Luna had missed her eight O'clock class. At some point during the early morning, she'd fallen asleep outside on the bank of the nearly dried up lake. After failing to hear a reply back from Libra, a heavy sorrow fell upon her shoulders. She was simply crushed. For the first time since she could remember, whenever Luna had screamed into the darkness something had always answered. Things were different now. Changed for the worse. Her intrinsic sense that cosmic justice was in some sort of balance or harmony was now skewed. After all she'd done. After everything she'd fought for, even with new life growing inside of her, Luna felt an immense loneliness begin to swallow her up.

Self pity didn't bring any comfort either. That was not the preferred state of a warrior. Shivering in the early morning autumn air, Luna brushed the dirt off her uniform and began the long walk back to the campus. She wasn't really alone. Obviously. Although it wasn't showing yet, in seven more months, she'd have a pup. Then there was Gene. Somewhere out there in the infinite expanse of the multiverse, Luna still held out hope that her mate would find a way back into her arms. Even if this had been the longest gap between missions, it's not as though Gene were intentionally keeping his distance. At least, he better not be. 

That was at least one possibility Luna felt confident enough wasn't a factor of Gene's absence. She knew for certainty that he wasn't dead. He'd accepted the blood covenant. They were bonded. Without Luna's expressed permission, Gene couldn't die. Of course, there were so loopholes to that particular clause, but that wasn't a rabbit hole Luna wanted to travel down. She was already depressed enough without having to consider raising a child on her own. Not that she wasn't capable. She was perfectly able to raise her pup single handedly, but would emphatically prefer Gene's assistance. His presence. She wanted him back, whatever the cost.   

With a sigh, Luna placed a hand on her hip and renewed her vow never to abandon her child. Growing up an orphan would not become a family tradition.

Speaking of traditions, she almost forgot about Hitomi. Luna removed the flip phone from her belt and dialed out to her friend. It rang once, and went straight to voicemail...

Hitomi's prerecorded voice sang happily; "You've reached Hitomi's phone, leave a messages... Message? Leave one message," Towards the end it sounded like she was talking to someone else in the room, "No, you're drunk!"

After an obnoxious beep, Luna took a breath; "Hitomi, hi. It's... Sorry I missed you this morning. Hope you're not feeling like hot garbage. Could you meet me on the roof of Helmrich after your classes? Thanks. Love you."

Luna flipped her phone shut and shoved it back in her belt pouch. Her feet crunched over the patches of dried grass. Still no wind or clouds, but the sun did little to provide any warmth on this particular September morning. She compulsively checked her phone again: Thursday. Nearly afternoon. As Luna continued marching through the empty fields, she mentally checked off the assignments and classes that remained on her schedule.

If she quickened her pace from a depressed slog to a mild jog Luna could make her Applied Aerodynamics. Although the same professor taught the Elementary Dynamics lecture she'd missed that morning. Luna wasn't particularly looking forward to being singled out and given an additional lecture about the importance of punctuality. She'd have to skip that class as well and simply show up to her Arcana Studies. Of course, it was becoming more apparent that her pregnancy was diminishing her ability to conjure and manipulate water.

As Hitomi had warned at nauseam, an unfortunate side effect of pregnancy was Luna's temporary loss of her casting abilities. The further along in her term, the more arcane energy was converted into protecting the child. So, perhaps not so unfortunate after all. Luna was determined to have the child and any help she got to that end was welcomed. It was perhaps only a mild inconvenience that the power that granted her a scholarship in the first place was slowly being repurposed into a type of magic cocoon.

Luna considered that for her child's sake, she should be thankful.

The wolf inside her however bristled with regret.

---

"What do you mean, 'Canceled?'" Hitomi barked into the phone. "No. That is completely unacceptable. I don't care. Call their office and tell them-- No you!" The giraffe girl slammed her clamshell phone shut and stomped her foot.

Luna had packed up her texts and datapad into her leather satchel and crossed the length of the Arcane Studies lab to meet her friend by the glass double doors. Unlike the rest of the building, the lab, or roof as it had been coined by the students, was a new addition to Helmrich Hall. New floors, equipment, the whole works. It was the envy of every other major department. Despite the double panned shatterproof glass doors however, whatever had Hitmoi riled up could be heard all the way at the head of the class. 

Normally laid back even under the most stressful situations, Luna had never seen the giraffe girl this upset. In fact, Hitmoi's level of calm almost sparked additional anxiety in Luna. To see such a transparent display of frustration and anger in Hitomi now was unsettling.

Luna pushed through the shatterproof security door into the vestibule; "Hitomi, dear, you know the entire class could hear you-"

Hitomi put up a finger as she dialed out again on her flip phone, "Kelly's office just canceled my interview. Didn't even give a reason. Just, 'Nope, not happening."

A sympathetic frown spread over Luna, "Hitomi, I'm so sorry. I know how much that-"

"Hello," Hitomi snapped at the phone, "Yes, this is Ms. Kimathi of Oklahoma State University's Journalism Department. No. No, I will not hold. Someone from your office-- Unacceptable. My interview was set up months in advance. I have contacted my professor. I'll do that. Fine."

With that last straw, Hitmoi hurled the phone into one of the padded bench seats that flanked the space between the class room and foyer. Luna watched as the phone bounced off the chair and clattered onto the wooden floor.

"What can I do to help?" Luna offered meekly. Hitomi was shaking. Instinctively, Luna reached out and embraced her friend. They remained connected, holding each other well after the last student in the Arcana class had left the lab.

Hitmoi finally broke off from the hug; "I need to get to President Kelly."

Luna tried to hold her tongue and keep from balking outright at the nearly impossible request; "Hitomi, love, that's a tall order. I mean, you don't just waltz up to the president."

Rolling her eyes, Hitmoi cried out, "Luna, if I don't speak on the record with somebody in his office, my final project is sunk. Passing this course is a requirement for graduating. I can't afford to fail." The giraffe girl started to hyperventilate as she spiraled into a panic, "They don't even offer the class again until next fall. I supposed to graduate in spring! Or, I won't if I don't land this interview. Oh, god. I'm gonna fail."

"Alright, I get it" Luna rushed out, trying to stall long enough to come up with a plan. "What about interviewing somebody from the rival party, or another government office--?"

"Nope," Hitmoi barked, "Professor Carson made it clear that once we settle on a subject, it's our hide to get that subject on the record." Tears were started to well up at the edges of Hitomi's eyes, "My cousin guaranteed me that they had an inside connection. The interview was set. Everything was fine until--

"Okay," Luna clasped her hands on the sides of Hitmoi's slender shoulders, "Take a breath. We'll figure something out."

"I have to figure something out! It's my assignment. My grade. My future," Hitmoi, now shaking something awful crumpled onto the ceramic wooden floor.

Luna knelt down beside Hitmoi. Her friend was a wreck. Months ago, she'd ripped a god in six pieces and sent it packing across the multiverse. It didn't seem right that when it comes to something so simple as helping afraid, Luna felt a little more than helpless.

"Maybe, I don't know, you can fake your way into an interview? Doesn't he have those rallies all over the country every other week?" Luna offered while grasping at straws.

Surprisingly, Hitomi drew in a short breath, and forced herself to stop crying. It was a nearly flawless transformation. Rising to her feet, the giraffe girl wiped her eyes, smiled at Luna, and bolted out of the vestibule. Luna was stunned as she watched Hitomi push through the stairwell door and dash down the stairs without another word.

Should she go after her?

Before Luna decided one way or another, Mrs. Douchette opened the lab door; "Is everything alright Mrs. Izumiko?"

"Fine. I think? She's just having difficulty with an assignment," Luna replied candidly. Pushing open the door to the lobby, Mrs. Douchette placed a hand on the wolf girl's shoulder.

"I meant," Mrs. Douchette clarified, "Is everything alright with you? Doctor Thomas mentioned you were absent in both of his classes this morning."

Luna grimaced and quickly spat out a lie, "I had some scheduling conflicts, won't happen again. Sorry."

Unfortunately the resident Arcana Professor was not deterred; "Luna, I've noticed a dip in your performance recently as well. If there's something wrong, I want you to know we're available to help you. You're more than just a valuable asset to the university. You're a valuable person to us. Okay?"

Luna offered an earnest smile and bowed, "Thank you, professor. If you'll excuse me, I don't want to be late for my next class."

Mrs. Douchette searched Luna's face but the professor recognized that she wouldn't find anything the wolf girl wasn't willing to disclose.

---

Luna skipped her last class. With Hitomi stressed, Luna's power steadily decreasing, and a wicked case of nausea, all the wolf girl wanted to do was nap. Of course, the little miracle growing inside her wasn't going to allow any such rest. For nearly an hour, she knelt, face first over her dorm room toilet. Not that Luna cared at this point, but she gave a moment of thanks that Hitomi was such a clean freak.

Almost as if she'd been summoned at the thought of clean porcelain, the giraffe girl burst through their front door; "Lu-Lu, are you in here?"

Luna answered with a flush of the toilet, "Yes. Barely."

"Pack your stuff, we're leaving in thirty minutes!" Hitmoi shouted into the bathroom.

Splashing cold water on her face, Luna groaned, "Where are we going exactly?"

"Saint Louis," Hitmoi answered while dashing back and forth across from the closet to the dresser. One hand was clutching a datapad, the other absentmindedly picked a single item of clothing and dropped it into a ragged duffle bag.

Luna stepped in, hauling Hitomi's duffle bag and dropping it beside the dresser.

"Thanks," Hitomi said without looking up from her datapad.

"Sure. Why are we going to Saint Louis all of a sudden?" Luna asked.

Hitomi finally turned with a genuine smile; "I got a hold of President Kelly's rally schedule. He's got one, this weekend, in Saint Louis. If we leave now, we'll get there a little after 2:00 in the afternoon, have enough time to nap, the scout out the venue before--"

"Hun," Luna said gracefully yet firm, "You want to drive eight hours across the most boring part of the country in February, in the middle of the night?"

"It's actually closer to seven hours and forty minutes if we drive just a hair over the speed limit." Hitmoi's face dropped slightly. Luna's expression was apparent the wolf girl was unconvinced the idea was sound. Then, Htimoi remembered, "Hey, this was your idea in the first place!"

"My idea? I did not--" Oh. That's right. She did, but perhaps Luna overstated her own commitment? With every second of hesitation and second guessing that increased the silence between the two girls, the greater the frustration spread on Hitomi's face. Luna wouldn't let that stand. Sure, there was hardly anything appealing about driving cross country in winter while pregnant to go watch a political rally. The only part of that plan that made sense was that Luna would be helping her best friend.

"Okay. Let me get my things," Luna said with a weak smile. Hitomi beamed and squealed while embracing Luna tightly. "Hitomi, please, still nauseous."

"Oh," the giraffe girl squeaked, "Sorry. I mean, are you going to be alright driving?"

"Yeah. Snacks," Luna said dryly, "Get me snacks and Ginger Ale and we'll call it even."

Luna packed with significantly less enthusiasm then Hitomi. The wolf-girl changed into a long, loose navy blue skirt and off-white peasant top. She tossed a handbag of essentials into her satchel along with a change of clothes. This wasn't exactly the adventure Luna was looking for, but there was a saying about looking a gift horse in the mouth... Don't. In exactly thirty minutes, Luna would be crammed into the passenger cabin of Hitomi's rusted Ford Bronco. It certainly wasn't the adventure she wanted, but it did still technically qualify as an adventure in the smallest sense. That would have to be enough. For now.