When the house came into view, Sana heard the sounds of breakfast being made. Dahyun hadn’t spoken much, but she was fidgeting, looking up at every small sound.

Sana’s chest still felt tight from earlier. She’d wanted so badly to kiss her. The fairy had looked at her with such curiosity, such warmth, such care, and Sana had loved seeing it. But it'd also been too much.

That was becoming a trend. What she felt for Dahyun was too intense. What Dahyun seemed to feel for her was also strong, but Sana couldn't read it properly. It made her want to pull away. It also made her want to pull the fairy close and not let her go. 

“Pancakes today,” Sana said. 

Dahyun smiled. “I like them.” Her eyes had been light blue when she’d appeared from the trees—or Sana had finally noticed her. Then they’d turned brown. So had her grey hair. She didn’t want Sana seeing that. That hurt. 

They went inside. 

“So you did come back.” Jeongyeon smiled. 

“None of you believed me, did you?” Dahyun sounded playful. Key word: sounded. 

“We did,” she replied. “You can bet your that if we didn’t, we would’ve found you.” 

Sana hadn’t believed her. She also hadn’t found her. Dahyun had. 

“I’m sure.” The fairy winked. Sana couldn’t help but compare it to that look of loss in the forest. Dahyun was doing a good job at hiding her emotions now, but she wasn’t considering the fact that Sana had seen what she was hiding. Or she did, and that wasn’t her priority.

“So it’s finished?” Mina asked. “Your net?”

“Mostly” Dahyun said. “It takes the smallest amount of emotion from those who walk though. I can sense that.” Her fingers were playing with the material of her grey clothes. The back was covered in mud, but she didn’t seem to care. Sana knew her front was also dirty, but as she’d told Dahyun, she also didn’t care. 

“Can you tell who the person is?” Momo appeared, “cute shoes.” She grinned as she looked at Dahyun’s feet. Her eyes were so gentle. That look cemented Sana’s belief that she had made the right decision in not kissing Dahyun.

She followed the girl's gaze instead. She hadn’t noticed the yellow blocks on her feet. 

Dahyun laughed. “I needed to dry my feet after washing them. This was the best alternative.” She lifted her feet. “I’m sorry about the dirt.” 

“We can clean that up, no problem,” Nayeon said. “Cold?” She touched her arm. “You feel freezing.”

“I’ll be fine,” the fairy replied. “I’m used to the cold.” 

“Clarify?” 

“We’re a nomadic people, rarely spending much time in one place, especially if we were ever discovered.” Her eyes went between them all, never focusing on something for more than a few seconds. Restless.

“In one country?” 

“All around the world,” she said. “I never quite knew where we were, only that we travelled long distances sometimes, going across seas and through mountains.” Her hands hadn’t stilled. Something was wrong. 

“You liked travelling?” Sana asked. This was one of those pieces of information. One about Dahyun’s long life before meeting them. 

“Yes,” Dahyun smiled, “it was the perfect break from research.” 

“How much research was there?” How often had Dahyun spent days by herself, immersed in emotions? This was the same smile that Sana had seen earlier. She’d been so at ease in the forest, making that net, and Sana had disrupted it. 

“Very much.” She nodded. “An answer led to questions, whose answers led to more questions. The pursuit was quite fitting for an immortal.” While they were still brown, her eyes were practically glowing. There was so much passion in her eyes. There it was again. The urge to pull her close.

Sana pushed it down. “Do you remember all of that?” she asked. 

“We have written a bit,” Dahyun replied. “There are—” she winced, “were texts in which I’d written.” Sorrow coated her features. Those texts had probably been destroyed. 

Sana wanted to turn things around. “So you’re a published author?”

To her relief, Dahyun smiled. “Yes. A grand total of three copies sold.” The spark in her eyes was back. 

The room went silent. Dahyun looked each of them. Sana found herself straightening when she caught her eye. 

“What?” Dahyun frowned.

Jihyo was the first to speak. “It’s nice to hear you talking about something you’re passionate about.” 

Dahyun’s brow rose. Then it furrowed. “It’s nice to talk about it. I haven’t for quite some time.” 

She’d said they’d been on the run for four years. Was that true? Or had it just been something she hadn’t wanted to make them wonder about? Just how long had it been since she’d devoted herself to the most valuable part of her life—an essential one at that?

Then she straightened. “I ought to clean.” Her eyes scanned her own body. Her hands clenched and unclenched. “The charm on the clothes wore off. I don’t know why.” 

“Just toss them where I told you they go,” Nayeon said. Then she frowned. “But are they like cotton or wool? Or silk?”

“Does that matter?” Her expression turned into the physics look. Sana had to stifle the urge to poke her cheek. 

“If you want your clothes to shrink to a size that fits Chaeyoung,” Tzuyu said, “then no.”

“Yah,” the girl in question said. “We were doing so well without the height shaming.”

Tzuyu's response was a sweet smile. 

Dahyun went upstairs to shower. 

“You don’t wanna join her?” Nayeon asked. 

Sana’s face flushed. “I don’t—I’m not,” then, to her great dismay, she realised it wasn't what the girl was talking about. “I’m fine,” she said. Her voice sounded high to her ears. 

The eldest gave her a crooked smile. “Sure.” 

“Need help setting the table?” Sana went forward. The table was already set. Just her luck.

“Did you hear that, Yoo?” she called. 

Jeongyeon smirked. “I did. What emotions could have caused that?” 

“Not a word.” Sana tried her best not to pout. At least they’d changed the subject. She went instead to the kitchen, grabbing a blood bag. She took long sips from it.

“When was the last time you drank something?” Mina was sitting at the counter. 

She thought back as she swallowed the last drops. “Don’t remember.” She threw the plastic into the bin, her eyes feeling warm. She didn’t bother turning them brown again. 

The girl was giving her a look, a very thoughtful one. 

“What?”

Sana shook her head. “Nothing.”

“You sure?” 

Mina smiled. “Told you she’d come back. We all did.” 

“I know.” 

But she’d needed to see it for herself. She'd needed to see that there was someone still in that forest. When she saw that grey head in the woods, relief had washed over her. Like a very cold shower. Sana hadn’t known what to do, just that she'd wanted to be close to her. She'd wanted to tell her exactly how long she’d been gone. Unlike the other times time had blurred for her, that hadn't been one of them. She’d felt every second of it.

What did that mean for her? Had Sana gotten too close? Probably. All the more reason to have pulled away today. 

Then Dahyun came down the stairs. It wasn’t the first time Sana had seen her in clothes that weren’t grey or a school uniform. She was just wearing a loose black shirt and sweatpants. Dahyun hated clothes that were tight in any way. It shouldn’t have been different than any other time, but it was.

Dahyun's hair fell haphazardly, still dripping lightly from the shower. She had a bright smile on her face. Not for the first time, Sana could only stare. This time, however, she went over to her. The fairy’s heart beat quickly, but at least she wasn’t so restless. 

“Feeling better?” Sana asked. Joining the scent of nature was a light vanilla one. 

Dahyun's eyes lingered on hers. They were still warm. Dahyun was staring at the purple in them. Sana wasn’t sure if she should turn hers back to brown or let the colour stay. 

Then the fairy smiled. It was genuine, but Sana couldn’t help but feel like Dahyun was taken aback that she’d asked her anything. Had she been expecting Sana to avoid her again? “Much.” Then she looked at her fully, eyes going to her front. “You didn’t want to shower?”

“I told her she should,” Nayeon paused, “join you, but said she was fine like that.” 

Sana could have sent a couple of sparks her way. More than a couple. 

Dahyun tilted her head to the side. “Join me?” 

She wasn’t sure if it was worse or better that the fairy hadn’t understood that. 

The eldest vampire gave her a look. “I’ll leave you to explain that one.” Then she left them standing by the stairs. Sana wanted the floor to swallow her up. 

“You seem uncomfortable.” Dahyun smiled slightly. “I don’t even need to feel your emotions to that.” Then her hand brushed Sana’s cheek. “Is this something that always comes when one isn’t at ease?”

“Basically,” Sana nodded, “you blush when you’re uncomfortable, nervous, embarrassed, or flustered.” She was a few of those things now. Dahyun would be able to see that.

“Flustered?” The fairy started walking to the table, inspecting the food already there. Her eyes lingered on the cereal, a question in her eyes. “Isn’t that the same thing as embarrassed?”

Nothing seemed to be going her way today. 

“Basically,” Jeongyeon nodded, “but take these two here.” She pointed at Mina and Chaeyoung. "When it all started, Chaeyoung got flustered every time Mina smiled at her. It was the same deal the other way round.”

“Hopeless cases for a few decades,” Tzuyu said. 

“More,” Nayeon rolled her eyes, “Jeongyeon and I took four, they took at least at least ten.” 

Mina was looking firmly at the table. “There was no rush,” she muttered. 

“And that,” Jihyo shot a grin at Dahyun, “is embarrassment, but she’s not flustered.” 

Dahyun was smiling. “Understood.” This smile didn’t reach her eyes. 

Breakfast went on normally. The girls had asked her about the colours of emotions and what each of their eye-colours would mean in the emotional world. Mina’s were a combination of green and blue, happiness and tranquility, Jeongyeon’s were green, happiness, and Jihyo’s orange, humour. 

“Well, Jihyo has her moments,” Nayeon grinned, “but I wouldn’t say she’s that hilarious.” 

“And you’re not exactly a calm person, Im,” Jeongyeon laughed, “whereas I’m b with joy.” 

Sana noted how no one addressed the colours of herself, Momo, Chaeyoung or Tzuyu. Dahyun didn’t offer, while none of them asked. It was like none of them asked Dahyun about her core emotions. They were colours they all knew. They were also ones they knew could bring down the lighthearted mood. 

When Dahyun looked up, Sana realised she’d been staring. Again. She got a small smile from the girl, one tinged with sadness. It was a smile that tugged at her, making her want to wrap her arms around Dahyun. Again.

“I got another idea in the forest today,” she said. “Might have been yesterday.” A small frown appeared. Then her eyes left Sana’s. She was fiddling with her fork, then the knife. Dahyun didn’t fiddle. She sat still. Her mind might have always been working, but her hands rarely did it with her. 

Idea. What was once a simple word now made her tense. An idea meant disappearing for hours, days, without a trace. 

“What was it?” Momo asked. Sana knew what that voice meant, but Dahyun wouldn’t. She didn't know the effect her words could have in this moment. 

The fairy looked at her for a long moment. The gaze was thoughtful, but it wasn’t the physics look. “The closest I've ever come to being fully controlled by an emotion was when they gave me anger, as well as when Helen gave me fear,” she said. “It's not happened, because I have a natural protection to such a thing.” Her hand rose and a dark blue shard appeared. Her expression didn’t change. “I would like to give all of you your own. It will never be able to protect you from emotional pain,” now her face fell, “but you won't ever have your sense of self taken away from you and replaced by an emotion.” The shard disappeared, but her eyes were still blue. She stared at the table. “That is, if you'd like to have that. I understand if you wouldn't want an emotion like that in your minds. Especially one such as sadness.”

No one said anything. 

“It’s nothing for which you should respond now.” Dahyun shook her head. “But it would be something to be done before I leave.” She spoke so quickly, wasn’t deliberating on her words like she usually did. 

Before I leave. The words echoed in Sana’s mind. She’d known Dahyun was leaving. They’d even started using 'when' and 'will', either Sana said it, or Dahyun didn’t deny it, but this was a direct acknowledgement. 

A hand took hold of her own. It was Mina's. Sana’s eyes felt warm again. She closed them, not wanting Dahyun to see that. Then she realised it wouldn’t matter. Dahyun would be able to feel what she felt. She kept her eyes closed. 

“How would it work?” Nayeon asked. 

Sana opened her eyes. Dahyun was looking at her. Her hands were clasped together on the table. Too tightly. What had happened to her? Was the fear returning?

“I know it will keep you from being controlled by them, but I know not yet how,” Dahyun said. "It’s an emotion that drains, drawing on other emotions. Because most people reject feeling it, there is a pattern of pulling and pushing away with sadness. I think that comes to the forefront and works as it does.” She sighed. “Nothing to put trust in, I know, I will try and figure that out.” She started to stand. 

“Wait,” Sana said. 

She did. Her hands were still glued together, trembling. 

“When was the last time you slept?” 

“I rested in the forest.” 

“I don’t think that counts,” Jihyo said. 

“Of course it does, someone in my clan once went—” Dahyun stopped talking. “The right emotions can energise us in the same way that sleep does.”

“Then why did I find you knocked out in a library?” Nayeon asked. 

There was a near imperceptible frown, but it was still there on Dahyun’s face. She was normally so patient. Even if they played something competitive, Dahyun didn't even frowned if she lost, which was a lot. 

“That was different.” Then she looked between each of them. “If I’m healthy, I do not need to sleep.” Each word was punctuated. 

“And you’re healthy?” Momo’s voice was quiet. 

Dahyun’s frown deepened. “You seem to forget a key piece of information. I’m not human.” Her voice was harsh. Then she stood fully. “Thank you for the breakfast.” She started taking their plates into her arms. “I will go to the trees again while you’re at school, but,” her eyes found Sana’s, “I will be back this evening.” 

“It’s still the weekend,” Tzuyu said. 

“Ah,” a small smile, “I will still be back later.” They watched her load the dishwasher. They watched her leave. 

There were a few seconds of silence. Sana didn’t feel scared that she was going to go. She might not have liked the promise Dahyun gave her, it had so many holes to it, but it applied to the words