I wasn't sure how long I slept, but the sweltering heat soon roused me. Despite having no blankets and thin clothes, I was sweating. Groaning, I peeked out my window, almost blinded by the light. Judging by the position of the sun, it wasn't quite noon. That meant I had only slept for a handful of hours. Not nearly enough sleep for my taste. I tried to go back to sleep, but the heat was too much. I was no stranger to sweat, but I suddenly and desperately craved a bath. Luckily, tonight was my designated bathing day. Like our daily water supplies, bathing, or anything to do with water, was heavily monitored. The guards assigned days and times for each person in the tribe to bathe, also while being heavily monitored. It was very annoying and usually resulted in only being able to bathe once every three or four days. I had long gotten used to the smell of ripe bodies, but I didn't enjoy it. My assigned time wasn't until later tonight, right before the sun set, so for now, I had time to kill.

Eventually, I peeled myself from my bed and changed, thinking of going to the forge and seeing if Papa needed any help. Before stepping outside, I slathered my exposed skin with a special ointment made specifically to keep the sun from damaging our skin. Burnt skin and blisters were common ailments, but treatable. If left untreated, harm from the sun could cause permanent damage and even death. I had witnessed this before and had no wish to experience it myself. The sun coloring my skin darker was one thing, but permanent and painful blemishes was another.

Satisfied I had rubbed on enough ointment, I stepped outside through the back door. Papa's back was too me, but I could see the sweat pouring off from the heat of the forge in addition to the stifling temperature. He was holding something with a pair of tongs in the middle of the fire. "Need any help?" I asked, stepping up beside him.

He grunted and shook his head. His sole focus was on whatever was in the fire. I decided to leave him to it and wrapped my scarf around my head as I headed out with no particular destination. I thought maybe I'd go see Mama's grave again when Khalie bounded up to me, Jyn following at a much slower pace, both with similar scarves wrapped around their heads.

"There you are," she said, sounding exasperated. "We came by earlier, but your father said you were asleep." Khalie made it sound like I had personally done her a great evil by remaining asleep for this long.

"I'm sorry to offend you with my bodily needs." I saw Jyn hide a smirk. "Why were you looking for me?"

Khalie sucked in a large breath and opened her mouth, no doubt about to dive into a lengthy anecdote that probably barely explained why she was looking for me, but luckily for me, Jyn cut her off and explained first. "We have something planned for you for your birthday."

She looked put out and glared at her brother. I loved the girl, but she had a hard time sticking to the point of anything she said. "Thanks Jyn," she snapped, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me along. "He ruins everything," she muttered to me. Behind us, I heard Jyn utter something to himself that I couldn't quite make out.

I wanted to tell them that they didn't have to, that I didn't want a fuss for my birthday, but what was the point? They already had it planned out, and once Jyn and Khalie had their minds set on something, there was no changing it. It was an annoying family quality. "What are we doing?" I asked instead.

Khalie seemed to quiver with excitement. She gripped my arm even tighter. "We got permission to go outside the wall!" she squealed, shaking my arm for emphasis.

I blinked, too shocked to speak. Letting villagers go beyond the wall of our tiny camp was very rare. Usually it only happened when there was manual labor to be done and the guards couldn't busy themselves to do it, so they passed the tasks along to able bodied villagers. Once in a blue moon, villagers got special leave to go beyond the wall for a short trip, usually no more than a day, and always accompanied by at least one guard, but it was so rare that I hardly ever see it actually happen. "How did you manage that?" I finally was able to ask.

Khalie looked smug as she answered. "We've been on very good behavior," she said. "Believe me, they tried to find an excuse not to let us go, but they couldn't find a good enough reason, so they had to say yes."

I was too excited to question it further. "So what are we doing beyond the wall?"

"Mother packed us a picnic," Jyn said. We'll stop by and pick it up, and meet our guard by the gate. We have until an hour after sundown."

My excitement was short lived. "Wait," I said. "Tonight is my assigned bathing night. I don't really want to miss it."

Jyn frowned. "I'll see if the guards will switch your days." I wasn't sure how he would manage to pull that off at all, but I just nodded. As excited as I was about this outing, I didn't think it would be worth it to remain stinking for three extra days.

The path split, and Jyn took off in one direction, heading towards the bathhouse, and Khalie and I took the other, heading to her house. The paths between houses were little more than sand hardened by everyone trampling over it, with a little bit of clay mixed into places to seal cracks and holes. As excitement bubbled within me, it was hard to believe that just yesterday I was upset over the king's visit. Papa had been right. I didn't need to worry, I just had to be careful.

Khalie's house was almost as familiar as my own. It was designed similarly, with hardened clay for walls, a thatched roof and sparse furniture. Khalie's mother was a seamstress, so their hut was also filled with bolts of fabric and thread. The Imperial army allowed her this if she made clothes for them too. She was only too happy to do so. Khalie's mother, who insisted I call her mama as well, was the kindest person I knew.

"There they are," she said, beaming and holding her arms open for a hug, which Khalie and I both stepped into. "I hear it's someone's birthday soon."

"Yes," I chuckled, stepping out of her hug and looking up at her. She wasn't a replacement for my own mother, but she was the next best thing. "The big 18."

"Your mother would be proud of the woman you have grown into," she said, cupping my cheek. He words almost brought tears to my eyes and I had nothing to say. She seemed to understand though, because she patted my cheek affectionately and stepped away. Khalie had disappeared into their kitchen area, no doubt to fetch our food for the trip. "I made you all something special."

This piqued my interest, but she refused to say anymore, lest it give away the surprise. There was a mischievous glint in her dark eyes, much like the one Khalie and Jyn often got. They looked so much like her, dark skin, large, dark almond shaped eyes, straight black hair. It made me envious sometimes. Yes, I had the same dark skin and black hair, but my eyes were blue, a tell-tale sign of a water user that had long since been forgotten, and my hair was curly to the point where it was almost untamable. I often wished I had Khalie's simple and elegant beauty. Papa said my beauty was more "wild", whatever that meant. I would have traded it for Khalie's features in a heartbeat.

My thoughts seemed to materialize her, because she appeared back in the main room, a hand-woven basket in the crook of her arm. Her mother gave me a gentle smile and kissed us both goodbye while Khalie called out a farewell to her father, who must have been in an unseen room. She had to practically drag me from the hut, which I would have happily spent the rest of the day in.

Jyn met us at the gate, and I was surprised to hear he had arranged for me to bathe tomorrow. I didn't want to know how he had managed it, and the glint in his eyes told me it was better not to ask. Some things were better left unanswered. Giving us an evil look, the guards unlocked and pushed open the gate for us to leave. The guard tasked with accompanying us didn't look too happy to be doing so. I could see much of his features, but the guard was sporting an ugly frown that spoke a lot about how he felt, and his skin was pale enough for me to conclude that he hadn't been stationed here very long. Of course, our guard had a horse while we trudged along on foot. I didn't mind though.

Outside the gates, there were no roads, only a never ending supply of sand. The dunes went up and down in varying shades of gold and yellow for as far as the eye could see. Logically, I knew that just a few miles westward was a small oasis that our camp got its water supply from. It was also where the barracks were for the guards stationed here. No one would know it though. It just looked like we were in the middle of a yellow sea. It would have been beautiful if I wasn't annoyed by the circumstances that put us here.

With each step, the sand shifted under out weight. Sand slid in between my toes, but it was a nice feeling. As we walked, we talked lightly with each other, careful of what we said. Our guard trailed behind us on his horse a respectable distance away, but we didn't want to risk anything that would make him drag us back home.

As the sun lowered, it got cooler, and eventually we stopped walking and spread a blanket to sit on. "Ok," Khalie said, hugging the basket to her like she was afraid one of us would rip it from her arms. Jyn and I were sitting across from her, so close that we were nearly touching. Khalie had no problems with this, seeing as she was one of the ones in favor of us getting married. "Ready to see what's inside?"

"I'm almost dying of anticipation," I chuckled.

Khalie, always the one for flare, began slowly revealing what was inside the basket one item at a time. First, she pulled out a loaf of golden bread. Bread was common, but this particular loaf looked as if it had been cooked to perfection. With it, she pulled out a small tin of honey to slather over it. That made my mouth water. Honey was rare. Khalie smirked at my reaction. Next, she pulled out some strips of salted dried meat. It didn't look like anything fancy, but I wasn't one to complain. Then, she pulled out a glass jar full of vegetables that looked like they had been boiled to softness, along with a water skin full of water to share. Again, nothing special, but appreciated. Finally, Khalie pulled out the last item in the basket, earning a gasp of surprise from me.

"Lemon cake!" I exclaimed. Lemons were another rarity, but when we received them, Khalie's mother made the best lemon cakes, and it was my absolute favorite. Giggling, Khalie pulled out three wrapped pieces of the sweet cakes, one for each of us.

I eagerly grabbed from mine, but Jyn smacked my hand down with a grin. "Dinner first, then cake."

Khalie wasn't quite quick enough to stop me, so I grabbed the cake anyway. "Hey, it's my birthday. I can do what I want." I stuck my tongue out for good measure, causing them both to laugh.

Jyn took the food from Khalie and began spreading it out between us. No one had bothered to grab any plates, so we just set it on top of the closed basket in a makeshift table. It was so simple, yet so perfect. "Thank you guys, really," I said fondly. Khalie and Jyn gave me warm smiles in return.

We ate merrily. Predictably, I ate my lemon cake first, and this time, no one stopped me. After all the food was gone, we simply stretched out on the blanket. Jyn and I were now pressed against each other, with his arm wrapped around me as we watched the setting sun in comfortable silence.

"Oh!" Khalie exclaimed, suddenly sitting bolt upright. "I almost forgot, we have one last thing for you."

Still snuggled against Jyn's side, I was reluctant to move, but he nudged me and kissed the top of my head, so I sat up. Once again, Khalie was reaching into the basket. If I thought the lemon cakes were a surprise, this was nothing compared to that. What she pulled out made my heart stop.

From the basket. Khalie slowly pulled out a garment made from shimmering blue fabric. In the dying light of the sun, I could see the fabric sparkle, shifting in Khalie's hands like water, which I reminded myself, was probably done on purpose. She passed in over to me and I held it gently, like I was afraid to rip it. Still, I had not spoken. The fabric was even softer than I had imagined, gliding over my fingers as if it really was made of water. The material was so thin it was slightly see through, but that made it all the more beautiful.

"Try it on!" Khalie demanded, nearly jumping up and down in her seat.

While they turned their backs, I removed my simple clothes and sandals and slipped on the outfit. It was actually two pieces, a flowing skirt that ended just above my ankles, and a top that exposed my shoulders, my midriff, and a good deal of cleavage. Now that it was on, I could tell that the fabric layered up enough to prevent it from being completely see though, yet the material still felt like I was encased in air.

Jyn was first to turn back around. He didn't say anything, but I could see the heat simmering in his dark eyes. Khalie squealed with delight when she saw me. "Oh, it's perfect," she said, looking as if she might cry.

"How?" was all I asked when I was finally able to speak.

"When mama got her last shipment of fabric from the capital, I saw this and thought it would look perfect for you. She promised that if she didn't need to use all of it for the work she needed done, she would make you something special."

"It matches the blue of your eyes," Jyn finally said. Khalie was beside herself again at her brother's revelation. He offered me a secret smile which I returned.

Before we knew it, our guard was approaching us, telling us our allotted time was almost up and we needed to begin heading back to the camp. When he saw me in my dress, he didn't say anything, but I could feel his grubby eyes roaming over my body. Jyn nonchalantly shifted himself between us to hide me from view as I changed back into my normal clothes. After careful securing the dress back in the basket, we began to make our way home. Khalie was going on nonstop about how she had known the whole time that the fabric had been made for me. While she was lost in her chatter, Jyn took my hand and squeezed it. I couldn't stop smiling all the way back home.