With all manner of spices at the ready, and rye flour filling the place with the aroma of grains, Lada rolls up her sleeves and learns to make her babushka's most prized dessert under her babushka's own instruction—lovely, sweet honey spice cakes. She knows her plan. She's going to put lots of sweet, sweet honey inside them, with extra jam and fresh, crunchy nuts. She's decided she's going to make them really big, and share them with all the people she loves. That way, everyone can eat to their heart's content, and every bite will be super sweet. What could possibly beat taking what you love, and sharing it with who you love? ............ 'Let's get our stuff ready to move, Lada. It's gotten bad. We can't stay in the school any longer.' On hearing what Sonya says as she enters the classroom, Lada hops to it without needing to think, following her leader with not a moment's hesitation. 'Sure, I'll pack everything now.' 'Hold on, Lada.' Anna, to her side, calls her to a halt and hands her half a honey spice cake. 'You should eat something too. Essentially all of the school's food has been torched. We're lucky you were concealing this spice cake in the first place...' 'Hell of a big one, too! And sweet!' Rosalind laughs boisterously from behind Sonya, followed by Natalya joining in the praise. 'Just a single bite silences the hunger. We were blessed to have you, Lada.' 'Damn right,' Sonya nods, before furrowing her brow and addressing her directly, 'but you're barely eating anything. You've just been splitting with the rest of us. Didn't you share your cookies with some other guys too?' Eat some more, Lada. They practically push the food into her hands. Lada cups half a spice cake in her hands, not daring to blink, and turns to face away from the other girls in the room. The Little Cub sniffles as quietly as she can, squeezing out the tears in her eyes and wiping them away. She presses her cracked lips together and lifts the spice cake up. She mimes a small biting motion, her teeth carefully shaving just a tiny bit from the top, the smallest possible bit of pastry and filling, and holds it in her mouth. So sweet. How can something be so sweet? She's never had a spice cake so delicious before. 'Alright! I took a biiig, big bite!' Lada turns back around, stuffing the spice cake into her bag and meeting the girls' concerned gazes with a smile. 'It's true! I put lots and lots of honey in when I made it! Now I'm ready to go, I'm not hungry at all anymore!' As long as she can be with the others, the Little Cub thinks to herself, no matter what she does, she won't have to suffer, or get tired, or fear anything ever again.