Gigi could feel her head swimming, but she was on a mission. She was going to find whoever needed help. The cry seemed to be coming from all directions. Her ears twitched as she tried to locate the sound. Even with numbed senses, she moved through the crowd deftly.

“HELP!”

This time, she heard it clear as a bell. She spun around, and directly behind her was a little girl. The child was a goblin, just like her, with long black hair tied up in a ponytail and enormous brown eyes.

“I’m lost,” the child cried, tears streaming down the girl’s face. “I can’t find my way home.”

Gigi knelt at the little girl’s level and put on her best plastic smile. “It’s okay, sweetie. I’ll help you find your family.” Gigi wasn’t aware of another goblin family in Poppy. She wondered if maybe they were new. “Come on, what’s your name?” she asked, extending her hand.

“I’m not supposed to tell strangers,” the child said, taking the adult’s hand.

“Well, I’m Gigi. I work at a bakery and am a goblin, like you!”

The child nodded solemnly. Gigi stood with the little girl’s hand in hers and began navigating to the side of the thoroughfare. Eventually, they made their way outside the river of people to the side of the festival nearest the woods. The lantern light was shallow here, but the crowd's noise was thin.

“I don’t see any other goblins. Do you know where your family might be?” Gigi quizzed the child. The little girl shook her head and looked up at the older woman.

“Why do you work at the bakery?”

“Oh!” Gigi was taken by surprise at the question. “Um, I work there because my family runs it.”

“But why do you work there,” the child asked again.

Gigi froze and tried to think of a polite way to tell a kid to mind their business. Then, another nagging thought weighed on her mind. Why do I still work there? She saw no future at the bakery, so why did she still throw dough around?

“I guess I don’t know,” she said to herself.

“Did you come here alone?” the child asked.

“No, I came here with...” Drake. She had utterly forgotten him in her haze.

“Where is he?”

“I... I’m not sure,” she blurted. Remorse over leaving her date began to hook into her thoughts.

The little girl shook her head disapprovingly. “Do you have feelings for him?”

Gigi stopped and looked at the child again. “You never told me your name.”

“Do you have feelings for him?”

“What’s your name?” Gigi demanded.

“Do you love him?”

Gigi had a sinking suspicion she knew exactly who she was talking to. This little girl was her. The ink had worked its magic, just not how she had expected or wanted.

“I don’t know, okay? Maybe,” she said.

“Maybe? You know he has feelings for you,” the child said resolutely.

Gigi sighed. Was she really going to argue with a hallucination? Of herself, no less. The little girl had a point, though. She knew that Drake had feelings for her, but the goblin didn’t know what to do with that. Gigi could feel a stirring inside of her for him, too. When she thought of him, an increasingly common occurrence, something in her twisted anxiously. Her heart sped up, and her palms turned sweaty. Moreover, she didn’t want to stop thinking about him, about their future. Is that love?

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“Tell me, kid, if you have the answers, am I in love with him?”

The little girl shrugged and looked at her blankly. “I can’t tell you anything you don’t know yourself.”

“Great help you are,” Gigi groaned.

“Are you scared?”

“Of course not! Why would I be scared?” The two sat in her question for a moment.

“Because if you were in love,” the girl paused as if thinking it out, “you would be just like everyone else.”

“That’s ridiculous! Why would I be scared of th-?” Gigi faltered. The little girl furrowed her brows, looking at her suspiciously.

“Why would you be terrified of ending up just like those girls you’ve looked down your nose at since we were my age?”

“I didn’t... Okay, maybe I have, a little,” she admitted. “But if I’m in love, that means my life is over!”

“Why?” the child asked.

“Because that’s what happens. You fall in love, get married, and then just get burdened by life,” she said, swinging her arms out. “It weighs you down until you run a bakery with a million kids, and there is no way out. If I’m in love, my adventure is already over,” she said, dropping her arms to her side and lowering her head.

Sighing, Gigi looked to the child version of herself for confirmation, but she was alone again. She searched around frantically. No, not alone. There were a handful of very drunk dwarves imitating her and having a grand laugh at her expense. She made a rude gesture toward them before getting her bearings again.

Drake. She had to find him. A pit opened in her stomach. She felt horrible for her actions but worse still because her feelings for Drake were uncertain. Even if her heart was unsure, she knew she needed to find him and apologize. She retraced her steps to where she had left him, seeing the stump and the area around it empty of his presence. Gigi cursed and went back into the jubilant crowd.

***

Drake looked high and low, mostly low, for his date. However, he had succeeded only in finding despair. This night was truly not turning out how he had hoped. The soldier’s shoulders slumped as the weight of disappointment settled in.

“Drake!” His shoulders straightened. “Drake!” He turned around to meet the cry.

“Gigi?” She slipped in and out of the many people as she waved to him. The depression that had settled over him lifted in an instant at seeing her beautiful green face. She ran up to him and speared his middle with a hug.

“I’m so so so sorry. I shouldn’t have had you drink that stuff and run off like that,” she exclaimed, nearly in tears. A thin smile spread across Drake’s lips while he hugged her back.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay.”

“Gigi, we have each other again.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Let's just enjoy the night.” She looked at him with wide, watery eyes, dumbfounded.

“You’re not mad?”

“Maybe a bit...shaken. I didn’t see...good things. What did you see?” Gigi shook her head.

“Nothing important,” she lied.

“Hey, do you mind if we go somewhere a little quieter?” Drake asked.

“No, why?”

“I’d just like to be alone with you for a while. If that’s alright?” Gigi could feel her insides churning again and her face becoming hot.

“Yeah, that would be perfect.” She pulled a strand of hair from her face and looked up at her date. Gigi took him by the hand and led him to the outskirts of the festival. They passed the infectious laughter of the drunks and parents shouting at their kids. Eventually, they reached the end of the festivities and the village itself. Gigi had taken them back to the winding path of the woods where they had first met.

They walked the path in darkness, only the fleeting embers of the lanterns from the festival to guide them, but it was enough for her to see. Gigi could feel snakes writhing in her stomach, nervousness and excitement mingling. She hoped her palms weren’t too sweaty. Glancing at Drake, she noticed his brow furrowed and a slight frown on his lips.

“Does this look familiar?” she asked, trying to get him out of his thoughts.

“Uh, I can’t see anything,” Drake laughed.

“Oh, well, it’s what I’ve decided is our spot. It’s where we met!”

They turned to face one another.

“Gigi, there is something I want to tell you,” Drake’s voice quivered.

“Yes?” she said, holding her breath.

“I... I...” he choked on his words.

Suddenly, he leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. Gigi’s dark brown eyes went wide with surprise before she leaned into the kiss, returning it just as passionately. This feels right. Their lips parted, and their eyes met. Gigi took in the man before her, her heart pounding, aching for another kiss.

She didn’t know what the feeling inside of her was, but she liked it. It felt like the first day of spring, refreshing and bright. Gigi leaned in for another kiss. Before their lips could touch again, Drake found the words he had searched for.

“Gigi, I love you.”

She stopped like she had just stepped into a bear trap. Ripples of fear reverberated through her at that word - love. Am I in love? Does that mean my life is over? The question shot through her mind like an arrow. She didn’t know, and that terrified her. She took a faulty step back, letting go of his hand.

“I’m sorry!” she yelled. Drake looked at her with wounded confusion. “I need...I need to go check on my family!” With that, she broke past the dumbstruck Drake and kept running.