As much as Wynona owed the safety of her career to Keiba, she was pretty sure she owed her life to that tenacious kid. It bugged her a little bit, knowing she owed things to people, but if she was really being honest with herself, she was mostly impressed. Someone that quick would make a good Slayer.

As Wynona ruminated, Keiba ducked down behind the counter, and reemerged with a pumice pot. "Here's the paperwork we owe you," she said, opening the pot and withdrawing a few signed slips of paper. She also withdrew a leather envelope and set it on the counter beside the papers. "Just so your boss knows you did your job. And, of course, our payment to you."

"Thank you," Loch said. He took the paperwork and pushed the envelope back to her. "I can't take the payment. Obviously. We owe you for the springs."

Refusing the money seemed to pain him. He wasn't obvious about it, but even with his cool veneer, he sounded just a touch strained to Wynona's ears. It was disappointing, she had to agree. He'd said the job paid well; it would have been nice to have a little bit of spending money, even though she wasn't really sure what she would have spent it on. 

But Keiba surprised her.

With an affectionate, she scooped the envelope back up. "All right," she said. "But this" — she withdrew two bags from the pumice bowl; they clinked with the sound of coins as she held them out — "is for you two."

Loch arched an eyebrow at Trent and Wynona, both of whom didn't move. Wynona glanced at Trent, unsure. Then she looked back at Keiba.

"Us?" she said weakly.

"It's a cash reward," Keiba explained.  "A thank you from the parents of that kid you rescued."

Now both of Loch's eyebrows went up. Wynona was almost afraid to take the money, feeling a bit like accepting it would be an admission of…something. She wasn't sure what, exactly. But definitely an admission. Or maybe Loch would think that she and Trent had encouraged Suna to follow them, which would definitely get them in trouble.

Trent seemed to share this fear, given how nervous he looked. He tugged a hand through his hair. "Um. It wasn't a big deal. They kind of just appeared out of nowhere? But we were lucky they did."

"Well, the parents are grateful," Keiba said. "And so am I. So take the money and don't argue with an old lady."

There really was no way to refuse politely. Wynona and Trent each took their little bags, murmuring their thanks and bidding her their farewell. Loch shook Keiba and Zale's hands one last time, and then they left. 

As they stepped out into the street, Wynona opened her bag and gasped. There was so much money in the little sack, the coins all of high denomination. She glanced at Trent, who, judging by the way he looked in his own bag, had just discovered that he'd been awarded an equal amount of cash. She shivered with excitement, and for one brief moment, things really did seem okay. She had her job and she'd come away with pay!

"You two got lucky," Loch said, the sternness in his voice bursting Wynona's bubble of triumph as they walked.

Wynona's ears got hot. "We did our job."

"You flattened the town's main attraction," he pointed out.

"Yura did that!" Wynona protested, but her heart sank into her stomach. She looked at Loch, all set to kiss her provisional license goodbye.

"Uh-huh," he agreed. "And how did Yura even wake up?"

Wynona shrank in on herself, looking at Loch sheepishly. "Are you going to tell the brass?"

"Nah." Loch shrugged, gazing ahead to the high-arched obsidian gates. "I might have my suspicions, but I can't say for sure how Yura woke up. And you both did the only reasonable thing in that situation."

Wynona stood, speechless. Loch was always so serious about the rules. Why would he bend them in this case?

But then his mouth twitched into the smallest smile. "Besides," he said. "I think I owe you for saving my life, and Trent's."

"Oh…" Wynona said weakly. "Yeah. I guess that's true."

Loch looked at her and Trent again, his smile becoming a bit of a smirk. "Glad we agree. And I know you'll actually listen on the next mission, right?"

"We listened on this mission," Trent protested. 

"Well you'll listen better, then," Loch answered. 

"Sure," Trent deflated in the face of his brother's unflagging seriousness. 

Wynona just nodded, trying to keep a focus on her general good luck instead of paying attention to the slight sting of shame at Loch calling them out. As they walked, people flowed around them, as bustling and cheerful as they'd been when the Slayers arrived. When they reached the gate out to the rest of Tephra, Loch paused to shuffle through his small collection of papers. He found one in particular and passed it to Wynona.

"What's this?" she asked, a prickle of curiosity overtaking her feeling of mild sheepishness at Loch's light reprimand.

"It's for you," Loch said. "Maybe you should read it."

It was a neatly folded slip of paper, with Trent and Wynona written in plain, neat handwriting across the front. Wynona opened it. Inside, it read:

Thank you both for all your help with Yura. I wouldn't be alive without you. And a sincere thank you from Suna's parents — that's the kid whose life you also saved. Please know that, regardless of the general demeanor of the townspeople, you're welcome here at our hot springs any time. Or, just our springs, if we don't figure out a new way to heat them...

— Keiba

Beneath this, a post-script was written in a different, more looping handwriting:

And thank you for keeping my wife out of trouble. It's not easy, I know. — Zale

Wynona's throat tightened up a bit with a renewed surge of gratitude for Zale and Keiba's faith in her, and in all of them. She reread the letter, her gaze lingering on their kind invitation: You're welcome here at our hot springs any time. Wynona wasn't sure she'd ever had anyone tell her she was welcome anywhere before in her life. Before she could get overly sentimental, she held the letter out to Trent.

"Here," she said, determined to sound totally normal. 

Trent looked at her with curiosity, but took the letter.  When he finished, he glanced at Loch with a timid expression.

"So, uh. I guess this really means we're all good? Even the people who hired us aren't mad, right?"

Loch shrugged. "Doesn't sound like it." He strode ahead.  "As long as you do a better job next time — and destroy less property — I consider this a learning experience. I think HQ will be happy to hear that two greenhorns took down a sea monster, even if it was one they weren't focused on."

"But we didn't even get paid," Wynona said. "Like, we have to pay them."

"We sure do," Loch agreed. "That's why I'll be collecting a fee from both of you, as repayment for the money you lost me."

"That's not fair," Wynona objected, but really, she knew it was. She'd lost Loch a lot of money, and Loch cared more about fair payment than anyone she knew. 

She frowned at her little satchel of cash, loathe to part with any of it.

"Don't look so gloomy," Loch said as he led them on. "We've already got our next mission, so you'll have plenty of time to earn back what you've lost."

Wynona looked up in surprise. "What?"

He waved a hand, striding on with nonchalant ease. "Gwen summoned Gelata yesterday."