Ritsu kept himself and Akira away from that buff lady as much as he could. If he could lessen contact with her until they got to their next stop, it would be a success in itself. He decided unusually not to report the woman to Baki, which confused him. Normally, he'd already have done it, the first chance he got. Maybe the heat and exhaustion was getting to him.

He was at the back of the company now with Suzume again for a partner. Baki definitely knew what he was doing, even though Ritsu didn't like it, his teacher's methods were made with the students' development in mind. He gave them chances, but it was their job to make the most of them.

Too bad Ritsu didn't really feel up to making the most of this one.

He just had problems with opening himself to other people. The only person he could really call a friend now is Akira.

And he doubted the freak was any better.

He took the chance to glance over at her and saw her playing Cat's Cradle by herself.

What is she, a five-year-old?

He saw one of their clients lagging behind the group and tapped Suzume's shoulder to get her attention and then pointed his thumb behind at him.

Suzume immediately stopped in her tracks and went to assist them.

It was a short teen around Kankuro's age with warm dark skin and large, honey brown eyes which darted around to look at anything other than her. Clouds of sheep kept close to him and the cart, panting as they went.

"Do you want help?"

"... Do you want help?" he repeated slowly and thoughtfully, but not unkindly, panting slightly with his eyebrows drawing downward. "Do I want help?" He coughed a bit and nodded as if to himself. "Yes. I would like that."

Suzume swapped places with the boy and she trundled along with the cart as he dragged his feet beside her. She found that she had to slow her pace to keep him in view but as she did that, the rest of the group was getting further away.

"Do you want to sit at the back?"

"Do you, do you," he muttered. "Do I.... want to sit? Yes. Just for some moments. But what about my sheep? They are tired too, but they cannot sit. So I will not."

Suzume pulled to a stop and lowered the cart. Heaved the equipment out of the cart, strapped it to her back.

"Wait," he said even as Suzume picked him up and placed him on the cart, "that is too heavy."

She chased down the sheep and let them join their owner, afterward retaking her position at the handles again.

Then she zoomed forward to catch up with the rest.

"Fast, speedy, incredible," the boy said in an awed voice amongst his sheep. "You are fast, speedy, incredible."

"Thank you."

"Will you be my camel?"

Suzume wondered if that was an insult or not.

"I will be nice," he said to the sky. "Not a bad deal."

"I'm sorry, I can't. I already have a job."

"That is too bad," he said to one of his sheep.

They were close to the caravan now enough that the sounds of the wagons rattling and the animals braying and the people talking were building up. Suzume could see Ritsu ahead of them and was about to speed up again when she hears a little whimper.

"Oh, please do not get too close," the shepherd moaned. "Too much, too many, too loud."

Suzume immediately pulls back and steadies, letting the caravan pull ahead until there was a good twelve meters between them and the sound ebbed away.

"Is it okay? Is it okay to be so far?" the shepherd asked worriedly, glancing around dizzyingly.

"You're a customer, you should be comfortable."

"But you are not tired, fatigued, bushed?"

"I am not a bush."

"That is good. Bushes do not do much, no. But you are incredible. Not so much like a bush."
Suzume doesn't think she's been complimented by one person so much in the span of a few minutes. "Thank you."

"What is your name?"

"Suzume. What's yours?"

"Jabari. He makes tapestries." There was a pause and Jabari pointed at himself. "I make tapestries."

Suzume rotated around so she was facing him and walking backwards, her wide eyes swallowing him whole. "Amazing!"

His eyes were darting, evading her gaze, and he curls up, embarrassed. "It might not be. It might be."

"Could I see some?"

"I hope you can see," Jabari was excitedly opening a hatch on the bottom of the cart, "I would like you to see."

He carefully lifted a pile of tapestries out of the hatch and unfolded one to show her. It was beautiful. The threads wove in and out to make a pattern that made her dizzy. She had an urge to touch it, just to make sure it wasn't a mirage.

"Amazing!" she said again.

Jabari's fingers danced on their grip, "I don't like this one as much as I do," he said timidly from behind his tapestry.

He placed it aside and picked up another one.

There was a playful elephant on this one, its trunk lifted and its legs stretched out to walk. A frame of patches boxed it in, the colors warm and earthy.

"I think this one is my favorite."

"You have not seen them all," Jabari giggled like he wasn't sure if he was allowed to. Suzume wanted him to do it more.

So they traveled, with Suzume walking backwards and Jabari presenting his work to her until he ran out. Suzume looked up at the sky and was surprised to see it dark and full of stars, she didn't even feel the time pass.

Suzume thought about how Jabari never ran out of things to say. How, even though he never looks her in the eyes, his fills with such passion and light whenever he speaks about his tapestries. It seems as if he's been waiting to say it all out loud to someone for ages. He'd sometimes try to meet her eyes but then they'd fly away somewhere else completely. She didn't mind it. Although, her staring did make Jabari feel slightly overwhelmed.

"I wanted to say how it was weird too but I made so many mistakes when we talked before I didn't want to make anymore, but I think it just made things worse."

They were stopped to make camp and Suzume was helping Jabari with his fire. When they got it going, the two sat down around it.

"I understand much," Jabari said, "I do not know to understand how to rightly say what I want to say. But I still say them, because when else would I? Right then is when."

"You are very smart, Jabari," Suzume said honestly.

Jabari jumped out of his seat and threw himself into his sheep. "Do not say anything anymore with me..." he said into the side of one of his sheep.

Suzume laughed and went to join him. "Should I really stop?"

"Really, really."

"Really, really?"

"Really."

"Should I really? But I want to."

"Then you can say it to my sheep."

"The sheep think I should say it to you."

"They must stop that thinking."

She went to fetch them dinner and some water. Baki stopped her along the way and she instantly remembered her assigned watch duty and was about to apologize for forgetting until Baki told her she wasn't going to be on watch while they were on this certain journey because she was going to be needed most during the day and then he let her go along her way.

Suzume gleefully went back to Jabari and they ate together. Jabari was surprised when she dropped abruptly to sleep right after finishing her dinner. He got an idea and went up onto his cart to pull out his wool blanket. He tucked her in and then went to get his own cot.

In the morning, Jabari was awoken by the jolting of the cart underneath him and the weight of one of his sheep sitting on his stomach. He sat up and looked around and scooted forward to see through bleary eyes the top of Suzume's head as she pulled the cart along.

Jabari bolted up and his sheep brayed in surprise. He was wide awake now and pouting. "You should have woken me, yes."

"Oh," Suzume turned around and walked backwards. She smiled. "Good morning."

"If it was still morning," Jabari grumbled, pulling the blanket over his head. "I do not like how you were awake and I was asleep."

"I didn't want to wake you, you looked tired."

"...I was not."

"Was too."

"Was not."

They got to talking as they went and Suzume taught Jabari how to play cat's cradle.

"Keep it," she said when Jabari reached over to return her string. "You can't keep your hands still for too long. It'll help."

"I have much thread," he said.

"Oh... "

"But I'll keep it." Jabari twirled it around his finger and uncoiled it again thoughtfully.

"Where are you from, Jabari?"

"A small town called Shin. Jabari of Shin," he recited. "Not many have heard of it."

"Do you have anybody you miss?"

"My mother. But she died." He wrapped the string around his wrist now. "She didn't want me to stay in Shin. Told me to leave as soon as I could leave. So I did."

"She would've been proud of you." Suzume remembered something. "Doesn't Shin have a dialect? Did you learn how to speak the common language all on your own?"

Jabari popped up in excitement. "You know?"

"I know all towns and villages, I memorized our nation's map during school and the languages the locations all speak."

"Do you know? Do you speak?" He then said something in his language Suzume could only catch a couple of familiar words of.

She frowned and then said something along the lines of 'My name is Suzume,' in a broken accent.

There was silence. Jabari stifled a laugh and Suzume's frown turned more into a pout.

"That was not good, not at all," he said happily.

"I can get better," Suzume defended. "How did you learn?"

"My mother had a dictionary," Jabari rummaged around in his things, "and then I listened to speak and learned."

He pulled out a battered but well kept dictionary, the spine cracked from how much it's been opened and closed.

"You're amazing, Jabari," Suzume told him.

"You must stop."

Suzume laughed.

"What about you?" Jabari asked. "What makes you amazing?"

He saw her smile wilt a bit, "I don't know."

They talked for the next hour and Jabari learned about Suzume, Suzume learned about Jabari.

He wanted to teach Suzume how to speak his language better and the two of them spoke only in his tongue afterwards.

A commotion up front caught both of their attention and Jabari saw Suzume's posture tighten.

"Jabari," Suzume said as she turned back around.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, but I'll have to get closer. Hold tight."

Jabari almost lurched back as Suzume sped up and they zipped toward the rest of the group.
Suzume halted the cart a bit ways away, unlatched the equipment off of her back, and hopped over the handle to scurry over to Akira who was waiting for her. They exchanged a couple of words before they both disappeared into the crowd of people.

Jabari ducked back down and crawled off of his cart. His sheep followed after him, hopping off in a jumble. He went over to his spinning jenny and struggled to lift it up, sand slipped from the device as he dragged it.

The weight abruptly lightened and Jabari tripped over his feet until somebody gripped his arm to steady him.

"My apologies," said a deep voice and Jabari opened his eyes to see the scary man from before looking down at him with his spindle wheel resting on his back.

"N-no," he pulled away, "no apology."

"I'm here to take care of you while my student is away."

"I don't need care, no." Jabari herded his sheep around and pointed at his empty cart. "Please place mine there."

Baki considered him for a few before complying, he watched Jabari heave the cart up. "At least let me escort you."

He said nothing so Baki stayed by his side.

By the time Jabari arrived to where he could see Suzume, he saw a steel in her eyes that knocked his remaining breath away.

The steel in her eyes was scanning the desert expanse searchingly and purposefully. She stood away from her two teammates and looking at her made him feel awestruck and sad.

Suzume had closed her eyes and stood still, listening. When she opened them, she turned to her teammates and pointed off into the distance.

"Are you impressed?"

Jabari had forgotten all about Baki and he scooted a bit away from the man. "You are Suzume's overseer?"

"Yes."

"She doesn't like you much, no."

Baki scratched the side of his cheek, his eyebrows arched downward. "Yeah..."

"Do you like her much?"

Baki smiled, "I do."

"Too bad she doesn't like you at all."

Baki was wondering if this was part of his punishment for being a dick.

"You are strong," Jabari said, "sometimes strong isn't what's needed."

"Very right," Baki agreed. "It's difficult."

"Not difficult enough."

The Sand shinobi was humbled in the presence of this craftsman, and his stiff shoulders relaxed.

"Very right," he said again gently.

Suzume spotted Jabari just as the other boys were walking back toward the encampment and Baki was leaving his side.

Her face broke into a smile and she waved, running over to him.

"Jabari! I just remembered," she beamed up at him. "I have goats, and a chicken."

His face lit up. "I wish to see them!"

"Wait here!"

After Suzume brought over her goats and chicken, they sat with their huddle of animals. The chicken was sitting on his friend's head and one goat was resting its head on her lap while the other one was playing around with his sheep. He had his staff leaned on his cart beside him and she picked at the wood.

"They keep saying how certain chickens are a rare breed. But my sister told me that was a lie to get me to buy them."

"Not all of a lie. When you get acquainted with them, you make chicken rare and special by welcoming them in your life."

"Chickens?"

Jabari nodded seriously. "Only chickens."

Suzume brought the chicken down from her head and it cocked its head to the side in question. Her eyes brightened with enlightenment. "I see!"

"I think it very nice how you bought these friends," Jabari expressed, still unable to look Suzume in the eye. "They are happy."

"I hope they are," Suzume petted her goat. "I will need to give them away soon though. They're not safe with me."

"But they are happy with you."

"They will be happier away from me."

"Because of Hisoka the cat?"

"Yeah," Suzume said quietly.

"I do not understand."

"What?"

"If I was strong like you, I'd do anything."

"Anything?"

"Everything," Jabari raised his sheep up over his head in an unplanned motion of passion. "I wouldn't be scared to be me. To do what I wanted."

"What would you want to do?"

"Not just anything. The good things," he said to the sheep. "I'd make more of my tapestries. People like my tapestries. They pay money for them. But I like it better when they smile. I wouldn't have to be afraid to be me."

"You're already strong, Jabari. I've seen it."

"I think I try, yes, but I can only think to try so much." He lowered his sheep back to his lap. "But you have strength only I can imagine to think and try. Like what were you doing now before. You helped with the compass."

"Compass?"

"The one in here," he pointed to her chest.

"Oh," Suzume reflexively placed a hand over where he was pointing. "Oh, that."

"You are unsatisfied with something?"

"No, yes, maybe."

"You cannot be all at the same time."

"I know." Suzume lifted a fist of sand and let it funnel through her hand back into a pile on the ground. "I want to tell you."

"Then it must be said."

"Is it okay if I tell you later?"

"As long as it is said. Perhaps the moment is to be later."

Suzume had spent more time with other people but the little days she spent with Jabari nurtured a closeness between the two incomparable to the others. She realized the time was flying by so quickly because she was enjoying his company so much. And before she knew it, they arrived at the port town safe and sound after only needing to stop by an oasis once.

At the oasis, Akira (dragging a reluctant Ritsu) had walked up to them away from the main encampment and introduced himself to Jabari.

Akira smiled once he managed to get a reserved Jabari to shake hands. "You two became quick friends."

Suzume and Jabari both whipped around, shock slapped onto their faces. "Friends?"

"How are you both surprised?!" Ritsu exclaimed.

Then, Suzume smiled. And her two teammates were shocked. She never smiled around them before.

"Jabari, are we friends?"

He picked up one of his ever-present sheep and hid his face, squirming and jittery.

"We are, right?" Suzume grinned. "I'd like it if we were."

And she'd been jolly the rest of the way there. Jabari as well, but in a different sense where he was pink in the face and couldn't keep still.

The tangy smell of the sea lifted around them and a light, chilling breeze swept through them in delight before the arrival of the titan they were originated from.

A cheer rose up from the crowd ahead of them and Suzume picked up the pace to reach the top of the hill that their company just disappeared over. Once they scaled the dune, Suzume paused at the peak so she and Jabari could gawk at the stretch of twinkling blue which stood apart from the sky above as a more stable spirit.

It lapped gently away at the desert at its feet and cliffs were created by its weathering. And cradled in a slope on top was the port town and the curve of the land encircling the sea where docks with ships of unlike shape were resting and alive.

Suzume looked over at Jabari excitedly. What she saw on his face was precious to her by all else as his eyes were wide and enraptured, he was leaning over the cart as if his whole body was being lured in by the sight, and his mouth was pulled into an unreluctant smile.

"It has got to be a jewel," he whispered, "a jewel no man could hope to fit in his hands."

"But it fits in your eyes," Suzume pointed out. She could see from her spot, the way the blue wrapped around his irises.

"Let us hurry," Jabari said, the ocean disappearing as his eyes swooped down to where their company should be heading.

Suzume complied and their cart trundled along once again.

Once they were closing the gap between them and the town significantly, Jabari boxed his ears and screwed his eyes shut. When he started to moan, Suzume stopped in their tracks and went to his side.

"Oh, I can't, I cannot, I could if I can but I can't," he was mumbling.

"Don't you want to go closer to the sea?" she asked.

"I do very much," he said, rocking back and forth on his haunches, "but it's too much. Oh, how I long to."

Suzume frowned and searched around, first toward their group who were getting further away and then passed them to the hustle and bustle of the town and its people. She then looked back at Jabari whose sheep had circled around him in his discomfort.

A thought came to her and she plopped down on her butt next to Jabari. He jumped when she did as the cart shook and watched as his friend beckoned over one of his sheep.

She ran a hand down the sheep's coat to attract any loose bits of shedding wool. Then she pulled out a handkerchief from her weapons pouch and expertly stitched the fabric into a cube shape to stuff the wool into. She made a pair of them and then took a spare bit of string from Jabari's stash of miscellaneous objects and attached both cubes to each other.

Suzume then shifted a bit to get to Jabari. "Can I see your ears?"

Jabari nodded and she pressed the cubes into his ears and wrapped the string around his ear a couple of times to secure it on his head.

"Is that okay?" she asked after she was finished.

"I cannot hear you very well!" Jabari said unnecessarily loudly, but soon enough realization lit up his face. "Much thanks, Suzume-han!"

When they rejoined the caravan, Jabari was able to get close enough to see the faces of the others for the first time (even though his eyes would snap down again immediately after).
Before making a camp a bit ways away from the town, the ones who were being dropped off there were sent off merrily, some merchants even shaking the shinobi's hands in appreciation.

Their companies' number was greatly dwindled now that Baki let his students check out the bazaar for a break and Suzume, her team, and Jabari gladly took the chance to look around.
Suzume and Jabari skirted the edges of the bazaar as Jabari still couldn't handle being surrounded by so many people at once and her team trailed behind them.

Each stall had interesting knick knacks or bizarre foodstuffs. She and Jabari tried crispy newt seasoned by a sweet sauce and fried cactus skins. They saw a necklace made out of cactus needles, textiles that Jabari couldn't rip his eyes off of, and Suzume found a distorted mirror which made her reflection warp far above her head and twist like a winding road.

There was one section full of windchimes, another with empty but beautiful bird cages, and another with handmade instruments. One of bar soaps, and one with scented candles.
When they got to one with jewelry, Jabari found a small pretty pin and lifted it up to Suzume's hair.

She looked over and then picked up a blue earring to hold up to his ear. They giggled.

The next thing they saw was from a small mobile vendor who was carrying around a box full of containers. A pole stuck out of his back with flags swaying dangerously back and forth as he walked.

"What're you selling?" Ritsu and Akira had caught up with them.

"It's called gum," the vendor said loud enough for the people from the Earth country to hear him, "the next big innovation!"

"You have made this out of human flesh?" Jabari's eyes were wide.

"What? No!"

"You can't eat it?" Akira said after reading one of the signs on the box. He wafted the smell into his nose. "Smells like fruit though. Dried fruit."

"You can't eat it, you chew it."

"What's the use of it then?" Suzume asked, frowning.

"Flavor!"

"Because food we can swallow doesn't have that already?" Ritsu lifted an eyebrow.

"The novelty then." The vendor crossed his arms. "You kids gonna buy some or not?"

Suzume picked up a box and her eyes went big like a child's. "It makes bubbles?"

Ritsu squinted his eyes at her delighted brightening. "You wouldn't."

"I can't believe you bought that."

Suzume was unwrapping the box and pulled open the top.

"It was an obvious scam and you still bought it," Ritsu continued his criticisms but he still watched closely as Suzume shook out round balls colored with an array of colors.

She shared some with each of them and then popped one into her mouth, they waited as she chewed.

She looked down at the box and turned it over to see the back and read the instructions. Her mouth moved as she worked to position the gum the way it told her too and then she blew.
The glob of now chewed up gum propelled out of her mouth.

The boys all began to hoot with laughter and even Jabari smiled under his hand. Suzume frowned, looked at the instructions again and went off to fetch the gum with a displeased look on her face.

"Suzume-han, do not be upset," Jabari comforted, still with a smile on his face. "Practice helps, helps to practice."

Suzume came back to them and disposed of the chewed gum in the nearest trash bag. They had all began chewing their own gum and Suzume handed the box over to Ritsu when he gestured for it after getting another piece of her own.

Suzume had to see with her own eyes all of them blowing bubbles on their first try

"Pretend you're whistling," Ritsu said as they were walking back to camp around the perimeter of the bazaar.

Suzume blew out and the gum sputtered like a balloon running out of air.

"You are close, yes," Jabari told her encouragingly.

Suzume gave up for the time being and pocketed the box. The four of them split up into pairs and she and Jabari went to his cart to hang out.

Jabari got crowded by his sheep and he asked Suzume if she could get their food from the cart. She hopped up and unlatched the hatch, lowering the dense top down with a gentle clatter. She lifted the rusting but clean metal container about the size and shape of a bucket she smelled dried grass from.

She hefted it out and over to the side. She was about to close the hatch when she glimpsed the tapestries folded carefully in a crate to the side.

Suzume finally climbed off the cart with feed in hand and joined Jabari's side.

"Jabari," she said and he hummed in response, preoccupied with feeding his sheep. "You should try selling at the bazaar."

He nearly spilled all the oats. "Th-there? Oh no, oh no. Too much all at the same time."

"You have the ear plugs now," Suzume urged. "You should try."

Jabari panicked silently for a minute and then his hand clutched at her wrist. "...You will be there?"

She nodded. "I'll be there. So you'll do it?"

"I'll try to do."

"You can't change your mind."

"No changing..." he muttered in uncertain affirmation. "A little changing?"

"None."

"My sheep would like change."

Suzume set up Jabari's booth the next morning. She made a canopy out of the palm trees fallen leaves and strung them together with the fibers of the tree's trunk. She hung up the tapestries along a structure she made out of poles she'd found thrown out. The tapestries swayed in their places, stretched outward from the shade of the canopy like a walkway.

Jabari sat in the shade with a small chest holding his meager savings and in front of his rickety equipment, an old model already out of make and out of history. He was working on a tapestry to keep his hands and mind occupied. When he was just following around Suzume as she collected supplies and setting up his booth trying to find a way to help, Suzume had told him to sit down and work.

He had his colored thread in separated woven baskets by his feet, he'd bypassed his old equipment for the time being and sat down braiding the strings together with his hands only. His face was stern, focused, and his hands were sure and passionate. He looked like a master in his craft, his stance relaxed yet proper and people couldn't help but stare as he made thread into art.

Patrons began to gather and Suzume was guarding the tapestries to make sure none were taken without proper due.

But two kids at a stall only made the crowd fall into tricks and many began to try and rob the children of their money and lower the prices down by more than half when bargaining.
Usually, Suzume would frown at them and send them away, but this wasn't giving them any profit.

When it was midday and Suzume was getting worried, Baki came to visit them.

"Would you like some help?" he asked, his presence instantly raising respect in the customers.

Suzume stared at him for a moment then glanced at Jabari, still concentrating on his tapestry.

"Yes," she said. "Please."

It was then when sales rocketed and the product was flying off the racks. When Baki wasn't negotiating with customers, he was teaching Suzume how to manage a business.

When the sun was falling, Suzume was taking down the racks she'd made and Baki was handling the last few patrons. Afterwards, the racks were all empty and Baki came over to her.

"You did well in choosing the location and your setup," he complimented. "They both drew in the customers effectively as it stood apart from the rest of the storefronts."

Suzume nodded and dismantled another rack.

"Excuse me."

The shinobi turned to see a man with spectacles tied around his head as well as a pack too big for him on his back and a large man as a companion beside him. He smiled. "Are either of you the master behind this work?"

"No, he's working in the booth," Suzume said.

"May I speak to him?"

"What's your business with him?" Baki queried.

"I wanted to know if he wanted a sponsor."

They led the man over to Jabari and when they saw him still at work, the man chuckled, "We can wait until he is finished."

The group settled in the booth and watched Jabari's hands dance.

It was enough time spent where Suzume even offered to serve the men tea and she came back with both the tea and a few snacks.

The man whispered to them about how he was a recruiter for a kind lord who owned this port town and how Jabari's skill caught his eye.

"It's simply magical," he said, his large eyes magnified by his glasses. "I hope Jabari-dono wouldn't mind creating one for me. Don't you want one too, Omari?"

The companion grunted.

Once Jabari finished, his hands stilled and his eyes were glued onto his work like he was entranced. The depicted scene resembled the ocean and the sky above it.

"Magnificient," the recruiter said in awe, leaning over and lifting up his glasses to get a better look.

Jabari jumped and his mesmerized gaze broke. He saw the strangers and then his eyes searched frantically before they landed on Suzume next to him.

"Suzume-han..." he said to her hand. "Who are..."

"I'm so sorry to startle you, Jabari-dono," the recruiter said. "I'm here to talk about a potential deal."

"Deal..."

"Yes, it is exciting stuff. If you accept, you will be sponsored by a kind benefactor and be able to be known throughout the Wind country. You will have dealings with other countries, be a complete financial wizard! Rule the tapestry industry! Be in history books!"

Jabari fled back from the energy of the man behind Suzume. "Too much all at the same time," he squeaked.

"You're being overwhelming again, sir," Omari informed.

The man reeled himself back and readjusted his glasses. "Excuse me, I just get too excited. But this is an opportunity worth being ecstatic about! And we would be honored to help you achieve the entirety of your potential."

"I think he needs time to mull over your offer," Baki said.

"Of course, of course. Oh, but," the man's face fell and he looked over at Omari, "we'll be leaving tonight, won't we?"

"Where are you headed?"

"Well, there will be a couple of other stops but ultimately the trade town in the Dune territory."

"We are traveling there as well."

"Beautiful!" The man turned to Jabari. "We will be checked in at the Purple Satin motel. Just ask for me and Omari at the front."

Jabari nodded slowly.

They all exited the hut to say farewell to the men and the excitable recruiter shook all of their hands.

"If we miss each other, just send a hawk to the lord's palace, West Scorpion Palace. I'm looking forward to your response, Jabari-dono."

Jabari was in a trance the rest of the day. Suzume once found him trying to feed his sheep sand. The sheep weren't happy.

Suzume had thanked Baki, without him they wouldn't have succeeded and Jabari would've been crestfallen about how nobody was interested in his work. Baki had smiled.

The thing that broke Jabari out of his thoughts was when Suzume handed him his earnings.

"Take some," he insisted, "and for teammates."

Suzume shook her head, "It's all yours. It wouldn't make us happy to take any."

"It would make me happy, and no guilt I am very much now feeling, yes."

"Baki-sensei told me with the money you have now, you could buy a house and live comfortably for awhile. You don't have to be a huge tapestry maker like the men said."

Jabari's grip on the sack of money tightened.

"You should do whatever makes you happy."

"Giving you some money would make me happy."

"Except that."

"I could spend money to be your neighbor."

"That would be great, but you won't be happy there."

"You would be there."

Suzume was staring at him now, he knew it.

"You make me happy too, Jabari."

Jabari stood then and went to his cart where he had the last few of his tapestries, ones he would never sell. He lifted the top one out, the newest.

He sat back down beside Suzume and gently slid it over onto her lap, covering her legs.
It looked like the waves were lapping over her and the ships, small in the distance could be cupped in her hands.

"If you will not take money, would you take this instead?"

He stared at her hands, the hands that were calloused and rough and dry; working hands, fighting hands. Similar to the farming hands of his townspeople but not at the same time. He'd call hers lost.

Her hand landed on top of his while the other skimmed over the tapestry gently.

"I'll proudly take it."

Suzume took him to the ocean, where the desert met the water. They let the waves wash over their feet and laughed. They kicked water at each other and Jabari drew the two of them in the sand with a branch they'd found.

It was when they were exhausted from laughing and walking silently along the shore when Suzume spoke up.

"I think I want to tell you now," she said as they left their footprints in the wet sand, "what I was afraid to tell you before."

"If this is the moment to do it," Jabari encouraged.

He could see her frowning. "You won't think I'm a freak?"

"I would never think that of you."

She didn't speak and Jabari thought maybe she changed her mind.

"I can feel where there is life. Where oases are."

He stopped walking and wonder lit up his eyes. "That is amazing and miraculous!"

"You believe me?"

"Was it a lie?"
"No."

"Then of course I believe. I believe the desert has blessed you." He nodded at his words.

"Blessed me..." Suzume's hand slipped off her chest and Jabari followed it down to her side.

"I suppose it has. It's blessed me with you."

Jabari ducked his head and buried it back into his hands, overcome with embarrassment.

"It's blessed me with my family. I found you all here."

"You cannot compare me with your siblings, no, no."

"You're just as important. I don't know why but I feel like I've known you for years."

"It's been a week." His voice was muffled. "Please do not compare, please."

"Then you're my brother now too."

"I've..." Jabari lowered his hands. "I've never been a brother."

"Well, now you are. No matter what."

"You will not forget me then," he asked his hands. "Will you write me letters, letters I can respond to?"

"Always," Suzume nodded seriously. "Maybe you can come visit the Sand one day."

"I'm always on the sand."

"There's a lot of sand," she agreed.

They listened comfortably to the waves and the cool sea breeze slipped by them.

"I am grateful for the Sand," Jabari said. "It sent you to me."

Before carrying on to the last trade town, the party stopped at the top of a canyon to have a small banquet. The shinobi were against it, but the merchants insisted and since they were only half a week to the town the shinobi lost the argument.

But they still guarded the perimeter against the merchant's wishes as they wanted their beloved shinobi to have fun with them. So instead they mingled around the shinobi at their guardposts, completely swarming Baki and Akira. Only a select few went to Ritsu and only Jabari stuck to Suzume.

All of them couldn't help but relax a little and entertain their customers.

The laughter and music and loud talking muffled into the background as Jabari spoke to Suzume excitedly about his new tapestry plans. The sheep were sleeping around their feet.
Suzume was usually quiet when he spoke, but Jabari couldn't feel her eyes on him as he usually did. He thought she'd begun to think him boring and talked faster and faster.

"I want a way to make the tapestry shimmer like thread made of gold and it would still just be as soft, yes, but that would not make sense would it, no, you can only have one or the other, I suppose, yes, maybe I am being as they call silly and stupid, should I stop talking, am I talking much too much?"

Suzume slowly rose from her seat and Jabari forced himself to look up. Then he saw the same look that took his breath away from before. She was looking at something in the sky so he followed her gaze up to see a hawk circling above them.

"Suzume-han...?"

Her hair bustled upward and her pupils turned into slits. Her head snapped toward the campsite.

"Jabari, run."

Just then a huge explosion shook the ground underneath them and flung Jabari forward, his sheep lurching awake and braying in alarm.
When the shaking ceased, he struggled onto his feet, his legs quivering, and looked up to see his friend gone.

It was dead silent.

"Suzume--"

One long bloodcurdling scream sent out a chorus of a hundred. Jabari tried to keep out the unrelenting chaos and whimpered out his friend's name.

We let our guard down.