"I'm back!"
One peaceful afternoon, the door to the research room's lounge area slammed open. Zia, still clad in a traveling cloak, appeared with a bright face and loud greeting.
"Your one and only mighty succubus is back!"
"You can leave the 'mighty' part," Izzi muttered, and a traveling cloak hit him in the face.
I spread my arms and Zia jumped to hug me while laughing. It had been almost three weeks since we saw each other, and it was really good to finally reunite. Seeing her look healthy and safe put my heart at ease. My family is complete now; it felt like that.
And talking about family, a little gecko showed up above Zia's head, and jumped onto my shoulder right away, slapping me with its tail. "Long time no see, Ignis."
The Salamander didn't say anything, but it curled up in my shoulder, tail wrapped around my neck, and that was as warm as it could be.
"You look good," I patted her curl, and she looked up with a grin.
