Zola picked out the least dead-looking tree, glancing up at the sun before deciding where the best light was. Once she was satisfied she placed me by the tree, raising her phone to capture my image.

"Okay, Diana first. Smile, you're another year older!" Zola sang out. I smiled in my usual way and moved to walk away when she stopped me. "No, you have to be in all the photos, it's your birthday. Okay, Casimir, you won the race so you're first. Get in close now."

I saw Casimir hesitate, looking around at the rest of the group before relenting. "Oh, um okay."

"We can just do one big group photo," I said, hoping to spare myself the embarrassment. I should never have told Zola anything.

"We can do that at the end," she replied. "Get in closer Casimir please, let's go. Put your arm around her, we're all friends here."

Casimir complied with her instructions and I felt my heart skip a beat as he placed his arm around my shoulders. Part of me hated that I felt this way, but all I could think about was how his kiss felt that morning. Before I knew it my thoughts began wandering to memories of my latest dream and the Forest Guardian named Alastar.

"Yikes, what is with your faces," Azar said bluntly, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Just take the picture please," I begged.

"Oops, it's on video, one second," Zola told us, frowning as she messed with her phone.

I glanced over at Casimir, shifting nervously as we held our pose. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Don't worry about it," he replied with a small smile. I smiled back and wished desperately at that moment that I could read his emotions.

"Okay, got it, look back at me please."

We complied, smiling for our photo. As soon as it clicked Maayan rushed forward, asking to be next. The water fairy wrapped both arms around me, hugging me deeply before posing for a more standard picture. Zola turned, suddenly snapping a photo of Azar and Sunita, waiting off to the side. Sunita looked quite upset at the candid Zola had stolen.

"What, you looked so cute standing there," she replied in her defense.

We eventually got all of the photos we wanted including the group selfie, with Azar holding the camera as far away from us as possible to fit everyone in. We walked around the rest of the farm, visiting the old cemetery, the hidden well, and Grandpa's flower garden. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see, since the blooms were mostly asleep for the winter. We ended the tour with a visit to the barn before heading back to the farmhouse for food and games. I had just finished shedding my coat when Zola produced a silly-looking plastic tiara for me to wear, pronouncing me the Harvest Queen of Hartmann farms.

I placed the crown on my head with a small flourish. "My first decree is for cake!"

"Oh, I'm going to like this regime," Zola joked. She took a photo of me in the crown before stashing her phone to help put candles on my cake. Beth the local baker had made me an apple-flavored cake as an experiment and it was actually pretty good.

"Is it bad that we ate dessert before the food?" Maayan asked, stuffing another bite in their mouth.

"No adults here, so let's go crazy," I joked.

"Technically you're an adult, Diana," Sunita pointed out.

I snickered at her comment. "Yikes, don't remind me. 20 years old and still in high school."

"Guess that makes you the oldest person in this room, huh?" Zola said with a smile.

I stared down at my cake, willing myself not to react since I knew Azar, Maayan, and Casimir were all over 150 years of age.

"My next decree is for video games!" I called out, hoping to change the subject.

"Of course, princess," Azar said with a grin.

"No, she's a queen Az, a queen!" Maayan reminded, shaking their fork at the fier elemental.

We all finished our cake and picked teams so we could play Zola's favorite battle-singing game. Azar picked Sunita and Zola picked me, despite my insistence that I could not sing. Two battles later and Zola was beginning to get flustered.

"Agh no! Diana, you are terrible at this," she moaned, grabbing the microphone back from me.

"I told you I can't carry a tune."

"People say that but they don't mean it," she reasoned, pushing up the bridge of her glasses.

"Oh, I meant it."

"Clearly," she replied, sighing deeply as she looked at our score. "Sunita and Azar just kicked our butts."

Azar grinned widely, I was amazed at how nice a voice he had. The fier elemental raised his hand for a high five and Sunita flushed brightly, smacking his hand awkwardly.

"Ready for round two?" Azar asked.

"I wanna switch teams," Zola whined. "Give me Sunita."

"No way, I picked Sunita fair and square," he sniffed.

"Ugh, how did you know she would be so good at singing?" Zola wondered.

"How indeed?" Azar said with a small shrug.

Zola turned to face Maayan, who was perched carefully on the arm of the couch. "Maya, I need you to tag in! Let me hear them pipes."

"I don't have any pipes?" they muttered, confused.

"She means your voice," Sunita explained.

I threw up my hands, walking away from the television so as to leave space for Maayan. "Fine, I see when I'm not wanted. I'll just go sulk over by the snack table."

"You should probably get more ice for the drink bucket," Azar noted.

"What's the good in being the birthday queen if you have to do manual labor," I shot back, pointing to my crown. As I wandered into the back of the living room I realized we were short one party member. "Where is Casimir?"

"I think he went to take the trash out," Azar mentioned, his eyes darting briefly over to me. "Ah no fair, you changed the difficulty level."

"I'm just trying to level the playing field," Zola reasoned, furiously clicking buttons on the controller.

"Give that back!"

I rolled my eyes as the pair argued, walking into the kitchen with the intent of getting more ice. I paused as I got to the fridge, debating on going to look for Casimir. A chorus of laughter coming from the living room pushed me to go search, as I knew my friends wouldn't miss me for at least a few minutes. I slipped out into the mudroom, glancing through the window to see Casimir sitting on the porch steps. I snatched up my spare scarf and gloves, throwing them on as I went outside.

"Hey," I said, trotting over towards him.

Casimir turned to look up at me, apparently lost in thought. "Oh, hi."

I stood next to him for a moment, stuffing my hands into my sweater pockets. "Okay if I join you?"

"I was going to head inside in a moment. I was just enjoying the stars," Casimir replied, looking skyward. I wasn't hearing a no, so I sat down on the steps next to him, pulling my knees closer to my body to keep warm.

"Oh yes, they're beautiful," I confirmed, glancing up at the stars. "The moon looks amazing tonight." I was transfixed for a moment, gazing at its round shape.

"It always does," he whispered. Casimir stared up at the moon for another second before glancing back at me, focusing on the tiara sitting atop my head. I stared at him, digging deep for the courage to speak about my dream.

"So..." I began.

"So?"

"Who's Selene?"

"What?" Casimir stumbled slightly, throwing a look over his shoulder as a cheer went up from inside the house.

"Relax, they have at least four more songs to go before they notice we've gone missing."

"Oh."

"Selene," I pressed, looking over at him. "You called me Selene before you... kissed me."

"I can't believe I did that," he muttered in Terrarish.

"And I called you Alastar," I noted, watching for his reaction. He stared at me, his brow furrowed as I went on. "I had a dream this morning about Selene and Alastar."

Casimir was silent, his gaze set off into the distance. I felt my courage slipping away with each second he waited.

"What kind of dream?" he finally asked.

"It was more like a memory," I recalled, closing my eyes. "I was Selene, seeing the world through her eyes. Only this time I could understand everything she was saying."

"What was she saying?" Casimir pressed, his tone serious.

"First you tell me how you know this Selene," I demanded, glaring at him. "Was she one of my past lives? How did you know her?"

Casimir let out a long sigh, pulling off his glasses to stare at the frames as he paused to think. I watched him, afraid that he would refuse my request for information or possibly storm off, angry at me for pressing the issue. The silence dragged on and I grew frustrated. I stood up, deciding to return to the party.

"Look, never mind. You obviously don't want to talk about it but-"

"Diana, what are you doing out here?" Zola called out, interrupting my speech. She was standing at the door to the mudroom, a puzzled expression on her face. "Oh hey, Casimir, I didn't see you down there. Come back inside you two, it's crazy cold out here. What are you doing out here anyway?"

I shot another look at the young warrior, still avoiding my gaze, his hands clenched tightly around his glasses. I guess I wasn't getting the answers I wanted tonight.

"Just stargazing," I responded, turning to walk back into the house. When Casimir didn't follow, Zola gave me a curious look and I shook my head. "Leave him be."

(to be continued in part 4)