Her string never turned gold, and eventually Ais.h.i.+n said, "I want to go do a guild quest before I sleep if you don't mind."

Danika blinked and looked up at him in surprise. She had no idea how long he'd been quietly watching her manipulate strings he couldn't see. "Wait a minute?" she asked quickly.

"Sure?" he agreed questioningly. "But you can stay and keep trying the skill as long as you need to?"

"Let me see if I can pull the moonlight from within my garden, and if I can, will you carry it along?" she asked hopefully.

He grinned at her and agreed, "OK, although if that doesn't work I could just carry you if you want?"

"I don't think I'm coordinated enough to do this while moving," she admitted. Although I could log out and see if it's any easier from my phone?"

She quickly unfastened the harness that held her little garden on her back and set it on Ais.h.i.+n's hand. She spoke the entrance word and looked up at the illusion of the moon over the reflecting pool. She reached for the moonlight and pulled. Her little clawed hand caught a silver glob of light and her garden darkened.

Danika smiled and pulled a silver string from the glob. Ais.h.i.+n entered to check on her after a moment and said, "Oh, it's working?"

"Yeah, sorry I didn't come right out to say so," she apologized.

"It's cool. Ok, we're off to the next adventure then," he said cheerfully.

His quiet company all evening followed by this easy acceptance inspired a sudden surge of affection in her, and Danika opened her mouth to blurt the words she'd never said to him, but he was already gone again when she looked up. She smiled at the silver thread in her hands.

Ais.h.i.+n might be kind of bossy at times, but he was also really easy going and patient with her the rest of the time. She wrapped the silver thread around the bright red hair Saaki had given her and made a wish as she pulled it tight.

Maybe because her wish wasn't to become a genie, the moonlight string dissolved, carrying the hair away with it. She wanted to be able to be, to him, what he was to her.

The moon was almost touching the distant mountains when a chime rang softly and the silver string in her hands didn't dissolve, but turned gold. Sea Song Tione would have been shouting about her great luck as the sound faded away. Danika swallowed, but she pulled the other two strands she needed from the glob of caught moonlight before she released it and tied the knot.

The light brighten for a moment and dimmed as the moon began to slide behind the mountains on the horizon. Hikaru brightened and circled her with interest. Danika wondered for a moment what would happen if Hikaru learned Weaving Moonlight and Shapes.h.i.+fting, but she shook her head and focused on her task.

She wove the braid with an expression of regret. She'd run out of humanoid essences awhile ago, but she was almost out of moonlight. And she could always try to weave another belt in a week. When she finished braiding the strings, she tied the knot and then wrapped it around her waist and tied it again.

Shapes.h.i.+fting was a prayer to the White Tiger instead of a spell. Danika selected it from her menu and a system dialogue popped up asking her to confirm her request to s.h.i.+ft her form. She tapped it and her little clawed hand sprouted fur.

Danika dismissed the menu with her paw. Her familiar looking paw. "Seriously? You triggered my strong luck to turn me into a housecat?!" she demanded of the air.

She created an illusion of a mirror and verified it. She was the same little brown striped cat she'd been before. "You ridiculous King of Cats!" she exclaimed as the mirror vanished.

Ais.h.i.+n appeared beside her in time to hear her last shout and spun warily, but there was no one aside from them in the garden. He turned back to look at her and she sighed and apologized, "I'm sorry, I won't be able to turn into a human this weekend."

He looked her over and she wondered if all he was hearing was meow meow meow even though druid shapes weren't supposed to affect your language skills. He knelt and petted her. "You're really cute though, and at least this time you can still talk," he said rea.s.suringly and affectionately.

She leaned into his hand and looked up into his face. She'd forgotten how good it felt to be petted as a cat. He looked amused instead of disappointed. She closed her eyes for a moment, and he stopped petting her. She opened her eyes to look at him questioningly but he scooped her up and hugged her against him.

"Why were you shouting about the King of Cats?" Ais.h.i.+n questioned as he resumed petting her.

"My strong luck triggered, and the King of Cats is the G.o.d of Luck," Danika mumbled.

Ais.h.i.+n laughed and said, "I came in to check on you because the moon went down. It sounds like you should be thanking him for letting you learn a form instead of calling him ridiculous?"

Danika drew in a deep breath to explain that she thought the housecat form was on purpose, but then hesitated. Maybe Ais.h.i.+n was right. "I guess?" she agreed doubtfully instead.

Ais.h.i.+n grinned at her and stroked the top of her head. "Congratulations on your new skills," he said cheerfully.

"Thanks," she replied more happily. He was right, she had finally finished gaining the last skill that she'd been determined to learn for months. Not that there weren't more interesting skills, but she could make the illusion of the tiny dragon that Wise Ardlee had shown her in the beginners vale, and she could shapes.h.i.+ft into as many cute creatures as she could learn to weave strings for in the future.

"Did you finish the quest or should we be doing that?" she asked after a bit, when he seemed content to sit and pet her indefinitely.

"I finished it just before the moon set, we can stay like this until we're ready to sleep," he a.s.sured her just as her cat form ended.

"It only lasts for one bell," she explained as he gazed at her with astonishment.

"Oh, right," he said wryly.

A yawn escaped him a moment later and she chuckled. She shook her head and suggested, "Then let's go sleep now, especially if you still plan to come over for breakfast?"

He looked happy as he a.s.sured her, "I do!"

He scooped her up and kissed her on the nose as usual. And then they discussed a few minor details, like what they wanted to eat. They were both smiling as they logged out at the same time.