Dragon Valentine’s Day Pt. 2: The True Meaning of Love

Having finally escaped from his house, Tatsuya stopped to calm himself and collect his thoughts. Once he got himself together, he walked down into the city. Being surrounded by normal people really helped to put his mind at ease. At least he won’t be bothered by any lust zombies here. He had come in front of a shop when a familiar voice caught his attention.

“Tatsu-kun,” called Shurai.

Tatsuya turned to see the Druk princess standing behind him. “Shurai!” he exclaimed in surprise. Suddenly, his anxiousness and fear was slowly coming back to him.

“It’s very hot today,” she told him. Sweat was dripping from her forehead and her face was really red.

Tatsuya had to agree with her. Sweat was also forming along his forehead from the sweltering heat and his clothes were starting to stick to his skin. “You’re right,” he said.

“I want to get ice cream,” she told him. “Can we go get some together?”

Her mention of food put Tatsuya’s mind at ease. ‘Looks like she’s just being herself,’ he thought to himself with a smile. “Sure thing,” he told her.

The both of them went in search for an ice cream stand, but after seeing just how long the lines were, they settled on popsicles from a convenience store. They sat together on a nearby bench and opened their popsicles to cool themselves on this hot summer day. Tatsuya took a bite of his orange flavored popsicle and could already feel his body cooling down.

“Tatsu-kun,” called Shurai, “Do you like your popsicle?”

“Yup,” he told her with a smile. Tatsuya glanced over and saw Shurai enjoying her popsicle like an ice cream, taking in her frozen dessert one lick at a time. Her face was also very red (possibly from the summer heat, as per Tatsuya’s deduction), and her breathing became a little ragged. She closed her eyes and continued to indulge in the popsicle like an ice cream, but the act was beginning to make Tatsuya a little uncomfortable. The way her tongue moved around the popsicle, the look of satisfaction she had on her red face, and the ragged breathing that accompanied each lick…everything about just seemed so wrong. “S-S-Shurai, are you okay?” he asked her.

She finished her popsicle rather quickly and turned to Tatsuya. “Is your popsicle good?” she asked him.

“Y-Yes, it’s pretty good,” he told her.

A smile tugged on her lips as she turned her body to him and crawled onto his lap. “Can I have a taste?” she asked him. Before Tatsuya could give her an answer, she attacked his popsicle and placed it in her mouth. She sucked on it with a very weird expression that made Tatsuya’s heart run a hundred miles a minute. Her red cheeks and pogoing motion made it hard for Tatsuya to say anything or do anything like move his popsicle away, cursing him to freeze in place and watch this entire ordeal happen in front of him. “Tatsu-kun,” she said in between suckling, “this is very delicious.”

“I-I-Is it really?” he said in a pained voice.

“Your popsicle is really delicious,” she told him with a lewd smile.

‘That’s it!’ screamed Tatsuya to himself. He had enough of this and can’t watch it go any further. He tried to move his hand away but the motion threw Shurai to the ground on her bottom and flung the popsicle onto her. The frozen dessert had melted in the sweltering heat and stained Shurai’s clothes, face, and hair. “Shurai, are you ok?” asked Tatsuya in worry. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. She looked up at him with the innocent look of a schoolgirl, and Tatsuya could see that her pupils had become pink hearts. Her breathing became as ragged as a dog’s and her face was redder than burning coals, no doubt filled with lust.

“It’s okay,” said Shurai with a smile. “Tatsu-kun, can you do me a favor?” she asked him.

“I’ll go bring you a change of clothes,” he told her.

“It’s fine,” reassured Shurai. “But since I always eat the food that is stuck to your face, could you please lick this off my body?” she asked him shamelessly.

Tatsuya couldn't believe what she was asking him to do. “Hell no!” exclaimed Tatsuya. “What kind of play is that? I’m not a freaking pervert!”

Shurai got up and walked up to Tatsuya. “Please?” she asked him. She went down on her knees and presented her cheek to him.

Tatsuya sighed and flicked her forehead gently. Shurai turned to look up at him and saw him smiling at her. “Idiot, I can’t do that. First of all, we’re in a public place and there are people around. But even if we were at home, of course I won’t be doing that to you either. Secondly, you have to be aware of yourself as a girl. Listen, I’m a guy. Now, I’m not the type of guy who takes advantages of girls whenever they have the chance, but that’s not to say that every guy is like me. Think more in the future and be more aware of the world. Lastly, don’t go offering yourself like this to anyone. Even if its to the person you love. It’s should be a two-sided relationship, not a one-sided affair. Know your worth and don’t just go loving bastard willy-nilly. Because if you do, you’ll only get hurt in the end.”

Shurai was frozen in place by his words. Tatsuya got up and left the bench, leaving the Druk princess alone.

“I would take those words of wisdom to heart,” said the woman from this morning. She appeared sitting on the other side of the bench. “Little lady, here’s some piece of love advice for you,” began the woman, “Love isn’t easy to understand. It comes in many forms. I can see that you don’t know the first thing when it comes to love and you’re not familiar with that feeling at all. Actually, you’ve never felt it towards another living being before. Love isn’t something that you can expect to understand and know how it works. It’s all about trial and error. The most important thing that your feelings reach him, no matter what you have to do to it, and that he reciprocates it. Your actions right now are really naive and shows that you are a rookie when it comes to expressing love. Don’t be afraid to understand your feelings. Understand it and express it. And when you do express, do it the only way you know how, don’t try to make it harder on yourself than it has to be. As they say, one way to achieve to love is through the man’s stomach. That, little lady, is your love.”

Shurai took in the woman’s words and dissected them. It didn’t take long before she understood what they meant and came to the realization that they spoke the truth. Shurai nodded her head and was about to thank the woman when she suddenly wasn’t there anymore.

Tatsuya ran down the street and stopped near the second crosswalk to catch his breath. All of that running made him thirsty and the heat beating down on him didn’t make it any easier. He spotted a vending machine nearby and walked up to buy a drink.

“Huh? Owatatsumi Tetsuya?” came a voice from behind him.

Tatsuya turned around to see Natsume Torahime standing behind him. He bought them both drinks and the two of them sat down on a nearby bench. Awkwardness was quick to follow as they both sat in silence the whole time. Tatsuya opened his can of soda and drank from it. The cool, refreshing cola cooled down his body and made it easier for him to handle the heat. He then placed the can on the bench in between him and Torahime. Meanwhile, Torahime hadn’t even opened her can of green tea yet.

“T-T-Thank you,” she told him, breaking the silence.

“Sure thing,” replied Tatsuya.

“L-Listen, this doesn’t mean that we’re friends now, alright?” she told him sternly.

“Yeah, yeah, I understand,” Tatsuya said with a nod.

Torahime opened her can of green tea and took a drink. She then placed the can on the bench. She avoided Tatsuya’s eyes the entire time.

Tatsuya was now able to relax a bit since he was nowhere near any of the girls who were affected by that strange spell this morning. Sitting next to someone who were completely sane and not trying to ravage him or attack him with weird intentions in mind really put his mind at ease. This was a much needed break time for him.

Standing behind a nearby tree and looking in on them, the woman from this morning watched the innocent sight before her with a small amused smile. However, the lack of excitement really put a damper on things. ‘Let’s make this a little more interesting’ she thought to herself. She snapped her fingers and a pink wave like before spread out from her body and hit Torahime. The dragon slayer’s body glowed a bright pink color before settling down. Satisfied with her work, the woman smiled and disappeared.

Torahime suddenly felt a weird feeling building up inside of her. Her heart was beating a thousand miles a second and her face was growing warmer every minute. Her entire body trembled as it became intoxicated with this strange sensation.

“You know, I’m kind of glad that I ran into you,” Tatsuya told her.

As if her body wasn’t feeling strange enough, Tatsuya’s words made her entire being squirm with delight. “W-W-What do you mean by that?” she asked him, trying to hide her strange emotions from showing. Her voice was also on the verge of becoming something she wasn’t familiar with before.

“I mean, today’s just been a big hassle for me,” Tatsuya told her. “But now, I feel like relax, even if for just a little bit.” He then turned to her and said, “I'm really glad that I ran into you today.”

Torahime didn’t know why but his words sent a huge shock right through her body. It wasn’t painful in the least but pleasurable, something weird yet so satisfying for her entire body to accept. “W-W-What are you even talking about?!” she yelled at him in an attempt to make this strange feeling go away. She turned to face him and came eye-to-eye with the most beautiful jewels in the world. Her body grew hotter and her heart went into maximum overdrive. She wanted to take a closer look at those eyes. No, not just his eyes…she wanted to caress his hair, she wanted to feel his lips, she wanted to…. Having had enough of this crazy feeling stirring her up, she stood up from her seat.

“Huh? Natsume-san, are you okay?” asked Tatsuya worriedly.

“I’m fine,” she told him in a low voice. Without another word, she snatched a can from the bench and proceeded to run away. Tatsuya was confused at why she did what she did but decided that it was best to just leave her be. Torahime ducked behind an alley and caught her breath. Her heart was beating fast like a jackhammer, but it had slowed down a bit compared to before. She then drank from the can to cool herself. She suddenly stopped upon realizing what it was she was drinking. It appeared that she had grabbed Tatsuya’s can by accident and ran away with it without checking to see whose it was. And then another anxious thought occurred to her—she just drank from the same can as Tatsuya. Her cheeks became extremely red and her face contorted in fear. ‘W-W-What does this mean?’ she asked herself anxiously. ‘I-I-I-Is this one of those things they often talk about? Is this…an indirect kiss?!’ She let the thought stew in her head as her mind exploded, leaving her unfunctional for a while.

Back on the bench, Tatsuya noticed that his can was missing. He sighed to himself, not out of sadness for the loss of his drink, but out of self-pity for being caught in this strange situation. While he wallowed in his self-pity with his hung down, a shadow appeared in front of him bearing an all too familiar voice.

“Darling!” called out Aika.

Tatsuya wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, but he’s now currently standing beside Aika in front of a large building. Her appearance before him had instilled back the unease and anxiety that had vanished from him prior, and he was quickly swept away by her aggressive clinginess to be brought to where he is right now. Tatsuya gave the building a one-over and instantly realized just where he is right now. “O-Oi,” he called to Aika with an awkward frown, “just what kind of place did you bring me too?”

“A place where we can be alone together,” she answered him with a smile.

“This is a love hotel!” he shouted at her furiously.

The hotel was a large brick building with strings of bright pink lights around its frame. And since it was about to get dark pretty soon, the lights could be seen dancing like excited little spirits. In front of the building was a large sign that said “Hotel de Amor!” in large pink characters in a cursive font, like a quasi-Vegas hotel sign.

Aika dragged Tatsuya unwillingly inside the hotel and they came to the reception desk. ‘Why is this happening?!’ he thought to himself in agony.

“Would you like a room?” asked a very familiar voice. Tatsuya realized that the receptionist attending to them was none other than the woman from this morning dressed in a receptionist outfit. He was too surprised by this revelation to say anything. “There’s a free room right now on the seventh floor,” she told them, smiling brightly as if she was just another regular employee enjoying her job of taking care of customers.

“We’ll take it!” said Aika excitedly with a confident nod. The woman handed Aika a key and the Draco princess dragged Tatsuya onto the elevator. While the doors were closing in front of him, Tatsuya could see the woman waving her hands at him as if to say that it was all going according to plan.

They reached the third floor and entered their designated room. The room was dark and filled with the smell of sweet perfume. Aika turned on the lights and revealed a large heart-shaped bed in the center of the room with pink curtains, rosy red sheets, and heart-shaped pillows. Tatsuya was ready to leave this place at once. “Aika, what are we doing here?” he asked her with an anxious smile. “Listen, is it alright if we postpone this date? I really need to get back home and lock myself in the room until this day is over.”

Aika pulled Tatsuya by the arm and threw him onto the bed. This act surprised Tatsuya and he quickly found himself cornered as the Draco princess slowly walked up to him with a very lewd expression on her face. Her face was red like a ripe cherry and her breathing became ragged. And to his horror, her pupils had become pink hearts. She proceeded to crawl onto the bed, forcing Tatsuya to back away in fear.

“L-L-Listen, Aika, c-c-could we stop this?” he attempted with a forced smile.

“Darling,” said Aika.

“Yes!” yelped Tatsuya in answer.

“I’ve always loved you,” she told him. “At first, I thought that I could have you all to myself,” she said with a smile. But her expression quickly turned dark as she frowned and said, “But then those other bitches have to show up.” Tatsuya was really getting scared by Aika’s behavior. As she kept on talking, she moved closer and closer to him until Tatsuya literally had his back against the wall. “You know, when they fought with me and with each other for your attention, I was scared of losing you to them. I was scared of not being able to have you to myself any more. But I was the one who loved you first. Darling, I should be the one who wins you in the end. Your heart should belong to me! But those girls are too persistent. They’re just a bunch of pests standing in the way of our love! Darling, I’m not like those other girls! I truly love you from the bottom of my heart!”

“I-I-I understand,” lied Tatsuya with a smile.

“Ever since the first time I met you…,” she said in a quiet, sad voice. Tatsuya’s expression changed when he heard that statement. He didn’t know why, but his heart started to get heavy from hearing the longing in her voice. The way she said it made it sound as if they knew each other forever. She paused for a moment and wrapped her hand around the jewel pendant of her necklace. She then shook her head and said, “Darling, its my turn to show you how much I love you. We’re betrotheds after all.”

“W-W-Wait a min—,” said Tatsuya.

Aika quickly interrupted him by placing a finger to his lips. She unzipped her dress and revealed her bra. With the same lewd expression as before, she grabbed his hand and brought it to her chest. Tatsuya couldn’t believe what was happening and his body shook with a mixture of pleasure, terror, and all around self-hatred, for letting it happen. “Do you like it?” she asked Tatsuya with a smile. Before he could answer, she let out a very lewd sound that made Tatsuya jump in surprise.

Tatsuya’s body shook as he tried to bring himself back under control. He closed his eyes and tried his best to resist everything that is happening right now. ‘Remember, she’s just under some weird spell,’ he reminded himself. He took in a deep breath and retracted his hand from her grasp. “Aika,” he called to her.

“Darling?” asked Aika.

Tatsuya had his head down. “Listen, we shouldn’t be doing this,” he told her in a calm and serious tone. “Before you go on entering this kind of relationship, make sure that you have the other person’s consent first. I told you multiple times that I haven’t accepted our relationship yet. You may believe that we’re betrotheds, but I still say otherwise. I’m sorry, but I can’t love you like that.” His words turned Aika silent. Her heart suddenly felt heavy as if gravity was trying to pull it out of her. But then Tatsuya looked up at her with a smile. “At least not yet,” he told her. “I may not love you like that yet, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t change. After all, I did promise you to be your Darling first and foremost.” He said that last part with a very warm and comforting voice like he truly meant what he said (which he did).

Aika stopped herself and stayed frozen in place. Tatsuya shifted off of the bed and walked to the front door. Without another word, he exited the room, leaving Aika to herself. Alone and forced to reassess herself, Aika’s drive and uncontrolled lust dissipated into nothingness.

“Did you hear that?” spoke the woman from this morning. She was still dressed as a receptionist and sat on the corner of the bed with her legs crossed. “If I have to tell where you went wrong, little lady, it’s everything. Your approach to love and your overly clinginess to him is founded on an illusion that you have created for yourself. You thought that by being by his side all the time and becoming what you believe to be a lovable girlfriend did more harm to your relationship than you’d like to admit. You pushed him farther away with your determination to have him for yourself, instead of the other around. You believe that by having him to yourself, you could satisfy your need for his love. But listen, I have something important to tell you. His love will not belong solely to you. Do you want to know why?” The woman paused to allow for Aika to answer, but all she received was silence. “It’s because he is the Dragonborn. His fate in love is more complicated than you’d think. He cannot focus his attention on you alone. His love must be shared between the people whom he is sworn to protect and those who are close to him. I know that you don’t hate the other girls for wanting a piece of your Darling. You’re just afraid of losing him forever, afraid of not being seen by him, afraid of being left alone. Especially since you have so much history with him, it’s hard for you to share something so precious to you. But here’s some piece of advice, little lady: you have to learn to share. Love is meant to be shared and not locked up in a chest where only you have the key. And I’m telling you this for your good. It won’t be long before more opponents show up. But I guarantee you that once you see them less as opponents and more as friends, you’re love life will only get better from here. Stop being afraid and selfish. Once you learn to share your love and not cling onto your selfishness, your relationship will improve greatly. I know that you are capable of it. That, little lady, is your love.”

Aika listened to the woman’s words and couldn’t believe how precise they hit their mark. They brought tears to her eyes, made her heart ache, instilled fear and anxiety in her mind, but they also released the tension that she had kept inside of her for so long. Even though she felt terrible, she also felt liberated. Aika dried up her tears and was about to say something to the woman but turned around to see that she was all alone.

Tatsuya exited the hotel in a hurry and saw that it was already night outside. He ran down the street, not knowing where he was going, and came upon a dark intersection. Tired of all the running, he stopped and leaned his back against the window of a nearby store. ‘Can’t this day just end already? How much longer do I have to hold out?’ he cried in desperation.

“Well, how was your day, little boy?” asked a voice from beside him. Tatsuya was surprised by the sudden appearance of the woman from this morning next to him. She was dressed in her normal attire from before and had on a bright smile on her face. “I’m surprised that you didn’t give in to your primal urges,” she said in faux-praise.

“Don’t give me that crap!” snapped Tatsuya. “What did you do to them? Why did you turn them that way?”

“Call it a whim, call it a lesson, call it whatever you will,” said the woman, not giving him a straight answer.

“What’s your goal?” asked Tatsuya suspiciously.

“That’s easy,” said the woman with a smug smile, “love.”

“Love?” questioned Tatsuya, perplexed by her answer.

“Listen here, little boy,” began the woman, “you can’t continue to depend on your excuses to help you escape from reality. Your world’s changed and you have to learn to accept it. This also includes your position on love. Why are you so scared to get close to the one’s who aren’t afraid to get close to you? Why is a hero like you, who was brave enough to shoulder the weight of the entire world, who was not afraid to kill his enemy for the greater good, so terrified of the idea of love? Have you ever asked yourself this question? Probably not, since you’ve dodged it all of your life. You may not learn to accept it yet, but know this, little boy. You can’t escape much further. Sooner or later, you must learn to accept their love for it is.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Tatsuya in a softer tone.

“Go,” she told him, “they’re waiting for you.” She gestured with her chin for him to turn around.

Tatsuya did as she told him and saw the girls walking towards him as a group. Though he was tempted to run again, he could somehow sense that their previous zombified states had been shattered. Now, the girls were back to their regular selves. “Darling/My Love/Tatsu-kun/Tatsuya!” they all called out to him.

Seeing their smiling faces brought a smile to Tatsuya’s lips. He met them in the middle and was overcome with joy to see that they returned back to normal. “Let’s go home,” he told them.

Back at home, everyone gathered in the kitchen. “Darling,” said Aika, “as you may know already, today is Day of Amora, a holiday we celebrate in the dragon realm. It is similar to the human holiday of Valentine’s Day, because it also celebrates love. As per tradition, red gifts are presented to the people we love. So, without further ado.”

Sunaji stepped up first and presented her gift to Tatsuya. It was a shining golden red ring engraved with a picture of a dragon. “This is for you,” she told him bashfully. “It’s a ring forged from the dragon realm. It’s said to be to grant whoever wears it great luck….” She deliberately left out the part about how it grants luck in “romance and affairs of the heart”. She just couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud so boldly.

Tatsuya accepted the gift and said, “Thank you very much, Sunaji.”

Shurai was the next one to present her gift and brought out a giant family size red bag of red-hot chips. “This is for you,” she told him. She didn’t say much else and handed it over to him.

“Thank you, Shurai,” said Tatsuya with a slightly awkward smile. She responded to his gratitude with a smile and a thumbs up.

“My turn,” said Arashi. She walked up to him and gave him a red envelope. “Your gift is inside,” she told him. Before she broke away from him, she closed her eyes and took a breath. She leaned in forward to his ear and whispered suggestively, with a smile that she had not wore for a while now, “It’s a collection of special pictures of me for your own enjoyment. Please enjoy it to your member’s content.” Her words made Tatsuya turn a really bright red color. She walked back to join the girls and briefly looked back to flash Tatsuya a wink.

Tatsuya didn’t know how to respond to that. It’s been so long since he had heard or seen his childhood friend act that way. But now, it was as if she reverted back to her usual self. The thought of that brought a smile to his lips and he said, with still bright red cheeks, “T-T-Thank you, Acchan.”

“Ooh! My turn!” announced Mika, jumping for joy. She ran up to Tatsuya and jumped into his lap. “Your present is me, Oniichan!” she happily told him, rubbing her cheek against his shirt. She was dressed in an all red outfit today, complete with a red bow around her side ponytail She stayed this way for some time, refusing to let go of him despite his many pleads. It got to the point where Sunaji and Arashi had to literally tear her away from Tatsuya and forcibly drag her away, much to her displeasure and sadness.

The next person to present their gift was Kanjomizu. She walked up and presented him with a red wool sweater. “This my gift to you, My Love,” she told him with blushing cheeks. “I knitted this myself. I hope you like it.”

Tatsuya accepted the gift gratefully. “I’ll treasure it forever. Thank you very much, Mizu,” he told her with a smile.

Now, it was Aika’s turn. Before she presented her gift, she walked up to the midpoint between the girls and Tatsuya and stood with her hands clasped together. “Everyone, before I present my gift, I would just like to say, Praise Amora!”

“Praise Amora!” repeated everyone else except Tatsuya.

“Today is a day to celebrate love,” continued Aika, “And I now know that love is meant to be shared. It is not supposed to be selfish or locked up in a chest with only one person having the key. I, myself, have been selfish in my expression of love and I was blinded by an illusion that I have conceived for myself to hide my own weakness. But now, now I know the true meaning of love. I would first like to congratulate the princesses on their gifts to Darling. I can tell that they’ve put their thoughts into those gifts and hoped that their feelings have reached him. I, too, hope that my feelings reach Darling through my gift. So, without further ado, I would like to present my Day of Amora gift to Darling!” She walked over to a pot on the stove and ladled something out of it onto a bowl. She placed it in front of Tatsuya and said, “Bon appétit, Darling!”

The dish was a thick red soup with what appeared to be ground meat, peppers, cubes of some kind of tofu-like substance, and vegetables such as onions, potatoes, carrots, and mint. The aroma was a little overwhelming and tickled Tatsuya’s nostrils to the point of burning his nose hairs. It looked appetizing enough, but knowing that it was a dish made by Aika, the problem will likely lie in the dish’ actual taste.

Suddenly, the fear and dread and anxiety that was gone began to return to him. Tatsuya looked at the dish in front of him with terrified eyes. His gift from Aika was a self-cooked dish, something he had never thought he would see ever again in his life. He glanced up at Aika and could tell by smiling face that she had worked hard at making this for him. He did not want to stomp on her feelings and not eat this dish—but he desperately did not want to eat this dish. He was now caught in a moral dilemma. ‘What should I do?’ he asked himself. ‘If I eat this, I have a great chance of passing over to the afterlife! But on the other hand, if I don’t eat this, Aika’s going to be one to pass on to the afterlife! This is a terrible situation I’ve found myself in. What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?’ Suddenly, a new voice inside of him spoke up. ‘Just man up and eat it! Accept her feelings! Do what you have to do to see one less girl cry over you!’ it told him. Those words echoed throughout his body and his iron-will was restored. With newfound courage and determination, he grabbed the spoon and dug in.

Tatsuya put the food in his mouth and closed his eyes. The food landed on his tongue…. Nothing happened. There wasn’t a weird taste or a strange texture or anything of the sort for him to detect. And then, his tongue was set on fire. He could feel his taste buds burning up as if he just ate a box of lit up matches! Tears formed on the corner of his eyes and he was about to cry out when a new surprise struck him inside his mouth. This surprise stimulated his taste buds and gifted his sensory organs with an explosion of flavor! He could taste sweetness, sourness, saltiness—it was everything he wouldn’t have expected from a dish made by the Draco princess! Suddenly, as if possessed by some flavor spirit, he attacked the dish with the voracity of a wolf. “This is delicious!” he told her in between bites.

Aika let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you like it,” she told him with a smile. “This is a special dish from the Draco tribe. It’s called Hotang and is a very special dish that is only made and eaten on special occasions.”

Hearing that, Tatsuya could feel his heart warming up and beating fast. He hadn’t felt this special feeling since that night at the beach during the club’s first outing together. He looked at Aika and was taken aback by her smile. With a smile of his own, genuine and from the bottom of his heart, he said to her, “Thank you, Aika.”

Aika couldn’t believe it. Her wish had come true! Finally, it seems that her feelings had reached Tatsuya, even if it was only a tiny bit at first. She saw this as a big stepping stone in their relationship. With a teary smile filled with happiness and joy, she nodded her head and simply said, “Of course!”

Nighttime arrived and the bright full moon was up in the bright clear sky again. The woman gazed up at the night sky and basked in the silver moonlight. She took in a deep breath and released a contented sigh. Satisfied with what she came here for, the woman was ready to return back to where she had come from.

“Well, well, well, I never thought that I’d get the chance to see you here,” spoke a voice from beside her.

The woman was all too familiar with voice and closed her eyes with a smile. “How long has it been since our last time meeting?” she asked.

“I believe the last time we met was during the Assembly to discuss the ‘Incident’,” recalled the voice.

“Has it really been that long…Imoogi?” said the woman, turning around to face her visitor with a cheerful smile.

“Mind telling me what you were doing here?” asked Imoogi.

“I just thought that I should take the chance to see him for myself,” said the woman. “Of course, it is my day after all.”

“So? What did you think?” asked Imoogi curiously.

“I’ve never met a man as restrained as him before,” admitted the woman with a laugh. “I don’t if he’s a fool or just plain scared, but he is very stubborn when it comes to preserving his integrity and of those close to him.”

“Who would’ve thought that a fool like him helped to save the human realm from being destroyed?” said Imoogi with a laugh.

“But of course, he wasn’t the only one I was interested in, although I admit he was mainly the reason why I came here on this day,” admitted the woman. “The girls following him are good girls, though they can be naïve and foolish themselves. Has love truly changed that much in the modern world? I remember when it used to be more primitive and sensual and unrestrained.”

“I’m surprised that you didn’t force yourself on the boy,” said Imoogi. “I don’t mean to offend you by any means, but you do have a reputation for being quite the predator.”

“Oh, stop it,” said the woman playfully.

“I also know that you’re not the type to just appear in the mortal realm and interfere with mortals directly,” said Imoogi. “You usually do everything from up above. If you do appear down here, it’s usually one of three reasons: one, you came down to witness the mortal realm for your own pleasure; two, you are taking part in celebrations or prayers in your name; and three, you were ordered or requested for your services by a third party. Knowing you, you wouldn’t offer your services to just anyone or for just any purpose; unless, of course, that certain person was either your superior or there is a need for your services for the greater good. But even then, I know of only a few people whom you would offer your services to because of your relationship with them.”

“Well, you figured it out,” said the woman with a defeated smile.

“Who sent you and why?” wondered Imoogi.

“Orichalchos,” answered the woman.

“The Celestial Dragon of foresight and prophecy,” recalled Imoogi.

“He asked for me to help nudge them in the right direction,” revealed the woman. “Love is an integral part to his destiny as the Dragonborn. You know the prophecy, so you must know that this is for their own benefit and the benefit of the universe. Like you said, I’m not one to directly meddle into the affairs of mortals. Rather, I prefer for love to grow naturally. But some things must be done for the sake of preserving our universe from destruction. If the universe is destroyed, then so is my purpose, so is love. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

“Of course, it’s only natural to want to preserve yourself and your place in the universe,” admitted Imoogi.

“I admired their naïve view on love, but their approach to the concept was only doing themselves harm,” said the woman. “Furthermore, it will not do the universe any better either if they cannot move forward from here. I did what I had to do and I believed that it was the right thing to do too.”

“Well, I have no problems there,” said Imoogi with a shrug. “Besides, it is your day after all. Are you taking your leave right now?”

“Yes,” answered the woman.

“I doubt that this will be the last time you see them,” said Imoogi.

“Me too,” agreed the woman. “Of course, I would love to meet you again some time in the future too, Imoogi. It was nice to see a familiar face.”

“Same here,” said Imoogi. “Well then, I guess we’ll see you soon, Amora.”

Amora smiled and gave him a nod before disappearing in a glittery shower of pink sparkles. The moon shone very brightly tonight. This was the last full moon before the phases start to change. The day for lunacy has come to an end.