Teddie clutched his bear as the group of guards escorted him across the path to the Lovebird. He hoped that they wouldn’t get into trouble this time, but the amount of security did make him pretty nervous.

  Junice was with him, following him on every step of the way.

  “You don’t need to worry,” Junice tried to comfort Teddie. “We have your back, and the bandits wouldn’t be dumb enough to attack a larger party like this.”

  “Thanks… but that’s not what’s making me nervous…” Teddie responded.

  “What is, then?”

  “Well…” Teddie looked around at the people surrounding him, like he was important. “I dunno. It’s just a lot of pressure, even if I have already talked to the bird before…”

  “The bird is fine. Just a bit stingy, is all. We have to respect its process though, or else we would have to live without a Governor at all, and that’s already proving to be difficult.”

  “I see… and just… being surrounded by everyone here is a little bit stressful. Cause everybody is expecting me to… you know… deliver good news… so if I don’t give them good news then that’s bad… right?”

  “Well,” Junice thought for a second. “If you can’t deliver good news then we’ll have to keep on fighting. Like we usually do. Not much will have changed other than the fact that we’ll fight more.”

  “But you guys don’t want to fight, right?” Teddie asked. “This is the City of Love… not the City of Battle. I don’t think it’s fair to force you guys into fighting for as long as possible.”

  “It is what it is,” Junice said. “How about you focus on yourself and what you’ll say to the big bird for us. Don’t worry about me, or anyone else here. We’re just here to make you feel safe and comfortable.”

  “I suppose…” Teddie said. “Thank you… for that.”

  “No problem.”

  The travelling escort headed into the lush pink trees of the Lovebird’s forest. The familiar serene atmosphere that Teddie remembered from his first visit came back towards him, and it let his mind forget about the pressure that was on his shoulders. This was short-lived, unfortunately, as this feeling of serenity dissipated as soon as he stepped in front of the tree to the Lovebird again.

  It was expecting him. He could feel it. Though, the bird itself didn’t make its appearance known yet, but he knew it was there, watching him.

  With the guards surrounding him making way for his moment to speak. Teddie walked forwards and stepped up to the massive tree that the Lovebird called home. A deep breath, and some quiet but positive words to himself. He raised his voice to call down the bird that had asked for this meeting once again.

  “Mr. Lovebird!” Teddie called at the tree. “I’m here to return to you with information on our progress! Please… make yourself known!”

  A rustling shook the trees, and the bird flew down from the blossoms that concealed it. It was still quite small, and fit into Teddie’s hand, as it landed in front of him.

  “Hello… Mr. Lovebird…”

  “Chirp chirp!”

  “It’s good to meet you again…”

  “Chirp chirp chirp…!”

  “This is… a progress update. Based on what I've heard. Miss Phiona is improving… we think. She’s trying her best to make things better for everyone in the city…”

  “Chirp chirp…”

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  “And she loves her city. We know that much too. Cozy is doing her best to make sure that love… it can be heard by everyone, no matter what.”

  This conversation went on for a while. Discussing the current state of the city, Phiona’s mindset, what the qualifications were, and how the city can bounce back from what it was. The bird’s answers were… vague and poetic. It wasn’t unusual for woodland animals to speak in such a way, and Teddie was quite used to it, but it made for a difficult conveyance to the rest of the guard surrounding him.

  This is what made conversation with the Lovebird so difficult. There were a lot of expectations put onto what he was supposed to say. But, with what Junice said, it would be better if Teddie just told them. There was no getting around any bad news.

  Teddie listened, and nodded. After the bird finished chirping, he turned back around and let the bird fly back into the tree that it came from. He gulped, and looked back at the expecting eyes of the guard that stared back at him.

  “I think we’ve made good progress,” Teddie said. “Just… Just Mr. Lovebird hasn’t felt that strong spark… and calling. He needs to feel that connection to grant the power, and he just can’t right now.”

  “So more of what we already knew,” a disgruntled guard complained.

  “As I said… we’re making good progress!” He said. “I’m sure with our efforts… we have to… we need to… just make it work. It’s probably going far faster than we expect…”

  “Teddie,” Junice said. “You’re doing a good job.” The volunteer captain of the guard gave Teddie a comforting pat on the head. He needed that.

  “But…” A guard spoke up. “What do we do about the state of our city? Are we expected to just wait until this connection is found?”

  Teddie looked at the guard and responded. “Phiona will know. I think. He said she will know soon, and when it comes then everything will become clear. If she truly believes in her heart, then that heart will lead her to true love.”

  A few grumbles, and a little bit of mumbling later, and the guards eventually relented on the topic. Teddie regretted not being able to give them a strong, confident answer, but it was what he had to do.

  “The Lovebird said one more thing though. He knows that the city’s heart is beating. You don’t need to worry, because it’s people are what makes that love flow.”

  Teddie tried to add some words of encouragement, though it seemed like he just got a few side-eyes. He tried his best, at least. Junice patted him on the back as the expedition began to turn around.

  “Let’s go, Teddie. I’m sure that Phiona is done with her studies by now.”

  “Mhm… thanks,” Teddie nodded.

  With the guard going ahead of them, Teddie left the den of the Lovebird behind, for it to judge the future.

  The guard had managed to make it to the edges of the city safe zone without much interference. The larger party really must have driven off any potential attackers, or maybe they were planning something else. Either way, Teddie was thankful that there wasn’t going to be a fight.

  “So, what are you guys planning on doing with Phiona?” Junice asked Teddie.

  “We’re going to… um… put Cozy’s public speaking lessons to the test… probably. Do some… charity work… and other reassurances…” Teddie tried to recount everything they could do. “We had… problems yesterday cause she couldn’t… manifest out her voice, but we should be able to do something with a bit more time… and some more training. That’s basically our plan, and hopefully the bird can sense that kind of love.”

  “You guys have a solid enough plan, considering how motivated Phiona has seemed lately. The bird said he could sense something soon, right? I can only hope that it’s going to be big, and we’ll be able to get out of this mess. Just a feeling. So… I’ll say keep on doing what you’re doing, and then everything should turn out okay, hopefully!”

  “I’m glad you’re optimistic, Junice,” Teddie said with a small smile. It was that optimism that he, and this city needed. Though, as they approached the tower, they saw a pink light fly out from the top of the balcony.

  “Huh?” Junice looked at the glowing light in the sky flying out of the tower. Teddie also looked on in curiosity, but he knew what it was.

  It was the light of Cozy’s wings, carrying Phiona off into the distance away from the tower they were locked in. “Cozy…?”

  “Oh. Is she taking Phiona out? I suppose Max must have let her. Surprised Cozy managed to convince him of all people but…” Junice trailed off. “She’s pretty convincing, and she said she can keep Phiona safe.”

  Teddie looked at Cozy flying away, before looking at Junice. “Um, Junice. I’m actually going to go and follow Cozy. I think… I think that’ll be better.”

  “Sure,” Junice said. “Tell her I said hi. I’m probably also going to go deal with some stuff around the walls. Be sure to stay safe.”

  “You stay safe too. Thanks for protecting me until now.”

  Teddie began to part ways with Junice and the rest of the guard. Teddie and Mr. Bear began to run off following the pink light. With what they talked about with the Lovebird, Teddie knew that their time was coming soon. Whatever they were doing, it was working, and Phiona’s future, it would be crucial soon.

  It was only a matter of how soon that was, and if the city could hold out until then.