Talk:Sky Beak and Ocean Flow/@comment-32008042-20180426162028/@comment-35446663-20180509150703

Even if they're still married, they're clearly separated don't see each other much. "You're looking well" isn't a greeting you use with someone you see often; it's reserved for someone you see with frequency measured on an annual basis (less than monthly). It's not-so-subtly dictated that the members of the conjoined races have a preference for one lifestyle or the other, and forms the core conflict of the story.

From an in-universe perspective: if Terramar's parents still lived together, there would have been no dilemma worthy of the Map's attention. Simply having an issue deciding on a favorite location is by no means a "friendship problem".