With a break finally coming from the constant running and fighting, and our plan of operations settled for what we would do moving forward, I finally began to feel a certain sense of relief. It certainly didn't mean I could rest though, anything but… No matter what the others would say.

Sitting in my grandmother's garden alone, my eyes were continuously drawn outward, as I used my ability to inspect my humble little kingdom that I claimed to rule. 'The cities themselves are already fairly well protected… It looks like construction of those extra rock throwing ballista I ordered is going well too. Catapults wouldn't be that accurate, and bolts won't really sink ships, so it's convenient. The mote I ordered to be dug around the city is almost halfway done, and the harbor chains have been set up in both cities. There's not much else we can do that we haven't already done…'

I felt a sudden sharp pain in my head. 'Is my ability expanding even more?'

"Uh… Siya…"

I pulled myself out of my ability to find myself face to face with my grandmother who, was a bit too close for comfort, making me scared to move.

She looked down at her hand before lowering it to her side. "You're not supposed to smile when you get hit… Are you feeling alright?"

'When I get hit?' "Wait, grandma… Please don't ask to fight me, if we hurt ourselves out right now it could be really bad."

She chopped me on the head and I groaned, already feeling sore. "See, that's the normal reaction. Stupid girl, I wouldn't try to fight you right now. There is a time and place for everything."

'She says that like I'm the one that needed to be told…' I sighed, rubbing my head. 'That must have been the pain I felt in my head… Guess it wasn't my ability…' Unsure of what to say I nervously placed my hands between my legs, folding my shoulders forward as if trying to become smaller before getting chopped on the head again.

"What took you so long to come and see me? Lu came straight here as soon as she got back, but I had to go out and get you by force, otherwise I bet you'd still be staying in that camp of yours!"

"I'm sorry… Please stop hitting me…"

She sighed, rubbing my head before wrapping an arm around me, her skin feeling so warm it nearly put me to sleep as she practically forced me to lay down on her lap. "You've grown quite a bit you know."

"I know… A lot's happened…" 'Two feet taller in a few months… How could I not know...' "I meant to ask, seeing as how I went and declared myself king and all, and were at war… Can you come out of retirement? You seem to like fighting anyway, so I figured–"

"I'll think about it… I'll have to ask Your grandpa. He gets really worried about me, you know."

'So that's how it is…' I slowly settled my body against hers and closed my eyes. "It's been awhile since I've been this close to someone that wasn't covered in blood. Well. I guess there's Rune… But it's a bit different since I'm basically her mother… Although I've been shirking responsibilities as of late…" 'Bear has always taken good care of her though.' my eyes shot open. 'It's almost like…' I cleared my throat. "Maybe… Older sister would be better… I'm still way too young to have children after all…" 'And so then Bear would be like her older brother.'

She just laughed, gently gathering my hair behind my ear. "Well, you are almost 15 aren't you? So maybe not that far off."

"I don't think I'd be mentally prepared for at least another 6 years… Not to mention, physically…" 'Actually, I don't even know if I could have children with how screwed up my body is… It's also possible one form could and the other couldn't, what would happen to the baby if I transformed while I was pregnant?' I slowly calmed my mind before getting too carried away. 'On the bright side… It being so complicated makes me think about it with a clear head instead of getting embarrassed and shutting down… Then again, maybe I'm just growing up… My head hurts…'

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She gently pressed against my forehead, making my brow relax before I realized it was furrowed. "I don't know about all that… You look plenty well developed to me."

"Yeah that's not the only problem Grandma…" 'I should nip this in the bud… She has 3 other grandkids she can bother about this sort of thing.' "This isn't my natural form… It's a form I use for combat that utilizes dragon blood… My normal form is still tiny…"

"Well that's fine, just use this form then. I'm sure that would make it easier since there would be less of a size difference."

'I forgot how… Blunt she was.' "Except this form runs naturally hot and my skin boils water when I get a fever… Not to mention I can breathe fire… I really don't see how I could grow a healthy baby like that."

She let out a short hum. "Well that's still fine I suppose. You use your tiny form, and switch for the delivery, then the baby, which grows relative to your size, comes out nice and easy and neither of you have to die."

I flinched before slowly sitting up again. 'Or you could just help me find a husband under six feet tall…' "Please stop trying to solve the problem… Even if you come up with a solution I actually agree with, it wouldn't make me want to do it anymore than I do now. Besides, all that stuff aside… Doing the… The thing… I mean… You know the stuff that would have to happen before that… I'm even less mentally prepared for that." 'Though now that I'm the only person in my body and not psychologically confused at least I have less to worry about…

"That won't be a problem. You'll stop feeling that way after your first kiss."

I slowly scratched my head. "That's a good place for us to stop this conversation I think…" I flinched slightly, thinking back to all the times I had bitten Kal, and slowly covered my mouth. "Actually… That might just make it worse…" 'then again… trying to eat him in a literal sense probably doesn't count as kissing…'

"Oh?" She said slowly, leaning in with a wry smile.

'Did she misunderstand something?' "I-I just meant that… I'm kind of insecure and all, and when I get close to people they are usually trying to hurt me, so it's like…" 'What am I even saying…' I took a deep breath in, pushing myself away to create distance before I slowly let it out. "Just don't expect anything… Even if I do somehow find a guy I like… If you don't push it… Then in exchange… I'll… Be open to the idea… Deal?"

She just rolled her eyes with a smile that made it almost seem like she wasn't serious to start with. "Yeah that's fine." Not a moment later and she crossed her legs and raised a hand to her chin. "So I just have to find a guy that you like…"

'That's… Not what I said…' "Please don't go out of your way or anything… Can't you focus on Airsidh for now? Or even Lu… I have a feeling… It will take a while to find someone that could… What's the word… Survive? Her."

She just smiled and patted my head again. "Of course I wouldn't forget about them, but I'm here with you right now, so that's who I'm going to focus on."

"Fine…" 'I can't even be mad… It almost feels kind of nice, in a weird sort of way.' Do what you want. Hey, wait a second. You said I'm almost 15?"

She blankly stared back at me. "Did you forget?"

"Uh… Well, no. It's just…"

"Your mom has been working hard ever since you sent your first letter home. She wanted you to be able to live your life as yourself. Honestly I think she was being a little dramatic… But she seemed happy, so I could hardly tell her that."

"Turns out you do have some tact… Who knew." I slowly stood up and stretched my arms up in the air. 'I haven't felt so relaxed in a long time… Is it because of her wolf's blood? Being near Rune has a similar effect… Although she's so snugly it's hard to stop myself from just hibernating if I'm around her right now.' "Just try not to make too much of a fuss though. And don't feel bad when I reject them all… If it gets too annoying I'll ghost you."

"I won't have to make a fuss, the boys will do that to you on their own. I'm sure in no time you'll find someone worth fighting for."

I scratched my head, turning back to her. "What? Fighting for myself is more than enough for me, of all the reasons to find a boyfriend that's got to be the worst."

She slowly stood up with a groan. "Not like that. Like against those so called insecurities of yours. Just use that war goddess form of yours in the battlefield of the bedroom and you'll be fine."

My posture slowly failed as i slunked down and covered the side of my face with one hand. 'Well… It… Was almost a normal conversation… Was it? Well, normal enough.' I sighed. 'I should probably leave before this goes any further in the wrong direction…'

"Don't look at me like that. I just meant that… You could treat it like a battle. If you think about it all like that maybe it would help."

'Or maybe I'd end up in a really hostile relationship… I guess she means well. It would be cute if she didn't make everything sound so dirty.' I shook my head, hiding a small smile. "I'm going inside now. It's probably time to eat soon right?" 'even if it's not… It's a good enough excuse…'

My grandma placed a hand on my shoulder from behind, her face suddenly deadly serious. "You shouldn't open that door…"

'What the heck…' I froze stiff. "W-why not?"

Her serious face vanished in an instant. "It could be dangerous. You uh… Might get a splinter or–"

"Seriously…"

"Just let me take care of it for you, or better yet, we can go around to another door. Yeah."

'She's surprisingly awful at hiding things… It kind of makes me want to open it…' "Come on Grandma, if anything I should be helping you out, respect your elders and all that."

"Psh, where did you hear that nonsense? Respect the strong, and sense your the king you're clearly way stronger than me."

I rolled my eyes, knowing full well it was a bald face lie as I inched closer to the door. "I'll give you one last chance to tell me the truth."

She slowly lowered her outreached hand and brought it back to her chen, shifting her weight as she thought about it. "To be honest I do want to see this." Lowering her arms she softly shooed me away.

'Now I'm starting to think there's a wild animal on the other side…'working up the courage I slid the door open and froze stiff as none other than Kal stood directly in front of me, as if he was about to open it as well.

'Of course…'

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