This is my last present for the one year birthday since the Beast Wars Bed and Breakfast forum was "opened" by Airrizzon. I worked my butt off on this for all my friends at the BWB&B, and this is a tribute to all of them. Beast Wars is not owned by me. Hasbro calls dibs, unfortunately. Airrizzon owns the Beast Wars Bed and Breakfast and all other characters used belong to their respectful owners. Attempting to go through all the disclaimers would result in my dieing of massive brain hemorrhages.

"Welcome to the Beast Wars Bed and Breakfast…"

~Airrizzon, from the Welcome All Beasties topic (post #1) in the Beast Wars Bed and Breakfast forum

You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you, I have been changed for good

For Good - Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth from "Wicked"

i

One year. That made all the difference.

It surprised even me of course, and I think it surprised everyone else as well. One year made all the difference in the Beast Wars since the Bed and Breakfast was opened. A part of me wants to call it the Beast Wars Bed and Breakfast - the name would suit I guess, since the main focus of the Beast Wars pointed towards the Bed and Breakfast now - and I wasn't surprised at myself making such a mental statement.

I looked over the ledge towards the large massive tree that sat in the middle of the large forest, Spirit Sanctuary. Looking at the new Bed and Breakfast, I was glad the Predacons destroyed the original cave Bed and Breakfast and that Blaze accidentally burned down the other tree Bed and Breakfast that replaced the first one. The massive tree that sat in the middle of the large flowered field surrounded by Spirit Sanctuary really was a marvel all by itself to behold, and it marked just how hard all of my friends had worked to survive and preserve the Bed and Breakfast.

Soultail, Shockbox, Skyfire, Pink, Darktide…

Soultail really had changed from the time she joined to the time that the one year anniversary rolled around. When she first stumbled into the Bed and Breakfast, she was insecure and a tad bit unaware of how important she was to those around her and those who valued her as an individual and not as a half Transformer and Reploid cross. True, she had always been skilled in thievery and alchemy, but I knew Soultail didn't realize how skilled she really was both as a Maximal warrior and as a friend. Now? Now she was totally secure, even more powerful of a warrior among her peers, and, to top it all off, she was bonded with Cheetor and a mother. Although her baby Poisonfang was truly Tarantulus' baby when she had been raped the previous summer, the twelve tailed fox femme never seemed to dwell on it.

Then, of course, there was Shockbox. If the OCD and ADHD wasp didn't drive you insane by buzzing around your window at night when you were trying to sleep, the fact she would chase you down because you had a slight shiny glint on your armor did. Aside that point - and aside Darktide had learned that particular lesson the hard way when Soultail had thrown a shiny spoon in his direction while Shockbox was in the room - the femme really had a sweet character about her. A charming sort of sense if you will, even for the fact she was an insect. She was a Predacon, true, but her overall silly attitude toward life gave her an almost Maximal air. It was funny really now. When she joined the Bed and Breakfast, she was more about joking around than taking anything seriously. After Tarantulus raped Soultail though, the wasp slowly turned into a sufficient warrior that always put the wisecracks aside when something bad happened.

And PinkPanther! Good Primus, PinkPanther really was - and still is - always the most protective. I always figured that she had been a mother of twins, but I couldn't help but smile when she finally revealed that she had a third son instead. Really, while many looked to me as being the motherly one, that role rightfully belonged to Pink. Above all, was the most protective of all the members of the Bed and Breakfast. She was a caring and wise mother, a dependable friend when you needed her to cover you in battle or when you were saddened, and, as I would say, she was the Maximal version of Shockbox. Pink was funny, unique, and really one of the best friends you could ever want.

Skyfire was the icing on the cake when it came to everyone at the Bed and Breakfast. She had showed up a cocky air warrior fixated on her magna comics and turned into one of the most reliable Maximals I had ever seen. She never gave up whenever hope seemed lost, she was funny, and she always had something very important to say. Whenever something bad went down, something formed and clicked inside of her head, whether or not it was a plan of sorts and we somehow managed to always avoid disaster with her help… Well, at least they were able to avoid disaster.

A part of me wanted to go down there - just to say anything really - and be a part of my family. As it was not, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stay long enough to assure I wouldn't upset them.

Even with the setting sun, Terrorsaur still managed to shine his flashlight in the shadow of the Bed and Breakfast, getting both Waspinator and Shockbox to go after the silly beam like moths after an open flame. I remember when I once tried that with a shiny spoon and I quietly laughed at the mental image produced. It was a funny thing too when I saw how much older Terrorsaur looked. When I met him, he was a red and silver overly boastful and treacherous Predacon that I was a tad bit afraid to trust. Now he was a deep mauve Transmetal - it's only in second nature to also mention the deep scar running down his face from his final leadership brawl with Megatron that earned him to become commander of the Predacons - with a much more collected and truthful air to him. The comparison to his past self was frightening to say the least, but I would guess he had forcefully changed himself to, in a sense, impress his dead mate.

If I was Jailbird looking down I Terrorsaur, I would have been.

Waspinator was also a much more mature bot since I met him… fine, so "mature" was a slight stretch. I noticed he had gotten blown up less since becoming a full time member of the Bed and Breakfast. The green turned gold Transmetal wasp had a charm to him nearly as evident as his best friend, Shockbox. He was, and probably always will be, a sparkling at heart. I presume that's why Darktide liked him so much. Even if Waspinator was more or less responsible for the death of Darktide's parents - Darkness and Tidal were there names, I could remember them because they were Darktide's namesake - Darktide was a very forgiving person.

...Except when it came down to Tarantulus. That was an adventure I'll never forget.

Tarantulus - known back on Cybertron as Phobia - had raped and impregnated Soultail to experiment with her child like he did with countless other children at P.E.L.M. It scares me even further now knowing most of the people at the Bed and Breakfast, if not all, were victims of the Academy. Terrorsaur's mate Jailbird was murdered by the P.E.L.M. assassins, Skyfire's father was brutally murdered by Tarantulus, Soultail's superstructure was forever more prone to Energon attacks by the laboratory experiments, PinkPanther's love Tyranno was killed at the hands of a cruel experiment, Shockbox had part of Terrorsaur's daughter's spark, Moondance, placed inside her, Waspinator was nearly killed everyday due to experiment with his immortality, Rampage was probed and experimented on, Leppender, Blaze, Sonar…

They were all horrible events and yet - with the exception of Sonar, bless her spark - they all survived.

That was the first major battle of the Bed and Breakfast. I suppose that event in time was even more serious when the first Bed and Breakfast that was a cave was destroyed by the Predacons. We had all gone out to get revenge on Tarantulus for all he had done to us - after giving Shockbox and Waspinator a huge sugar rush to get them entirely battle ready by feeding them every sweet in the place, mind you - but the spider had other plans in store. He launched tank and sky drones - all of which Darktide knew were made from the stolen blueprints that his father made so the drones could be used as sentries to protect people - and encoded them with a regenerative chip so that, if damage came to them, they would merely regenerate and look as good as new if not even more powerful.

Tarantulus' plans did not last. I was kidnapped by sky drones after trying to help Terrorsaur after he was shot down and was taken to Tarantulus' lair. The spider was probably too stupid to remember I could control plants. I destroyed all the drones and destroyed the computers in his lair, effectively deactivating the computer system that controlled the regenerative chips in the drones. As soon as they were deactivated, our victory was inestimable.

The final attacks on Tarantulus were carried out, all of which right inside the Bed and Breakfast, and Soultail finished Tarantulus off for good. That was the end of Phobia.

The Bed and Breakfast was nearly destroyed and the perimeter was littered parts of the drones with small with innocent fires scattered about as far as the optic could see. A beautiful sunset had cast itself over the Bed and Breakfast nonetheless and Blaze, one of my good friends from P.E.L.M. who had escaped around the time I did, created a large beam of fire in the sky with her powers that attracted the attention of an actual phoenix. It's beautiful song lead us home.

I limped back in a different direction Darktide, Rampage, Shockbox, Waspinator, and Terrorsaur did. Shockbox's first reaction was to hug everybody and buzz happily at everything in general. Darktide's immediate reaction was to kiss me lovingly and embrace me as if the world would implode in on itself.

It was a happy ending. We threw a party, repaired the damage done, and that was the end of it.

…Or so we thought. It was far from it.

Optimus had come to the Bed and Breakfast after the huge battle to discuss with us the plans involved for the protection of Soultail's unborn baby and Pink's children. Even after Optimus had become upset with us when he found out Shockbox, Terrorsaur, and Waspinator were in the Bed and Breakfast, he chased them down against our wishes. He had heard Terrorsaur screech upstairs in delirium due to a concussion he received after Waspinator and Shockbox had gotten into in argument about how to get out without Optimus noticing, and Optimus had freaked when he heard them and the three Pred fliers had bolted. Optimus seemed greatly disappointed with Skyfire for letting Predacons into the Bed and Breakfast - oh, a part of me wanted to smack him for that - and the ape had seemed panicked when he became immediately concerned that they would tell Megatron where the Bed and Breakfast was.

For one, Megatron already knew because he had also helped us to defeat the drones attacking the Bed and Breakfast. I guess memory is something that does not come across the ape often.

The accident that followed involved sending Terrorsaur and Waspinator crashing into a large waterfall. Shockbox was badly injured along with Terrorsaur and Waspinator, and we had searched about for them. Waspinator and Shockbox ended up being fine afterwards injury wise, Terrorsaur wasn't so lucky. The red flier lost his voice on an overall.

There was a meeting afterwards and Optimus decided not to forcefully close down the Bed and Breakfast. Things got quiet of awhile until the Vok attacked us.

Down below me from where I stood on the cliff, Rampage was playing around with Rashad, Ion, and Zaron - PinkPanther's beautiful triplets - with Friend flapping his enormous wings and clapping his hands playfully. The large demon's hands created something along the lines of sonic booms in the air and it dawned on me how powerful he would be when he grew up to be a full adult. I remember when the Vok used Friend's powers to power their giant flying machine and I remember the look on Rattrap's face when we found Friend bound by chains and thrashing about wildly. He didn't believe I thought the dark ebony demon was a baby until I freed him and he immediately starting calling everyone who was nice to him 'friend.' On an overall, the name Friend stuck. I think the prospect scared Megatron slightly, but it was funny nonetheless that Friend, the infant he was, was so powerful.

The Vokian Invasion, as that particular event came to be known, was an almost fluke of sorts. Terrorsaur was tagged with an alien device on his arm - after Shockbox and Waspinator were taken by another alien device - that allowed a Vok messenger to threaten us and try to make us surrender. Terrorsaur fought off the possession with our help though, and the red flier collapsed out of total exhaustion. Airrazor and Tigertron were also kidnapped and cloned by the Vokian General to create Tigerhawk while Shockbox and Waspinator were cloned to create Shockspinator. We had gone to the device to rescue them, successfully managing to find and save Friend in the process as well as we saved them and made a run for it. Of course, we fought off the Vokian General, Darktide killed Silver for betraying us, Tigerhawk and Shockspinator were killed, and Friend used how powers to create the barren landscape we fought on to become the nearly endless forest of Spirit Sanctuary.

Rhinox and Pegasus were somewhere down in one of the fields now, lumbering or trotting around in beast-mode and sniffing flowers occasionally. Quickstrike, on the other hand, settled for scurrying around and snapping his claws at random butterflies that came too close. The poor mech was probably bored out of his mind with Megatron and the P.E.L.M. hunters not attacking so he could get into the brawls he loved, but at least he was able to entertain himself by trying to snap his cobra tail and claws at a large black swallow-tailed butterfly that had tried to land on him. The Maximal turned Predacon had a tough streak to him, and it was more or less showing with the threats he occasionally growled at the insect. I had to suppress a chuckle.

Sitting in the middle of the field was Optimus and Leppender, laying on their backs and looking up at the sky while pointing out various shapes they saw. Despite my occasional disputes with the snow leopard, I was happy that Leppender was finally starting to come out with Optimus more. An almost identical picture, Blaze sat with Blues on a branch overlooking the field on the Bed and Breakfast while Cheetor sat with Soultail who was, in all its curtness, trying to encourage Poisonfang to crawl. Even though the infant belonged to Tarantulus, Cheetor still treated the baby like he was his son.

Cheetor had obviously matured since I first meet him. He went from being a punk wise ass kid to being nearly entirely mature. The events that took place with the Bed and Breakfast in the course of one year had probably changed the Maximal mentally in his childish sense for good, replacing the teenager in Cheetor with a young gentleman. True, Cheetor was still as playful as ever, although it was only noticeable if you looked hard enough.

Towards another part of the field, Dinobot and Skyfire were caught up in some serious swordsmanship training. Dinobot had set aside his own sword and settled for a stick as so to not hurt Skyfire. Skyfire wielded her stick like she had used a sword hundreds of times before, although the professional air quickly left the bald eagle Maximal when Dinobot whacked the sword out of her hands and held his own 'sword' towards her throat, signaling his victory. Dinobot smirked and Skyfire smiled at him sweetly, pecking him on the cheek ever so lightly and picking up her sword to restart the fight.

Dinobot had changed a lot too from when I first meet him. Darktide joked once that the only other person he knew with major personality problems was Tarantulus, although Dinobot was quickly added to that particular list. Skyfire had done nothing to entirely soften the hardened warrior, but I suppose the raptor was beginning to come out with his emotions more. More so especially with Skyfire.

A hand found its way onto my shoulder and I smiled faintly. "What are you doing Darktide?"

The black wolf smiled behind me and rubbed my shoulder lovingly. "Go down there and say something. They'd be happy to see you…"

I shook my head at the thought and unconsciously wrapped my wings around myself while entwining my tail around Darktide's leg. "It would be too emotional. You saw what happed to everyone when I left."

That was a thought that would haunt me forever. I left the deed to the Bed and Breakfast to Soultail, Pink, Sky, and Shocks when I decided I needed to find myself in all the chaos that had found us at the Bed and Breakfast. The trees had blown in the wind literally to signal my farewell as I left letters to all four of the new Bed and Breakfast owners, and perhaps they were more distraught than excited at being the new holders of my beloved Bed and Breakfast. Shockbox had been entirely lost in hysterics - the wasp femme had even gotten a flower for me that she now knew she could never give - and she had bolted from the Darkside with Waspinator hot on her heels. Everyone else had seemed more lost than anything, but they all converged to Waspinator's and Shockbox's location when the yellow Transmetal wasp effectively wrestled Shockbox to the ground…

I guess I left at a bad time, noting all the tragic events that had taken place. Blaze had accidentally burned down the second Bed and Breakfast in rage when three P.E.L.M. hunters - Razorblade, Malevolent, and clout their names were I believe - tried to capture both the Predacons and the P.E.L.M. experiments. They had, to put things bluntly, turned things upside down. The three hunters had been captured, true, but the damage they caused and left in their wake was devastating physically and mentally.

That was when Darktide showed up and mentioned to everyone that we were all still family. With that, they planted the flower Shockbox had and, as if to be some random miracle, the middle of Spirit Sanctuary erupted with a massive tree sprouting from the center of the forest. It was a beautiful sight, and a part of me wants to believe the Ghosts of the Pillar that appeared there before it was destroyed as a result of the Vokian Invasion were responsible for creating such a monument.

Between those times that the new Bed and Breakfast appeared to when Sigma - Soultail's obsessed more or less stalker - to when Megatron threatened to overtake the Bed and Breakfast unless either Skyfire or Soultail married him, things went a tad bit downhill. After Megatron freed the P.E.L.M. hunters from the Axalon's brig and used a large device to attempt to kill everyone, things surprisingly did get better. True, everyone caught in the blast of the machine's destruction was turned organic, but Soultail and Cheetor were able to get married without incident. Pegasus, a human prince turned Maximal, had showed up to help us try to get back ot being normal by using magic, but things got in the way of that plan...

Of course Razorblaze and his lackeys had to strike back, this time using a virus that turned those infected back to their robot-modes before forcing them to go to beast-mode and become wild raving animals. Terrorsaur was one of the first that 'turned' alongside Razorblade and his crew, but it stunned me even more as I watched from the shadows as Moondance appeared. Between the femme trying to kill her father for a false revenge, unable to shift to robot-mode from her majestic griffon alt-mode, missing half her spark since it was inside Shockbox from a cruel P.E.L.M. experiment, and Soultail 'killing' her to reunite the other half of her spark with Shockbox's dying one, I couldn't believe Terrorsaur's only daughter was still alive. Still, it was sad to see Moondance seemingly "die" more or less, but I knew she would be back someday. After that, things seemed to get better…

They all turned themselves back human and the tension between Megatron and Terrorsaur peaked to the point of no return. That was how Terrorsaur became leader of the Predacons.

Terrorsaur won the leadership brawl just barely and still came out victorious at the very last minute. Even though Scorponok left to rejoin Megatron while the monomaniac dragon freed Razorblade, Clout, and Malevolent for a third time to use them as his lackeys while he used Razorblade's spark and Dinobot's DNA to create a TM2 clone, Terrorsaur still looked as thought he would be an excellent leader. Of course, Inferno had already coped with calling the mauve flier 'My Queen' repeatedly. It must've been torture for the new Predacon leader, but Terrorsaur coped.

That was when Terrorsaur and Optimus Primal created peace between the factions to bring their efforts to stop Megatron. It was the result of the hard work I put into making a Bed and Breakfast. Without it, things could have been much more different.

Darktide nuzzled the crook of my neck lightly and wagged his tail behind him. "They'd be happy to see you."

I sighed and looked up at the sky. It was in February, true, but the weather had warmed considerably and had let spring set in early. I smiled realizing, bluntly, it was around the time I finished carving out the first Bed and Breakfast in the small cave I had made my home when I committed myself to neither faction and became a neutral. "I know," I started slowly, choosing my words carefully, "but I don't think I'm ready."

Darktide pulled away and looked at me lovingly. "Whenever you're ready then." He gave me a handsome smile - one of his best features mind you - and shifted to beast-mode before trotting away. I was about to turn to follow him, but…

A small flower on the ledge caught my attention. The one Shockbox was going to give me and that everyone had helped to plant. It was a gorgeous looking flower - one of my favorites as well - and it literally glowed in the light of the setting gold red sun. I smiled and, suddenly feeling like someone was watching me, I turned sharply.

Everyone in the field outside the Bed and Breakfast had all returned inside, the bugs probably getting to them and so they could get some sort of dinner, but rampage had remained behind outside, starring straight in my direction. My optics locked with my old friend's and, unable to do anything else, I smiled. He seemingly smiled back and, suddenly feeling very proud of myself, I turned away from the Bed and Breakfast.

My work was done. I planted the seed and now the tree that was that of the Bed and Breakfast had sprouted.

ii

"I saw Airrizzon."

All things taken into account, perhaps everyone in the room turned to face Rampage. Shockbox had accidentally spilled some of her high grade onto Waspinator - the wasp buzzed in light aggravation, although it was better than getting blown up nonetheless - when she turned to the king crab Predacon with a beaming glint of hope on her face. "Really?"

Rampage gave a slight nod and walked across the room to sit next to Friend on the floor. Friend's massive size really was a thing to behold - the demon must've been over a good thirty feet tall - and it was a good thing the Bed and Breakfast was large enough to fit him inside. Friend clapped his hands playfully and smiled brightly, showing off his sharp knife like teeth.

"Air Friend come back soon?" It was really an almost scary thing such a scary looking "monster" could be such so sweet and childlike. It was an even scarier thing that the large black demon had grown the closest to Rampage.

Soultail smiled sweetly, gazing up at Friend while Poisonfang slept peacefully in her arms. "Maybe someday, Friend."

Friend looked somewhat downcast. "Oh…"

It was about now that Cheetor spoke up, looking over at Rampage with a bright glint to his optics. "Yeah, tell us where you saw her! Did she say hi?"

Rampage, shook his head. "She was watching from the cliffs over to the northeast. She saw me and walked away." Rampage smirked faintly. "She was very happy. She's proud of the Bed and Breakfast."

Terrorsaur gave a low squawk and put his arms behind his head. "I'm not surprised," he said, the new Predacon leader yawning slightly and deactivating his optics. His movement was almost catlike, and the new leader of the Predacon team definitely had a strong air of forming leadership looming over him to him. Sleeping around lazily, unfortunately, was not one of them.

Towards the back in the kitchen, Skyfire poked her head out with a large salad in her arms. Almost as if on some cue, Rashad, Ion, and Zaron ran over in beast-mode, squeaking and shoving each other out of the way the whole while. Skyfire had to put the salad she made for the triplets down quickly before they could overrun her as she turned to everyone. "Was Darktide with her?"

Rampage shrugged. "I don't know. I couldn't feel a second set of emotions."

PinkPanther smiled, although weather or not at her three sons wolfing down the salad Skyfire had made them or Rampage was unknown. She had to sit a good two feet away from Terrorsaur on the sofa because the Transmetal flier's wings kept on poking her in the side and she could not bring herself to ask Terrorsaur to move. Of course, it was better than attempting - and note the emphasis on attempting - to sit next to Quickstrike. "He probably was. You can't blame him though. He's a loner at heart."

"Of course," Rampage said casually.

"Wait, what about Air and Darktide!" Blaze of course. The femme literally dropped out of the branches that consisted of most of the Bed and Breakfast's first floor ceiling with Blues and narrowly missed landing on Waspinator. Waspinator buzzed loudly.

"You almost hit Wazzpinator!" Waspinator's outburst fell deaf on Blaze's audios though, and Terrorsaur made a sniggering sound across the room.

"If you were listening…" Leppender began towards the other side of the room with her optics sparkling at Blaze in a sort of triumph, "you would know Rampage spotted her."

"And she didn't come by to say hi!" Blaze looked disappointed, although her loud outburst got the better of Poisonfang sleeping in Soultail's arms. The infant began to cry and, curled up on Inferno's lap on another sofa, Bullet perked his head up and whined.

Inferno looked mortified and snapped his head in Terrorsaur's direction. "Royalty! Royalty, the Maximal pup woke up! Please take mercy and don't make me play with him again until he falls asleep!" Inferno had reduced his sheer loyalty to his new "Queen" to a lighter but still strong loyalty so he wouldn't always be grating on Terrorsaur's nerves. After Megatron was dethroned, the pterosaur flier had made it a priority for Inferno to at least attempt to refuse orders once an awhile to make things more fun. Of course, the one thing Inferno ever used that privilege for was when Bullet needed someone to tire him out.

Terrorsaur cracked an optic open. "You seem freaked. I thought you liked Bullet."

Inferno looked horrified. "It took me eight megacycles to tire the little one out last time." Inferno's optic twitched. "He bit me…"

Rattrap sniggered. "Then jus' give 'im a ball to play with or somethin! The pup can keep himself occupied when he's teething now, can't he?"

Ironically, Inferno plopped the small black wolf/hawk fuzor puppy in Rattrap's lap. "You see how you like it, Maximal."

"Oh no," Rattrap quickly said, trying to hand the puppy back to Inferno. "You keep 'im! I jus' got my armor waxed…"

Perhaps the argument would have continued on further had Dinobot not thrown a can of beans at rattrap's head from the kitchen. "Watch Airrizzon and Darktide's son or I'll put beans in the diner tonight and give Rhinox the biggest serving!" Only Primus knew how Skyfire had convinced Dinobot to help her cook diner, but Shockbox had sniggered and had said something dirty when the subject was brought up. Since then, that particular matter was avoided in conversation.

Rattrap immediately took the puppy from Inferno without a single argument towards the raptor Maximal.

Optimus looked at the kitchen. "That won't be necessary Dinobot."

All he got for a response was a snort and snarl. The ape Maximal sighed and wrapped an arm around Leppender's waist. The snow leopard Maximal blushed somewhat and Tigertron made a light chuckling sound across the room.

"You look comfortable," Tigertron said to his sister, smiling at her and only making her blush harder.

"Quiet you," Leppender said curtly and seeing Airrazor forever more attacked to Tigertron's arm. "You're no better than me."

The point was not taken from even when Shockbox laughed. "You aren't as bad as Silverbolt and Blackarachnia. Bleh, they scare me sometimes. And Blues…"

Blues somehow managed to stand next to Blaze as if he came out of nowhere. "Someone call?"

Rhinox started laughing in the back of the Bed and Breakfast's main living area. It was something only Rhinox had to have seen in the joke probably, but everyone laughed nonetheless… Except for Pegasus and Dinobot. The prince human turned Maximal pegasus never to seem to get any joke as did Dinobot.

During all that, Bullet perked up his ears and looked towards the door of the Bed and Breakfast.

No one noticed him until he barked and jumped out of Rattrap's lap, racing to the now open door with the setting sun casting over everyone in the Bed and Breakfast.

Everyone stopped laughing and stared.

Bullet barked playfully as Airrizzon picked up her son and gazed at everyone in the Bed and Breakfast. Dinobot poked his head out of the kitchen and had a blank look to his face as everyone else did. No one spoke as they saw Airrizzon stand there in the doorway with her wings outstretched and Darktide at her side.

Airrizzon broke the silence. "Are you still open, or is this around closing time?" Airrizzon kept her face as neutral as possible as her silhouette cast itself over everyone in the Bed and Breakfast.

Someone said four words. Although no one knew who uttered them, it stuck to everyone's memory like a handprint against their sparks. "Welcome in. We're open."

At the moment, one year passed since the Bed and Breakfast was first opened.

One year. That made all the difference. Now there was the matter of the second one…

Fin