Lolo woke up the next morning lying on her right side and facing Shanti asleep in the bed between her and the wall. Shanti's fingers were still resting on Lolo's wrist as though she had fallen asleep taking her pulse. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, Lolo took in what surroundings she could without disturbing Shanti. This was not her room, and she was wearing one of Shanti's shirts. She heard movement from somewhere else and tracked the source to Jadu, asleep in a bed at the head of the one she was lying in. "So this is their room."

She carefully extracted her arm from Shanti's grip and tried to roll onto her back, but she bumped into something behind her. Reaching her hand back, she felt hair and realized someone had fallen asleep there too. Inching as close as she could toward Shanti so she could roll onto her back without hitting the person's head behind her, Lolo managed to achieve her desired position without disturbing anyone. Exhaling a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, she turned to identify the mystery person.

It was Standig. He had fallen asleep sitting on a chair, his head cradled in his arms on the bed. Something about his position looked ridiculous, and Lolo stifled a laugh.

Lying on her back, she had no room to maneuver without disturbing her friends, so she kept as still as possible and started piecing her memories of the night before together. "I went to find Standig and found him up the tree." She frowned, her eyebrows pinching together. "We didn't talk much before…." She had gotten dizzy and only made it back down and home alive because Standig had helped her. Lolo suddenly felt bad for laughing at Standig's sleep position. He must have been worried sick last night.

Lying still for so long, Huo Lohse started to drift in and out of dreams. In one strangely vivid dream, she was fighting with a huge black dragon up a magical blue tree that the dragon had lit on fire. As the tree crackled and popped beneath her, she realized she could fly and took off. But the dragon could fly better, and it tried to knock her out of the air. Knowing she would fall eventually, she grabbed the dragon by its wings to take it down with her. She was still falling when Shanti started to stir next to her, waking her up.

"Lolo?" Shanti whispered, rubbing her eyes. "You're awake!"

Lolo whispered back, "sorry for the trouble last night."

"It was no problem, but I strongly recommend you avoid climbing any more trees for the time being." Lolo flashed an uncomfortable, guilty smile. "How are you feeling?"

"A little embarrassed," Lolo answered honestly, "but otherwise, I'm doing alright."

"Are you thirsty?"

Lolo was suddenly made aware of how dry her throat was. "Now that you mention it…."

Shanti smiled and quietly pulled herself out of the bed to fetch a drink. Taking advantage of the space she left behind, Lolo scooted away from Standig and pushed herself into a sitting position in time for Shanti to return with a large cup of water.

"Try to drink as much as you can. If you can drink it all, I will go get you some more."

"Thank you, Shanti." Lolo took the cup and drained it. "I didn't realize how thirsty I was!"

Shanti smiled and took the cup back to refill it. When she returned, she also had a thick slice of bread with her. "Eat this to keep your stomach from feeling all sloshy."

Gratefully, Lolo accepted the bread and water and downed them both.

"How are you feeling now?"

Lolo paused to reflect. "Actually, it might seem silly, but I'm kind of tired!"

Shanti laughed quietly, saying "it's not silly at all. In fact, that's to be expected." She fluffed the pillow behind Lolo and helped her to lay back down so as not to strain her stitches. "I'd like to check your pulse before you fall asleep again, but then I won't disturb you anymore." Lolo nodded and extended her arm to Shanti. "Very good. Your heart rate has slowed significantly." Shanti smiled at her patient. "Please let me know when you are thirsty. You need to drink lots of fluids to make up for all the blood you lost."

Lolo nodded. "Shanti."

"Hm?"

"Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"I'm guessing only the three of you know where I am?"

"And you'd like me to let your family know that you are here, safe and sound?"

"Yes, please. I don't want them to worry any more than they have to." Lolo gave her a meaningful look.

"I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, Shanti. You're the best!"

"Get some sleep."

***

Lolo woke up a second time to the smell of someone cooking. She sat up to see Jadu stirring a pot over a small stove. “What are you making, Jadu?”

Without turning to look at her, Jadu replied, “soup.”

“Oh,” she nodded. Looking around the room, Standig was now asleep in Jadu’s bed, and Shanti was missing. “Hey, Jadu, where did Shanti go?”

“To get some more water.”

“How long was I out?”

“Not sure.”

“Oh. Well, thanks for taking care of me!”

“Sure.”

There was a lull in the conversation during which Lolo over-thought things. “Hey, Jadu, are you mad at me?”

“No?”

“You seem upset.”

“I’m not. Just cooking.”

“Are you sure?”

At long last, Jadu set his ladle down and turned to look at her. “Should I be?”

“Um. I dunno. You just seem… perturbed?”

“I’m not.” He turned back to his cooking as Shanti walked back in.

“Lolo! You’re awake again!”

“Good morning, Shanti!”

“Afternoon, actually.” Shanti smiled and poured a cup of water. “Here.”

Taking the cup, Lolo patted the bed next to her to invite Shanti to sit down. “Shanti,” Lolo began in a whisper, “is Jadu mad at me for any reason.”

Shanti looked surprised. “Why? What happened?”

“I dunno. I don’t know him super well, but I tried to talk to him and he just- he just…”

“Didn’t say much back?”

Lolo nodded earnestly.

Shanti had to suppress a laugh. “That’s just who he is, Lolo. He’s quiet unless there’s a medical emergency. Then he can be quite bossy. Don’t take it personally. You’re not the first person to feel this way about Jadu. But he’s not upset with you.”

“Even after I broke his rules and climbed a tree?” the truth came out.

“Even then. I’ve only seen Jadu truly upset a rare handful of times, so while he might have been mildly irritated that you hurt yourself again, he’s not mad at you.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Relieved, Lolo drank the cup of water. “Can I get out of bed?”

“I don’t see why not. But you should get up slowly and sit back down if you start feeling dizzy at all.”

Lolo nodded, pulled off the blanket, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Being careful to rise slowly, she stood up to find herself completely out of breath with her heart pounding in her chest. “Why am I... so winded?”

“That’s the result of injury and blood loss. 'Want to sit back down?”

Lolo responded by sinking back onto the bed. “Well… that was… anticlimactic.” She was starting to feel a little woozy, and she had a sudden headache. Her breathing and heartbeat had begun to slow back down though. “Did you get a chance to talk to anyone in my family?”

“Yes. I found Rensui and he promised to deliver the message to everyone else.”

“What did you tell him?” Lolo asked anxiously.

“'Just that you had some minor complications with your injury last night, so you spent the night in our room. And should they need to find you for anything, they should come here.”

Lolo let out a deep sigh. “Thank you for not telling them about the tree thing.”

Shanti chuckled and nodded. “You’re welcome.”

When Standig woke up, he was relieved to see Lolo sitting up and talking merrily with Shanti and Jadu over bowls of soup.

“Standig!” Lolo saw him sit up. “Oh, no. Did we wake you?”

“No, no. I was waking up anyway. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m fine.” She smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“I’m just glad you’re alright.”

“'Want some soup?” Shanti interjected.

“It smells good. What kind of soup is it?”

“Bone marrow soup,” Jadu volunteered. “It’s good for anemia and blood loss.”

“Give it to her then,” Standig said, pointing at Lolo.

“I’m quite full, Standig. There is plenty left. You should try some!” Lolo encouraged him as Shanti tried to hand him a bowlful. Standig hesitated. “It’s good. And you’ve got to be hungry.”

He took the bowl from Shanti and took a sip. “Jadu, did you make this?” Jadu nodded. “It’s really good!” Jadu nodded again to accept the compliment.

Shanti turned to Lolo. “We need to talk about the bonfire tonight. I’m not sure that you should go.”

“But-”

“You can barely stand up before you’re completely out of breath, let alone take a hike through the woods.”

Lolo opened her mouth to argue but realized she didn’t have any kind of comeback and closed it again, pouting slightly.

“What if-,” Standig started and then felt awkward about it. But he'd already committed. “What if I helped her?”

Shanti sought clarification. “What kind of help do you mean?”

Standig had hoped that his meaning was obvious because saying it out loud was embarrassing. “I could carry her.”

Shanti exchanged a conspiratorial look with Jadu and smiled. “Your proposition has merit."

***

"I don't know how you convinced me to let you go tonight. You really are in no condition to-"

"Mom, you're not going back on your word, are you?"

Lolo was being unusually cooperative as she let her mother get her ready for the bonfire. It was part of the deal she'd struck to enable her to go.

"No. A promise is a promise, but I'm still questioning the wisdom of it. Tell me again what the plan is."

"After you dress me up, Standig is going to help me get to the clearing for the bonfire. Jadu and Shanti will be coming with a medical kit, and you've assigned all six of my brothers to make sure I don't pick up anything heavy, wander off, or do anything 'too fun'. So, in total, you've got nine people to spy on me for you," Lolo teased.

Beta Xini smirked at her daughter. "You're naughty enough that I wish I had double that." Both mother and daughter scrunched their noses up at each other and laughed. "Well, that about does it. At least, you no longer look like a tomboy."

Lolo looked at herself in the mirror and pulled a face to try and at least feel like herself.

"Well, you don't look like a tomboy until you do that."

"You do very nice work, mom. It's just not me."

"I know. But sometimes presentation matters, and it would be good for you to learn that." Beta Xini switched tactics to try speaking her daughter’s language. “Besides, looking nice has tactical advantages." Lolo rolled her eyes at her mom, but the Beta could tell that she had her daughter’s attention. “I’m being serious, Lolo.”

“What tactical advantages?”

“Now where would be the fun in telling you that! You’re a smart girl. Figure it out for yourself.”

Just then, Standig knocked on the door. “Lolo, are you about ready? It’s almost dusk.”

“We just finished. You can come in.”

Standig walked in to find Huo Lohse actually wearing make-up and a floor-length, swishy red dress with her hair down instead of up in a ponytail. “Um. You look… different,” his cheeks flushed just enough to notice.

Beta Xini leaned down to whisper in her daughter’s ear. “See, tactical advantages.”

“Mo-om!” Lolo whispered back, but Beta Xini had already stood back up and was smiling at Standig with a self-satisfied look on her face. Lolo gave Standig an embarrassed smile and a fake laugh. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

As promised, Standig carried Lolo on piggy-back, but both of them were extremely self-conscious about it. “Tactical advantages, my foot. Looking like a girl just makes things awkward.” Lolo was grateful to reach the front gate and the rest of the group.

“Hey, Lolo! You look so nice!” Ulana was the first to notice in the dim lighting.

“Thanks!” Lolo tried to be cheery and gracious.

“Oh no! Mom made you look like a girl again, didn’t she?” Haowan teased. Huo Lohse was grateful to him for it because it meant she could laugh it off and dispel the tension a little.

“Yup. Poor Standig thought he’d walked into the wrong room!” Everyone laughed. “Sorry to keep you all waiting. Let’s get going!”

“Where are we headed, Lolo?” Zhongyan asked.

“I thought we could go to that big meadow by the lake. There’s plenty of dry kindling, readily available wood, and a firepit with seating. You know the spot I’m talking about.”

“Oh, right! That storm felled a bunch of trees there this last spring. I’ll lead the way.”

The group followed Zhongyan out the front gate and down the hill to the right. The group chatted happily on the well-beaten path through the woods to Crescent Lake. Once they reached the lake side, Zhongyan veered to the left following a narrower, less defined path back into the woods. Lolo had to brush low-hanging leaves and branches out of Standig’s way as he walked. The meadow’s edge appeared abruptly, but the clearing itself was quite large and extended right up to the water’s edge. Zhongyan led the group along the edge of the meadow toward the lake to a sandy patch of ground outfitted with a stone firepit and a collection of felled logs for seating.

“We’re here!” Zhongyan announced the obvious as everyone set down the packs they’d carried in.

“I’m going to find firewood. Would anyone like to come with me?” Qingchi volunteered. Three more Lang boys plus Fortus and Kuchezan joined him.

“I’ll go look for kindling,” Ulana offered.

“I’ll come with you!” Et’zana jumped up from the log she had just sat down on.

Jadu bent down to the firepit to light a starter fire. He’d come prepared with a small handful of very dry kindling, sticks and some chemicals that, when combined, created an extremely hot exothermic reaction. Standig found a log to deposit Lolo on and joined Jadu more out of curiosity than an effort to be helpful.

The pile of wood and kindling grew quickly, and soon, the group had a large, crackling fire going. People started pulling food out to roast over the flames, and Sharisip impressed the group with a hidden talent for story-telling while everyone cooked and ate. Not to be out-done, the Lang brothers performed a series of goofy skits mingled with stand-up comedy and anecdotes of the many (many) prank wars they’d fought with each other. After eating, the Zugeer girls taught the group a game.

"Three people have to close their eyes, and everyone else takes a turn doing something. It can be anything! Singing a song in a silly voice, skipping, even poking them in the nose! And then the people with their eyes closed have to guess who did what. The winner is the person who guesses the most people right."

Lolo was volunteered to be one of the first three people with their eyes closed along with Sharisip and Zizai.

Amidra went first and turned her hand into a spider that tickled each contestants' knee. Sharisip guessed her right because he caught a whiff of her perfume.

Insaltus was up next and surprised everyone by waltzing from one end of the "stage" to the next. No one guessed him right.

As each person took a turn, it became easier for the three with their eyes closed to deduce who was who. The three were tapped on the head, tickled, and had their hands shaken. They were treated to a song in Haowan's silly but impressive falsetto. Someone accidentally hit Zizai in the head with a potato they were trying to juggle, and Sharisip got his toe stepped on when someone tried to play with his hair.

Philige was the last person to do something, so everyone already knew it was him before he even started. He chose to whisper something in everyone's ear. To Sharisip: "you have to let me know how things go with that girl back home." Sharisip nodded. To Zizai: "I’m a purple polka-dotted platypus," which elicited the intended snort. To Huo Lohse: "I’m glad you adopted Standig into your pack." She smiled.

"Alright! That was the last person! You can open your eyes now."

After a few more games, people started getting tired, so water was hauled up from the lake to douse the remaining cinders, and the group packed up to leave. Standig dutifully found Lolo to carry her home and crouched down to make it easier for her to climb onto his back.

“Standig, did you have fun tonight?” Lolo asked as they entered the woods.

“Mn.”

“What was your favorite part?”

“Just watching everyone else have fun.”

“I liked that too. It’s going to be so quiet when you all leave tomorrow.” Lolo felt her happy mood start to sink and changed the subject. “Thanks for helping me join the fun this evening. My mom wouldn’t have let me come had you not offered to provide the transportation.”

“It’s the least I could do considering everything,” Standig brooded.

Lolo caught the bitterness in his voice and debated whether or not to address it. In the end, she sighed and adjusted her weight on his back while tightening her arms around his neck. “I’m glad you’re my friend, Standig.”

They travelled the rest of the way back in silence, but somehow, Standig felt a little lighter for carrying a friend.

***

Not much of a good-bye person, Standig was eager to skip that particular step, pack up quickly, and slip away unnoticed. Philige didn’t care for goodbyes either and was too tired from the night before to put up much of a fight, so, as soon as the Tragen brothers were satisfied that they’d gotten everything packed, they walked out. However, much to Standig’s chagrin, Lolo had anticipated this particular stunt and had been watching out her window for them just in case they tried to pull it.

The boys made it all the way to the middle of the main courtyard before she caught up with them enough to be heard shouting, “STANDIG TRAGEN, YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE.” As they turned around to face her with her hands on her hips, Philige couldn’t help but bust up laughing. “I don’t know what you're laughing about, Philige. You’re on my bad list too.”

“Good morning, Lolo,” Standig said unconvincingly.

“Are you really going to make me chase you down?” The boys crossed the courtyard with guilty faces. “Standig, I’m disappointed in you. We’ve spent an entire summer together, and you somehow think that I will let you get away without saying goodbye? And you, Philige. You were just going to leave with him? What were you thinking?”

“Sorry, Lolo,” both boys muttered, Philige trying hard to not look too amused.

Her stern scolding expression immediately returned to her usual chipper one. “Apologies accepted. Now, did the two of you bother to eat breakfast?”

The boys exchanged a look, and Philige answered her with, “we’re not hungry yet, and we’ve got food packed for the road.”

She sighed. “Fine. I've never known two teenage boys to ever not be hungry, but I guess I should let you get going." She hugged them each in turn and added, "have a safe trip home, and I will see you next summer at your place.”

“Bye, Lolo,” Philige said and turned to leave with Standig right behind him.

“Hey, Standig.” Standig stopped and turned back once again. “Between now and then, you’d better not replace me as your sparring partner.” Lolo shot him an impish grin before walking away.

“She likes getting in the last word, doesn’t she?” Philige observed as he and Standig watched her leave.

“Mn,” Standig nodded in agreement.