The next clue offered no designation. The seam remembers every traveler. Emily folded the paper and tucked it into her pocket.

“That’s it,” she said, “I think Colludia is running out of riddles.” She exclaimed.

Sara smiled. “I think Colludia stopped giving us directions yesterday.”

The festival had begun to settle into the evening. Emily emerged from a bakery carrying a paper bag. “I got pastries.”

Sara looked inside. “…Five?”

Emily shrugged. “I panicked.”

“You panic by buying dessert?”

“You don’t?”

Sara considered that. “Fair point.” She smiled.

They wandered onto the beach. Shoes in one hand. Pastries in the other. Neither paid much attention to where they were walking. The waves did most of the navigating.

Emily took another bite. “This one wins.”

Sara sampled hers. “No.”

“No?”

“The lemon.”

Emily frowned. “You’ve said that about every lemon pastry today.”

“Because they’ve all been excellent.”

“I think you’re biased.”

“I absolutely am.”

Emily laughed. “I appreciate the honesty.”

For a while they simply watched children build elaborate sandcastles. One particularly ambitious fortress had apparently become the center of an ongoing engineering dispute involving four youngsters and one very patient grandfather.

Emily smiled. “I think that’s going to collapse.”

Sara tilted her head. “Probably.”

Emily found herself talking about the Academy. “I accidentally set off a fire suppression system.”

Sara looked over. “How?”

Emily sighed dramatically. “The official report says improper plasma containment procedure.”

“The unofficial report?”

“I forgot which conduit I disconnected.”

Sara laughed. “You flooded an engineering lab.”

“With foam.”

“How much foam?”

Emily looked thoughtfully toward the horizon. “Enough that someone surfed down the corridor.”

Sara stopped walking. “You’re making that up.”

“I wish I were.”

“You saw this happen?”

“I caused this to happen.”

Sara burst into laughter so suddenly she had to stop walking altogether. “I’ve known you for months…” She wiped at the corner of one eye. “..and this is the first time you’ve mentioned corridor surfing?”

Emily grinned. “It never came up.”

Sara shook her head. “My worst Academy moment suddenly feels very boring.”

Emily looked interested. “Oh?”

“I got lost.”

“Everyone gets lost.”

“During an examination.”

Emily blinked. “That’s harder.”

“I was trying to find Astrometrics.”

“And?”

“I somehow ended up in the Arboretum.”

Emily laughed. “The Arboretum?”

“I spent twenty minutes pretending I intended to be there.”

“You were committed?”

“There were flowers.”

“So you studied botany?”

“I admired the leaves with remarkable confidence.”

Emily laughed so hard she nearly dropped her pastry.

The sun slipped lower. The conversation drifted again. Favorite instructors. Academy pranks. The first time either had seen Earth from orbit. Favorite music.

Emily admitted she secretly enjoyed old jazz recordings.

Sara looked almost offended. “Secretly?”

“I have a reputation.”

“For what?”

Emily shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Being fun?”

“I don’t think anyone has ever described me that way.”

Sara smiled. “They should.”

“What about you?”

Sara looked toward the sea. “Classical.”

Emily nodded. “I could’ve guessed.”

“You could not.”

“I absolutely could.”

“What gave me away?”

Emily just gave her a look.

The shoreline curved gently around the bay. Lanterns reflected across the water. The festival became a soft glow behind them. Neither noticed how far they’d walked. Neither cared.

Emily eventually asked, “So…what was your first assignment?”

Sara smiled. “A survey ship.”

Emily looked surprised. “Really?”

“I spent six months cataloging comets.”

“…That actually sounds wonderful.”

“It was.”

“What was yours?”

Emily smiled ruefully. “Deep Space Relay Thirty-Two.”

Sara frowned. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Neither has anyone else.”

“What did you do?”

Emily looked toward the water. “I fixed communication relays.”

“For how long?”

“Eighteen months.”

“Ouch.”

“I learned patience.”

Sara nodded thoughtfully. “And?”

Emily smiled. “I learned I never wanted to stay anywhere long enough to know everyone’s name.”

Sara was quiet. “You’ve changed.”

Emily looked over. “I have?”

“You know almost everyone in the squadron now.”

Emily thought about it. “…I guess I do”

Ahead, someone had built a small bonfire. Most families had already wandered back toward the city, leaving only glowing embers and a stack of neatly arranged driftwood beside it. A volunteer smiled as they approached.

“Would you mind keeping it going?”

Emily looked surprised. “Us?”

“We’re closing for the night.”

Sara nodded. “We’d be happy to.”

A few moments later they sat beside each other, watching the flames dance against the growing darkness. The conversation slowed. Not because they had run out of things to say. Because they no longer felt the need to fill every silence. The crackle of burning wood did that for them.

Sara turned the last untouched pastry over in her hands. “You know…”

Emily looked up. “Hm?”

“I’ve had a really nice day.”

Emily smiled. “So have I.”

Sara hesitated. As she watched the fire. “…when this is over…”

Emily waited.

Sara gestured vaguely back toward the city. “…after Colludia…do you want to keep hanging out?”

Emily didn’t let her finish. “Yeah.”

Sara blinked. “You didn’t even think about it.”

Emily leaned back against the driftwood behind her. “I didn’t need to.”

Sara laughed softly. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

The first stars appeared over the water, and behind them they could still hear the music drifting in from the city.  Ahead, the tide had rolled in quietly. Neither of them realized how late it had become.