I settled down into the grass as the last bits of the Morning Song faded. Minna seemed to be in much better spirits this morning, and she had a soft smile on her face as she watched me glide to the ground. I chirped happily at the sight of her smile, and jumped back into the air to fly the short distance to her shoulder.

She reached up to pet me, and we watched the sun continue to creep up above the horizon.

After a few minutes we heard the door open behind us. Minna glanced back, but I kept looking at the sky. I knew who it was - there was only one other person in the house, after all - and I had decided to try and make an effort to be nice to him. Or at the very least, to not make things worse for Minna.

"You're up early." There was a bit of surprise in the Kymari's voice.

Minna rose to her feet and nodded. "I told you I would be. I get up before the sunrise now. Why are you wearing that?" She turned back towards the house, bringing her father into my field of vision. I made a point not to glare at him for Minna's sake, but I still wasn't very happy with him, even with the typical euphoria left behind from the Morning Song. He was wearing a full set of the Kymari armor, though I noticed it lacked the same sheen that Minna's had. That meant it probably wouldn't protect him from my fire.

Not that I had any ideas about testing that out. Honest.

"I told you I would come with you on your patrols." He reached to one arm and began adjusting the armor plate covering it.

"If you really want to and can convince the other guards to let you come, I won't try and stop you, but I don't have any patrols today. This is a training day for me."

The older Kymari stopped his adjustment and looked confused by that news. "You're hunting sicora and he isn't even fully trained?"

Minna shook her head. "Not for him; he's more than trained enough for the job. It's for me. Combat training." She shrugged and moved past him to open the door. "You're welcome to wear it and come with me, but you'll look out of place at the gym."

Her father sighed and followed us back into the house. "I'll go change. When do you leave?"

"Not for a little bit. We still have to eat breakfast; you've got time. I'll have it ready in a minute."

"Thank you."

Minna's father walked back towards his room while we went to the kitchen. Minna put out a bowl of fruit for me to eat while she put together a few servings of something resembling pancakes. I ate quickly, then flew back to the living room to rest. I didn't really want to sit through an awkward meal between the two Kymari... and it was always nice to relax under a heat lamp after eating.

It was about an hour later when I heard Minna call for me. "Okay Nate, let's go." I lifted my head and yawned, then hopped off the simple shelf to glide towards the front door.

Minna's father had changed into the more casual outfits I normally saw Kymari wearing, and he watched from beside Minna as I landed on her shoulder and waited patiently for her to clip the harness over me. I stared back at him for a half second, then dismissed him and looked away. Minna clipped one of the longer leashes to my harness - I had long since realized the short ones were for patrols, when Minna needed to be able to keep me close, while most other times the leash was more for appearance than anything - and we left the house.

The familiar walk to the gym was awkward. Most days I took the chance to stretch my wings a bit, since I had come to learn I wouldn't have much chance to do that while Minna was exercising, but I didn't really feel that comfortable leaving her shoulder this time. I had the constant feeling that Minna's father was watching us both and judging everything we did, and it was hard to relax with him doing that. And I knew it had to be even worse for Minna. So I sat on her shoulder and gave her whatever support my presence could give.

We arrived at the gym, and Minna took us through a number of hallways until she came to a large open room that reminded me of a karate dojo. The center of the room was entirely empty except for the thick floor mats, and the sides of the room were lined with chairs and various bits of equipment. A few Kymari were scattered around the room in pairs and were already sparring when we came in, though I knew from past visits that it could easily hold several more fighters.

Minna headed to one of the far corners and stopped by a simple post. It reminded me of something between a cat tree and a scratching post, and had been installed by the second time Minna had come here to work out.

The first time Minna had come here to work out, she had tried to keep me inside the pet carrier. That had worked for all of two minutes, until I realized the other Kymari were attacking Minna.

The pet carrier had turned out to be one of the few Kymari creations that was not fireproof. And there was one Kymari fighter who still gave my claws nervous glances every time he came to work out.

I had gotten better at staying calm during Minna's sparring sessions, but everybody still felt better if they thought I was safely secured, so the 'fire lizard tree' had been brought in. There were four ledges spaced out along the post, with a small box covering one ledge to serve as a makeshift den, and the whole thing was covered in some sort of fuzzy material that was actually pretty itchy.

I sighed and hopped onto the top shelf, then sprawled out to watch while Minna swapped the leash out for a shorter one and tied it to the simple hook set in the floor nearby. She stood between me and the hook while she worked, blocking my view, and I chittered at her in mock annoyance. It was a little game we played now - early on the hook had been necessary for the protection of Minna's sparring partner, but by now I was able to restrain myself well enough to let her practice in peace. So now I always made it a point to untie the leash at some point during the day, while she did her best to come up with a tie that I couldn't undo.

So far I was winning. The best Minna had managed was some sort of tie that I hadn't managed to undo, but which had become so thoroughly knotted by my attempt that she hadn't been able to undo it at the end of the day either. There were two horribly knotted clippings of leash stuck to the hook at this point from where Minna had given up and cut the leash to get it free.

She didn't try using that method anymore, so I counted that as a win, too.

Minna finished securing the leash and stepped out past a half circle made of something like orange tape on the floor. That was apparently the gym's version of 'keep out' - when I was here, this little corner of the room was mine, and none of the Kymari ever crossed that boundary except for Minna. Occasionally a Kymari would come nearby and watch me - if they got too annoying I would just retreat out of sight into the small hut on the middle shelf - but for the most part they were all more focused on actually working out than in trying to mess with me.

After a few minutes a pair of sparring Kymari finished up their match. The younger combatant moved off to one of the chairs to rest in, panting heavily, while the older one waved at Minna and walked towards us. I recognized him as one of our permanent guards, Kilpin. He looked different without the armor that I usually saw him in, but he came by often enough to train with Minna that I could still tell who he was even without it. I think he and Morton had some sort of schedule worked out, since they tended to alternate as to which one would be here, but I hadn't managed to figure out exactly what it was yet.

"Good morning, Minna." He paused a few steps away and glanced at Minna's father. "Who is your friend?"

"Good morning, Kilpin. This is my father; he's come here to try and talk me out of being a bond companion." Minna spoke bluntly, and I caught a hint of disapproval in the eyes of both the older Kymari. I just grinned to myself from my perch on the shelf - yes, it probably wasn't polite or 'proper' Kymari behavior to just bring up something like that, but... that was Minna for you. "Dad, this is Kilpin; he is one of the guards I work with."

Kilpin held out his hand to Minna's father. "It's an honor to meet you, sir. Your daughter has been a huge help to us. Kilpin." I rolled my eyes at Kilpin repeating his name. That was something about the Kymari that had taken some getting used to - even if they obviously knew somebody's name, it wasn't considered polite to actually use their name until and unless they themselves gave it to you.

Which... probably said something, with how readily Kilpin had offered his name. Was that perhaps some kind of compliment? Something like, 'your daughter is such a great person that I already know it's okay to offer my name to the person who raised her'?

Minna's father shook Kilpin's hand. "Thank you. Please don't mind me; I do not want to get in your way. I will just have a seat while she practices."

Kilpin nodded. "Of course. Though you are welcome to use the gym yourself, if you like. There is equipment in other rooms, and I am sure you can find people willing to spar."

"Thank you. I will keep that in mind." Minna's father nodded and moved to one of the chairs on the far side of the room. I narrowed my eyes at him as I realized he had picked a spot that gave him a view of both my post and the center of the room - he could watch me and his daughter at the same time.

The older Kymari settled down and brought out his tablet to work on, but I could tell he kept a close watch as Minna and Kilpin moved back over the mats. They bowed to each other... then began doing their best to beat the other to a pulp.

I watched for all of two seconds before it became too much for me to stand. I hissed and retreated out of sight into the den so I didn't have to watch. Minna had gotten a lot better, and against some of the younger Kymari in the gym she could hold her own, or even win. But she had only really been doing this for a little over two months. Against someone like Kilpin, who had spent his whole life learning about combat... it wasn't even really a fight. The word 'fight' implied Minna was an opponent, and could have hurt Kilpin, or at least defended herself against him.

Thump.

The sound of someone heavy slamming into the thick padding reached me inside the hut, and I grumbled to myself. Not having to see it made it a little easier... but it still didn't make it easy. I turned away from the entrance and hid my head under my wing, and tried my best to take a nap.

I managed a fitful rest for an hour or two, but after that I emerged from the small hut and moved to one of the ledges that got sunlight from the window. Minna wasn't actively fighting anyone now, and was instead standing with a small group of other younger Kymari and going through a series of punches and kicks that an instructor directed them through.

The chair Minna's father had sat down in was empty. I looked around the rest of the room, wondering if he had left or gotten up to something else, and paused when I saw a loose ring of Kymari at one side of the room. I could make out the sound of blows landing and being blocked even from here, though I couldn't quite make out who was fighting past everybody watching. I craned my neck uselessly, then flew up to the highest perch to look back with a better angle.

Kilpin and Minna's father were going at it.

Just a few seconds of the fight made it obvious the two were very skilled fighters. Kymari were fast to begin with, but these two were moving so fast that I had trouble making sense of what I was seeing. The sound of slaps and kicks were often the only clue I had that they had even struck out at each other.

I quickly began to realize just how much Kilpin had been holding back all the times he had been fighting Minna.

The two of them were breathing a little heavily, so they must have been going at it for at least a little bit by now, but I had no idea how long they had been sparring. The crowd surrounding them was fairly small, but I wasn't sure how much that meant. Most people at the gym would have been focusing on their own exercises anyways, just like the group practicing with Minna. Though a quick glance back at that group confirmed most of them were stealing glances back towards the fight as the instructor guided them through punches and kicks.

I turned my attention back to the fight and grinned to myself as Kilpin landed a punch. Minna's father fell back a step and immediately lashed out at Kilpin's leg, punching down at his knee in a rapid-fire blow that I only barely saw, but somehow Kilpin pivoted in time and got out of the way... only to get hit in the arm as another punch followed right on the heels of the first.

I spread my wings out in growing excitement and watched, silently rooting for Kilpin.

The two fought for hours. I watched in growing amazement as I saw firsthand just how much endurance, strength, and speed two fully trained Kymari possessed. The ring of observers grew as the fight went on, too. The instructor finished drilling the group with Minna, and when he ended it his students immediately headed to take their own places in the ring. Even the instructor went to watch. The only exception was Minna, who glanced over, shook her head, grabbed some water from one of the cabinets near the door, and sat down in a chair near me to rest.

Kymari wandered in from other parts of the gym, too. I wasn't sure if anybody was recording the fight or passing messages through the devices most of them wore on their wrists, but word was clearly spreading somehow. The fight was fascinating to me, but it was also clear that it was unusual even for Kymari - unusual enough for them to abandon their own exercises to come stare at.

It was much later in the day when the two finally called an end to the fight. A collective sound of disappointment rose from the crowd - which by this point filled half of the room and made it very annoying for me to get glimpses through - and the two took a few steps apart and bowed to each other. They were both panting heavily, though neither one seemed any more hurt or exhausted than the other. If one of them had actually won or lost the fight, I sure couldn't tell.

Minna looked up from her tablet as they made their way through the crowd towards her. She had finished her own exercises about two hours ago - normally that would have meant we left and headed back for home, but it seemed like she hadn't wanted to interrupt her father or leave without him. "All done?"

Minna's father nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect the fight to go on that long, or realize how late it had gotten. Kilpin is a very skilled fighter."

Kilpin seemed to beam a little at the compliment, and even Minna smiled a little. "I told you. They take my safety very seriously; my guards are some of the best on the planet. I'm probably safer when I'm on my patrols than I am the rest of the time."

"I'm starting to believe that. Still, I would like to come with you tomorrow." Minna's father hesitated and looked back at Kilpin. "That is, if that's alright with you?"

"I'll have to check with Morton, but I'd be happy to have you with us. We have two trainees assigned with us as well and I'm sure they would benefit from your experience." Kilpin looked back towards Minna. "It's later than I expected too, and I need to be going. I'll see you tomorrow at the spaceport?"

"Tomorrow." Minna nodded and slipped the tablet into her pocket. She got up and stepped over the line of tape, then bent down to pick up my leash. She paused in surprise as the hook caught it, and leaned down to take a closer look at it. I winced - with the distraction of the fight, I had completely forgotten to undo it.

Oh well. I could try and undo it the next time she tried to use it.

"Thanks again for the match, sir." Kilpin smiled at Minna's father and started to go, but paused when Minna's father held out his hand again.

"Please. Call me Jexal."

Kilpin's eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise, but he took the offered hand and shook it. "Thank you. Until tomorrow."

The Kymari turned to go, and a moment later we left as well.

Minna stretched once, then fell onto the couch of her living room. I flew over and landed on her back with a happy chirp. She was often sore after her workout days, and it wasn't unusual at all for her to just collapse onto the couch and stop moving for a bit.

Her father had walked most of the way home from the gym with us, but near the end he had said he would take Loreena and Terron up on an invitation to spend the night with them and had split off to go to their house.

The rest of the walk after that had been much more relaxed, and it felt much more like the home I was used to without him around to make Minna uncomfortable. I was pretty sure she would have tried to put on a good face and act like she was fine if he had come back with us, even though she would have wanted nothing more than to just stretch out on the couch and rest.

I couldn't help but wonder if her father had realized that, and if that had gone into his sudden decision to spend the night with Terron instead.

"Ow... I don't think I will ever get used to this. I don't know how Aeria does it." Minna groaned and blindly reached with one hand for the remote on the coffee table. It took her three tries before she found it, then a bit more blind fumbling to get the screen to turn on.

"Is Aeria somebody we know?" I sent the question to Ivy while I stepped carefully around on Minna's back. She winced under me when I stepped on one spot, and I could tell even through her clothes that the muscle was stiff and hot. I stretched out over it and began to thrum softly.

Minna let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Nate." I wasn't too sure if this actually helped her muscles feel better or if Minna thought this was something fire lizards did when one of us was hurt, and was just grateful that I was trying... but it seemed to help her either way.

"Keegan's handler, Taureen's girlfriend. She finally got him to leave the park about a month ago and has been going on patrols with him since then. Why?"

"Minna's sore from the workout today and was wondering how Aeria managed it."

"Probably with just as much trouble as Minna's having. Keegan's mentioned it's been a bit rough for her to go through the guard exercises too."

"Ah." I thrummed a little harder over Minna's back. I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination, but I thought I felt the muscle relax a little. "I don't suppose he has any tips or suggestions for helping her?"

"Afraid not. He's still having trouble managing around Kymari, actually; we've been trying to help him more than the other way around."

"Does that mean you still haven't dosed him with that sedative yet?"

I felt annoyance in Ivy's reply. "We'll get him. Tom managed to bring Serena on board, so the only one still in the way is Tasha. I think at this point we're just going to have to dose all of us somehow, and catch him in it that way, rather than get permission to single him out." The mental equivalent of a sigh came through the mindlink, then Ivy's voice grew happier. "Do you have any suggestions for him, or for Aeria? I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you do have any."

I blinked. I hadn't really considered that I might have suggestions for another dragonet... but... I had been with Minna for a few months now. I wasn't an expert on living with Kymari, but I wasn't exactly unqualified, either, even if it was a strange feeling. "Um. I'm not sure if this actually helps any or not, but I've kind of been stretching out on sore spots and thrumming. The way cats used to lay on somebody and purr. Minna seems to appreciate it, though I'm not sure if that's just in a 'it's the thought that counts' way."

"Huh. I hadn't thought to try that; I'll pass that on and see what Keegan says. I think Aeria even has a class tonight, so he might be able to try it out soon. Thanks!"

"No problem." I smiled a little on Minna's back, happy I could help.

I talked with Ivy for a little bit after that while I thrummed against Minna's sore muscles. A program on the screen droned on, but after a while I noticed Minna's breathing had slowed, and I realized she must have fallen asleep. That was unusual... but it hadn't been the first time she had been exhausted after a workout.

I smiled again and carefully shifted to get comfortable on her back.