Journey to the Hidden Mist

Tsunade sure has a way to ruin a perfectly beautiful day. Katsume's sour mood only made the shining sun dim, the rich hues of the blue sky dull, and the cheerful chipper of the robins in the trees sound like atrocious screeches. On top of that, it made her drag her feet as she approached the East Gate leading out of the village. Ironically, Kakashi is hypocritically a stickler about punctuality, and Katsume had stopped by her apartment to gather some supplies for the mission, only adding to her late arrival.

As expected, Kakashi is leaning on the gate waiting patiently for his co-sensei. Well, here she is. But he better not expect her to be in a good mood after talking with her mother, because she certainly isn't.

She doesn't cease her stride, simply picking up her feet and expecting him to catch up. Kakashi snaps his book shut, storing it in his right jacket pocket, and lightly jogs to step into her hasty stride. He tilts his head to get a better look at her scornful expression.

"Good afternoon to you too, princess," he greets in sarcasm, clearly failing to lighten her mood as she continues her brisk pace in silence.

"I'm guessing your conversation didn't go so well?" Kakashi tries again.

"Ya think?"

There we go. At least she responded. A soft smile creases his mask. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Her pace comes to a swift halt as her heels dig into the dirt road. Kakashi stops as well and turns to face her. A crow squawks as it flies over the pair stilled in silence. Katsume's golden stare burns into him. He can practically feel the rage radiating off of the woman. For a moment he thinks she's going to speak but then she suddenly tears her gaze away and continues down the path with a hollow sigh.

Kakashi steps in tandem with her once more, looking down at the fluff of white with two metal horns poking out. After a moment he tries again, "It suits you." She quirks a brow as she glances up at him. He smirks, thankful for her undying curiosity. "The forehead protector, I mean."

"Thank you."

"Jiraiya?"

"Yes."

"He really hit the nail on the head with that one," Kakashi smirks as he side-eyes her.

Katsume's eyebrows furrow, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Ah, her curiosity strikes again. He's getting good at this. "Well, if his intention was to make you look exactly like him, then it was a job well done." He chuckles.

"There you go again, saying I look like a man," she retorts and rolls her eyes, but he didn't miss the twitch in the corner of her lip.

"If the shoe fits..." Oops. That one was unintentional. Oh well, he can't take it back now.

Her eyebrows raise with her annoyance. "Really now? Maybe try that one again when you stop hiding ninety-five percent of your face."

Ouch. He forgot she was in a bad mood. He lets out a nervous chuckle. "I was only joking, I was talking about the kanji. 'Illuminate.' I like it, it really does suit you." He gives her a closed-eyed smile, tilting his head innocently.

"Mhm. Nice save." Katsume deadpans. She leaps into the trees, taking off at great speed from branch to branch.

Kakashi sighs a breath of relief. Her mood seems to have lightened a little at least. No thanks to him. What happened after he left? Katsume is rarely in a mood as sour as this. From his experiences, it takes quite a bit for her to be like this. Something must really be bothering her. He needs to fix this. There's no room for distractions on a mission.

He leaps into the trees and follows closely behind her. A drop of water hits his shoulder. Rain? His gaze shifts above. The sky is clear...

Oh.

Maybe he should just give her some space for a while. It's a long journey to the Land of Water, there will be plenty of time to sort things out until then.

______________________________________________________

Swift steps–too light to hear. The soft rustle of leaves rattled by a brief presence flashing by. A branch creaks when the presence finds perch, scanning over a clearing of trees. Another presence joins her on the branch looking down.

"It's getting dark. We should set up camp." Katsume states as she drops down to the grass below.

Kakashi follows behind in silence as he's done for the past few hours. Dropping down to the crisp grass with a light thud. He watches as she sets her pack against one of the larger trees and walks off into the dense forest. Presumably to collect firewood. The seasons have shifted recently and it gets quite frigid at night, so building a fire is a good move.

He sits next to her pack against the tree and pulls out his book. As he read (or tried to), his mind wandered to ways to make her open up about what happened, or at the very least how she was feeling. He's never had to force it out of her, she's always been quite upfront, as far as he could tell. Maybe, like everyone else in this world, she's fighting secret battles within herself. Maybe she has a mask of her own– of unburdened joy and cheeky smiles. As to not to let her troubles burden those around her.

As she comes back into view, arms stacked high with dried twigs and branches, he observes as she crouches and places them strategically as if she's done it millions of times before. She probably has, having been on her own for so long. He can't take it. Burden him! Spill everything. Your thoughts, your worries, the pain that plagues the mind beneath layers of snow. Burden him, please. Just say something!

"Kakashi."

He snaps his book shut a bit too eagerly and clears his throat. "Yes," he asks casually.

"Toss me that rock by your foot." She nods her head in his direction, her expression as blank as it has been over the course of the journey.

He glances down at his foot, indeed finding a rock stationed there. He reaches down and grabs the rock. He stands from his seated position and makes his way in front of her figure, unbearably slow. He halts his step only when he notices her neck unconsciously elongate to compensate for the difference in height as she stares into his visible eye.

She looks up at his onyx eye carrying an emotion she can't place. Why is he standing so close? Looking down at her like that. Just give her the damn rock! Why did he walk it over to her anyway?

Without a word, he holds the rock between the two of them for her to take. Katsume narrows her eyes skeptically with a raised brow as her hand comes up hesitantly to remove the rock from his grip. Her fingers wrap firmly around it in his hand, but his grip tightens as she tries to move away. She looks back at him incredulously having expected him to obviously let go of the fucking rock she needs to start the fire.

"You know, you can talk to me about anything."

Katsume's brows furrow and her lips tighten. "I'm aware."

She tries to move away again. He doesn't budge. He stares down at her, his eye almost...pleading.

"Talk to me."

He's so close. She can feel the radiation of his body temperature against the stark contrast of the crisp evening air. She can feel it on her skin–such comforting warmth. She lets out a sigh. He's not going to give up on this. The man has been trying to get it out of her all day. Damn bastard.

"Talking to my mother just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Really, I'm fine, Kakashi. Let it go now. Both the topic and the damn rock," she assures letting out a soft chuckle.

"Alright..." He releases his tight grip, allowing her to take the stupid rock and crouch to start the stupid fire. He sighs heavily. "I'm going to secure the area with traps."

She hums in confirmation, her focus on creating a spark as she repeatedly clacks the rocks together hovering over a bed of dry grass. Katsume feels his chakra energy start to fade slowly the further he enters the forest, leaving her alone with her racing thoughts.

Clack.

Okay, sure, he's worried about his colleague. Then again it's more likely he's worried about the outcome of the mission should she be distracted and not on top of her game. But what the hell was all that? Is that a normal proximity for completely sober colleagues? Her guess is: No.

Clack.

She needs to get her shit together. This isn't like her at all. Was the conversation with her mother even that bad or is she just being overly sensitive? No, Tsunade messed it all up with her half-truths. That she is sure of. Damn, she wishes she would just tell her the real truth.

Clack.

Maybe...maybe she hasn't come to terms with the real truth. Even after all these years, she's in a sort of denial? Convincing herself these half-truths are the real truth. Is the real truth so hard to bear that her mind forces her to lie subconsciously? Is...is she the victim in this situation too? Victim of what though? Mental instability? ...

Is she the victim of her truth?

CLACK!

She jumps slightly, returning to the present. Her vision clears having been in a space of nothing but her thoughts a moment before. She glares at the four split pieces of crumbled rock in her hand stained in crimson. Great.

She broke the fucking rocks.

A thin stream of smoke rises out of the dry bed of grass, gracefully twirling with the gentle evening breeze as if persuading the air to help it grow into the flame it's meant to be. She scoffs and guesses the laceration on her palm wasn't for not. She pushes the kindling under the strategically stacked firewood and stands to her feet, allowing the breeze to provide the oxygen the coals so desperately rely on.

Katsume retrieves her pack from the base of the tree, finding perch one of the logs she gathered for seating, and pulls out a roll of gauze she keeps for emergencies. Not that this is really an emergency but she can't just bleed all over the place, so she wraps the gauze around her palm tightly and ties a knot to secure it. She examines her work–it's not the best but it'll have to do. Her head droops as she lets out a defeated sigh. Maybe she really is incompe–

Her head snaps up with the sound of twigs breaking somewhere in the distance. Is it Kakashi? No. Setting up traps is tedious, he couldn't have finished that quickly. So either some slipped past him, or...he was dealt with. No. He wouldn't have gone down that easily without Katsume noticing. She concentrates on the mystery chakra–nothing but a flicker in the distance.

It is definitely not Kakashi.

However, the more stable the flicker becomes, the brighter it gets, and the distance closes in...

...the familiarity grows.

The flicker splits in two.

The thumping in her chest travels to her head. No. She mustn't panic. Panic leads to mistakes, and mistakes prove to be fatal in this world. Take a breath. Analyze the situation. She can handle this. She knows them...vaguely. She knew them before she knew of them, so familiarity may be on her side if she can play it right.

She has ninety seconds to figure it out.

As the two chakras move ever closer, a third proves to have awful timing. It's possible he finally sensed them as well and came as backup, which in any other situation she would have been thankful for. But this is not that situation and he has, in fact, added more to her plate.

Thank you, Kakashi, you considerate bastard.

Damn. She's not sure she can accomplish Chakra Disguise at this distance, but she'll never know until she tries. If they sense Kakashi then her whole plan is fucked and she'll have to fight, which is not on her itinerary for the night and she would prefer not to. It's been an exhausting day.

Katsume performs the hand signs briskly without a second to spare and concentrates on Kakashi's chakra. For lack of a better idea, she disguises his chakra so it seems that he has none to distinguish. It's difficult to maintain given how far away the man is, but the closer he gets the easier it'll become. As far as the others will be able to tell, Kakashi will seem like nothing more than a rock. Hopefully, he manages to notice and doesn't do anything stupid like try and "save" her. Kakashi's pretty smart, she's confident he'll pick up on the situation.

Sixty seconds.

Next, she unties and removes her forehead protector. Sorry, Dad. It's risky, but as far as they know, she's just a bounty hunter. Though not exactly a friend of the wanted, being a mere bounty hunter has proven to be less intimidating than a shinobi. Now the flak jacket. She shoves the two items at the bottom of her pack. She scans the area looking for any reminisce that might point to her being a shinobi or being accompanied by another person. Nothing. Perfect.

They've noticed her and changed their trajectory, they're heading straight for her.

Thirty seconds.

Finally, she unwraps the gauze around her hand, revealing the laceration, and slams her hand to the ground–summoning Dakuhosu. Dakuhosu stares down at her with disappointment. "Don't look at me like that. I'll explain later, but right now just follow my lead and don't say a word. Got it," she whisper-yells. The dark horse raises a brow and she deadpans at his audacity. "For fucks sake... Please?" Feeling accomplished, Dakuhosu positions himself beside the white-haired woman, prepared to defend her without question.

They're here.

Two dark figures emerge from the thick trees and crimson clouds declare her attention. Akatsuki. She had kept her mouth shut when specific members of the rogue shinobi group came up, however, she is quite familiar with this pair. But how do you say you're familiar with someone when you don't know a thing about them? The answer is simple: Alcohol. Alcohol can make strangers the best of friends in a matter of seconds. A wide grin spreads across her features.

The two men approach her and come to a stop when Daku gives them a warning snort. The taller one is Kisame–a very large man in height and mass, with some similarities to a shark, but overall an honest guy. He has a morbid sense of humor and is quick to pick a fight. Maybe that is why he and Katsume got along so well.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here, Itachi!" Kisame cackles.

Kisame, neverminding the warning from Daku, closes the distance between him and Katsume. Dakuhosu steps to block his path but Katsume gives him a gentle pat on the neck letting him know it's okay for now. Katsume's lip twitches slightly, giving way to mischievous habits. "Kisame, always a pleasure. You've gotten uglier since the last time I saw you."

Kisame lets out a low chuckle taking another step to hover over the woman, looking down on her. "You know, I've killed for better insults."

"What can I say, you've caught me on an off-day." Katsume shrugs nonchalantly without breaking eye contact as if testing to see who will falter and break first.

Kisame hums deeply as he brings up his hand, taking a lock of her bangs and running his thumb over the bluntly chopped edge. "Awe. Trouble in paradise, Little Hunter?"

She swats his hand away, but he pays no mind. "Ha, what paradise? But I guess it would be boring if it was easy." She gives him a sly smile. "I persevere. That's why I'm the best."

He returns her smile with a tilt of his head. "Rumors are going about...a little birdy told me you were no longer with us in the land of the living, but here you are. Now...why is that?"

Katsume chuckles and crosses her arms over her chest. "Why? Disappointed?" She flicks her eyebrow testingly and Kisame scoffs lightly. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear. A lot of liars out there."

"Kisame."

Kisame's snarky retort is cut off by his partner calling for his attention. A younger man with long jet-black hair tied into a low ponytail and dark eyes–those that confessed for him long ago, he's experienced harsher realities than he should at his age.

"Leave her be. We have a long journey." Itachi reprimands, causing Kisame to huff and return to his side.

Katsume feels her heart begin to beat faster and takes a subtly deep breath to calm herself. Kakashi is watching. He's crouched on a tree branch on the opposite end of the clearing. He seems to have caught on since he hasn't made a move. If she can make it out of this situation, she'll have some explaining to do.

Itachi's skillful eyes meet hers for a moment before flicking briefly in Kakashi's direction. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. But it was so brief it might've just been a coincidence. If she falters, things will get messy.

"Hello to you too, Itachi. Been a while, hasn't it?" Katsume gives him a genuine smile. He's a quiet kid, though, she guesses he's not much of a kid anymore. He's calm and polite, quite the opposite of his partner.

After a moment of scrutinizing, he returns to her a gentle smile, "Not too long. It was nice to see you again, but we must be going." Itachi then nods politely and begins to walk off back into the trees.

Kisame reluctantly proceeds to follow behind the man but stops and turns back to Katsume. "We're due for some drinking and degeneracy but it'll have to wait 'til next time. See ya around, Katsume."

"Darn," She feigns disappointment before breaking into a cheeky smile. "I'll hold you to it, Sharky."

He scoffs, and with no rush, disappears through the trees.

Katsume collapses to her knees, the reality of the situation she bullshitted her way through settling in. She catches her breath she hadn't known she lost.

Fuck me...

______________________________________________________

The firewood blazes under the small pot as she swirls and stirs the curry with her free hand. The aroma of a variety of spices swirls in the air with the frigid nightfall draft. A lazy set of orbs glare at the ivory-haired woman in passive-aggressive silence as she hums to a melody all her own. He finishes wrapping her hand and ties the gauze snug.

It took tedious convincing that she, in fact, was not a renegade in cahoots with the Akatsuki, but eventually, Kakashi ceased his interrogation. Her main argument was: Why would she care to disguise his chakra if she was a traitor? He had no convincing answer. Besides, her story was very 'Katsume'.

"Drinking buddies..." He couldn't believe it.

"Well, that's a gentle way of putting it...but yes." Katsume lets out a nervous chuckle as she clinks the spoon on the side of the pot and sets it to the side.

"This was a few years ago, of course, before I became aware of the Akatsuki. I was a pretty heavy drinker for a long time and I happened to be at a bar in the Land of Grass at the same time as Kisame and Itachi, though Itachi was only fifteen or sixteen at the time. The owner of the establishment knew me well and asked me to escort the boy from the premises since he wasn't of age, but Kisame and I got into a scuffle and we were kicked out. It gets a bit fuzzy after that but I do remember drinking more and possibly setting a building on fire..."

A look of concern washes over Kakashi's face, but it was unclear which part of the story led to that expression, so she assumed it was the latter bit.

"Don't worry, it was abandoned...I think...Yeah, no it was abandoned."

Kakashi brings up his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose hoping to relieve the incoming headache and lets out a disapproving groan. "I'm guessing you were also unaware that your buddy, Itachi, is Sasuke's brother and the source of his rage that led him to leave the village?"

He lets out a heavy sigh when her expression falls, giving him his answer. It was all truly an insane coincidence. "Does anyone else know about your... acquaintanceship with two members of the Akatsuki."

"Jiraiya knows, so he probably informed Tsunade. I'm sorry, I really didn't know how much they were wreaking havoc. Honestly, at the time, I didn't ask questions unless they were in my Bingo Book, but with the way I was, I probably didn't even check."

Kakashi nods, glad that she didn't keep such crucial information to herself, but his eyebrows draw in when her eyes take a painful turn at the end of her explanation. He observes as she takes the spoon once again and stirs the curry steadily, her expression vacant as though she wasn't present at all.

"What do you mean, "with the way you were"?"

Katsume lets out a sigh, retrieving two bowls from her pack and pouring a moderate portion of the curry into each. She passes Kakashi his bowl and takes a seat to his right on the log beside him.

"I told you vaguely on the roof. I just...I didn't have anything to live for. And I was all alone for eight years. From a teenager until my young adult life, I had no guidance. I was figuring it out all on my own. Unfortunately, I led myself down a lot of dark paths and obviously made some questionable decisions. I drank to forget I was alone because when I went to the pub I didn't feel alone. I was surrounded by people with lowered inhibitions, like myself, and danced and drank and laughed along with strangers and generally had a great time. But when I woke up the next morning, I was alone again...and the cycle continued. My anger only added to the extremity of that cycle, and I took that anger out on my bounties. If the Bingo Book said 'Dead or Alive' it was a safe bet I was coming back with a corpse."

Kakashi watches as she stares into her bowl on her lap but doesn't move to eat. If he didn't know it was curry, he would've thought she was staring at the reflection of her younger self in that bowl. She looked...remorseful.

Almost as if she was apologizing to herself.

"We all have regrets and we've all made mistakes. The only thing we can do is learn from them. We can't change the past, but we can utilize those lessons to shape our future."

Katsume looks up from her bowl to meet his onyx eye smiling down at her. She had a sense he may have been preaching to himself as well. His eye closes as he smiles with a tilt of his head. "Just food for thought," he says and cheers his bowl with hers.

A smile breaks through as she rolls her amber eyes. "Ha-ha. Yes, you're very funny," she says in a monotone. "Shut up and eat."

______________________________________________________

"I'll take the first shift. Go ahead and sleep." Kakashi states as he observes Katsume add a few more branches to rejuvenate the fire.

"Alright, if you're sure." Katsume places the cleaned dishes off to the side and stokes the fire one more time before passing the stick to the man.

She positions her pack on the ground–far enough not to be accidentally set on fire in her sleep but close enough to feel its warmth– resting her head on the cool fabric, the pack's contents not making for the most comfortable pillow but she has slept with less. She lies on her side facing the fire so she can watch the orange and yellows of the flames dance.

Kakashi quirks a brow. "You didn't bring a travel futon or a tent?"

A hollow smile tugs at her lips as she snuggles into her "pillow". "No. I'm more comfortable like this. Stuck in my ways, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know. I guess we're alike in that way." He chuckles turning his gaze to the speckled sky.

Her smile deepens as the fire dances in her eyes. "Yeah... I guess we are."

It isn't long before the soothing crackles and pops of the campfire lull her to sleep. Hours passed and Kakashi entertained himself with his book as he usually did, but also often found himself stargazing as he thought to himself. Images of their time together over the months flash by, and he wished they weren't so fleeting. He wanted to watch them, relive them, figure out how he felt in those moments, and compare them to his interactions with others. But he couldn't. He was stuck there. Contemplating. Criticizing. Scrutinizing every detail. The only instance that even resembled how he felt was...a childhood friend.

His hand comes up to run across his mouth and lets out a heavy sigh. Katsume's nothing like her. Katsume is loud, obnoxious, impatient, flamboyant, and...and...she cares too much and too little all at the same time, and quiet and serene when she's relaxed, and she is warm in every sense...and she's a good friend.

Very much like her.

The weather has taken a frigid turn, but it didn't bother him. It was expected as winter drew ever closer. His gaze slowly lowers from its focused stare on the midnight sky and across her sound sleeping figure–ivory tresses strewed about, breathing deeply in her relaxed fetal position. He notices her shoulders jittering. She astutely opted for a long sleeve as opposed to her usual cropped tank top, but the extra fabric couldn't possibly protect her from this turn of weather, they'd neared the Hidden Mist after all.

He calmly reaches into his pack and retrieves a small lightweight blanket and gently pulls it over her shivering form. It probably won't help much, but it's better than nothing at all. They'll need to switch soon...maybe he'll make some tea.

______________________________________________________

Snuggly within the peaceful abyss of slumber, she's nudged into more vague alertness to the pressure just below her shoulder. Burying her knuckle into her eye sockets, she attempts to make out her surroundings. A crouched silhouette, dimly illuminated in an orange glow, hovering narrowly over her. Her groggy gaze travels from his forehead protector, over his shoulder, and down his forearm to linger on his hand gently rousing her to wake, before flickering to life to his contrastingly exhausted onyx orb.

"Time to switch," she rasps out into the crisp air, a subtle cloud of condensation exhaled.

His hand returns to his knee but his form lingers, "Yeah. I also made some tea to wake you up, but if I'm not out in an hour you can go back to sleep."

She chuckles as she sits upright, noticing something delicately slide off her shoulder. Kakashi put this over her? "Awe. Want me to sing you a lullaby?"

"Absolutely not."

She giggles as she stands and moves to position herself on the log beside the fire. "Suit yourself. Sleep well."

He replaces her previously sleeping form in the spot by the fire, using his own pack as a pillow. He removes his forehead protector sets it on the ground beside him and lays back. He throws his arm over his head, covering his eyes with his forearm, and lets out an exhausted sigh. Hopefully, the tea will put him out. He made the tea for himself to help him sleep, but it would've been inconsiderate not to make enough for his partner as well. She'll be awake for the next thirty-six hours, so really it's the least he could do.

An hour passed. The tea Kakashi made had succeeded in knocking him out. He snored softly and his chest rose and fell at an even pace. She was relieved he managed to fall asleep, he seemed exhausted and feared he may not have been getting enough rest lately.

Ever since they began closing in on the Hidden Mist, she sensed something off about him. Although she wanted to ask him about it, she had been a bit preoccupied with her own issues. What even was that earlier? She knows he was asking her to confide in him but her twisted ego made it sound like more of a demand. What is she even thinking right now?! Why is she demonizing him? He's a caring friend and worried comrade, and one of the few people that knows and understands her relationship with her mother.

Don't push him away.

You don't have to keep everyone at arm's length anymore.

Let them in.

Let him in.

Katsume props her elbow on her knee, cupping her chin in the palm of her head as she admired the hues of flame dance and flickers about. She never had an issue talking to him before, so what has changed? She practically told him her entire life story after knowing him for all of two days. She can't explain it, but she has an unwavering trust in the masked ninja, which is why she felt comfortable telling him everything. She's not sure when or how it happened but it's there and she can't remember a time when it wasn't. So, what is she so afraid of? No, no. Not afraid. Fear is foreign to her nowadays. It's more of a distrust of herself. But why? She's been the only person she could trust for thirteen years. What's changed?

She changed.

Her loneliness enabled her recklessness.

She has things to lose now.

Friends.

Family.

She loves them. All of them. All of the glorious moments of companionship she had never experienced before she now holds dear. She can't afford to lose those memories. Lose them. Lose herself...

Lose him...

Golden embers flicker to his sleeping form, a spike in his chakra energy catching her attention. His chest rose and fell rapidly as if he was trying to catch his breath, his eyes and fists clenched tightly. What's going on? Is he having a nightmare?

Hesitantly she walks over to his figure, seeing him twitch subconsciously at the sound of her movement toward him. She kneels beside him debating what she should do. Isn't there some kind of rule about waking someone from a nightmare? Or is that sleepwalking? Her features fall as a tear escapes from the corner of his left eye, taking notice of the large scar cutting through it. He seems like...he's in pain.

She grips her chest tightly, her knuckles turning white. Seeing him in pain...hurt...her? Physically hurt. Her own breathing picks up as she reaches out to him. His features contorted unnaturally in such discomfort, she wanted to soften them. She didn't want to wake him, he needs his rest for tomorrow. Just to bring him solace...instead of pain. Like he so often did for her.

Her knuckle traces delicately across his cheekbone, gently wiping the wetness away. She lets her fingers dance across his features softly–over the fabric of his mask and line his jaw, skimming his cheek and forehead, tracing his eyebrows and lips, and gently into his silk-like silver hair. Her fingers caressed light as a feather across his skin, soothing him. His twitching settled. His breathing calmed to an even rise and fall. His features softened with every delicate stroke.

Her index traces the scar over his left eye. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened to you, but I hope you can trust me enough to tell me someday...just as I trust you," her voice sounds out hardly above a whisper into the autumn air as her fingers comb through his hair once more.

Katsume lets out a soft sigh as she stands from her kneeled position and makes her way back to her spot on the log. He would probably do the same for her. Or maybe he'd just nudge her with his foot to wake her and be done with it. It's a good thing he didn't wake up...that situation would've been difficult to explain.

She needs to figure out a way to tell him...

A ghost of a smile plays on his lips beneath the mask.

Thank you.