Astral was brushing his hair, looking at his reflection in the mirror. Getting all the hair to co-operate wasn't an easy task, but Zeke had been helping him with easy hairstyles that would protect his hair and still look good.

He let go of parts of his hair, covering the night-sky-eye. Then he sighed and met my gaze through the mirror. "She didn't tell me this would happen."

"There was a lot she didn't tell us," I said and rose from my spot on the pillows and joined him by the mirror, wrapping my arms around him, resting my chin on his shoulder.

"Do... Do you hate it?" he asked barely louder than a whisper.

"I don't hate anything about you," I murmured and kissed the side of his throat.

"Is it bad I hope I'm still immortal?" He turned around and put his hands on my waist.

"Is it bad if I'm hoping the same?" I smiled a little crookedly.

He smiled and softly pressed his lips to mine. "You've been very supportive despite everything. I really appreciate it."

"Of course. You've never strayed from my side when I needed you. We're in this for the long run, yes?"

Astral softly snorted and kissed me again. "Do you even have to ask? I became immortal for you."

"Oh yes, there was that little detail."

"Little? Mars, my love, there's nothing little about me." He smirked and then winked at me.

I couldn't help but laugh and pulled him back to the pillows. We were basically just sleeping on a pile of them, and I hadn't expected it to be that comfortable, but sun and stars, I never wanted to leave.

The elves were so nice. When I had told one of Keefe's brothers about the left-behind rucksack Astral had made for me and how it stored all my remedies, he got working on a new one. And that was infused with magic. It'd never be heavy, and the compartments would never fill – or so he said. I wasn't so sure that was right. Probably a bit of an exaggeration. But the bag was beautiful. Intricate patterns were cut into the wood, and Keefe told me, it was elfish writings put there to protect me. It was also smaller and easier to carry than my previous one. Keefe's brother had taken measurements of my body to make it fit perfectly.

And the clothes. We had all left in a hurry and everything we had was left behind. Even the shirt and the jacket I loved so dearly. But here, they actually asked us what kind of clothes we wanted and after seeing what Zeke was offered I might've... Lost my mind a little. I wanted the most colourful clothes with the most colourful embroidery. I showed some of Keefe's siblings sketches of plants and they were more than happy to use them in their designs.

Their fabrics were to die for as well. So soft and airy. It felt like I was wearing nothing at all. Not to mention, the way it looked on my body. These weren't just clothing. These were pieces of art made especially for me and I felt euphoric putting them on.

"You wear these clothes like a native," Keefe said and smiled softly. "You look very comfortable."

"I've never had such nice things before. Especially not made for me." I ran my hand over the soft fabric used in the loose trousers. "I don't know how to repay your siblings for this."

"Oh, they don't want repayment. They really liked making the clothes." He leaned back in the woven chair that we both occupied one of each. We were sitting on a higher platform, almost up under the crowns of the massive trees, licking sun. "They're ecstatic to be making it for someone else than themselves, to be honest. Some of my siblings also think you're very pretty so they enjoy it more."

I felt my cheeks getting warm and I got very focused on one of the buttons on my sleeves.

It was nice to get a chance to spend some time with Keefe alone. We hadn't really had many opportunities to do this ever since he joined our little family and I wanted to bond.

"I'm happy they could make it work for you," he said then. "Losing all of your things must be hard. Like if I lost my bow. Or my hat. Those are precious gifts from friends, and I'd hate to lose them."

I nodded and felt a little sad. "We lost everything. Our studies. Our notebooks. But the thing I keep thinking about the most is this jacket Astral gave me a couple of years ago." I gently ran my hand over the scarf Zeke had given me which was always bound around my neck.

"It was an important gift."

I nodded again and sighed a little. "Yes. Like this scarf. Zeke gave that to me after my throat was slit." I pulled down on it showing off the discolouration. "I don't like showing this off."

"You are a very strong person though. You shouldn't have to cover up if you don't want to. Especially not here. Here you are free to be whomever you want to be. Who you really are. No need for hiding."
I loosened the scarf a little and smiled. "Alright. I'll try."

"If it's uncomfortable, don't do anything different though," he hurried to say leaning forward and holding up his hands as if he was surrendering.

"I'm not doing anything I don't wanna do," I said reassuringly making my friend instantly relax, slumping back in the chair.

He reached up and scratched his pointy ear for a bit and then looked out over the trees. "I've never had friends like you," he said with a low voice.

"No?"

He shook his head and glanced back at me. "I love it here, I do, but... I also need to be myself. And you're not truly yourself around family. You can't be crass. My mother despises when I curse. She doesn't like it when I drink beer, and I really like beer. With Astral I could drink beer and he'd drink beer too. It was nice."

It was so simple. Keefe liked to drink beer with us and at home his mother disapproved. It wasn't that different from what I was going through, was it? I hadn't felt like I could wear make-up at the college but now I was no longer afraid.

"What else do you like? Besides drinking beer."

Keefe frowned a little. "Travelling, obviously. I like the people I meet on the way. I like coming home after a long trip. And I love music."
"Music is great," I agreed.

"It is! I've always loved singing. I can't play any instrument, but I wish I could."

"It's never too late to learn," I pointed out.

Keefe lit up with the sweetest dimpled smile. "You're right! Could we possibly get an instrument in the next city we travel to?"

"Yes. Of course, we can."

At least we hadn't travelled around with all of our money. We had it in the bank and could gain access to it as long as a city had a bank. So, we weren't without funds. But sun and stars, we needed to rewrite so many of our notes. I had to redo my whole notebook with all my remedies.
"What do you like?" Keefe asked, breaking through my rather depressing thoughts.

"I love reading. Back at the college I'd basically live in the library. I loved it there, being surrounded by knowledge. I miss it." I smiled a probably extremely sad smile.

"Maybe I can help." Keefe rose from the chair and motioned me to follow him. I hesitated for a short moment and then followed.

We went down the winding staircases, wrapped around the massive tree trunks. I'd never get used to this; I was sure. Keefe didn't even seem to mind as he was telling me about musicians he had encountered on his travels. I kept a firm grip on the bannister swirling next to the stairs, afraid I might simply fall off if I didn't keep a hold on something.

We didn't get down to the ground, but instead walked over a bridge that led to another tree. This one was, if possible, an even thicker tree. And this one had a door. Right into the tree. Keefe opened it and showed me inside.

I stopped dead in my tracks. It was... A library!

Shelves upon shelves filled with books filled up several floors. The floors weren't closed up, allowing us to look up at the platforms both in the middle and lining the sides. Large windows had been carved into the wood, offering us plenty of light.

I was almost in tears as I strolled right up to a bookshelf, running my fingers over the backs of the books.

"We love books too," Keefe said from behind me.

I looked at him over my shoulder, my eyes watering. "Will I be able to read them?"

"There are plenty in your language, but we've also got dictionaries that'll help you, if you want to read some in elfish. Or other languages. This is one of the most extensive libraries in the world."

"I could kiss you!" I whirled around and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him close.

"I don't think Astral would be too happy," he laughed and patted my back.

I pulled back and tried smoothing my hair down a little. "No, probably not." I couldn't stop the giggle from bubbling out of me as I turned back towards the books. I pulled out a couple. And then a couple more before finding a table to put the books down.

"I'll let Astral know where he can find you," Keefe said and smiled. "And then I'll leave you to it. I'm not as big of a fan of reading."

"Thank you for this, Keefe. I mean it, this is the best surprise I've ever gotten."

"You're very easy to please." He chuckled and waved as he went back outside.