"H…Huh?" Dama uttered as he rapidly blinked in confusion, staring at Tsubasa and Mumu—the fireplace behind them confirming that he was back.

He then looked back to Giona, his hand still rubbing the side of her cheek. This is when he realized her entire body was laying on top of his from her trying to wake him up.

Fully regaining his senses, Dama retracted his arm, his face flushing as he sat up and turned back to Tsubasa. "W-What's going on?"

"You tell me," Tsubasa shrugged, "seems like were having an interesting dream—mumbling nonsense."

Dama's eyes widened and he looked to Mumu. "Wait, was that all just a dream…?" He thought as he then looked to the side, gritting his teeth but keeping them hidden to not alarm Tsubasa. "With Giona on top of me, no wonder I felt so heavy at the end. Don't tell me all of that was my imagination! Wishful thinking I guess…"

Despite Dama's efforts, his granny could still tell something was wrong from his furrowed brow and overall agitated expression. Thinking on it for a moment, she decided against asking, and to wrap things up here. "So, boy, no thoughts on Giona's new look? He seems rather—disappointed," she said with a teasing tone before looking to her side, "wouldn't you say, Mumu?"

Mumu turned his head to Tsubasa and nodded, putting a paw up to his face in a futile effort to hide his stitched smile.

"I-I did!" Dama said with a childishly nervous tremor as he took a quick glance at Giona, who now sat on his lap, looking up at him, from when he sat up.

The first thing Dama noticed was how nice she smelled, especially her hair. He could tell Tsubasa used his shampoo, which was made up of a variety of dry fruits and herbs—a concoction made by Liam Leir. "Hold on," Dama said as he realized possibly the biggest change, "you cut her hair?"

"Took ya long enough," Tsubasa exclaimed as she took a lock of her own hair and mimicked scissors snipping it at cheek height with her other hand, "after washing her hair, I decided to cut her hair short. I also tried to use your brush, but it couldn't get through her matted hair without a lot of discomfort. Don't worry though, I'll get you a brush suitable for her hair in the near future."

Taking some of Giona's hair into hand, Dama nodded as he felt the tangled matted locks, despite their silky feel from the wash.

He then shifted his gaze to Giona's skin, mainly her face, which looked a bit healthier with a noticeable sheen to it. Dama couldn't help but to think how this change really does compliment her big, shining blue eyes.

Lastly, Dama brought his attention down to her arms and legs. The former were huddled together in front of her chest, while the latter positioned on the side of Dama's own legs. The bandages wrapped around them were new, not to mention way more neat and secure—reflecting Tsubasa's experience with caring for all of the village's children.

Dama smiled. "Wow, you look great, Giona, Granny Tsu sure did fix you up. Huh?"

To Giona, she couldn't help but to match Dama's smile to the same dimple raising, freckled smile she woke up to just yesterday. "Warm…" She thought, feeling a warmth envelop her cheeks and dipping her head down a bit before giving a small smile of her own.

Tsubasa stood triumphantly, dusting off her hands with each other after hearing the off-handed compliment. "What can I say? I had to take care of a lot of children in my life. Comes in spades being the chiefess!"

Dama chuckled at the remark. "I'd bet!" He exclaimed before Tsubasa started walking to the other side of the room, piquing his curiosity.

Tsubasa's destination was Dama's desk, with his oil lamp, ink pen, and Giona's drawings on it. Grabbing ahold of said drawings, she patted them on the desk to stack them.

"Now, with that done, I think it's about time I get back to the village. Despite the fact this place is relatively safe, I bet Owain is more than a little worried that I've gone for so long~!" She said with a slight giggle, the humorous thought of Owain pacing in their hut, as she had caught him doing before, making her feel cozy on the inside.

Looking out the window, Dama saw that the sun was starting to set, confirming Tsubasa's statement. It wouldn't be too long until the sky turned from blue to velvet orange.

Turning and repositioning his body, Dama made it to where Giona turned and leaned back on the pillow with the help of his arm, shocking the girl with the maneuver.

He then tossed his legs over the side of the bed as he spoke, "Good call! I'll walk you down to the village. I actually have to go back down there myself!"

Tsubasa raised an eyebrow. "What fo—" she began to reply before remembering a certain missing fox, "oh yeah, you left Nini back in Enohay, right? Who's watching her again?"

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"I left her with Mari!" Dama exclaimed as he prepared to set out. "Hopefully she's not angry with me leaving her for so long. We've never been apart for this long, same goes for Mumu, right pal?"

Mumu nodded as enthusiastically and eagerly as possible, putting his longing for his sister on full display.

Giona sat back up and watched Dama rub an ecstatic Mumu's belly, her fascination with the creature still very much alive.

However, her attention would be stolen from a smiling Tsubasa, who had sat on the side of the bed and took one of Giona's hands into her own.

"It was such a pleasure to meet you, Giona dear. We're going to take your recovery one step at a time, and in the end, you're going to be such a beauty! I can already tell!" She exclaimed before brushing up Giona's bangs, leaning forward, and landing a soft kiss on Giona's forehead. "Even though I'm about to leave, I'll be back. In the meantime, make sure to get plenty of rest, that's your only responsibility—that and listening to Dama."

Giona's face reflected her intense feelings of being starstruck, her mouth agape as she stared at Tsubasa whilst placing a hand on the spot where Tsubasa kissed her.

Tsubasa simply closed her eyes and smiled. "So cuuuuute~!" She thought as she hugged Giona, who eagerly reciprocated, their heads resting on each other's shoulders.

Dama and Mumu stopped to take in the scene, both of them exchanging grinning glances.

Though hidden from the two was Tsubasa's sudden mischievous face and tone shift. "On that note, Giona, if Dama does anything to make you feel uncomfortable, you let me know, k~?"

Giona opened her eyes and tilted her head, confused from Tsubasa's words and not being able to tell it was mainly a joke. Her confusion would be doubled though seeing a flabbergasted Dama, his face as red as strawberries.

"Fi-First The peeking comment, now this?" Dama stammered as he threw his arm in the air. "Just what kind of person do you take me for!?"

"Oh relax, boy. I know I know, just a little teasing," Tsubasa replied whilst turning around with a smug smirk, "Mary was right, you make it a bit too easy. Either way, I don't have anything to worry about, since I know you were raised right—more than right. You had two great parents, and me, after all." A comment that seemed to ease Dama.

Hopping off the bed and making her way to the front door, Tsubasa grabbed the handle as she turned to Dama, a playful grin on her face. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Dama replied before turning to Giona, waving his hand. "Hey Giona! I'll be back in a few! To be safe, we'll leave Mumu with you. That way, you won't feel alone and you two can get to know each other more! How does that sound, Mumu? Up for another round of being guardian of the fortress?"

Waddling over beside the bed, Mumu glanced at Giona, giving her his signature stitched smile. The next moment, he then looked to Dama and Tsubasa, saluting to confirm his position as guardian.

Dama and Tsubasa both chuckled and reciprocated the salute. Giona mirrored them all with her own salute, though her confused expression made Dama and Tsubasa's chuckling evolve into humorous laughter.

Exiting the cabin, Dama took his granny's hand, leading the way down the mountain. "Thanks Granny Tsu, for everything today. I knew coming to you about Giona was the right thing to do!"

"No problem, boy. Again, I'm proud of you for handling the situation better than most adults." Tsubasa responded before smirking. "Also, gotta say, that whole 'Guardian of the Fortress' thing you did with Mumu was pretty adorable. You got that from the book of the same name, didn't you?"

"Yep!" Dama lit up. "I remember when you used to read that fairytale to me almost every week!"

Tsubasa smiled warmly as she looked out into the horizon. "Time sure does fly, eh? As chiefess, it's my duty to try and predict as best I can what the future holds for us as a village, but with Giona now, I don't know for certain…"

Dama shook his head. "Everything will be a-okay, Granny Tsu. You're just overthinking things. I'm pretty sure nothing major will change or happen around here, even with Giona as a new addition."

Tsubasa took Dama's words into deep contemplation, looking at the drawings Giona drew.

Reviewing both pieces over, her eyes landed on the faceless black blob last as she began to say, "Yeah, you're right. Everything will be alri—!?"

A distinct jolt shot up through Dama's body, surprising the boy. Recognizing the place of origin as Tsubasa's hand, he turned to her to see what happened.

What he saw was fear-inducing: Tsubasa stood as stiff as a wall, her ears and tail straight up like a plank of wood, almost every strand of body hair on her standing on end, making her look a bit bigger and rather wolf-like.

However, it was her eyes that worried Dama the most. They were wide, shaking with something akin to fear, but deeper.

Before Dama could say anything, he watched as Tsubasa whipped around to stare at his cabin. Unbeknownst to Dama, Tsubasa felt a surge of overwhelming negativity coming from behind them. "W…What was t-that darkness I just felt…!?" She hurriedly thought between gasping breaths.

"What happened!?" Dama whipped around too, immediately searching for any danger, but after a solid minute, tilted his head. "Granny Tsu?"

Tsubasa gradually was able to catch her breath, her eyes darting around their surroundings for the origin of the darkness. "I felt it only for a split second, right after I focused on this," she began to think as she glanced back down at the blob drawing, "but… Nothing seems to be amiss… Dama didn't seem to feel it either… W-Was that sensation all in my mind?"

"Granny…?" Dama asked again as he got closer to Tsubasa, her face now eerily hidden by her bangs.

But, his fears would be for naught, as they subsided when Tsubasa turned to him with a smile. "Sorry about that, boy. I think I've spent too much time up here on this mountain, the altitude is getting to me."

Dama, with a brush of relief, nodded. "If that's the case, come on, I'll get you to the village quickly!" He said whilst putting a pep into his step.

Being pulled along, Tsubasa tried her best to calm her nerves beneath the fake facade she put on. As she took one more quick glance at the cabin, she thought to herself, "Whatever it was, it wasn't just the chill, nor a gust of wind—it felt primal, powerful…! Was that…Giona…?"

-

Next: (Chapter 66) Saa'ir vs the Curse of Hatred

Canonically Next: (Chapter 11) Mysterious Aserian Island

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