Zero spent a lot of his time in and around the Heart Caves. You might say he was an expert on them, deeply familiar with every nook and cranny, every drawing and drip which adorned the glowing walls. Zero loved rocks, appreciated them in a sort of friendly, intimate way. He loved the history of them, the way their sharp jagged ridges and smooth, soft lines told a myriad of stories. He would sit for hours and marvel at the carvings on the old cave walls, the stories they told of battles and gods. He liked the way rocks wore their hearts on their sleeves, but also sometimes also had hidden beauty inside, especially the ugliest ones.

"Just like me," he whispered to Squishy as they admired a geode, one that sparked with a particularly attractive blue agate (that, he noticed, matched the lightning of his wings). He raised the stone up carefully, placing it into the makeshift silver basket he'd constructed in one of the golem's more recent upgrades. It glittered among a handful of other metals and stones, a blue eye gazing back at the boy, a story in itself.

One day, he thought, his story would be written into stone. He'd just have to figure out what it was.

Eventually.

Zero rose out of the dim caves and into the sunlight, blinking and squinting as his eyes adjusted to the bright winter day. He yawned widely, stretched inelegantly, and shook violently, powerfully oblivious to the deeply troubled girl who lay so close by- though he thought he heard something, and that something gave him pause. Silver-orange gaze peered curiously into the grass, sooty ears attentive as he sought the source of the noise. But the grass was very tall, and Zero very short (and was that ever gonna change, or was it a foregone inevitability, much like his absent wing?); he could make nothing out but the quiet rustle of small mammals and a strong breeze. His lips twisted, a puzzled expression on his expressive face- but then he shrugged and shook his head, and that might have been it, had Squishy not decided to bump a rock and make a noise.

Zero turned back to investigate his golem, and as his gaze glazed across the ring of fire that made up the Heart... something made him pause. Maybe it was fate, the bite of deja vu that crept up into his throat making him concentrate harder than he normally would on the small speck of black and white, distorted by heat at the edge of the crater. Deeply curious, the lightning boy changed direction, brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to figure out what was so familiar about this scene. It was only when he saw the flicker of a kitsune's tail that realization struck him, and his bemused expression broke into a bright, enthusiastic smile. "Zahra!" he cried out, picking up speed to shorten the distance between them.

But there was something wrong, and the boy sped up, concern and affection driving him toward her. She was so much bigger than the last time he saw her but still so small, so broken- he had never known anyone as sad as her, and it filled him with a hollow ache, made him uncomfortable with his own jovial nature. He slowed down as he reached her, suddenly uncertain: they were older now, and things with girls had been... weird, of late. Had it been Själ lying there, or even Isopia, the lightning boy would not have known what to do. He would have hovered, awkward, as he was doing now, sunbeam eyes flickering between the pile of treasures and the little girl, a doubtful expression on his honest face.

Except that this wasn't Själ- this was Zahra, and the fierce protectiveness that bloomed within his chest was similar to what he might have felt, seeing Tae or Grusha cry (if they were even capable of crying. Sometimes he wasn't sure). He frowned, suddenly ready to take on the world for her, to beat up whoever had taken away her smile. Had something been stolen from her? Or maybe it was broken? He was good at fixing things. He could fix this.

(Though the thought wasn't as certain as it might once have been- Zero was slowly learning that there were some things he couldn't fix. But at least he could try.)

"Hi Zahra, hey Bird," he greeted softly. Still confused but more focused, now, the lightning boy stepped closer to his friend, nose outstretched to wipe affectionately at her tears. "It's gon' be OK". Slowly, inelegantly, Zero lowered himself to the girl's side, letting his wing drape across her shuddering back, letting his breath even out with the quick pace of hers. He spoke confidently, an encouraging smile stretched across his lips. "What's the matter? You wanna talk 'bout it?" he asked her earnestly: half hoping she'd say yes, and half praying she'd say no. He still wasn't sure he was totally equipped to help, and it would certainly be simpler if she just got happy right then and there- but Zero was committed now, and however how much effort it took, he was going to make her smile.

There was still a small white feather in his mane.