Suna watched some of the women heave more iron from the forge and wondered if any of them ever wished for some life outside of the village's prevailing wisdom that everyone had to fit into a specific order of things. Maybe some of them had watched the Dusting Force haul hoses around the city, spraying streets clean, and maybe they wished, like Suna wished, that they could at least get to choose what they wanted to do.

The women set the glowing iron down on a workbench and laughed about something together, their smiles bright, even through the smothering heat.

Suna sucked on the inside of their cheek and looked away. It didn't matter what other people wished or didn't wish, they decided. One day they would find a way to try out the Dusting Force hoses, no matter what their mother said. At least then they could decide which kind of work they liked better.

Or maybe they'd decide they liked neither.

That was something to think about for the rest of the walk. What did other people out in the rest of the world do? And how did they decide? It seemed like an endless reach of possibility, and that gave them a happy thrill.

Yes, the Village of the Springs was a hot, boring, suffocating place, but the whole world couldn't be like that, Suna was sure.

The hot springs greeted them with billows of steam pouring over high bamboo walls.

In the entry courtyard, their mother finally dropped Suna's hand, apparently trusting them enough to get ready on their own. On the left side of the courtyard, two paths branched off into the bamboo reeds, one with a sign that read MEN and, the other, WOMEN.

Suna frowned. Not that anyone noticed. Their mother was already waving to her friends with her free hand.

Stuck to their mother's side, Suna watched a few people wander in and out of the paths to the different baths. The women's baths, they knew, were fairly unremarkable — just three pools for the hot springs and one coldwater pool for cooling off. They wondered if the men's baths were any different, and then felt a pang of frustration that they couldn't just go see them.

Why can't I go with Dad one time? Suna had asked their parents.

Because you're a girl, Suna, their father said, like the logic behind that was somehow obvious.

Suna still didn't know how to explain why that was so frustrating — but if they were going to try to explain it to anyone, it certainly wouldn't be their parents. They knew that for sure.

They watched a father carry his son up the path that said MEN and decided that, one day, they'd just go explore the baths on their own and see what all the secrecy was about. If they could ever peel away from their mother, that was.

They tried to wriggle their hand free of hers as one of her friends approached.

"I'll get you a robe, Mom," they said.

"Thank you, my love."

"I'm going to head into the shop first," their father said. "I'll keep Suna company on the walk," he added with a grin, like he was making a funny joke.

Suna wrinkled their nose, embarrassed for him somehow. They didn't need company. And anyway it took maybe twenty steps, total, to cross the courtyard to the honeycombed cubbies and hooks of freshly cleaned robes set up against the wall of Keiba's gift shop.

Still, their father gave them a little wink as they walked together, like they were in on some kind of secret fun. Suna just crouched by the cubbies.

"Bye, Dad," they mumbled.

He gave them a little wave and then disappeared into the shop. Suna hated when he tried to act like they were friends. He never listened to them, and always sided with their mother whenever Suna had questions about the way things worked or why things had to be a certain way. Suna didn't have a lot of friends, but they were pretty sure that friends at least, like, paid attention to each other. Or something.

They turned to pick a long robe off one of the hooked racks for their mother and they selected a smaller one for themselves. Glancing around, they tugged their tunic off quickly. Just as they were shrugging into their robe, the shop door opened again and the Slayers emerged, along with Keiba and Zale.

A frisson of excitement shivered down Suna's spine. They could see the Slayers up close this time! The tall, older Slayer led the way, followed by a younger boy and girl, both in tan uniforms.

"The fire lizards are easy enough to catch," Zale was saying to the group of three, "but you'll have to leave your shoes out here. We keep the baths very clean."

"Of course," the adult Slayer agreed.

His accent was much easier to hear up close, but Suna couldn't place it. The Slayers who had come last year spoke with a much more clipped intonation.

Suna hunched by the cubbies, taking their time tying their robe's sash and watching out of the corner of their eye. Keiba passed the Slayers a bucket each, and — Suna's eyes widened — Zale handed the older and younger boys long coils of hosing.

Dusting Force hoses!

"Don't you want one?" Zale asked the Slayer girl, holding out a final loop of hose in her direction.

Suna froze, stunned by this question. The girl, though, shook her head.

"No." She smirked a little. "I don't need them."

"Wyn," said the adult Slayer, sounding stern.

The girl – Wyn? – quailed a little at his tone, her smirk slipping. "I'm really okay."

"Let her do it her way," Keiba said. "They know what they're doing."

The adult Slayer frowned, but didn't argue. Why this girl wouldn't want a hose was beyond Suna. They were a little indignant, even. How could she turn down the chance to use one? All the Slayers who had ever come to the village before had used them. In fact, someone not using them seemed impossible to Suna. And anyway, if they'd been given the chance, Suna would have taken one of the hoses and maybe never given it back!

But then, the girl and the younger boy approached the cubbies and Suna had to look away. Studiously, they focused on undoing the straps of their sandals as slowly as they could possibly manage.

"What do you think are the chances we'll run into Yura?" the boy whispered to Wyn.

She rolled her eyes, tugging one boot off, and then the other. "Don't be stupid. We're here to catch fire lizards." All her smugness had evaporated. She practically spat the words, like the fire lizards were an insult to her, somehow.

The girl's dismissive tone made Suna's shoulders stiffen with a defensive sense of anger.  Who was she to decide that the fire lizards were beneath her? People did get burned by them, and they were trouble in the springs or Keiba wouldn't invite anyone in to get rid of them.  

They halted in the process of unlacing their other sandal, surprised at their own reaction. The Village of the Springs was a little nowhere town in their mind, but they never really considered that other people might also think this.  They'd certainly never considered that they might have to defend it, or its lizards, or its history with the sea monsters to a bunch of strangers.

"There are books about the fire lizards," Suna said, before they could catch themselves. "And about Yura."

Both Slayers turned to look at them. Suddenly, their face got hot. Not having thought it through before they spoke, they felt shy, suddenly, at having the Slayers' attention.

"Books?" said the boy.

"Yeah," Suna nodded, rallying. "In the gift shop."

The boy's face lit up. "Well, I know what I'm reading when we're done working."

The girl glowered at him. She kicked off her shoes and headed for the baths. The boy started after her, leaving Suna with one sandal undone and the other still partially strapped to their foot. Suna frowned at their backs, still irked by the girl's attitude. Whatever. Suna hated the lizards too; the sight of them was enough to inspire a body memory in Suna's skin. A phantom pain burning in their palms.

They watched both two Slayers head for the men's baths with some confusion before Keiba caught hold of the girl's arm.

"This way," she said, turning Wyn towards the path with the WOMEN sign.

"Oh, um. I'm sorry?" She looked at Keiba, clearly confused.

"Women in the women's baths, men in the men's," Keiba said plainly.

"I did brief them on this," the adult Slayer clipped, cutting a cold look at Wyn.

Her cheeks colored with a faint blush. "Right," she said. "Sorry. It's just...at home, we all bathe together. Guys, girls, whatever."

"Well, we're not home," the adult Slayer answered, sounding icier by the second.

"And rules are rules," Keiba added, a little more gently.

"Of course," Wyn nodded. "Won't happen again."

She ducked down the path to the women's baths, disappearing before anyone could say anything else to her. Suna stared after her, stunned. It had never occurred to them that baths might be unsegregated elsewhere. They tried to imagine what that was like, and their stomach fluttered a little at the thought of not being forced to pick one bath or another.

"Suna!" their mother called, approaching the cubbies. "Aren't you ready yet?"

Suna cringed, their shoulders rounding forward at the sound of their mother's voice.

Their mother narrowed her eyes as she got close, glancing after the remaining two Slayers as they headed for the men's baths.

"Suna, stay away from them."

"I was!" Suna insisted, their ears stinging with the heat of indignation. Had they stayed away from the Slayers? No, but they hated getting treated like a baby — if they had to lie to avoid that, so be it.

"Uh-huh. Put your sandals away."

Mouth puckered into a small frown, Suna unstrapped their other sandal and pushed it into the cubby. At least they'd remembered their mother's robe. They passed it to her just as she finished stepping out of her own tunic. She slipped it on and took firm hold of Suna's hand once again.

"I can't leave you anywhere," she remarked.

"I wasn't doing anything," Suna protested.

"Suna, you're never not doing anything"

Suna wanted to argue, but their mother pulled them in the direction of the women's baths. They gritted their teeth. Better not to fight, or she'd probably make them stay by her side all day, listening to her boring friends gossip.

In the baths, all the pools were hot except one. Suna, who was already too hot to want to climb into warm water, carefully modulated their voice to ask:

"Mom, can I swim in the cold pool?"

Their mother considered it for a moment as she disrobed. "All right. Stay in the pool, though. Or come back to me — no wandering off."

Suna wanted to sigh and insist that they'd be fine, even if they did wander off. Their mother's worry was as smothering as the heat, and all it did was inspire the urge to argue in Suna. But permission to go was better than nothing at all, so they slumped a bit in acquiescence. "Okay."

"Good."

Their mother undid her robe and waded into the hot spring, heading towards a group of her friends. Suna stepped away.