back.

“Wonderful!” Mandy replied. “And now where... is... Lana...?” she looked around at us again, finally alighting on me just as Christina did. Rachel stepped back, taking my arm as a clue. I could see the other five twitching with laughter they were desperately trying to hold back as the two older girls gazed at me in first confusion, then realization and surprise.

“Pfffft!” Christina guffawed, then burst out laughing.

“Huh?!” Mandy exclaimed, then shook her head, smiled, and came over to hug me.

“Ahhh...” I said in confusion as the others began laughing as well.

“You don't have to explain. I'm sure there's a reason for it. Maybe you'd like to help me for a psych-thesis I'm doing about virtual identities?” Mandy said as she let go, smirking at me.

“Heh?!?!” I exclaimed in turn, which generated even more laughs.

With this slightly bemusing introduction out of the way, we loaded up our baggage into the cargo hold of the small bus, keeping hold of more pertinent bags, and then Mandy put the bus in gear again to get going.

“Y-you can drive a bus, huh?” I wondered as we reached the outer city, where we ascended from ground-level onto the multi-tiered interstate that wove its way in and around and out of the city.

“My aunt was a bus driver, and she used to teach me a bit when I was little. I went for official certification a couple years ago when I decided on my major. You never know, after all, and I think I'm going to apply for a practical year as a school counselor after the spring, so it may come in handy again.” Mandy replied.

“Nice.” I said in return.

“Ahh, but I've got my work cut out for me if I get the post I want,” she remarked with a twinkle in her eye.

“Hmm? Why's that?” Rachel asked her.

“Oh, I asked Maryn one night--Mary, that is, where your school was. She said her dad was the principal and that he'd be happy to give me the opportunity as a secondary counselor there... where it seems I'll have to pay diligent attention to a certain young man,” she winked.

“Gyeck!!” I softly squawked.

“At least now we know why Lizzy is always harassing Lana at places like baths, spas, and beaches in-game.” Christina said with an absolutely delighted smirk.

“Ba-ha! Don't make me laugh too hard, I haven't done this for a while and I need to keep it steady!” Mandy returned.

“You got it.” the other girl returned, curling up in her seat for a nap. The others were softly chattering in the back, or they were also asleep, like Anhe and Andrea.

“On a serious note... I think it's cute.” Mandy said to me, fixing me with a grin in the mirror. I felt my cheeks turning red, incoherent mumbles tumbling out as Rachel snuggled in next to me. Mandy softly chuckled, and returned her attention to the road.

We passed out of the outer metropolis with its futuristic vibe and cloud-cutting skyscrapers, heading along through the northern suburbia before finally leaving it behind as well and descending from the multi-tiered interstate to head onto a smaller highway with less traffic. Mandy, by the way, may have said she was slightly out of practice, but she was as good as any school-bus driver in my opinion. By the time we were on the smaller highway, everyone else really had gone to sleep, leaving Mandy and myself as the only ones awake. Though I wasn't sure I'd be awake for much longer either.

I saw a sign for Hollydale off to the right; it was listed as ninety miles away yet. Boy, talk about getting away from it all, I thought to myself. The highway began passing through open fields with few houses, and eventually the houses ceased altogether. It then began winding its way through a forest, the trees showing signs of frost upon them. I felt like I was entering the Tundrawood again.

“Hope there's no Giant Pine Lord around...” I mumbled sleepily.

“I'll be sure to wake you if there is.” Mandy returned with a giggle, and I fell asleep.

I snapped awake, and looked at the time. It had been nearly three hours since we left Andrea's house, and now we were entering a dale covered in snow, surrounded by three good sized mountains for skiing, sledding, or what have you. There was a Christmas Village set up in one area, a couple of winter-themed amusement parks, and a grandiose hotel and restaurant with the latest and greatest in hospitality and care available, so the advertising said.

“Oh nice, they got early snow up here!” Ellie said from behind us.

“They always do!” Andrea said.

“Well they're super lucky with it, you know?”

“It would be a strange winter resort without snow.” Anhe remarked.

Mandy guided our little bus into one of the spaces set aside for it, and after we had gotten out bags and stuff we headed on in to the hotel. At check-in, Mary gave her name, and the clerk handed us our passes with a smile, wishing us an enjoyable and festive time. We then found our room, a spacious living, dining and kitchen area with two bathrooms and eight bedrooms, and here our responsible college students had Thomas and me settle into one room while the girls took the others, Christina settling for a couch to keep things even.

“All right!” Mandy then said when we had settled in, “What's first?!”

“Did I see a sign with the word 'onsen' in the foyer?” Rachel then pondered.

“I think you did,” Mary agreed.

“Let's try that later, though,” Andrea said. “For now... I saw something a little more interesting...!” she grinned.

“Oh yeah?” Mandy smiled back.

“Y-you don't mean...?” Thomas said with a hesitant smile. Andrea only nodded in reply.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we found ourselves on a snowball battlefield shortly after arriving at Hollydale. Which, by the way, also has lots of Christmas trees and holly around it. Not just artificial or decorative ones, either, but actual pine, spruce, and holly trees. The scent they gave off was soothing, but the snowball fight we had was far from it. Mandy, Thomas, Andrea, and Ellie were one team, while the rest of us were on the other. And boy, let me tell you, for being a responsible adult that girl could pack a mean snowball and throw it with the best of them.

“Yahh!!” I charged, throwing two at once to try and stop her. She picked both of them off of her, mushed them into one, and then pelted me good.

Of course, despite the fact that it rarely snowed in the city, the rest of us had some decent experience with snowball throwing as well, giving as good as we got. By the time we ended our snowball fight, inconclusively, I might add, we were a fine mess of snow and ice, and with that we decided to warm up in the onsen.

***

“I can't believe I almost did that...” I said as I sank into the water, Thomas laughing at me.

There were two onsens here, one for ladies and the other for men. Unconsciously, I had almost walked into the former before Rachel suddenly noticed and gave me a smirk, pointing me in the other direction as the others laughed. I had then hastily ducked in to the right one to avoid further humiliation (though I'm sure some was coming later), and submerged myself sheepishly as Thomas got in.

“Can't totally blame you, though you may want to keep a leash on yourself in the future. Of course, Japan has mixed-bathing again, I've heard, so there's that...” he said to me as he relaxed into the warm water.

“N-not that it was on my mind...”

“Ha-ha, I know.” the older boy grinned. “Still... it... does feel strange... compared to Panarena...” he added.

“See?? I bet you half-thought of using that entrance too before you noticed,” I then said, and he wryly smiled.

“Got me!” he shrugged. “But fortunately you did so first!”

“Thbbbtt!!”

“B-thfffpppt!!”

“Blwahh!!”

“Nyeaahh!!” the two of us stuck our tongues out at each other, and then laughed like idiots for a couple minutes. Then we resettled ourselves in the water, and I let out a calm sigh, feeling less sheepish than before.

“Say, Sean; when you met Rachel, did you think you'd get in trouble with her if she found out about Lana?” he asked me after a moment.

“Well sure I did,” I said. “And I guess I was sort of prepared for any outcome... somehow I ended up with the best one.”

“Certainly seems that way.” he agreed. “You've gotten real lucky, perhaps; or maybe it's just the fact that you're definitely not one of those guys.”

“Absolutely never... I mean, I guess there's others... like me... I dunno.” I replied, thinking about it again for the first time in a while.

“True.” he nodded. “Hahh... this isn't the same without Lizzy grabbing you. I think I'm gonna go and get a regular shower before lunch, what d'ya say?” he said as he got up.

“I'll stay here a bit longer... I kind of prefer it without Lizzy here, come to think.” I replied.

“Pfft! No doubt!” Thomas laughed as he got out. “See you at lunch, then!” he told me, and I nodded back.

“See you then,” I agreed, a quiet yawn escaping my lips as I sat there in contentment.

***

Bonus Interlude: The Other Onsen

“Ahhh, poor doofus. He almost walked right in here.” Ellie quipped, chuckling as she settled into the water. The other girls got in as well, smiling or laughing as they did so. Sean, seemingly forgetful of his not being Lana at the present moment, had almost entered the women's only section of the baths.

“I didn't even think about it until Rachel did something to stop him,” Andrea smirked.

“You were about to lead Thomas along, too!” Rachel grinned.

“Oh totally. We get away with too much in Panarena.”

“O-M-G. Definitely.” Ellie agreed.

“But now you'll have to find someone else to torment.” Christina smirked, and they all laughed again.

“Hah, poor Lana, always getting picked on by Lizzy in the baths.” Mandy chuckled.

“He doesn't have them for real, I don't know what Lana gets so upset for.” the blonde girl said with a shrug.

“Guess he's that buried in the part some days.” Mary said.

“But at least they're lighter over there,” Christina sighed. “Well, our entire weight, really, but, you know.”

“Some of us being more relieved than others.” Mandy quipped.

“Hmm.” Anhe nodded.

“Nyee-hee!” Ellie smirked, softly grabbing hold of Andrea.

“Wh-why me?” her friend wondered with a hesitant smile.

“Felt like it!”

“You're feeling something, for sure!” the other pouted back.

“Now, now,” Mandy chided, to no effect.

“This is going to get out of hand, isn't it?” Christina said to her with a wry grin.

“May-be.” her friend replied. “But not as much as it does when Lana's around.” she added with a wink, and the two of them laughed, starting a splash battle to save Andrea from further mischief -- at least from Ellie.

***

After fifteen minutes more, I decided to head out myself and get changed for lunch. Thomas had already done so, of course, and the girls came back to the room about ten minutes later to do the same. We went downstairs to the restaurant, and I was reminded at once of how grateful to be that our passes for the week included meals. Expensive was not even the word. But it was very, very good food. And the desserts were, literally, the cherry on top.

We sat together at our table idly, the conversation at a lull for the moment. I looked out towards the window, watching the skiers and such heading down the courses laid out for them. The others slowly turned to look as well, and Rachel laid her head on my shoulder.

“Ah! Bobsledders!” Mandy exclaimed.

“Oh, nice!” Mary said.

“Snow-tubing as well.” Christina observed. “That'd be fun,” she smiled.

“Isn't that cold when you're outside?” Andrea asked her, referring to the top she was wearing.

“I stopped noticing a couple years ago when I got that nice coat.” the older girl shrugged.

“Hmm.”

“She's something else.” Mandy smirked.

“Shush.” Christina smiled back.

“Really though. This is super. I'm glad we get to do this!” the other smiled.

“We are all glad!” Anhe smiled at her.

“Yay!”

“Seriously though, that snow-tube course looks rough!” Thomas remarked.

“Oh def.” Ellie agreed. Rachel and I smiled at each other; we both wanted to try it.

“I want to go look at the amusement park they have,” Andrea said.

“Agree!” Mandy nodded enthusiastically. “Do what we want and regroup for dinner?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Def!!” Ellie beamed.

“Sounds good!” Anhe agreed, and the others gave their affirmations to the idea as well. We finished off the rest of our desserts, and then went back to the rooms to get ourselves ready for round two of excitement.

“I know where you two are going!” Ellie grinned as she patted Rachel and myself on the head.

“Uh-huh?” Rachel returned with a grin of her own.

“Loser has to face a punishment game in Panarena this weekend!” she said in a very cheerful voice. Rachel and I looked at each other, nodded, and then began sprinting.

“You're getting it this time!!” I called back as Rachel giggled. I heard the others laughing.

“Oh you think??” the blonde girl retorted, hurrying after us.

“Oh, boy!” we heard Andrea say.

“I'm getting my imager for this.” Christina remarked.

“P-lease!! Please get them on camera!!” Mary cackled.

“And here go the shenanigans,” Mandy sighed, but I was fairly sure she might be smiling.

Anyway. Rachel and I bundled up again, as did Ellie, and the three of us raced back out of the room. Christina and Mary followed after us at a slower pace once they got their own coats, the older girl getting her imager ready.

“Wait up!!” Mandy called to them.

“Where's the others?” we heard Mary ask.

“They went to the amusement park. I'll see it tomorrow. Right now I wanna see this!” the other girl said, and then the three of us got out of hearing range as we raced up the mountain for the group tubing.

I am definitely not facing a punishment game from Ellie!!! -- was the one thought on my mind as I hurried up that hill. Rachel looked over at me a couple times, smiling. She definitely knew what I was thinking. The three of us got to the top, stopping to catch our breath.

“Relax, kids, it's not going anywhere,” said the kindly operator manning the device that brought the tubes back up. We gently laughed, nodding in reply, and got ready. I could see Christina, Mandy, and Mary sitting down at an observatory, the college girl ready with her imager to record our little race.

We were then set loose to begin sliding down the hill at a good speed, Rachel and I silently agreeing to at least keep Ellie from first place one way or the other. Our oldest mutual friend let out a whoop of excitement as we came hurrying down that bonkers hill and its obstacles, and I maneuvered myself slightly to the left, gently bumping Ellie towards a pile of snowmen before continuing on up and over a ramp that launched me into the air for a few moments.

“Brat!! Dork!! Doofus-butt!!” I heard Ellie shout, and I started to laugh but then had the wind knocked out of me upon landing. I managed a quick look back. Ellie was into it now.

Oh, snap, she's gaining on me... come to think, she's about my weight, if a bit sturdier-built than my lanky self... which means she can definitely--

“Gonna pass you up!!” she said as she got closer.

“Sean!” Rachel then called, coming up behind and knocking me towards the right a bit, where I was sent flying off of another ramp.

“Traitor!” Ellie grumbled.

“He's my boyfriend!!” Rachel quipped back.

I love you, I thought to myself with a grin.

“Boo!!” the other girl said.

Anyhow. After several series of crazy obstacles and bouncing each other around, I managed in the end to keep in first place, crossing the finish line with a victory cry as Rachel and then Ellie arrived after me.

“Yes!! Woo!! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-hahh!” I crowed with delight as Ellie shook her head, grinning.

“I guess it's about time you manned up a bit.” she said, patting my shoulder when she came over. “Just remember: I'll always be crazier than you.” she remarked with a grin.

“No comment,” I said with a laugh as Rachel came over to take my hand with a smile.

“Good! How about best two out of three, then?” she asked.

“Can we do that?” Rachel wondered.

“You can go as many times as you like,” one of the crew told us. “It's a slow day on this one; got a lot of skiers in for the week. Get your yuks in while you can, I say!” he told us with a sly grin. The three of us looked around at each other, smiling mischievously.

“I'll get you this time!!”

“No you won't!!”

“Bet I will!!

“No you wooon't!!”

“Bet I wiiillll!!”

“Nope, nope nope!!”

“Yes, yes, yes!!”

And so on and so forth, all the way back to the top of the hill, Rachel grinning and shaking her head the entire time.

“Ahh -- they're going again,” we heard Christina say as we passed them.

“Knowing Ellie, she'll keep this going as long as she can,” Mary remarked.

“I believe it.” Mandy giggled. “I definitely believe it.”