Hannah sighed. She stepped out of the Butterfly's cockpit and into the main cabin. Her legs felt cramped from sitting in the same seat for so long, and she also needed a change of pace every now and then. She grinned at one of the soldiers sitting in the cabin, indicating he could sit in the front with a jerk of her thumb. 

Without ceremony, she entered the small holding chamber that contained Falcon. Nobody's checkin' on him, and that's kinda messed up. The man's stunning blue eyes met her brown-irised gaze. 

Hannah cleared her throat. "So, how're ya feelin'?" 

Falcon shrugged. "I can move a bit now, but it's all weak." 

"It's a process." Hannah affirmed with a nod. She gently felt his arms, frowning as she came down to his hands. "They're so cold!" 

"So's your leader." Falcon retorted. 

Hannah giggled as she took the man's meaty hands into her own smaller palms and tried to warm them up. "I guess you're right. Chariya's the kinda gal who's only really nice when you're currently in agreement with her." 

"I've noticed. Now, tell me something. Among the ranks of you...insurgents, I've encountered nothing but surly faces and stony hearts, except for you. What's the deal with you?" 

"Well, I dunno. It's just kinda how I am. Only sunlight makes the flowers grow, and I reckon that's why I try to be bright." 

The corners of Falcon's mouth lifted slightly, but he turned his face away. "What's your name?" 

"Hannah. I'm assumin' you have a name, too?" 

"I do. Falcon." 

Hannah rolled her eyes playfully. "You still haven't convinced me that you're actually a god. C'mon now." 

Falcon bit his lip and remained silent for a minute. "Where are we, anyway?" he finally asked. 

"Passin' over Odego." the girl answered, ignoring the fact he'd disregarded her previous statement. 

The man nodded, but said nothing more in reply. 

"Y'know," Hannah began a minute later, a thought having occurred to her, "have ya ever really thought 'bout why we're doin' this?" 

Falcon glanced up. "Doing what?" 

"Fightin' and strivin' against your Empire." 

"I have, though I try to waste as little time on foolish thoughts as possible." 

"Perhaps it ain't as foolish as ya think, though. I reckon we all have our own reasons, but—" 

"Hannah, don't let them poison your mind! This rebellion is little more than a glorified riot, full of fanatical zealots who kill loyal Alconteans, leave innocent civilians dead in their wake, and have absolutely no plan for reconstruction, assuming they do emerge victorious. How can you possibly think that to be commendable?" 

"Well, that's just a skewed view of it, and lumpin' us with the Ferangian Resistance is unfair to us. We ain't perfect. I readily admit that. But I know for a fact, that the Empire ain't perfect either. You accused us of stealin' men from their families earlier, but that ain't true. Your Redistribution Force does that, sure. And your military drafts do that, also. But our men are all volunteers, and come readily." 

"So your superiors have told you." 

"Actually, I've heard it from many of their own mouths. Falcon, I hope you're actually listenin'," Hannah said, her brow wrinkling, "cause a lot of us just want freedom, politically, and in many cases, religiously. Do you realize how hard it's gettin' to not follow Emil's religion, just 'cause he's so much more obsessed with it than his daddy ever was?" 

"I fail how to see how being prevented from believing lies is a bad thing." 

Hannah sighed. "Mah main point is that everybody here's got their own reason to come. Maybe they're not all good reasons, but a lot of 'em are. And on the whole, we're fightin' for somethin' good. What do you fight for?" 

"I fight for my own godly honor, and for the glory of Alconte." 

Hannah turned her head suddenly. "Huh. Well, I'm bein' called, so I gotta scram, but will ya at least think about what I told ya?" 

"I can promise you that much, Hannah, if you'll do the same." 

"I will." Hannah answered before shutting the door. 

******************** 

An hour later, Hannah retrieved her gear and prepared to disembark with her teammates. The soldiers hustled about, snatching up weapons, communicators, and other equipment. On many occasions, they nearly collided with the short brunette, but quickly changed course and evaded impact. 

Chariya cleared her throat authoritatively, and all eyes looked to her. She pointed to five of the soldiers and said, "I should like you five to stay here and watch over the troublemaker. The chamber should contain him, but I need you to stay here and ensure it does." 

The soldiers saluted and affirmed her order. Then they began returning the equipment they had gathered moments before. With that, Chariya lowered the ramp, and she descended with Hannah at her side, and five soldiers trailing behind. 

Hannah smiled in wonderment as she took in the sights of the beautiful capitol city of Antepeño. The city had clearly succeeded in modernizing, while still retaining the timeless aesthetic of the original stone buildings their ancestors had erected long ago. 

The atmosphere of the place was unlike anything Hannah had felt before, as well. Sunbeams radiated down from the sky and warmed the girl's skin, but the gentle breeze sweeping across the city balanced out the heat, and together, the two made a perfect balance. 

As the small band drew near to the vibrant marketplace centered around the city square, several pleasant odors wafted over to Hannah's nose and drew a grin to her face. The combined fragrances of cinnamon and orange permeated the air strongest of all, and as the group travelled on, a mint and sandalwood perfume dominated another section of the market. 

Hannah gave a toothy grin to an almond-eyed man playing a Kemarian seven-string guitar as she walked by him. He returned the smile gratefully after she dropped a handful of coins into his case. Now I wanna play, she mused to herself, Shoulda brought my guitar along. 

"Hey boss," began one of the soldiers in a gruff voice, "you 'kay with us buyin' anything?" 

Chariya squinted. "I suppose so. I was not intending to make any stops, but perhaps that was foolish of me." 

"Probably." the man replied, already walking off to buy some bubblegum. 

One of the other soldiers dashed off and approached a young lady at the manicure stand. She frowned at his rushed attempts of flirtation, causing Hannah to giggle and look away from the disastrous scene. By now, the other man had finished his business at the candy stand, and he now rejoined the group, chewing vigorously. 

"You want one?" he asked Hannah, holding the box of gum out to her. 

"Sure, thanks!" Hannah exclaimed, sliding a piece out and unwrapping it. 

As the flavors of candied strawberry and raspberry exploded in her mouth, a glistening blue gem bursting with color and hanging from a pearly necklace caught Hannah's eye. She gasped at the gorgeous sight. Without announcement, she stepped over to the jewelry stand to take a closer look. 

"Hey there, gorgeous." the stand's owner greeted Hannah with a lazy grin. 

"Heyoo!" she replied, beaming at him. "I just came over, 'cause I can't handle how pretty this is!" 

The man rubbed his hand over his acne-plagued face. "Yeah, it's really something else. Much like you." 

She eyed him with a shrinking smile. "How much're you askin' for it?" 

"Normally, it's like 5,000 shillings or something, but maybe I can give you a discount, in exchange for a phone number." he replied with a wink. 

Hannah bit her lip. "Well, I don't have shillings anyhow, so never mind." 

Chariya stepped over and nodded at Hannah before turning to the man. "You may charge it to the Kemarian royal treasury." 

The man raised an eyebrow. "Okay, then." 

Hannah grinned at Chariya. "Thank you so much!" she said as she took the necklace and put it around her neck. 

"You are welcome. It looks beautiful on you." 

With that, the group continued on their way through the marketplace. Hannah received many more interested glances from both males and females as she walked through, though for clearly varying motives. She became perplexed, however, as some of the people passing by studied the blue gem with eyes that betrayed intentions somewhat less than innocent. 

She brushed the thought aside as she marveled at the artistic functionality of the specimens at a pottery stand. Visually pleasing color schemes adorned the clay pots' perfectly-smoothed faces. The brunette giggled delightfully at the sight of several tiny kaolin vessels that lacked any practicality, but were nothing short of aesthetically addicting. 

Hannah gasped as a rough hand gripped her forearm and tugged her into a cluster of vacant stands. Her startled gaze landed on a grizzly old man with a scowling face, who had several younger roughnecks lurking behind him. She realized with despair that her group had moved on without her, and she was all alone. 

Hannah moved to remove her laser gun from its hook on her belt, but gasped at the realization that it was gone. She then reached back to grab her shotgun, but one of the ruffians was already in the process of removing it from her. The gruff old man shoved his prey onto a table and groped at her necklace. Hannah struggled feebly against him. 

Her eyes darted over as a stone shack a few yards away lost its light, and all her assailants noticed as well. With a shrug, they continued their struggle against Hannah. 

"Posta doda delavique?" a mysterious voice called from the darkness. 

The old man looked up sharply and peered into the darkness. "Rodoa posta doda? Ñante vodero ñinda spesodiara!" 

"Ronera fota ma." 

The old man jerked his head, and together, he and all his comrades raced into the darkness. Hannah couldn't see a thing, but she heard the thuds of a multitude of punches being exchanged. Grunts and groans followed. Finally, she heard a sword being unsheathed, and here and there, she caught split-second glimpses of the action as electric sparks flew. 

One man tumbled out of the darkness, moaning in pain and bleeding profusely from his tattered arm. Inside, another spark allowed Hannah to see a swordsman chopping into the flesh of another roughneck's leg. Before long, the old man responsible for the whole scuffle dropped to the ground just outside the doorway. A puddle of blood slowly formed under his back. 

"Doda ñante coscoloñe." the voice said authoritatively, sounding much closer to the entrance than before. 

Hannah squinted into the darkness, struggling to catch a glimpse of the mystery man. Then a boot emerged from the shadows. The rest of the man appeared into view and he locked eyes with the girl. 

Hannah gasped. "Baird?" 

Baird grinned and nodded. "It's me, Hannah." 

The brunette squealed with delight and sprinted over to him, leaping into his arms and embracing him tightly. "I've missed ya, pal! Where've ya been?" 

Baird chuckled. "Here." He answered simply, "I was actually just passing through, on my way back from a swordsmanship lesson." 

Hannah nodded as she slipped back onto the ground. "Ah, I see. You did have some mad skills back there." 

With another laugh, Baird bowed. "Thank you. Now, what brings you here?" 

Hannah's gaze dropped and she bit her lip. "The Insurgent Alliance is...in trouble, Baird. Unity and loyalty are in such short supply, that Chariya's now resortin' to askin' for foreign aid." 

Baird tilted his head. "Huh. So I'm assuming she's hoping to make an appeal before the Antapeñan Senate?" 

"Yep." 

"Where's she at?" 

"I dunno, I kinda lost her and found you." Hannah remarked with a laugh. "I reckon you know the way 'round here better than I do." 

"Fair point. Alright, let's go find her." After the two had walked a few paces, Baird turned his head back. "So, how is everybody?" 

"Good, on the whole. Aaron's...Aaron, which annoys Wendy and delights Keira, to put it simply as I can." 

Baird threw his head back in laughter. "That's about the most accurate summarization I've heard in a while. I'll have to hire you to write my synopses from now on." 

Hannah giggled. "Sounds like a plan." she said, "So yeah, they're off doin' the same thing Chariya is, just in Danlash. Anyhow, what about you? How's Abby?" 

"I'm good, she's good, we're good. It's been funny watching her adapt to the environment of the Antapeñan film industry. Brainier scripts, and way less action scenes overall." 

Hannah's nose wrinkled as she laughed. "Dat's funny. I see you're doin' this swordsmanship thang, but have you done any more martial arts stuff?" 

"Yeah, I've actually got the same teacher for both, and it's going well." 

The girl nodded, but had nothing to say in response. 

After the two had walked a couple minutes more, they found Chariya and her men searching for something among a group of produce stands. When the princess glanced up and saw Hannah, she put a hand to her chest and visibly released a breath. 

"There you are!" she exclaimed, "We have searched all over this place for you!" 

"Yeah, just got a little deterred." Hannah replied simplistically, "But I found this guy, so I ain't complainin'." 

Baird bowed. "Greetings, your highness." 

Chariya gave him a perfunctory nod. "Hello." 

"So, I'm told you're seeking a hearing with the Senate." 

"I am indeed." Chariya answered, crossing her arms. 

"Well, I just thought I'd save you some time. Their next meeting's in two days, and appeals aren't scheduled in advance. It's more a 'first come, first serve' matter." 

The princess squinted. "Dare I ask how you know this?" 

Baird smirked. "I'm a writer. And a resident here." 

While Hannah giggled, Chariya's expression remained entirely unchanged. "Alright, then." 

"Anyway, if you want, we could head to my house. Two days is a long time to roam the marketplace." 

Chariya opened her mouth to answer, but Hannah spoke first. "Sounds great to me!" 

Baird nodded. "Alright, well, follow me." 

With that, Baird led the princess, the Odegoan, and the five soldiers through the massive congregation of market-goers. 

******************** 

Several minutes later, Baird swung the door open and stepped over the threshold. "Alright, Abby, I'm back!" he called. 

Hannah gasped when she glanced over at the couch. "Khemera?" 

The blind old man jerked his head. "Is that Hannah's voice?" 

Hannah squealed and ran over to him. "It sure is! How are ya? Why didn'tcha tell me he was here, Baird?" 

Baird smiled. "Show, don't tell." 

Chariya cleared her throat loudly. "So, how many rooms do you have to spare?" 

"Just two." Baird said, biting his lip. 

The princess nodded before she turned to her men. "Jake, Allen, you two head back to the Butterfly and bring Falcon back here." 

The two men nodded. "With all the others?" 

"Yes." 

Baird watched the interaction with squinted eyes. Did she really just take it on herself to invite more people into my house? And who in the world is Falcon?

******************** 

A/N: A bit of a long chapter, but lots of interesting and enjoyable things in there, I hope. If you liked it, please remember to vote and comment. 

So, any thoughts in general? 

How'd you like Baird and Hannah reuniting? 

And for my random question, let's see...what's your greatest strength? (Can be anything, physical, mental, spiritual, whatever.) 

(I think for me, it's probably perseverance. You'll rarely catch me starting something, and then leaving it undone. I guess on the flip-side, that does mean I sometimes don't start things I probably should, in fear I'll just be wasting time on something I can't finish, but yeah. Perseverance for me.) 

And that's it for this morning! Sorry if some of the questions were kinda lame, I'm really sleepy. So have a nice day, and I'll see you tomorrow morning with another update!