"I don't understand what the journal meant," Opal says, her eyes squinting in concentration.

     "Neither did I, at first," Cassandra says. "And that was just one page. I knew that, despite what Abhu wanted, I would need help from a certain someone to figure it out." She pointedly smirks at Varian.

     "And I am so glad that she asked me for help," Varian says, pulling Cass closer. "Though, at the time, I was afraid that the moment caused more harm than good to our relationship..."

Varian is sitting alone inside of his tent, fiddling with his Truth Ray. He knows he can get it to work! He just has to figure out exactly why it isn't working.

     "Alright Ruddiger, let's hope that helped," he says after tinkering with it for a couple hours. "I'll test it out tomorrow. Something tells me Abhu would make the perfect guinea pig..."

     But the raccoon doesn't respond. He is already sound asleep, curled up on Varian's pillow.

     Varian shakes his head, and decides it best to follow Ruddiger's example. He is about to crawl into his sleeping bag, when he hears a whisper at the entrance of the tent: "Varian, you still awake?"

     His heartbeat quickens at the unmistakable sound of Cassandra's voice. He hops up, and pops out of the tent eagerly. "Yep, I'm awake. Everything okay?"

     "Shh," she continues to whisper, her finger on her lips. "I don't want Abhu to wake up."

"I don't blame you there," Varian whispers, his nose crinkling up at the mention of Abhu's name.

Cassandra raises an eyebrow. "What is with...? Nevermind, not the time. I need your help."

"Of course, anything," he says, again a little too eager. "With what?"

Cassandra grabs his wrist and pulls him along. "This stupid journal, that's what."

"But I thought Abhu doesn't want me to see it," Varian replies, too fixated on the touch of her hand to remember that he doesn't care what Abhu wants.

"This is too important for that to matter," Cassandra replies, leading him far enough from the camp to be unheard by the others. "And I can't take the pressure. As long as we get results, it should be fine."

Varian smirks. "And you believe I'm the one to yield results?"

"You said you're good at this kind of thing," Cassandra replies as she hands him the journal. He honestly can't tell if she noticed the flirty tone in his voice or not, but he hopes she did. "Just don't open it to a random page. I started that way, and it only confused me even more..."

     Varian chuckles. "Well yeah, when conducting research like this you always start at the beginning."

     "Um, I know that... now," Cassandra says, folding her arms.

     A part of him is still amazed to have her standing in front of him. After all those years of being apart, he was beginning to wonder if he would ever see her again. But now, not only is she here but she is also relying on him for help.

     "So.... You gonna open it, or what?" Cassandra asks.

     "Yes! Of course," he replies, realizing that he has been staring at her a little too long. Her presence may be too much of a distraction for him to study this journal properly... But he is going to attempt it anyway. Flipping to the first page, he reads it aloud:

     "'First, last, repeat. This is key.'" The words are in large, bold handwriting. Below the script is a drawing of a key, with a swirled pattern sketched onto it.

"The key to what?" Cassandra says. "I looked through the entire thing, and I can't figure out what it means."

"Everything in this journal must mean something, even the illustrations," Varian says. "Considering this is on the very first page, it must be fundamental in figuring out the rest of the journal."

"Uh-huh. That, and it literally says it's key."

Varian smirks. He has actually missed her snarky remarks.

Flipping to the next page, Varian reads: "'Prepare zucchini, not garlic or asparagus tips, via Fresh Area Ripe Farm.' What, was this guy a chef or something?"

Cassandra shrugs. "Not that Abhu's ever told me."

     Varian turns his attention to the next page. "'To cure River Bertawa, place octopi in waters. Lend marina nearby aid.' Okay, this is just getting worse."

     "Tell me about it!" Cass says. "I've been staring at the thing for hours. Why do we need to cure a river, and what do octopi have anything to do with it?!"

     "Not to mention what kind of aid does a nearby marina need? And where even is this River Bertawa?" Varian wonders. "It doesn't make any sense... Th-there has to be more to it." He reads the next page: "'Visit Gemma Ross and answer her obscure questions; Mysterious fungi near abode.'"

     "That's the first one I read," Cass says. "I have no idea who Gemma Ross is."

"Have you asked Abhu? Maybe he'd know," Varian suggests.

"I haven't talked to anyone else since I started trying to figure this thing out," Cassandra replies. "But something tells me if he knows who this Gemma Ross is, then he's probably already visited her."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Varian says. "He doesn't seem like the type who would try to get the answers. He didn't even want to tell us about this journal."

"That's because it's personal to him," Cass explains. "It's—"

"—The only thing he has left of his dad, I know..." Varian finishes, attempting to conceal his sneer but failing miserably.

"Alright, I've had enough of this," Cassandra says with such intensity that it causes him to wince. "What is going on between you two? I get how annoying Abhu is, trust me. But you have hated each other since the moment you met."

Varian shakes his head. "Come on Cass, I know you're intelligent. You're telling me you don't already know?"

"Do you think I'd be asking you if I did?"

"He has feelings for you!" Varian blurts out, louder than he meant to. He glances around the campsite to make sure nobody heard, but no one else seems to be stirring.

"What?" Cassandra says, seeming genuinely startled. "No, that's... I think you're wrong."

"No I'm not," Varian says. "Trust me, I recognize the look in his eyes when he's around you. I recognize it because..." He sucks in sharply as his heart thuds quicker within his chest. He can barely see Cassandra's face in the moonlight, but the look in her eyes tells him she has already guessed what he is about to say next:

"I recognize it because, I have the same look when I'm around you."

Cassandra shakes her head. "I know you had a crush on me when you were a kid. But I didn't expect you to still have it after all this time."

"That's because it's more than a crush," Varian tells her, barely able to hear his own voice over the pulsing of his heartbeat in his ears. Is he really admitting all of this to her? Well, it's too late to back out now. "I always knew you were important to me, but I didn't realize how important until the day you left Corona. I'm... I'm in love with you, Cass."

     This admission has been weighing him down for so long. He is relieved and invigorated, but the feeling quickly transforms into apprehension once he takes in Cassandra's reaction; her eyes are wide, her shoulders are tense, and she is biting her lower lip. He didn't expect her to be thrilled about this, but does she have to look so... freaked out?

     The silence that follows is deafening. Should he say something? Should he wait for her to say something? Will she say something? Would she please just say something?!

     "Varian, I—" She starts to say.

     "What are you doing?!"

     Abhu's furious shout slices through the thick discomfort. Why does he always seem to come around when Varian gets a moment with Cass?

"Abhu, don't be mad—" Cassandra starts to say.

"Don't be mad?!" He yells, jerking the journal out of Varian's grasp. "I specifically said I don't want anyone but you looking at this!"

     "Actually you weren't that specific," Varian says, thrilled to have any opportunity to correct Abhu. "You only made it clear that you don't want me to look at it."

     "Yet here you are, looking at it!" Abhu says, flipping through the journal. "And look, there's even a page missing! What did you do with it?!"

     "I don't have anything to do with a missing page!" Varian says. "If a page is gone, it's your fault!"

     "I have been extra careful with this journal!"

     "Oh yes, that's obvious. You only allowed it to get stolen!"

     "But we got it back! You are still dodging the fact that you're snooping where you're not allowed!"

"Because somebody has to figure out if it'll be of any use to us!" Varian's volume grows with his frustration.

"Cass can figure it out just fine!" Abhu says.

"Actually, I can't," Cassandra says, stepping forward. "I've been looking over this thing for hours, Abhu. I haven't solved a blasted thing!"

"So you're just gonna give up that easily?" Abhu says, rounding on her. "I thought you had more willpower than that."

"Cassandra never gives up," Varian says. "She just recognizes her limitations."

"I don't need you to take up for me, Varian!" Cassandra shouts, stepping towards him. But she immediately casts a side glance Abhu's way, and then backs up.

"Well someone has to, considering you aren't doing it anymore!" Varian says.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cassandra asks. "I'm not—"

"Quiet!" Another irritated shout pierces the air. The three of them turn around to see Adira has exited her tent and is approaching them. "I have heard enough out of the three of you. Bickering isn't going to solve anything."

"But they—" Abhu begins to say.

"I said, quiet," Adira cuts him off, giving him an intense glare that says she is not playing around. She then turns to face Varian. "Now, Nephew, do you think you can get anything out of that journal?"

Varian shrugs. "I mean, I haven't had much time to study it. But I've already discovered that it's written in some sort of code. It's just a matter of figuring out what type of code."

Adira turns back to Abhu. "You have had this journal for years. Did you realize it was written in code?"

Abhu is speechless for a long moment. Varian can see the pride in his eyes keeping him from admitting it, but finally he opens his mouth. "No... No, I didn't."

"Then it's settled," Adira says. "Varian, you will continue to study the journal. I have faith that you will decipher the code in a short amount of time." She takes the journal from Abhu, and returns it to Varian.

Abhu groans, but he doesn't say another word. He simply stomps back to his tent, and disappears within it.

Adira gives Varian and Cassandra a brief nod, and then returns to her tent as well. Once Varian realizes he is alone with Cass again, he opens his mouth to speak to her. But when he turns, she is already gone... probably to get some much-needed sleep.

And possibly to avoid continuing their awkward conversation. With a despondent sigh, he heads into his tent, lights a lantern, and gets to work on the journal.