Mittens shares a look with Azora for a moment. Then she sighs into the dregs of her tea. 

But when she walks out of the tent there's a look of determination on her face, and the way she's walking suggests she might even be holding Azora's hand out of more than just a sense of self preservation. She can do this. She can do this! For her friends and family and for Rita... she can do this. 

When Mittens reaches her hand down to offer Adila I some help getting back up, a violet tray with the uneaten sheep cookie floats there beside it. Both are there if the proud, stubborn woman wants either. 

"I know it may not feel like it, but we [i]are[/i] on the same side, ok? There's a happy ending here for everyone, I still believe that. Will you help me find it?"

She smiles, but there's a tiny spark of defiance that won't leave her eyes. That poor cookie, it's never going to get eaten. 

There's so much she wants to say to everybody here, but there's no time to say it in. It's not really safe to with Euphie floating just above their heads, either. Mittens delicately arranges her scarf around her neck and does a bit of light twirling to make sure it's on right. Her movement is as fluid as water: watching her pirouettes, her tail, hair, boot and scarf all swirl about her and give off the impression that she's become a whirlpool filled with colors. She steps out delicately and offers each other player a polite little bow in turn. 

She's sorry. She really is. None of you deserve the humiliations you're going through. And she really, really hopes you know that, but... she needs the opportunity that comes with winning. There's a, a... something, a fragment of a memory tugging at her heart, of something Kazelia said at Argossa when they'd first learned about the Caduceus. That feeling is everything. She's sure of it. So, so forgive her for this. Please. 

Then the hoops start running away from everyone, which she guesses mean the game is starting. Without a word, Mittens leaps into the air to grab the ball before it can drop into anybody's hands. She flips forward and smoothly transfers the ball to her scarf loop before her feet touch the ground, and then she's prancing across the court like some sort of strange cat-deer. She's everywhere. Nowhere. An untouchable ghost. 

She's been playing this game since she could walk, after all. The only way you could make this harder for the field is if you let her have Jessamine on her team. There's a tiny smile on her face as she zips past Kazelia and very nearly runs into Adila. They each get a tiny nod, that means "Thank you. I'm glad we're in this together." And then she bends one leg over her head and whips around in a full flip without leaving the ground, tossing the ball across the court to the old Adila and not even needing her hands to do it. 

Twirl, twist, and leap! If the hoops are going to run around all over the place like this, there's really only one way to score. She soars through the air, spiraling in a corkscrew as she waits for the pass back. Then, with a flourish, she finishes what is quite possibly the daintiest dunk in recorded history. The net barely even moves. She bounces back and gets ready to guard the next play. 

It's going to be that sort of game, girls.

[Grace: 6, 4 + 2 = [b]12[/b]]