Time passed on slowly once again. When winter came, I decided that it was okay to wait a little while before bringing back the old man. At least until I was able to make it back out into the forest again. So I waited for winter to end, and spring to thaw the snow.

As I walked out to the forest, I heard this beautiful voice. It was humming a soft, peaceful tune, one that I felt like I should know. Without intending to, I found myself walking towards the source of the voice. There, at the same spot where I had brought back the man nearly a year ago now, was a really pretty woman in a green dress.

She was kneeling on the ground, lightly brushing a hand along the grass. I tried to walk quietly so that I didn’t bother her, thinking that I could just choose to do this a bit further away. But… “It’s alright, my child.”

I froze at that, my eyes widening. “Are you my mommy…?” I couldn’t help but ask in a quiet voice. It would be great to have such a pretty mommy. Daddy would be so happy!

“No, I am afraid not.” She said, standing and slowly turning around, smiling towards me. “But I have been watching you for some time. I know what you’re here to do. That’s why I’ve come here, to wait for you.”

I could feel a small frown forming on my face. “I’m not doing anything wrong…”

The pretty woman shook her head gently, beginning to walk towards me. “The path you take could go many ways. Some of them would lead you to happiness… but others…”

“I know what I’m doing!” I quickly covered my mouth, realizing that I had just shouted at her. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to yell. I just… you said you know, right?”

“You are here to return the kind soul to life who had given his own for others.” She may be pretty, but she talked really weird. “Just as you did before, and as you tried to do for the one you loved most.”

“Daddy…” I felt my eyes beginning to tear up as I muttered. “Can you make Daddy better? I miss him…”

“I cannot.” She said in a soft voice. “Perhaps, you are the only one in the world with that gift. A spirit unbound by the cycle. But I come with a warning, and the advice of a friend.”

I looked up curiously at her, as she was now standing directly in front of me. When did she get so close…?

“Eternity is both a gift and a curse. To be free from time is simply to become a prisoner of yourself. Not all wish to watch the world grow old beneath their feet. Oft’ those who seek such power are those who would see harm done to others with it.”

“You must be careful of whom you choose. Already, their eyes are watching for you. Wishing to learn of your secrets.”

“What? Who’s looking for me?” My eyes went wide, and I glanced behind myself, afraid that I might see someone sneaking up on me.

“The man returned last summer was not a kind man. He was, by all accounts, a scoundrel.” She explained in that same gentle tone, like a whisper carried on the wind. “Upon finding himself bestowed with new life, he thought himself protected by the heavens. A fool, he was soon captured for his misdeeds.”

“And in his capture, they learned of what he is. A spirit like you, unbound to any master. Not trapped within the eternal cycle of rebirth. They asked who he served, who it was that made him so. But, due to your prior caution, he could not provide an answer.”

A chill ran down my back as I heard that, remembering the man that I had first brought back last year. I was suddenly glad that I had hidden and done that in secret… otherwise, if the pretty woman was telling the truth…

“He is still held by them, to this day. They wish to study him, hoping to find hints to how he came to be. Before your father, few had attempted to harness a complete soul in such a manner. Those who did, like you, were too hasty. Your father was patient, meticulous.”

“Do you know why it takes so long?” I found myself asking in a hushed tone. And, to my surprise, the woman nodded again.

“A spirit only just slain will often not have regained their consciousness. Only the strongest of hearts will let someone recall themselves immediately. Others must wait, slowly realizing who and what they had once been. Only when that happened did your soul, and the soul of the man from last year full return to a body.”

“I am no summoner, so there may yet be more secrets. I’m just an old ghost, a spirit myself. From one spirit to another, I implore you to use caution.”

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“A spirit…” Did that mean that this pretty lady was dead, too? I looked up at her with wide eyes. “Would you like me to make you better, too? You… seem to have ‘recalled’ yourself, right?”

A light laugh, light the tinkling of wind chimes, echoed through the trees. “Dear child, while I am a spirit, I am a far different sort.” She smiled in amusement, leaning down to kneel in front of me. “I am the spirit of the wind, and the ground. I am the trees around us, and the oceans. I am fire and rain. To harness my spirit would be to control the entire world, and would be just as difficult a task.”

I couldn’t help but pout a bit when I heard that, but nodded my head. “Can we… be friends, at least?”

The woman gave a small nod. “I would enjoy that. However, my vision cannot be all places at all times. If you wish to see me in the future, light a fire. Once it is lit, say ‘through fire, I call you back to me’. Can you remember that?”

“Wait wait, hold on!” I focused, gathering my smoke from the black space into my hands. “Through fire…” I did my best to remember the words she had used. “I call you back to me?”

When she nodded, I created a stone tablet in my hand, those words etched into it. Then, I put the tablet back into my black space. “There, now I won’t forget!” I could just look back at the tablet to remember the password to call her.

“Good. Now, before I go… I will protect you, but only once. If you call me in a moment of danger, I will act to save you. But, I cannot do so repeatedly. I cannot choose favorites, not when I watch over the entire world.”

I was a bit sad when I heard that, but I didn’t want her protecting me! I was big enough to look after myself! “Okay, that’s alright. But next time, let’s play a little bit!” I told her with a wide smile. She seemed really nice, so I was sure that she would like to play.

She nodded her head, and as she did so a breeze picked up, her body breaking apart into lots of tiny green lights. The wind swept the lights away with the leaves, leaving me standing alone in the forest.

Once she was gone, I returned to what I was doing. Now I knew that I still had to be really careful. I was wanting to meet the old man myself after I made him better, but now it looked like I couldn’t do that anymore.

Again, I hid up on the branches, carefully recreating his body as I remembered it. At least this time, I had a better idea of what he looked like! Maybe that helped things… The spirit attached to the body even more easily than it had with the person before. Maybe once I did this with Jess and Daddy, it’d be even easier! I remembered exactly how they looked!

After the old man was all better, I only stayed around just long enough to see him moving on his own before I began running through the branches to get away. I didn’t want to risk him seeing me! If the pretty lady was right, that could be really bad! But, I couldn’t have just left him dead. He was too nice.

I had a head start, and I was running really fast, so I made it back to town long before he did. But… instead of going right back to Mister Jace’s tavern, I decided to wait, walking around the market just inside the gate of the city.

A little bit over an hour later, the old man wandered back towards the gate with a lost look on his face. He approached the guard as normal, and I wanted to call out for him to stop. But I kept my mouth shut. Even when the man took hold of the strange crystal and nothing happened. When the two guards at the gate shouted out in alarm, and one walked off with the man, who was now even more confused than before.

I wanted to follow them, to see where he was being taken, but I couldn’t. I’d only get caught! The nice lady wouldn’t have warned me about all of this if she just wanted me to get caught, right? So I waited in the market for a little longer, and was surprised when I saw a group of three heading back to the gate.

One among them was the guard that had led away the old man. Another was a person I didn’t recognize, dressed in silver robes with a hood covering his face. The other was the pretty woman that sold fire stones.

After stopping to talk for a bit, the woman and the strange man walked out of the gate. She couldn’t be one of the people that were looking for me, right? She had seemed so nice before! Maybe she was just curious?

No, no Dana. You can’t think like that. I told myself as I turned back, walking towards the slums again. The nice spirit lady said they were doing mean things to that other guy, right? That doesn’t sound like she’s just curious. I hope the old man will be okay…

I continued walking, trying to give up the idea of investigating. I wanted really bad to find out what they were up to, and why they were looking for me. But I didn’t want to have to move again. Mister Jace was really nice, and I wanted to stay here until I had Daddy and Jess back. Maybe then I’d move. After all, we had to take Jess back to her mommy.

Once I got back to the tavern, Mister Jace greeted me again with a smile. With winter gone, we didn't have as many people staying regularly in the tavern now. Just a few who needed the shelter and couldn’t afford to stay anywhere else.

Of course, that didn’t apply to mealtime! Everyone seemed to love his cooking, even if it was just the simplest of stews. In fact, it had only become even more popular than I remembered. In order to help him out, I had to constantly run back and forth from the kitchen, carrying a large tray of bowls for the guests while he stayed back there cooking.

Everyone seemed really happy, though. They didn’t have a home, or even the ability to feed themselves. But, gathered together in the tavern, I could see them talking with each other and laughing. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that they were all friends living a normal life. Most of them left with their heads low, going back to the alleys or broken homes. But every day, they’d come back with a smile.

Because that’s the kind of place Mister Jace made for them. Somewhere where you can be happy, no matter who you are. Somewhere that they can forget their worries, if only for a little while. Somewhere… that they can be a family.