Noria hummed softly as she turned a page, one hand on Fea's notes the other softly petting Azelea's smooth underside. She was sitting at a hastily constructed table right next to the hatchery, and just behind her was the portal. It had been moved the previous day after everyone had come back through…

Laying upon the table and taking up much of the available space was her partner. The citrine dragon laid belly up and had her head hanging off. She lightly snored as Noria continued her unconscious petting.

But as for Noria? She was supposed to be in charge of the portal, making sure it stayed open. A boring job but one only a handful were capable of handling. It didn't help that they had never tested the longevity of the portal either…

She flipped another page and yawned. Gods, such a beautiful day and I have to spend it like this, she complained to herself. Fea's notes made up for it a little though. Eri had approached her the night before and offered them to her to study. And, despite her animosity for only being useful for enchanting, they were a gold mine of knowledge. She could not turn them down.

But I'd like to be sitting under a tree– Perhaps by the pond? Yeah, that sounds nice. Azelea would love that idea too.

Her partner suddenly chirped and came alive at the sound of her name. We go to pond?!

She gave the dragon an apologetic smile. Sorry, but not today. Besides, really I should be out there training. She gestured towards the sound of shouting men somewhere behind the hatchery.

Azelea let out a whimper and deflated. But I want go to pond…

She scooped her partner's head into her hands and gently lifted it up, looking into her eyes. Why not go and find the others? Last I saw they were with Solanna and Yedril.

But I want stay with you…

Rolling her eyes in amusement, Noria let go and gave the dragon a few deep scritches on her chest. A purr vibrated the table.

Without warning, two muscular arms wrapped around her.

"Hello Lorem," she said, unfazed by her soon-to-be husband's attempt at affection.

"How are you doing?" he asked as he let go and took the seat next to her.

Noria let out a sigh. "I know that I'm needed here– Which I'm glad to be useful, but…"

"But this isn't exactly what you had in mind," he finished for her.

"Yeah." She shook her head and glanced up to him. "Never mind that, what about you? Weren't you and Felix supposed to be training?"

Lorem let out a laugh. "I decided to let him and Gern train while I oversaw the match."

"Oh? How did that go?"

"Well, it ended early as you can see… Those two decided to go all out and ended up getting hurt– Nothing serious I assure you, but it definitely required a trip to the Healer's tent."

Really? It's not serious but they still had to go to see the Healer? She wasn't convinced. "Right…"

"Anyway, I dropped them off then went and collected the gear we borrowed from the dwarves. I returned it all and came over here to see how you were doing."

She gestured to the table. "As you can see, not much aside from studying Fea's notes. Don't get me wrong, they're fascinating and I'm learning a lot, but I feel like this is something I should be doing after a day's work. Not while everyone else is working hard."

Lorem nodded before suddenly snapping his fingers. "Well, why not work on your magic?"

Noria blinked at him. "What?"

"Why not work–"

"I heard you, but what do you mean?"

He shrugged. "Why not practice more of what Yarnel taught us? Or maybe work on your spellcraft itself?"

Huh… "I suppose I could, but I prefer doing that in private. Not to mention, practicing spells could get messy or dangerous… It'd be better to do that away from others." She gestured to the still-lit portal. "I can't exactly step away, not until we are sure it will stay active indefinitely."

Lorem nodded sagely. "If that is the case, then I know someone who can stay and watch."

"Who?" she questioned, furrowing her brow in confusion. "Everyone who could activate the portal is already busy."

He cracked a smile. "Not everyone…"

"My first casualty of the day and it happens to be you. What happened? Did you fall off a dragon this time?" the Healer, Ashtia, asked with humor in her voice.

Felix chuckled even as she worked his hurt shoulder. Pain shot up and down his arm in protest… "No, me and Gern here," he gestured over to the kobold with his good arm, "were sparring and we went a little too hard."

"Uh-huh…" She glanced over to the kobold and his now swollen legs. "Looks like you two were trying to break each other's bones… Well sit tight and let me check on the kobold. He looks worse than you."

"Of course, take your time. I'm pretty sure mine is just bruising."

Ashtia nodded. "It is, but I can help with it." She made her way over to Gern and began inspecting his legs.

"Gern fine–" the kobold tried to protest. However, the Healer was not having it.

"No you're not, now be quiet and let me work…"

Felix watched with mild interest as she began to cast a spell. He hadn't paid much attention to her magic when she healed his broken nose but now that he was, it was hard to miss the golden light radiating out from her hands.

Eri's and Aluin's is green– So is Fea's, now that I think of it. With his curiosity now properly piqued, he got up from his seat and walked over to them, making sure to stay out of the way.

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"Something interests you?" she questioned, not once taking her eyes off her work.

He gave her a nod. "I haven't seen anyone use golden healing magic."

Her lips curled into the faintest of grins. "It's because I've developed my own way of healing."

"Really?" Now that was truly fascinating to him. "I–" He quickly remembered she was in the middle of concentrating. "I have some questions but I'll wait until you are done."

"It's fine. I've long since learned how to multitask and this isn't exactly stitching limbs back together. Go ahead and ask away."

He gave her another nod and glanced over to Gern. The kobold was watching with open fascination at her work. It gave him a smile.

"What is different with how you heal as opposed to Master Aluin or Eri– Her Majesty?"

She tilted her head to the side, pondering the question. "Not much, I suppose. Master Aluin did teach me– He effectively taught all the Healers. However, I already had a knack for it long before he began schooling me. I suppose the difference is how we approach healing."

"How you approach healing? You mean there are different ways?"

Her magic ended and she lifted her hands away from the kobold. "Yes and no. I'm probably not the best one to explain this but… For me, it's intuitive. I just know what is wrong before I even have a proper look."

Ashtia paused her explanation and focused on Gern. "Alright, you should be good. But I would suggest taking it easy for the rest of the day."

"Gern say Gern is fine…" The red kobold trailed off as he received a look from the Healer. "…But Gern take Healer request to heart. Is Gern free to go?"

"You are, have a wonderful day." She gave him a proper smile and soon the kobold was out of the tent…

Turning back to Felix she gestured for him to sit down in the nearest chair. "Your turn."

"Yes ma'am." He did as instructed and plopped down. A moment later, she was already using her magic on his shoulder.

"Master Aluin found he did not need to teach much to me. Instead, he merely gave me guidance and oversaw a few serious cases to make sure I knew what I was doing."

His shoulder was feeling much better… "Do Healers not take on apprentices?"

"Oh we do, but we send them to Master Aluin first and then we take them on."

"Interesting… But I guess to get back to my original question, why is your healing magic golden? You said your approach is different, but how does that change the color?"

"Oh, see… This is what I meant by not being the best at explaining. The other Healers, Master Aluin included, were taught how to heal. They didn't wake up one day with the ability."

"And…you did?"

She let go of his shoulder. "How is it now?"

Felix tested it out and found no pain. "Better– A lot better."

"Good. And as for your question, yes."

Her response caught him off guard and before he could recover the flap to the tent opened. Lorem stepped in.

"Hey Felix, I've got something I want to talk with you about…"

***

"She wants to help more," Lorem stated. Him and Felix had walked a few paces away from the Healer's tent and even further away from Noria.

Felix came to a stop. "But she has already been a big help. I know Eri gave her Fea's notes to study, that alone is important–"

"For you." Lorem crossed his arms and peered down at him, letting his words sink in before continuing. "Look, I know how much useful knowledge is in there but Noria desperately wants to train and practice like everyone else. Also, she wasn't exactly happy about the whole fixing the portal thing."

"What?"

"She was putting a lot of work into repairing the portal until you waltzed in and touched it. This is after you asked her to take a look at it. And still, it wasn't even that that made her unhappy. Apparently, everyone there but her knew what was going on but no one wanted to fill her in."

Oh…

"Honestly, Felix, I've gotten to know you over the last little while and I know you are a good man. I know whatever happened then was probably miscommunication, but she hasn't been taking things well since then."

Felix listened quietly, taking in everything Lorem said to heart. He never knew any of this, any of how Noria felt, and now he was starting to think of himself as an ass. Why did I even keep Fea secret from her– From them?

His thoughts turned further afield when he considered the four elves he took in. He had told them first about his dreams and visions, about how the Holy Triumphant was sending ships their way. He had confided in them and asked for their support. But I never told them about Fea…

Furrowing his brow, Felix came to a decision. He had screwed up and he would rectify it.

"Lorem, I never meant to make her upset. That was never my intention. I will go and apologize to her. But, in the meantime, could you do me a favor?"

The elf raised an eyebrow. "Sure, what is it?"

"Could you gather Solanna and Yedril for me? I have something I need to share with the four of you. It will probably explain a few things for you all."

"Alright, I will go and grab them. Where do you want us to meet?"

"The hatchery. It's a fitting place, I think."

That caused Lorem to frown in confusion but Felix chose not to elaborate. "Okay, give me a few minutes then."

"Take your time. Meanwhile, I will go and speak to Noria."

The two parted and went their separate ways, Lorem off to find the siblings and Felix to go apologize…

Taking a deep breath, Felix calmly strode up to the sitting woman and gave her a smile as she looked up. Her partner, on the other hand, was snoring away without a care in the world.

"Felix? What are–" Noria narrowed her eyes and muttered something under her breath. "Did Lorem send you here to take over for me?" she asked, speaking up once more.

"He did, however…" He took the seat opposite of her. "I wanted to speak with you–"

"Look, I'm fine. I know you are busy with everything. I don't mind sitting here and watching the portal."

He studied her for a moment, catching only a glimpse of her hidden agitation. He decided to be direct. "That's not what Lorem told me. He said you've been feeling left out and I want to apologize for that."

"Ignore him, I was merely complaining– Wait, apologize?"

"Yes, apologize," he said with a nod. "It was never my intention to make you feel that way. I simply did not want to make you feel forced to do things like enchantment, when I know how souring an experience that was for you. I didn't want to make you feel like you were back in Bernel. But, I screwed up."

Noria's face started to turn beet red and the Noria he knew started coming out of her shell. "N-no! Look… I get it, I just…"

"No, no, I should definitely apologize. I'm sorry for making you feel unneeded. Especially, with the whole ordeal with the portal. I specifically asked you to take a look at it, then I decided to fix it myself– Well, I didn't repair it but…"

In her embarrassment she tried to look away, that is until she caught his last few words. "W-what? You didn't repair it? What… What do you mean?"

"That will have to wait. But! I promise to explain it to you and the others. And speaking of the others…" He looked over and found Lorem approaching with Solanna and Yedril in tow. "We're going to meet in the hatchery, and there I will tell you everything."

Felix stood up and gave her another smile.

"It will all make sense then."

"Wait! What about the portal?"

He glanced over to it and gave a shrug. "Has it stopped at all?"

"No…"

"Then I think it will be fine."

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