I find Reine talking to Nathan and attempting to calm him down in one of the guest tents. As soon as I enter, Nathan turns and looks back at me, a scowl forming on his face.

"Whatever..." Nathan mutters and brushes passed Reine, who looks at him in surprise.

Nathan keeps walking and bumps my shoulder on the way out of the tent, making me shake my head and sigh.

"Don't blame him too much," I say and Reine sighs.

"I know. Eden made him feel he wasn't to blame, but now it's all coming back because of the mirrors in Medea's garden," Reine says, "I wanted to try and calm him down, but...it didn't exactly work."

"It's not right, but you can't really blame him for it," I nod in agreement, "I used to feel partially at blame too, but I know it wasn't my fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but Coralyinn. Right now, I'm just...glad we made it out of Medea's garden."

"Speaking of the garden," Reine says, her eyes watching me steadily, "are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," I wave it off, "I had my wounds cleaned up while Tien was talking to my dad and everyone else was getting back."

"That's not what I meant," Reine frowns and I furrow my eyebrows.

"I don't know what you mean," I glance aside as she walks towards me so that she's standing directly in front of me.

"I think you do," she says softly and I turn back to look at her, frowning slightly as my eyes scan her face.

"I guess...I guess I just sometimes wonder if I'm good enough. I haven't even unlocked my full potential yet, nor am I really good at controlling what I do know how to use," I say with a sigh, "and sometimes I wonder if maybe you deserve bett--"

Reine's expression shifts from one of concern to determination and she takes another step forward, placing her right leg between mine as she reaches up and grabs my face, pulling me down into a harsh kiss and effectively cutting me off. My eyebrows arch in surprise and I carefully wind my arms around her waist, pulling her closer into me as I close my eyes. Reine walks us backwards a few feet until we hit a wooden post and we stay there for a few moments, pressed up against each other in the cold tent. Eventually, she pulls away from me and moves so that she's gripping the collar of my shirt with her hands, her eyes burning into mine.

"Don't you dare ever say you aren't good enough, especially for me," Reine says, her eyes searching mine, "I don't know what sort of hell happened to you in there, but it'll be nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you even think about calling yourself inadequate."

I stare at her for a few moments, my eyes flickering across her face before I throw caution to the wind and essentially say damn it all as I pull her back into another kiss. I pick her up and she wraps her legs around my waist as her arms go around my neck. I flip us around so that her back is pressed against the wooden post in the tent and she smiles into the kiss before she moves her hands so that they're threaded through my hair. She giggles when we pull apart and I smile lovingly at her.

"Dude, Dimitri's abs are seriously drool worthy," Ayette says as she enters the tent before her eyes lock on us, "oh-- am I interrupting something?"

"Um," I clear my throat awkwardly, "what are you doing in here?"

"Sorry," she laughs and rubs the back of her throat as she smiles sheepishly, "Nathan passed me on the way here when I was looking for you and he told me you were in here. He seemed kinda pissed, to be honest."

"And on that note about my brother, which I could've lived without hearing," Reine starts as she unwinds herself from around me carefully and brushes herself off, "I'll be going now to give you guys some space."

Reine kisses my cheek before she smiles and heads out of the tent, waving to Ayette on the way out.

"And why exactly did you think I'd want to hear about Dimitri's abs?" I raise a brow and cross my arms as I lean my shoulder on the wooden post next to me.

"I didn't," Ayette says with a wave of a hand, "I just wanted to see your disgusted reaction, but I didn't know you were getting busy with Reine. Otherwise, I would've waited to come see you."

"I wasn't--" I start, my cheeks flaming, before I fall short, realizing she's not entirely wrong, "why exactly are you here again?"

"Look," Ayette sighs and crosses her arms as she walks further into the tent, "I was worried about you. You can't tell me that you're perfectly fine. I don't know what you went through back there, but I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm better now, really," I say with a sigh, "Reine helped me."

"I bet she did," Ayette snickers and I look at her pointedly, "okay, okay, but seriously. I'm here for you, alright? You know that. If you ever need me, I'll be there."

"I know," I smile softly and she smiles back at me.

"Good," she says before she uncrosses her arms, "oh, and Tien wanted to get the word out that we're meeting in Alex's tent in ten minutes. I saw him outside a little bit ago."

"Alright," I sigh and run a hand through my hair, "I'll be there."

Ayette nods and turns on her heel, offering me one last smile before she leaves with a wave.

***

In Alex's tent, Tien stands solemnly with his arms crossed as Reine, Renee, Renji, Ayette, Dimitri, Ciana, Aislinn, Tsukumi, Shitau, Kaltrina, Mikasa, Nathan, Sion, Alex, and Mirana stand around in a circle, with me standing next to Reine and Renee.

"Coralyinn won't be in her current location for long, so I suggest striking while the moment is opportune," Alex says and the rest of us listen silently, "Sion suggested that we evacuate nearby villages just in case, which I agree with. My main duty is to protect the people, despite chasing after Coralyinn and her armies. I worry it would be too risky to send all of you after Coralyinn, and we could use some help transporting villagers to safety while our soldiers fight."

"Where would we be transporting them?" Ciana asks, her arms crossed against her chest seriously.

"We would take them to Orina," Alex answers, "Aidan has sent a message saying that he and his advisors discussed taking in refugees. Orina is far less occupied than it once was due to many being gone for the war, and they happily let us know they'd like to help us by housing villagers."

A few of us exchange glances and a murmur rises around the tent about who would be best to face Coralyinn and who should help transport villagers safely to Orina.

"Ayette, Dimitri, Gabriel, Shitau, Kaltrina, Ciana, Aislinn, Mikasa, Nathaniel, Tien, and myself will face Coralyinn," Reine says, stepping forward.

"Me, Renji, Tsukumi, and Mirana will go help villagers," Renee says.

"Then Sion and I will go with you, Renee," Alex says and Sion's eyes widen.

"Wait, you can't be serious?" Sion protests, looking between my father and her brother.

"I'm sorry," Tien says and looks at the ground, "it's for the best. You have to trust me."

Sion goes to protest before she closes her mouth and remains resigned, her eyes downcast as her lips form into a hard line.

"It really is for the best," Mirana adds, attempting to place her hand on Sion's shoulder comfortingly, despite their apparent differences.

"Whatever," Sion sighs and shrugs Mirana off her shoulder, "I'm heading outside. Let me know when we're ready."

Mirana watches her leave sadly before she sighs and follows after her, throwing a knowing glance to Tien that says she'll take care of her in the process.

"Here," Alex says as he walks up to Reine and hands her a map, closing her hands around it as he watches her in concern, "be careful."

"I will," Reine says, her lips curving up into a smile as she nods slightly and takes the map.

"We'll meet you guys back in Orina when we're done," Dimitri says to Renji, who nods in response.

"Stay safe," Renji adds, his eyes scanning across us all before he smiles sadly and leaves the tent with Renee.

"You too," Ciana says and Tsukumi waves on the way out, wishing us luck.

"I'll meet you all in Orina," Alex says as he heads towards the exit of the tent before his eyes flicker between me and Tien, "and I mean all of you."

"Well, are we ready?" Ayette asks as she puts her shield on her wrist.

"Ready as we'll ever be," I breathe out.

And with that, the ten of us follow Reine out of the tent as she leads the way to Coralyinn down a snowy hill path, our footprints in the snow the only ones heading in her direction.