************Emily POV*************

As Mira walked to where Emily sat on the floor reading a book, she didn’t have to look up to know there was someone else in the room. Mira had not grown much, but she had started walking much earlier than most babies. As she reached Emily, the baby was gurgling happily.

Emily grabbed her niece and stood up, drawing the sword that was strapped to her back and aiming it at the stranger in the room. It took her a few seconds to recognize who it was, and the moment she did her face turned pure white.

“I told you, you had a single year to come back to me. Did you ignore my instructions, or are you so easily forgetful?” Ron asked as he strode into the room. Emily gasped and dropped the sword to hold Mira close to her chest.

He noticed the baby in her arms, then smiled calmly. He had realized it had to be the child she had snuck in to steal the flower for in the first place, but in the end it didn’t matter much to him. Ron had come for Emily, not the infant.

James ran in at the sound of shock that Emily had made when she first recognized Ron. When he saw the tall, red haired man standing in the room with his sister staring at him, he quickly drew his own weapon. If it wasn’t for the fact that Nicolette and Arturo had run in, James would have attacked.

“Put away your weapon if you know what’s good for you!” Arturo yelled. James froze but kept his sword raised in offense. Ron slowly turned and noticed the man standing there in the doorway.

“It’s been a long time my friend, much too long. I wish I could stay to speak with you more about it, but I’ve come to take Emily with me for a few years,” Ron said with a slight wave of his hand. Arturo looked from Emily to Ron in confusion, for Emily had not told him about what had happened when she had left.

“Emily, I think you had better explain to us what is going on.” Nicolette walked forward and went around Ron before taking her daughter away from Emily.

The color had not returned to the woman’s face by the time Emily had finished explaining how she had run into the man and her punishment for trying to steal. Ron stood in the corner of the room with his arms crossed as he watched her speak.

“Two years, huh? Well, if I’m not mistaken, I’m expecting that time span to have changed. How long has it been, Ron?” Arturo asked. Emily kept her mouth shut even though she was silently cursing him in her mind.

“I’m doubling it to four years. She had a year to come back to work for me. It’s been a year and two months,” Ron explained.

“I thank you for saving our daughter. I am certain Emily will be grateful to help you in the time period allotted. As long as she is not to do anything we at our guild deem illegal, that is,” Nicolette said with a smile. Emily opened her mouth to try and speak against what she had just said, but the look given to her forced her mouth shut.

“I do nothing that would truly harm society, nor would it harm her. I mostly have work for her around my own land, and she will also be of use in the village,” Ron agreed. Emily finally sighed in defeat. She knew she had lost, and after thinking it over and seeing the happy look on Mira’s face she couldn’t help but let her mind drift to how life would be on the island with Ron.

She didn’t realize she was blushing until James poked her in the side with a deadly look in his eyes. Emily glanced up at him and felt her face burn even more before quickly turning her gaze back to the floor. Ron stepped forward and placed his hand on her arm.

“W-wait! At least let me pack a few things to take with me on the trip,” Emily quickly said. Ron looked at her for a few seconds before releasing her.

Emily ran out of the nursery room and went straight to where the guild dorms were. She picked up a bag that was given to her on her sixteenth birthday years ago and started to pack it with items she wanted to bring. She shoved in a few pairs of underwear, some extra clothing, a dagger, her hair brush, and a small vial filled with sleeping pills.

Before Emily left her bedroom, she turned and grabbed a necklace off her dresser. In it was a picture of her parents and her brother. It was something she felt she couldn’t do without. Her heart was sad as she opened up the small locket and looked at the smiling face of her father before closing it.

She had walked back to the nursery when she heard Arturo and Ron laughing together. She caught every other word, like battle and dungeon, but other than that she had no clue what it was that they were discussing.

“Are you ready to go?” Ron asked as she walked back in. Emily’s face immediately threatened to burn up, but in the presence of her brother she managed to hold back.

“Yes, I have everything I think I need for the most part,” she said. Nicolette gave her a worried look as she walked up to Ron and took his hand in hers.

She felt Nicolette hug her from behind and push something into her back pocket. It felt cold, and she realized it was another bottle probably filled with more pills. For the past month, Emily had been having trouble sleeping because of nightmares that would torment her. She had become accustomed to using sleeping pills to chase the nightmares away, and even though her family didn’t like the fact that she did it, they did the best they could to comfort her when she would wake up screaming at night.

Emily said her goodbye’s to her family before Ron had her close her eyes. She felt the familiar sensation of falling, but she still lost her footing when her feet touched sand. Ron caught her before she hit the ground, but the vial fell out of her pocket and gleamed in the sunlight.

She quickly brushed sand over it to hide the evidence, but Ron had already noticed it. He picked it up as swiftly as she attempted to cover it, then held it up to the light and shook the contents in curiosity.

“What is this?” He asked her as she jumped up and snatched it from his hands.

“It’s just something I use to help sleep at night. Don’t worry about it,” Emily said quickly.

Ron only watched as she walked forward into the bushes past the sand line. Emily ignored him the best she could, but after five minutes of walking through the forest area she was lost. The scent of rose wasn’t there like it had been before, so there was nothing to follow but layers of trees. Not even Emily’s magic could do anything.

“Maybe you should stay by my side before you try and wander off?” Emily screamed at the sound of Ron’s voice. She quickly turned around but saw nothing. As Emily scanned the area, she realized she was the only one there.

“Ron, where are you?” Emily yelled out.

************Ron POV************

Emily was incredibly stubborn. As Ron watched her start to panic, he felt mixed emotions. Even though it had been over a year since he last saw her, those emotions that he had felt last time had still not gone away. He felt pride that she had finally asked for his help, but also hurt that she was so afraid in his own land.

After watching her grow more and more afraid, Ron decided it was time to go down and comfort her. He jumped down from the tree he was sitting on and landed lightly next to Emily. He stood with his arms crossed as Emily spun around and saw him.

“You have no reason to ever be afraid here. I wouldn’t hurt you, and neither would the land,” Ron said with a sigh.

Emily didn’t say a word but nodded instead. She quickly reached out and grabbed his hand, and it was clear she was still shaken. Ron ignored the way his heartbeat picked up at her touch and pulled her behind him. He guided her out of the thick treeline he designed to deliberately make intruders lost. When the land cleared up and only a thin layer of trees decorated the land with bushes thick with berries, Emily let go.

“For today, I will show you to your room where you will be staying, and then I will bring you to the village and introduce you to my people,” Ron explained. Emily nodded and followed him in silence.

After about half an hour, they reached Ron’s cabin. When he opened the door, Emily stepped in and took notice of the new door on the room she had broke down. She blushed in embarrassment and glanced back down at the ground.

“You will be staying in that room once more, but I took the lock off the door. You will be able come and go as you please,” Ron explained as he walked over to the stove and lite it with a match that laid on the counter.

He felt her presence as she walked to her new room and opened the door. Ron couldn’t help but smile when he heard her gasp in surprise at the look of the room. He had purposefully brought a few of the young women from the village to his cabin to help decorate the room to help her be more comfortable.

All the dressers in the room was made from a wood so dark it could have been considered black. A large mirror sat on the biggest dresser, and the bed was made with a handmade comforter and a mattress filled with sheep fur he had received from one of the girl’s father.

“I hope you like it. It’s nothing special really, but I had help,” Ron said as he put a pot of tea on the stove to boil.

“It’s beautiful,” Emily said in awe. Ron glanced sideways and watched her remove items from her bag and saw another vial be removed. He decided to have the cleric in the village help make something to sooth her problems for good. Ron also took notice that she had packed only a few clothing, and many of it were ones that were normally used in battle. The seamstress could help with that.

“Come, after you have something to eat we will go out to meet the others.” Emily walked out of the room and sat down at the small table in the kitchen. Ron turned to the pot of boiling water and added a few tea leaves to it before taking out a few cups he had created a long time ago out of shells from the beach.

He poured her a cup and sat down with her. As she drank deeply and smiled from the taste, Ron finally had to give in to his emotions. He was falling in love with her, and he was absolutely terrified because of it.