Somehow I passed through an exit to the outside world and found myself stopping at the academy courtyard. I felt my body shiver from the breeze and I rubbed my arms in an attempt to warm myself.

The moon was high and the night was dead silent. With my face bathed in the light of the moon, I gazed at the sea of stars above me, wondering if I was ever going to be able to return home.

(I may hate my life there, but it's better than being tossed into the unknown...)

I started walking back to the girl's dorm alone. I was still a little mad at Zeus so I didn't want to head back to the Night Cafe and see his face again so soon. Plus, I had no idea how to get back to the Night Cafe anyway.

My feet dragged me around the academy grounds to places I haven't visited before. Everything looked more mysterious that it intrigued me, so I decided to take my time and walked without a hurry.

Although I was aware that Liz and the others would be concerned since I ran off without telling them where, I couldn't bear to be around them when I'm in such a sullen mood. It wasn't the first time I had hid myself away when I wasn't feeling my best either. Old habits die hard, they say.

Moreover, I kind of felt guilty for shouting at Zeus. He may be loud and pushy, but he was offering to buy me a new set of clothes for my stay here. Even though it was his mistake to summon me in the first place...

I sighed and looked up at the twinkling sky in contemplation. I took comfort in the tranquility of the night, feeling the tension in my shoulders loosen somewhat.

If I was going to stay here then I needed to learn to get along with the people of this world. That meant dealing with Zeus, as well.

I took a breath of fresh air and reminded myself to stay strong. Once I managed to calm down a bit, I continued walking back to the dorm.

A strong wind came out of nowhere and the ribbon I borrowed from Liz to tie my hair was blown away. I couldn't fly up to catch it or follow where it was going because of how dark it was outside. Without much options, I left it behind.

The dorm mother looked relieved to find me safe when I arrived. I apologized to her for returning after curfew and she let me go with only a warning. I thanked her and headed to Liz and Amelia's room where I was tackled to the ground by a hug.

The next thing I knew was that I was staring at the ceiling; the arms wrapped tightly around my neck slowly cut off my supply of oxygen. Amelia stood next to the bed with wide eyes while Liz promptly strangled me with her worry.

"WHERE WERE YOU?!" Liz cried.

"L-Liz?!" I coughed, feeling my head spin from hitting it on the floor. "S-Sorry for making you - ack - Liz, you're choking me!"

"Oh! Sorry, I-" Liz hurriedly let go of me but then suddenly remembered- "Wait, no, I'm not! I'm mad at you!"

"OW!"

She slapped me on the arm and now my arm and my head are both in pain. I guess I deserved at least that much for worrying her, but still.

"Where were you all this time?! We were searching for you everywhere underground!" Liz scolded.

Her anger made me flinch and I knew she had every right to be cross with me. I apologized to her again for disappearing, though I don't really think it would be enough.

"I actually ended up in the courtyard somehow," I started to explain, gaining another hard slap on the arm.

"You shouldn't run off on your own like that!"

"I know. I'm sorry..."

My head hung low with shame as I refused to meet her glare. Thankfully, Amelia spoke up to break the tension in the room.

"How about Liz sends a note to the others and tell them that you're safe in the dorms..." She strides over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. "Then the three of us can go to the kitchen and make some snacks?"

After mentioning the word 'snacks', someone's stomach growled loudly and we looked over at Liz who was blushing bright red. Her eyebrow twitched as she stood still and refused to admit that it was her. Amelia giggled and winked at me.

"F-Fine, let's send them a note and we'll have dinner." Liz said as she whipped out her wand to create a magic note for the boys.

As soon as she had finished writing her message, she cast a spell on the parchment and it folded neatly like a little paper bird. My eyes lit up with joy and a smile spread across my face. The note fluttered out of the open window to its destination.

Amelia and I waited in the hallway for Liz to change out of her uniform. The other students were inside their rooms - asleep most likely - and it was just the three of us still awake. I was staring outside the window when Liz came out in her pajamas.

We walked as quietly as we could to avoid waking anyone up. The kitchen was deserted, which was the perfect chance to make some snacks.

Unfortunately...

"Um, guys, I don't know if I told you yet but-" I tied a knot on the back of my apron and looked at the cooking utensils around the room- "I don't know how to cook very well, so I'm not sure if I'll be helpful."

Assuming that my memories of gastronomic skills haven't been wiped out like my other personal information, my talent in the cooking department would only be able to set the entire kitchen on fire. I considered keeping a fire extinguisher or two nearby just in case, but then I wondered if a water spell could put out a potential kitchen fire better than an extinguisher...

"Relax, girl! It'll be fine!" Amelia reassured me.

"Yeah, I'm a pretty good cook so I can teach you some basic recipes for now." Liz held up a bowl and a whisk with a grin. "Let's make some snacks! Do cookies sound okay?"

"Yeah!" Amelia and I both cheered.

Despite my enthusiasm for baking cookies, I had learned that enthusiasm alone does nothing to help me actually bake the stupid cookies. With twenty minutes already behind us, I had successfully managed to ruin more than a dozen eggs in an attempt to break them into a bowl.

"Try again, Gale," Liz instructed as she skillfully tapped an egg against the rim of her bowl, "but you need to be less... violent."

I reached out to the carton of eggs and gingerly plucked out another one. On my other hand, I held a plastic orange bowl where I would put the contents of the egg inside.

The counter was a mess of eggshells and Amelia was sitting on the other side of the room picking out shells from the eggs I had already broken in another bowl. Liz was surprisingly patient with me, but I didn't want to waste her time any more than I have.

(This time I'll do it right!)

With the grace of a dancing elephant, I swung my hand and hit the egg against the rim of the bowl. The egg cracked and I very clumsily opened it. There was no eggshells inside the bowl this time, at least.

Soon enough, we finished making the batter... for fifteen batch of cookies. With the amount of eggs I broke, it wasn't a surprise to have this much. Besides, the girls and I had a lot of fun baking together, so we didn't care.

We decided to divide them amongst ourselves and hand out the extra ones to Liz's other friends. Amelia wanted to give some to her friends too and kept two bags.

I wrapped up some cookies in a small pouch to give as a peace offering to Zeus when I see him. At the back of my mind, I kept worrying that maybe he wouldn't like them. It was my first time making cookies, after all.

(Well, that shouldn't matter to me since it's only a peace offering anyway...)

I ignored the uneasiness I was feeling and followed Liz and Amelia back to our room. The bag in my hand felt heavy as I imagined Zeus's reaction to receiving it tomorrow, though I'm not sure it was because of the cookies.

When Liz and I walked to Magic Potion class the next afternoon, I immediately saw Zeus and Hiro in their seats. Liz casually walked over to give them her cookies and I followed timidly behind her.

I looked over at Zeus to see if he was in a better mood than our last meeting. But seeing his pale face was enough for me to know that something was wrong with him.

"Zeus? Are you feeling alright?" I asked worriedly.

"...Shut up. Nothing. It's fine." He grumbled and sluggishly looked away from me.

(Is he mad at me for last night?)

Feeling guilty about bothering him, I hid the cookies behind my back and sat beside Liz instead. She noticed that Zeus was acting strange today, too.

I watched as Liz tried to get a better look at him while Zeus tried to swat her hand away from his forehead. That's when Hiro poked me from his seat behind us. I craned my neck back so I was seeing him upside down.

"While we were looking for you last night," Hiro began to explain, "he found your ribbon floating in the lake and thought maybe you drowned.

"He was diving in there trying to find you and has been sick since morning. I told him to take the day off, but he said he wanted to see you today and just wouldn't listen."

"Huh? Really?" I blinked at him, imagining Zeus swimming in cold water to find me. "Wow... I honestly didn't think he'd go that far."

Zeus must have heard us talking about it because he immediately began to complain. His hand was on Liz's face, pushing her away from him.

"Don't give it away, idiot!" He yelled.

When he looked over at me, I felt myself blush and quickly averted my eyes. I didn't even know that Zeus would be that worried about my disappearance. I actually pictured him lounging around while letting Hiro do the search by himself.

Suddenly, Zeus stood up from his seat and announced that he was going back to his dorm for the rest of the day. I felt even worse about last night and told Liz that I would accompany him.

Since I wasn't a student anyway, professor Merkulova allowed me to leave the class. I hurried to catch up with Zeus' long strides and grabbed his arm.

"Hey! Hold up!" I panted, feeling tired from jogging after him.

"What is it?" Zeus stopped and looked down at me, patiently waiting for me to catch my breath.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about last night," I pulled out the bag of cookies from behind me, "so please take this peace offering!"

"Peace offering...?"

Staring at the lavender-colored pouch in my hands, Zeus stayed silent as he received it and looked inside. He reached a hand in and took out a cookie.

"Did you make these for me?" He asked, smiling a bit.

"Y-Yeah..." I nodded shyly.

He turned the cookie in his hand with a skeptical frown.

"Are they edible?" He threw in another question, making me debate if I actually wanted him to eat those or not when he's already sick.

"I made them together with Liz and Amelia so it should be fine!" I shrugged nonchalantly, trying to play it cool.

"Guess I'll try one then..."

Zeus took a nibble of the cookie. I held my breath in anticipation as his eyes widened. Taking one bite after another, the cookie was gone in no time at all.

"Hey, this cookie is pretty tasty!" He grinned as he took out another one from the bag. "It's good! I didn't think anyone could match Liz's baking skills."

"Well, she and Amelia did help me out with them." I watched as Zeus continued enjoying his treat. "With my memories all jumbled up, it was a little risky. So things got pretty messy in the kitchen..."

We continued walking down the hallway and Zeus even shared the cookies with me. I followed him back to his dorm, even though he said the cookies were enough and that I didn't need to nurse him. My stubbornness won eventually because he allowed me inside the dorm without further complaints.

I walked over to the kitchen and got a bowl to fill with cold water. Zeus plopped himself down on the couch, one arm draped over his eyes. He groaned as if he were having a bad headache.

(Or maybe eating those cookies gave him indigestion...?)

I walked over to him quietly and gently placed the cool washcloth on his forehead. He sighed in content and moved his arm to look at me. Realizing too late that I was alone in a room with a guy, I awkwardly waved.

"Do you want some pillows or a blanket?" I asked, carefully fixing the cloth so it wouldn't fall off his head.

"Nah, this is good..." He covered his eyes again. "But since you insist on taking care of me, sing me that song from before so I can fall asleep."

"Wh-What?!"

I didn't expect for him to make such a request out of the blue. Hearing my bewildered reaction, Zeus' lips curled into a satisfied smirk. He didn't need to see me to know that I was blushing like crazy.

"F-Fine! But just one song, okay?!" I frowned at the stupid grin he was wearing. "And you better not tell anyone about this..."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry it up already."

Ignoring his rude demand, I took a moment to compose myself. Once my breathing was steady, I parted my lips and sang in a gentle voice, in hopes that it would lull him to sleep.

"I've been,
Out on the ocean
Sailing alone,
Traveling nowhere

You've been,
Running on hard ground
With just you around,
Your heart beats the only sound

But I know,
Once in a while we will find,
The sound of your heart beats with mine
And when it's time
I'll leave the ocean behind

So I'll look,
Out for a lighthouse
See through the fog
Search the horizon

You'll be,
Like in a movie
Where everything stops;
You can see clearly now

But I know,
Once in a while we will find,
The sound of your heart beats with mine
And when it's time
I'll leave the ocean behind

Oooh.

I'll leave the ocean behind.

Oooh.

Cause I know,
Once in a while we will find,
The sound of your heart beats with mine
And someday,
The crash of the waves will be far away,
And I will sail in your eyes
Cause when it's time
I'll leave the ocean behind..."

By the time I sang the last note, Zeus was softly snoring away. I giggled at how cute he was being, then stood up to leave and let him rest. But his hand reached out to grab my arm, pulling me back down next to him on the couch.

Having his face so close to mine, I couldn't help but blush and look down. Zeus was fast asleep and he grabbed me like a pillow. I was unable to escape without waking him up, so I sighed in defeat and waited for Hiro to come back.