Kai:

Woman: "Are you sure? You still have no memories... yet you are leaving so suddenly, and so soon?"

I put down the small cloth I am using to wrap my few possessions and turn back to the woman who is speaking and take her hands.

Kai: "It's true that I still don't remember anything. And I appreciate your kindness. But there is a yearning inside me that is searching for something, and I have to leave."

Woman: "Will you come back? Couldn't you stay here while you search? Gladys will miss you... and we had hopes that..."

I take the woman's hand and press it to my cheek.

Kai: "I can't return the feelings that Gladys has for me. But I will always remember. She found me wandering in the forest, and brought me here. You have all showed me kindness without asking anything in return. There are many good men in this village and in the cities nearby. I hope she can find someone as kind and loving as she is."

Woman: "Are you going now then? It's probably better if you don't tell me which way you are going... what would you like me to tell Gladys?"

Kai: "I'm not leaving without saying goodbye! Leaving while she is gone might be the easiest thing to do... but I owe it to her to be honest and tell her in person. And... this way she won't be left wondering."

---

Kai: "Gladys, I'm grateful for the hospitality of you and your family. I'm planning to leave Faerie Beach tonight... and probably head for the capital."

Gladys: "Oh! The Capital! Give me a day to prepare and I'll come with you!"

Kai: "I... I'm going alone. And I don't think I'll be coming back, Gladys."

Gladys: "What do you mean, Kai?"

Kai: "I... have to follow the feelings inside me. I don't know where they will lead me, or if I'll ever find where I'm supposed to go. I know you have feelings for me, Gladys. Strong feelings. I've known it since the day you brought me home to dinner with your parents. I've felt your gaze on me almost every moment since. I can't..."

I stutter for a moment.

Kai: "It would be easy to say I can't have feelings for you until I find my memories. The reality is that I can't tell my heart who to love. And while in the short time since we met you have given me yours... I can't give you mine. You have family and friends here in Faerie Beach... but I don't have anyone."

I look down at the table for most of the time I speak, but look back up at her as I finish.

Gladys is looking at me, and begins laughing.

Gladys: "Oh Kai. Mama warned me that men take longer to fall in love. It took her 2 years of courting Papa until he fell for her."

She plays with the braids in her hair.

Gladys: "You're right tho. I knew, the day I found you in the woods, that Fate had meant it to be."

Kai: "Gladys, I don't think you understand..."

Gladys puts a finger to my lips.

Gladys: "Sssshhhhhhh. Let me talk, Kai. Do you know why our town is called Faerie Beach?"

I shake my head.

Gladys: "Tradition says that, thousands of years ago, before Faerie Beach existed, magic power suddenly overflowed in the woods."

She gestures to the trees around us.

Gladys: "These woods."

She places her hand on a tree, looks up into the branches, and continues speaking: "Thousands of faeries came to bathe in the magic power. More than thousands. So many that they built an enormous city here."

Gladys strokes the bark of the tree and turns back to me: "But, after a few years, the faeries suddenly disappeared. Vanished. The buildings, the city, everything was gone... and only a forest in its place. The only things left were the homes of the few humans who had settled here. Most of them left, too."

Gladys plays with her long red hair: "But not all. Some of the people stayed. They had fallen in love with Faerie Beach, and even after everyone else disappeared, nothing could make them leave the homes that they had built."

She reaches down and touches the ground: "My family has always lived here. I thought that I would stay here in Faerie Beach forever... and I couldn't imagine why someone would ever want to leave."

She stands, puts her hands on her hips, and looks at me squarely: "But when I saw you in the forest that day, I suddenly understood. It doesn't matter where you go. Or how long it takes to win your heart. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, Kai."

My face flushes. This is harder than I expected.

Kai: "It could be dangerous..."

Gladys: "Oh! That reminds me! I still haven't convinced Papa... it looks like that has to happen tomorrow then..."

Kai: "Convince him? Of what?"

Gladys: "The first night... the night I brought you back to the village. Papa came home. He saw the look in my eyes... and somehow he knew. He yelled, and cried, and yelled more. He threatened to kill you in your sleep."

Yikes! I had no idea he had that in him!

Gladys: "He said the only way he would let me leave with you was if you could beat him in a fight."

Kai: "Gladys. We both know that isn't happening."

Gladys: "Don't worry about it. I have a plan. I wasn't named Gladys for nothing, you know."

She laughs again, a loud, ringing sound that echoes in the trees.

She turns and walks toward the small home in which her family lives and continues speaking: "Also, Kai. I'm not asking for permission. Unless you can tell me that you truly never want to see me again, I'm coming with you... whether you like it or not."

She turns around in the doorway and speaks softly: "Just... give me a little time. We can leave at dawn the day after tomorrow. You may be ready to go... but I still need to say my goodbyes."

She disappears inside the house without giving me a chance to reply.

Well.

That didn't exactly go as planned.

I was expecting a tearful goodbye, not an adamant response that she would be coming with me.

That said, having Gladys as a guide would be nice. I don't know the way to the Capital, and, unlike everyone else here, I have no magical aptitude. Nor do I know how to fight using any kind of weapon... and the "lessons" some of the villagers have tried to give me have been humbling at best. I talk big, but it's very possible that I'd just die from a monster attack before I reached the first city.

---

Kai:

Gladys tells her parents that she is leaving, and her father comes out of the house, his face red with anger.

Father: "Kai. We showed you kindness! We gave you a bed to sleep, food off our table, clothes to wear. And how do you repay our kindness? By stealing away my daughter? You can't even protect her! It would have been better if you had died in the forest!"

Gladys: "Papa! Calm down! You said that if Kai could defeat you in combat, you would give your blessing!"

Father: "Gladys, darling. We both know this weakling could never protect you. He can't cast a single spell... he can't even stand up straight, for Goddess' sake!"

Gladys (in an angry tone): "Are you going back on your word?"

Father: "No. A man never goes back on his word."

Father (turning to me): "I challenge you to combat. Tomorrow at dawn, we fight for my daughter."

Kai: "Sir, I refuse."

Father: "What?!?"

Gladys: "He means that he accepts, with conditions Father!"

I whirl to Gladys: "What are you...!?!?"

Gladys is suddenly at my side. With one hand she takes mine and squeezes it behind my back. With the other she covers my mouth and interrupts me.

Gladys: "Kai accepts! He will battle you in Faerie War."

Father turns to me: "Faerie War is it? Pray the forest is on your side, young man. I have never lost a single battle of Faerie War!"

He goes back inside the house.

I turn to Gladys.

Kai: "What was that?!? I never agreed..."

She covers my mouth again.

Gladys: "Shhhhhhhhhhh! Papa can still hear you! Be quiet!"

She removes her hand.

Kai (in a whisper): "I didn't agree to this! What is Faerie War anyway?"

Gladys (playing with her red pigtails): "Faerie War is a tradition in our village. It's a sort of ceremony where individuals fight each other. It's a magic battle."

Kai (still whispering): "You know I can't use magic..."

Gladys: "Don't worry about it! I told you I have a plan, didn't I? Just be quiet, and tomorrow, do exactly as I say."

Kai: "I'm not ok with this, Gladys... I have a feeling your papa is going to kill me..."

Gladys: "Oh, don't worry about Papa. You'll be fine."