At the dining hall, the Orso Loobas prepared a feast for their guests. On the table was a variety of foods ranging from berry salad to fruit soup, fish, other kinds of meat, with juices and cups of water set aside for drinking. Antonio took small bites of the mixture while Maggie gulped down the soup, and Tommy chewed on some pieces of meat.

After dinner, they took some much-needed baths in barrels of warm water. Maggie brushed her hair with a skeleton fish comb she borrowed from some of the villagers. They were using them to detangle and remove bugs from their fur. Tommy finished his juice as he prepared for bed. Antonio quietly cleaned his glasses with the edges of his shirt.

Soon, it was time for bed, so the Orso Loobas escorted the three humans to a guest room prepared with piles of hay for sacks covered with cloth blankets. Each had a pillow made of silk crafted from spider webs.

“Man, this is uncomfortable,” Tommy complained as he lied down on the hay, feeling more agitated than tired.

“It’s not so bad once you find a sweet spot,” Maggie mentioned, already half asleep.

“Nah, I’ll just pop into my sleeping bag,” Tommy concluded as he took it out of his backpack, laid it on the hay, and climbed in.

“Whatever.” Maggie sleepily replied with a shrug.

In the middle of the night, Tommy still had a hard time sleeping. He glanced over at the others and wondered if Antonio was having a hard time sleeping as well on the uncomfortable hay.

“Hey, Antonio.” He whispered.

“Yeah?” Antonio murmured in response.

“Do you think we’ll make it out of here?”

“Of course I do; I have faith in them. Don’t you?”

“I don’t know; I want to, but..." Tommy sighed as he stared at the roof of the hut. "I wish I were back on the field trip, and I wonder if my aunt is worried about me, or if she even knows about—”

“Don’t worry; we’ll make it out of here before that happens," Antonio reassured him. "The timelines are different, after all, right?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Antonio’s eyes shifted down as he thought about his family as well.

Later that night, Maggie tossed and turned in her sleep. She jolted up out of bed with her eyes wide open in fear, trying to catch her breath. Looking around the room, Maggie sighed in relief.

It was a dream. She thought, groaning and getting out of bed.

Maggie crept toward the balcony to get some peace of mind and fresh air. Tommy opened his eyes and noticed her leaving the room. He got out of his sleeping bag and followed her outside, being careful not to wake Antonio in the process.

.-.-.-.

Tommy and Maggie stood out by the balcony in the night air by themselves. Before he asked why she was awake and outside, he glanced at the star-filled sky, finding himself distracted by their utter brilliance. The two could see the yellow stars dancing and falling through the air with a bright blue moon and smaller light green planets in the background. The night sky surrounded them with color-coded displays of light and movement just like they were back at the Planetarium, watching the show unfold once more.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Maggie muttered under her breath. She noticed a shooting star and closed her eyes to pray and make a wish.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen them up close before. Well, not actual stars like these...” The silence continued to fill the air. He glanced over and, thinking she’s still ignoring him, sighed in defeat. “Look, I’m sorry for what I said before.”

“For what?” Maggie opened one eye and glanced at him.

“I hurt you and made fun of your father.” Tommy looked down as his grip on the railings tightened. “You were right about me being indecisive, even though I said I would improve—”

“Oh yeah? Well...” Maggie paused. She had both her eyes open now, staring hard at him, but she wasn’t sure what to say next. Maggie bowed her head and bit her lip. “I’m just as bad as you, though, probably worse.”

“Worse?” Tommy echoed in disbelief.

“Yeah, if I didn’t rub the crystal or, heck, hadn’t jumped into danger like that, none of this would have happened, and you wouldn’t have gotten stuck down here—”

“But I bothered you while you were working, even though you needed concentration—”

“But I broke—”

A loud cough came from inside the sleeping quarters, which stopped them both from speaking any further. They waited for the night air to fall silent again.

“We should stop yelling,” Maggie said.

“Yeah.” Tommy agreed.

He thought it might be a good time to finally ask the question that had been on his mind for a while. They hadn’t had a quiet moment like this before, but didn’t want to ruin it. Still, his curiosity peaked, and learning more about your companions on the journey isn’t always a bad thing. Tommy just had to word it right, in a way that won’t upset her.

“Hey, is it alright if I asked you something? What’s your dad like?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Maggie said, to his surprise. “My father’s usually busy at work, and I had to take care of myself. At first, I hated him because he never got the chance to spend any time with me, but I realized that it was beyond his control and that he needed to do work to make money. Without that, we’d probably have no food, water, electricity, or shelter to rest. Plus, he was doing what he loved, and I respected him for that.”

“Did it not work out?” Tommy inquired, curious as to know what happened next.

“Not as well as he thought, but I’ll show him it wasn’t all for naught.”

“Now I understand, I’m sorry I didn’t get it earlier, Maggie.”

“Well, you should be.” She replied playfully, lightly punching his arm and chuckling.

“Hey, you guys.” Antonio showed up at the balcony, teasing. “Just how long are you going to stay out here by yourselves?”

“What?” Tommy’s cheeks got hot and flustered with red all over his face. “S-Shut it, Antonio, it’s not like that!” He exclaimed. Maggie just rolled her eyes in response. “Let's just hurry back to bed...” Tommy murmured.

As the two left the balcony, Maggie stayed behind for a little longer and looked up at the sky. Now that she thought about it, she never told anyone about her life story before, even if it was only parts of it. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to open up a little, especially if he was attempting to make amends, himself.

“I’m sorry too.” She whispered to the night air.