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As if the air didn't surprise her enough, Jaci's snarling roar almost made Rue fall out of the tree. Feeling an odd mixture of anger and regret, she debated about whether to fly after Setsuko. With a heavy sigh, she did something she didn't do often; she swallowed her pride.

Flying out of the tree, Rue flew quickly. "I"m sorry, okay?!" she called out.

Being just about every bit as hard-headed and stubborn as her mother, Setsuko continued on, trying to ignore Rue's comment. Keep flying...keep flying...

"Come on, Setsuko!" Rue called out, raising her voice to speak louder over the wind. "I said I was sorry!"

Having trouble letting go of her annoyance, Setsuko still continued, but she had to admit, it was getting harder. Rue had sounded honest. Keep flying...

"Even if we did argue, we still need to stick together. None of this is looking familiar at all. Please, Setsuko, listen to me! I'm sorry! And I'm just saying, I don't say that often," Rue added.

Setsuko's speed and altitude began to decrease. Slowly but surely, she neared the ground and soon landed, reverting her glider into a simple staff again. Her face expressed regret and hurt, but still the faintest trace of her earlier rage, and she couldn't quite stand to turn and face Rue. Jaci caught up to her easily, nudging his master's hand lightly with his head. Setsuko responded with a few soft pets.

When she spoke, her voice was soft, almost inaudible, and shaking slightly. "I...I'm sorry too," she admitted.

"Well...friends?" Rue said with a hesitant smile, offering her hand. "Or, uh, acquaintances, at least," she added.

Setsuko glanced around slightly and noticed that Rue was holding out her hand, probably for a shake. She hesitated, unsure if she wanted to follow through with this. What if she snapped again? Got bothered by Rue's lack of knowledge about her world?

Whatever. She needed another person for a while.

"...Fine," she finally said, turning fully and shaking Rue's hand, though she still couldn't quite bring herself to meet the birdgirl's eyes.

Rue's timid smile widened somewhat, though it was still small. "Great." Glancing up, she noticed how dark it was getting. "It's getting pretty late..." she said slowly. "We should probably find somewhere to sleep for the night."

Setsuko blinked in confusion, surprise overcoming her guilt, and met Rue's brown gaze, studying her face. "Eh? That was a quick day. Feels like the sun just rose."

"I agree," Rue nodded, a bit confused. How did it get so dark so quickly? "Are you okay with sleeping in a tree?" she asked.

Setsuko shrugged. "Well, I've never really tried. There's not many trees back at the Southern W---er, the south pole."

"I'm kind of used to it. We move around a lot, trying to stay hidden most of the time," Rue said. That brought her to another thought...her mom would probably stress out soon. "My family'll probably think I've been kidnapped again," Rue added glumly.

Setsuko blinked, thinking for the first time of her own family. They'd be worried sick...and Rue might be right, what if they came to the conclusion that she'd been kidnapped?

"...Mine too," she admitted. "I hope they're all right."

"Your parents might think you've been kidnapped too? I thought it was pretty much us and the other experiments that had big problems with that," Rue said, blinking in surprise.