Valla dreamed.<br/><br/>She was with her tutor, studying magic, preparing for the apprenticeship. Then suddenly, dream style, she was before the wizard, and Valla was all smiles. However, he wasn't. He shook his head, as though embarrassed he had even considered her, and he swept his hand. Valla opened her mouth to protest, to plead, but the wizard and his hall were gone and she were back at the farm, standing in a field with a hoe in her hand. She ran toward the farmhouse, eager to beg her father to let her try again, but the farmhouse was gone replaced instead with a beach. She turned, and there was beach there as well. In fact, the entire farm was enclosed on a tiny island, surrounded by boundless, empty ocean. She threw the hoe down and cried out as the island began to shrink, with her standing at its center as the sole inhabitant.<br/><br/>She opened her eyes. Morning light streamed in through the tent. She was face to face with Tommy, he with his eyes open and a smile on his face. Valla barely moved, only returning the smile, and for a moment they lay like that looking at each other.<br/><br/>"Feeling better?" Valla asked. She sat up, noticing then that her arms were entangled with his, hand in hand. She was embarrassed, a bit, while at the same time liking it. Still, she pulled her arms away and sat indian style, facing Tommy. "Saul worked on you last night. He said he wasn't done yet, though."<br/><br/>