“And if you ask me, Renderfold’s Tryst is eaining, but not really good, while Tower of Hate and Love has enough good quality to make up for the seasons that aren’t quality.” I said.

  “Uh huh,” Stel said, looking at her phone.

  I was walking with her through Iho Vinai on a rare weekend where Stel had time off work.

  “I ’t believe you actually got me to drive all the way to Iho Vinai,” Stel said.

  “Well! It’s easier thaing the stupid leave school tickets!” I said. “That system is needlessly fusing.”

  We had just fihe tour of the farm that the creator of Tower of Hate and Love grew up in. Even though there was a really annoying boy from Falling Shards who kept talking about how much better a show Renderfold’s Tryst was than Tower, nothing could stand in my way of enjoying the tour. Stel was even gushing about seeing some of the stuff that inspired the show in person.

  “So, gift shop right?” I asked.

  “No, if I go in there I’m gonna overspend,” Stel said. “That tour has me on a Th.”

  “Aw,” I said. “Well, let me buy something!”

  “Fine, but I’m not going in there.” Stel said, reag into her purse. She gave me twenty bucks. “I’m gon more pictures, I bet I could get a good new banner image from here…”

  “If you get the farm in it people might think you got a role on Tower!” I said.

  “Oh, if only,” Stel said. She could see I was getting antsy to get to the store. “Wait, before you go!” Stel held her pho to me. “Get some pictures of me in front of this field, it’d be great for my acte.”

  While Stel was really busy at work all the time, she was still trying to get roles in the LE theater se. I did my best to get some good shots of her until she was detly satisfied.

  I didn’t get to look too long at the Tift shop at Iho Vinai the st time I was there, so I pnned on relishing it this time. Just before I got to the store, I heard someone call my name.

  “Zeta!”

  I turo see Oka running towards me. She caught me off guard with a quick hug.

  “Hey! What are you doing here?” I said.

  “Oh, Berin wao get something here, I wasn’t really paying attention.” Oka said. “And I assume you’re here for the Raina thing?”

  “The what thing, excuse me?” I asked.

  “Did you not see it?”

  “See what? A Raina thing here?”

  “That like gold Arlit figure. It’s at the—"

  “They have a gold box Arlit HERE?” I squealed.

  “Yeah, I saw it at the…” Oka said. “Are you alright?”

  I ractically drooling. “Which…which store? The gift shop? I was going to the gift shop.”

  “It wasn’t at the gift shop, the antique store closer to the farm.” Oka said.

  “Show me,” I said, grabbing her by the shoulders.

  “Alright!” Oka said.

  I burst into the antique store, then remembered Oka was the one leading me. She showed me the toy se and just past a dispy of scifi spaceship toys…there it was. An a figure of Arlit from Tower of Hate and Love (who yed by Raina Starlight) in gold armor, from the gold armor ar incredible dition in its box.

  “No way…” I said. “I would have never looked here.”

  “I didn’t see it at the other store,” Oka said. “I don’t know if it’s that new if it’s here at an antique store…”

  “It hasn’t been stocked si first came out,” I said. “They made way more of the old armor characters…I’ve been searg for one for so long.”

  “Really?” Oka said. “I’m gd I spotted it then!”

  I held it with shaking hands.

  “Are y?” Oka asked.

  “No, but…I’m very emotional about this,” I said. “I’ve only ever seen one in person once before. It was my birthday and Stel took me to the Twin Wolves mall…it was at this toy reseller kiosk. It cost like fifty bucks there, though, so Stel told me I could get it but if I did I wouldn’t get any other presents, so I didn’t get it…and now I finally …”

  “Wow,” Oka said.

  The moel gave me was miraculously enough for the figure. I didn’t want to give away that it potentially was worth more because the figure was mine now. It was su incredible find I didn’t eveo look at the gift shop with all the ower merdise.

  I kept thanking Oka over and over when we left the store to the point that I probably made her unfortable, but I meant all of it. Oka’s adoptive dad Berin called her over, so we weren’t able to spend more time together at Iho Vinai, but I figured Stel probably didn’t want to spend any more time taking pictures.

  I fouill aiming her camera at the farm though. I poked her in the back to get her attention.

  “Stel, look,” I said, sliding the figure a bit out of the bag.

  “No way,” Stel said. “They did not have that thing in stock at the gift shop, did they?”

  I expined how I ran into Oka and she had found it, going over the story i detail all the way ba the trolley. By the end of the ride, it occurred to me that I had spent more time gushing about Oka than the Arlit figure. It robably good she was taking a different trolley ride back so she didn’t hear me talk about her pretty muonstop for twenty minutes. While the figure was amazing and I knew I’d cherish it forever, I think I was happier with the fact that Oka had found it and thought of me.