M:   Poldara cocked his head in confusion, "I'm not going to Papa's country Iremacht, where did you hear that I was?"

And why did you stop mid-sentence, he added in his head. That was very odd and suspicious, why did Iremacht think he was leaving, Mandara and Poland would have told him if he was and they didn't, so the German had to be mistaken, right?

Mandoria stared at Iremacht suspiciously and screeched at him. "Why didn't you finish your sentence," Poldara translated, "people only do that when they are hiding something, what aren't you telling?"

L:   "Nothing, I was just coughing," Iremacht said, clearing his throat. "I'm just saying if you ever do visit some other country, Poland for example, you can take this Mandoria plush with you. It can be our friendship bracelet, so to speak. Now, is there any water around here? My throat is sore, I can't stop—" He coughed some more. "Whew, gotta stay hydrated."

He proceeded to walk away and look for any booths that sold drinks. Since he was still on the string harness, he could only go so far before the string stretched tautly and he turned to ask Poldara, "You coming, Polds? Do you have any drink recommendations, by the way?"

M:   Poldara and Mandoria exchanged confused glances, the bird chirped a bit and Poldara nodded along, though this time he didn't translate.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he said, dropping the subject for the time being, "I usually like Arnold Palmers, soda is good and all but I just like those better"

He followed Iremacht to a vendor that sold snacks and drinks, and feeling a little hungry, also got a hot dog with his drink. Since he needed two hands to carry his stuff, he spread out his left wing to give Mandoria a perch, so the bird stepped off his arm and onto the wing, which held his weight just fine.

While Iremacht was getting his drink, Poldara just silently ate his hot dog, not really feeling like talking anymore.

L:   Iremacht happily bought himself an Arnold Palmer drink along with two churros. He was going to offer one to Poldara when he sensed the kid's oddly quiet demeanor. Iremacht's brow furrowed worriedly; he knew the kid was smart and probably hadn't believed Iremacht's cover-up.

Iremacht sat next to Poldara and munched on one of the churros. He wondered if they should rejoin the others. But then, Poldara would surely ask his parents, and it would only upset him further when he heard the news. It wasn't Iremacht's place to reveal such a big decision. But he didn't want to keep the truth from Poldara. Secrets equaled trouble put off to fester.

"Hey, Polds," Iremacht began slowly. "I want to ask you something. Do you ... like living here? Wait, let me rephrase: Have you ever thought of ... maybe ... living somewhere other than Mandara? Getting a change of scenery?"

M:   Poldara looked up from his hot dog and shrugged, "it never crossed my mind. This is my home, I've lived here my whole life up to this point, only ever leaving to visit Uncles Kaz and Rus or when Dads take me with them on business trips."

The kid fell into silence for a bit, then let out a sad sigh, "though now that I think about it, I think it would be nice to get away for a while, to find someplace where it's ok to be different, where people don't hurt you because you're not like them."

Poldara started absent-mindedly fiddling with his clipped feathers, eventually plucking one and turned it over in his hand. "But who am I kidding, there is no such place as that, discrimination is everywhere and you can't just go someplace else to escape it. Eventually, you just have to accept that you'll never be respected, that in everyone's eyes, you're just a worthless freak that shouldn't even try to fit in."

With that, Poldara threw the clipped feather away and just buried his head in his arms. Mandoria sat next to the kid's head and lay its own head on his arms like a dog would.

L:   Iremacht's eyes widened at Poldara's self-hate. The amount of bullying the kid had received had far worse consequences than he'd imagined. He reached a tentative arm out to wrap around Poldara's shoulders.

"Don't say that," Iremacht said. "Don't you ever say that again about yourself." He spotted the clipped feather that Poldara had thrown on the ground and stood to pick it up. Then he brought it back and knelt in front of Poldara, gently prying the kid's arms away so he could see his face.

"Look at this feather," Iremacht said. "Sure it's clipped but look at the color. It's still so rich and pure. Don't throw it away, Polds. Don't let it be ruined by dust and careless feet." Iremacht pocketed the clipped feather. "I'll keep it safe for you. And if you still think you're a freak, that's okay. We can be freaks together."

M:   Poldara didn't say anything at first, just staring at Iremacht and the feather with a blank, emotionless expression. He turned away from the German and sighed again.

"It's not rich or pure anymore," he said quietly, "It's now a symbol of captivity, Iremacht, it lets other winged countries know that I'm nothing more than a pet, that I'm submissive to the person that clipped me and now belong to them."

He then sat up straight, turned to Iremacht, and spread out his wing, "This right here displays to everyone that someone owns me, not literally, just that they do what they want with me and no one can interfere." Poldara started tearing up a little as he continued, "I'm so sick of it, of being Adem's pet. I want to be free, to live without fear and to finally learn to fly, I don't want to be a pet, I-I d-don't want what happened to D-Dad and Soviet."

Poldara then let his sniffles turn into sobs, crying into his hands as he talked about being a pet, and how Mandara was Ussr's at one point.

L:   Iremacht grimaced as Poldara started full-out crying. He didn't know what to do or how to comfort people who cried. But Poldara's confession convinced Iremacht to finally reveal the news.

"Your dads won't let you be a pet any longer," Iremacht said. "Especially Mandara, he knows what it'll do to you. Wehrmacht and I talked to Mandara and Poland. We all decided that it would be best - " Iremacht took a deep breath. "- if you were to live in Poland for a while. Away from all the mean people here. You can live freely and Poland can help you fly higher. It's someplace different."

Iremacht pulled Poldara's hands away from his teary face and started drying the tears with his sleeve.

"You're right, there's going to be discrimination anywhere you go," said Iremacht. "So we're hoping you'll train hard in Poland. One day, you'll return and show all those bullies that you're no one to mess with. It's time to stop letting yourself get bullied and do something about it."

M:   Poldara seemed quite shocked to hear that, that his dads were going to send him to Poland's country. When Iremacht said that Poldara had to stop letting himself get bullied, he was prompted to keep crying.

"I can't do anything," Poldara cried, "I can't fight back, they only hurt me worse if I do. If I leave then they'll be waiting for me, they'll make sure that I remember that I'm just a pathetic toy for them to play with."

Poldara hugged Iremacht tightly and kept sniffling into his chest, "maybe you can stay, you're strong enough to fight back and you're not scared of anything, Adem and his friends won't mess with me if you're around. Please stay, please"

L:   "I can't stay here, Polds," Iremacht said, patting Poldara's back. "I'm a militant, remember, I have to return to Ireland. But know that you've got the support of a lot of people who love you. Adem and his friends won't be able to reach you in Poland and even if they're waiting for you to come back, you'll be better prepared to deal with them. Be brave, Polds, keep your chin up and keep fighting. You're not pathetic if you do that."

Iremacht pulled back and held Poldara firmly by the shoulders. "Now dry your tears and promise me that you'll give your fresh start a chance. Go to Poland and live the life you want to live - never stop fighting for it. If you're not strong enough to teach other bullies a lesson then train until you are."

M:   Poldara stared at Iremacht for a while, taking in his words and his faith in the kid. He never experiences this kind of treatment from someone who wasn't a part of his family, well, he did from UN when they meet, but he is nice to everyone.

After a moment more of sniffles and tears, Poldara calmed down enough to nod at Iremacht's promise.

"I-I promise," he said as he wiped his eyes, "I'll give Papa's country a chance." He pulled Iremacht into another hug, less tightly this time, "Thank you Machty, you're the best friend I could ever ask for."

L:   Iremacht squeezed him back and let a genuine smile form on his face. "Anytime."

When they parted, though, Iremacht's expression dropped into one of worry. He said nervously to Poldara, "But do me a favor. When we get back to the others, please pretend you have no idea you're going to Poland. Your dads are supposed to be the ones to tell you, not me. I don't want to take that decision away from them - well, I kind of did already but just pretend like this never happened. Deal?"

Iremacht stuck out his hand playfully for Poldara to shake.