With a Love Sorceress, I’ll Make my Romance Last!

With a ‘heave-ho’, Mia hefted one last box of her belongings onto the caravan. She clapped her hands, proud of her work, as a cool breeze blew through the yard. She shivered and pulled herself close.

“I guess summer is ending soon,” Mia murmured.

A cheerful voice called her name, jogging across the field. “Mia! Was that the last of the boxes?”

“Yep!” Mia grinned. “Thanks for your help, Toren!”

The half-beast blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “As the number one Faralind family bodyguard, it’s my duty to help!” He stood at attention and brought a fist to his chest.

“You mean the only Faralind family bodyguard,” Mia teased, poking his collar. Her gaze drifted towards the two-story household that had been her home for so many years. “I’ll miss these orchards. And somehow, I’ll miss that cottage down the street too.” She furrowed her brow. “I swear, an elf used to live there...right? Wasn’t that what happened?”

Toren grumbled and brought a hand to his chin, trying to remember. “I swear there was an elf there, but I can’t remember.” He ruffled his own hair, frustrated. “I feel like that elf encouraged me talk to you, Mia, but maybe that was just a dream.”

Mia smiled softly. “Even if it was a dream, I owe that elf a lot.” She shuffled closer, with a little grin on her face. “Especially if he’s the one that finally got you to talk to me, Toren-nii.”

Mia leaned over and kissed Toren’s cheek.

Toren froze. Solid. Petrified. His face turned bright red.

“Still works,” Mia giggled behind her hand. “Come on, Toren! The lake water might be colder now, but I want to go kelpie riding one last time before we leave for the new homestead!” Then, her smirk widened as she started running. “Last one there has to wear the kelpie costume!”

Toren was frozen in place a moment longer, before he shook his head and noticed Mia was halfway to the lake.

“Wait up!” Toren chased after her at full speed, grinning. “I’m going to make you wear that costume this time!”

The grass swayed in the last of summer’s setting light, as the two ran across the fields, laughing.

High up above, hidden among the sunset-kissed clouds, a purple door swung open.

Two figures watched the scene from their floating doorway.

“Looks like they didn’t need our help after all,” I grinned, watching as Toren and Mia debated over who won the race — finally deciding on a tie, so that neither of them had to wear that dreaded costume.

Next to me, Madam Claire peered out the door, frowning. “And here I was, ready to bring my new Love Assistant onto our first matchmaking mission! I even got you dressed for the occasion!”

Madam Claire gestured towards me proudly.

Claire had outfitted my work suit to be slightly more formal — with a purple pocket square and amethyst cufflinks to match Claire’s color scheme. I even had a matching wizard hat on my head, but I laughed and took it off, holding it in my hands.

“I can’t make this hat look as good as yours,” I teased, leaning in close and tilting up the brim of Claire’s hat.

Smiling, Claire closed the space between us. “Fine,” she relented. “I’ll admit, I do look much better in the witch hat than you, Mister Assistant.”

“You always have,” I sighed, smiling.

I tossed my hat backwards, and it vanished into the air without a trace.

Claire watched it disappear, her eyes shining. “You’ve gotten better at teleporting things.”

“This is the best I can do so far,” I shrugged. “Your wonderful Assistant came from magic-less Earth, after all. It’ll take me awhile to figure out exactly what powers I got from disrupting the Champions beyond space and time.”

Claire’s smile widened. Her eyes spoke of mischief. “You do realize you basically communed with a giant space tree to save me, don’t you?”

I dropped my face into my hands. “These freaking trees!” I cried. “I never should have started this ‘communing’ trend!”

Claire laughed and playfully batted my shoulder. “Well I, for one, am glad you did.”

The conversation lulled, and Claire and I gazed over the fields of Farelle below. I could hear Toren and Mia’s excited screams as the kelpies leapt across the lake.

Thankfully, Toren loved thrill rides just as much as Mia.

Slowly, I concentrated my thoughts. The book of Claire’s Language appeared in front of me with a puff of magical smoke. I flipped past the elegant purple cover and looked through the pages.

“I still have a lot to learn about you, Claire,” I murmured.

Claire summoned her book of Jun’s Language in return. “It won’t be easy,” she warned, showing how many pages she already had filled for mine. “You’re going to have to listen a lot. Are you up for the challenge?”

Smiling, I gradually nodded. “Getting the chance to learn more about you, Claire, and more about myself, is the chance of a lifetime. I wouldn’t trade this challenge for anything,” I answered, as I took her hand in mine.

Our engagement rings clinked together.

For a short moment, Claire and I shared a silent smile. Then, she held up our hands and pointed to the rings with a pout.

“Also, I’ll remind you Jun: you haven't taken me on a single date!” Claire grumbled. “We’re not married yet. Just engaged. Got it?”

With a small smirk, I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’ll have to make up for lost time during this engagement then, won’t I?”

Stunned for a moment, Claire blushed, then met my smirk with her own. She rested her head on my shoulder, and her strawberry-blonde hair flowed in the wind.

“Where should we go first?” Claire whispered. “My hut can take us anywhere. We can explore the universe, restore fate wherever we wish.” Claire waved her arm outwards, gesturing across the clouds with a flourish.

I took in a relaxed breath, considering our options. “I’d like to stop by Earth: see how everyone’s doing, check in on my parents. I still haven’t thanked Ohta personally.” I paused. “They’ll remember me when I’m there, right?”

Claire nodded. “You might be a World Breaker now, but your friends and family will remember you when you’re around. Even Mia and Toren would remember us if we went down to say hello.”

“I’m glad,” I smiled, knowing I’d taken a road that would slightly leave them behind. But at least I wouldn’t entirely be forgotten.

“Then we’ll stop by Earth!” Claire decided, raising a determined fist. She then met my gaze with a playful grin. “...Shall we go on a movie date while we’re there?”

I couldn’t hold back my smile. “I’d love to go on a movie date with you, Madam Claire.”

We both shared a knowing laugh, as I rested my head against Claire’s, and held her close.

We watched the sky fade from orange to a darker lavender, as the sun dipped towards the horizon. The stars started to twinkle overhead, and I knew somewhere out there in space, a million more lights shined in the great beyond.

I raised my hand towards the skies, pointing towards the brightest constellation.

“After that,” I smiled, “we’ll go wherever the stars take us.”

~ The End ~

↞♡↠

...Suddenly, I heard a bark.

“Woof?” I questioned, turning away from the sunset. I looked inside Madam Claire’s hut. “Is there a dog in here?”

Claire sheepishly smiled. “Since Poochy was the one that helped with our engagement rings, I asked Galinnade if I could borrow him every now and again.” She poked her fingers together, embarrassed. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Poochy?” I tilted my head. Then, I saw the puppy excitedly barreling towards me. “Wait, wait—”

Poochy leapt up and tackled me in the face, prepared to shower me with licks and kisses.

Which would have been fine.

Except, I was standing on the edge of a doorway in the middle of the clouds.

Poochy and I went tumbling out of Claire’s hut, and plummeted to the ground. Thankfully, Poochy and I were both World Breakers now, so the fall didn’t hurt us too much, but I still landed with a shout and a rather ungraceful thud.

Madam Claire floated to our side, giggling, watching as I was happily greeted by Poochy’s enthusiastic licks.

“We’ll have to work on your landings, Jun,” Claire grinned.

Mia’s voice fluttered over, concerned. “What was that noise?” Mia was still slightly damp from being in the lake, but she hurried towards the sound of the impact.

As the dust settled, Mia saw me sitting there in Farelle — suddenly an elf again.

“Roki!! Miss Bradleton!” Mia shouted with delight.

Toren chased after her. He broke out in a wide grin. “Rokkun!”

I ended up in a giant group hug, tackled by a parallel version of my ex-girlfriend, my rival-turned-friend of a cat boy, a world-breaking thief dog…

...and one absolutely amazing Love Sorceress.

~ The (True) End ~