Never Forgotten

{c}Never Forgotten

         School was finally over. It was now or never thought Nalia. She had to tell Seth, her best and only friend, that she was moving. She saw him waiting for her at the corner. They always walked home together; today would be the last for Nalia. She studied him as she walked; he was small and lanky, like most of the other 12 year-old boys in her class. He had black hair, and deep green eyes that almost seem to laugh at an unheard joke.
         “Hey,” said Seth when Nalia finally reached the corner.
         “Hey…” said Nalia, her voice squeaked.
         Seth looked at her, “What’s up?”
         “Um…lets wait till we get to the park,” said Nalia, her voice still squeaking.
         “Alright.”
         The park was right behind their houses; Nalia’s house was only 4 down from Seth’s. They walked in silence till they reached the park then Seth sat under their favorite tree; it was middle point between their houses.
         “Alright, Nalia, what’s up?” said Seth as he looked up at her.
         Nalia paced slightly in front of Seth and messed with the end of her shirt. She finally faced him, “we’re moving…I mean my family and I are moving…we…we leave tomorrow morning.”
         Seth jumped up and grabbed Nalia by the shoulder and looked her straight in the eye, his temper’s spark had been lit. “You are what?! You can’t!” said Seth harshly.
         Nalia cringed, “I have to, my parents are making me, I tried everything I could to convince them to stay, it’s not use.”
         “Then you have to try again! You can’t move Sharra! What about all the years between us? That’s 12 years Nalia! You can’t break that now!” Seth’s temper was rising.
         “Do you think I want to? Cause I don’t, I want to stay, I don’t want to go, but I have to, I don’t have a choice,” Nalia tried to answer calmly, “Could you please let go Seth? You’re hurting me.”
         Seth roughly shoved Nalia, making her stumble back, “Fine! Go!” Seth walked toward his home, pacing the local bullies.
         They had plan on beating up Seth, but they saw his temper and decided against it. They needed something to pound though. Then they noticed Nalia, picking up her bag and papers. The leader sneered and they went after her. Seth saw them go, he heard them too, but he didn’t care. He was too mad to care.
         Nalia arrived home, an hour later after talking to Seth. She was covered in cuts and bruises, and she had a bleeding lip. Her parents were to absorbed in their work to even notice, like always. Nalia went to her room and stopped anything that bled. She then pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote a note to Seth.
         Dear Seth,
                   I’m sorry. I wish I could stay, but you must understand, I don’t have a choice. You know how my parents are; I rarely have a choice in anything. I don’t know where I’ll be, because we’ll move and travel around, so we can’t write letters. I’ll miss you terribly, my one and only friend. I’ll never forget you, and I hope you won’t forget me. I wish we had more time together before I leave, or I would say this all to you. But since I don’t I write you this simple letter. I’m sorry, I’ll miss you, and I’ll remember you for always. Maybe we’ll see each other again, maybe not, but I hope we will.
Forever and always,
Your friend,
Nalia
         Tears splattered the paper as Nalia sealed it up and put it in her pocket. She went and packed the rest of her things up and then laid on her blanket and fell into an exhausted sleep.
         The next morning, when everything was packed in the wagon, Nalia went up to Seth's. She left the letter on the doorstep, knocked on the door, then quickly left.
         Seth opened the door in time to see Nalia riding away. It was the last time he’d see his elf friend. It was the last time he’d see the short red hair and pointy ears, and her pretty eyes. Nalia’s pretty soft gray eyes that were filled with tears as she rode away. And then she was gone. Seth picked up the letter, his temper already rising. He took it to his room and read it. When he finished, his anger was gone and in it's place was sorrow.
{c}
         Four years later, Nalia decided that she had enough of her parents. She tired of them controlling her life. She was tired of traveling. She was tired of anything that had to do with them. She packed her bag and ran. She ran on and on until she was to tired to run anymore. A small group of rangers found her lying in the middle of the forest floor. They convinced Nalia to stay with them and learn their ways. She did.
         Six years after Nalia ran from her parents, she was still with the group of rangers that had found her. But now, she was one of them. She knew how to use a bow and a sword. She knew how to track and walk quietly. She learned how to hunt and live off very little. She grew strong and slim and very quick. Even though Nalia was still traveling, she enjoyed it more. She enjoyed being free and being her own person.
         Now, they had passed another group of rangers on their way and had stopped to chat with them.
         One man was saying, “…there’s a forest with a village in it, and there’s no rangers, no protectors, nothing. We were trying to find some one so send, do you know anyone?”
         A man in Nalia’s group, named Jon, spoke up, “Nalia’s perfect, she’d get there in no time and be able to protect them alone.”
         “Nalia? And which one of you is that?” asked the man
         Nalia stepped up, “That would be me sir.”
         The man looked at her, “hmm, a female elf? Well, if you say so, I’ll give you directions, and you can be off by morning.”
         Nalia nodded and received the directions. She also received some parting gifts and bits of advice.
         When the sun rose the next morning, Nalia was already up and ready to go. She got final directions from the ranger and said her good byes. Then she was off and running, if she was fast enough, she could make it to the village by noon.
{c}
         Nalia did get there only an hour after noon, and she was shocked. She had been so many places yet none of them could compare to this one. It was where she had grown up. She had left this place with her parents when she was twelve and now she was twenty-two. She had also left her one true friend, Seth. Nalia slowed down and walked to the inn she had remembered as a kid. It was almost the same, new improvements had been made, but it was the same inn.
         She sat at the bar and had some food and listened to the talk around her. She heard most of the talk be about recent killings in town. It seemed there was something or someone, murdering a person about every two weeks. And it hadn’t been caught yet.
         Nalia smiled slightly at this. “Guess I will be some help here, but not in the forest as I thought. Oh well, protector of the forest and everything in it, this village is sure enough in the forest,” thought Nalia to herself, “but since I will be needed here, I’d best find somewhere to stay…I wonder…”
         Nalia finished her meal and walked to her old house. Sure enough, it was empty, but for some reason, it was well kept. She talked with one of the neighbors, and he said that a young man came by once a week and made sure the place was kept well. He also said no one owned it, so if Nalia wanted it, it was hers. Nalia thanked the man and walked back to the house, it was locked, but nothing bit of picking couldn’t unlock. She had it opened in less than a minute and she walked in.
         It was almost exactly as they had left it. It was cleaner and everything was fixed, but it was still her home, and it still felt like it. Nalia walked to her old room and felt memories flood back to her.
         All the times Seth came over to ask Nalia if she wanted to go play at the park. All the times he met her here to walk to school. Almost every memory had to do with Seth. The worst was the last day Nalia had seen Seth, he hadn’t cared to say good bye. He had just been mad at her. alia sighed. Well, she doubted Seth was still here, he was always taking risks, he would have moved away. Nalia laid down on the bare floor and feel asleep.
         The next morning Nalia walked around the village and finally found the blacksmith. Her sword needed sharpening if she was planning on dealing with a murderer. She walked in to the blacksmith’s shop. She found everything to be neat and tidy. She saw the blacksmith and walked up to him.
         “Excuse me, sir?” Nalia said.
         The blacksmith jumped; “Damn!” he turned to face her, “don’t sneak up on people like that!”
         Nalia took one look at him and her mouth dropped open. It was Seth. A much bigger Seth, with muscles and darker green eyes, but it was still Seth.
         “Is something wrong?” he asked.
         Nalia got her composure back and shut her mouth, “Sorry, I was surprised to see you sill here Seth.”
         “Huh? Do I know you?” Seth stared at her.
         “You use to, anyway, can you sharpen swords?” said Nalia hoping she looked calm.
         “Uh… yeah, you have the sword? Or do you need to get it from your boyfriend?”
         Nalia’s eyes went cold as steel, “It’s my sword,” she pulled it out and held it for Seth to take.
         “Right, sorry ma’am,” he took, “it won’t take me long if you would like to stay and wait.”
Seth went over to his sharpening tools and went to work.
         “No need for ma’am, makes me feel older than I am,” said Nalia as she watched Seth.
         “Heh, sorry, how old are you?” Seth took a quick look up and felt like an electric shock went through him but he didn’t know why.
         “Twenty-two, same as you,” replied Nalia
         “How’d you know that?” Seth stopped and looked at Nalia.
         “If you hadn’t forgotten about me, you’d have know my age too,” said Nalia.
         “You’re not making any sense,” said Seth as he handed back the sharpened sword.
         Nalia put it away, “The name Nalia ring a bell?”
         Seth slowly stood up, “Maybe, why?”
         “How about the girl that grew up with you? The girl who you were her only friend? Or maybe, the girl that said she would never forget you, even if you forgot about her?” Nalia was speaking in a very cold tone.
         “Alright, Nalia, who you’re describing is Nalia…wait…how would you know about that last thing? It was between us, a letter she wrote me, how…” something clicked in Seth’s mind, “Nalia?!”
         “Oh, so you do remember,” Nalia smiled.
         Seth looked her up and down, “Of course I remember you, you’ve just changed…” She really had. Instead of soft gray eyes, she now had sharp piercing gray eyes. Instead of short, crop red hair; she now had really long, fiery red hair. And now, instead of a small skinny little kid, she was a tall and slim woman.
         “You’ve really change Nalia, not just appearance either. I remember a shy girl, now here you are standing here after I’ve sharpened your sword, a sword!” Seth just shook his head.
         “Well I’m not the only one that’s changed, I would have thought you gone by now Seth. And if I ever did see you, I wouldn’t imagine you like this. A blacksmith? You’ve changed as well, but I still recognized you,” said Nalia.
         “Sorry Nalia, I didn’t…I… well it has been ten years and I figured I’d never see you again,” said Seth.
         Nalia shook her head, “well I’m back, and I’m sure for good. I’m protector of this forest now.”
         “Protector of this forest? Huh?”
         “I’m a ranger, ya know, protectors of the forests? Well I’m the ranger of this forest. That also means this village.”
         “Ranger? You a ranger? I never would have guessed that for you. Do you even know how to use that sword?”
         “Yes, I do, and my bow,” Nalia said a bit coldly, and shifted a bit so he could see the bow.
         “Damn Nalia, you really have changed. A bow, a sword, and you’re a ranger. Well, hey, you want to come over to my place and have dinner so I can find out how much more you’ve changed?” asked Seth
         Suddenly, someone walked in, “Honey, who are you asking over for dinner? You know we have plans tonight!”
         Nalia winced at the word honey; she turned to see who it was.
         “All be damn Seth, you’re going out with miss snot nose?” Nalia actually said loudly.
The woman walked over. She was the popular rich kid back in school.
         “Excuse me?! And who might you be?” she still had the snotty way of talking.
         Nalia smiled coldly, “My name’s Nalia, and you miss snot nose, are Valia.”
         Valia glared, “What the hell is with the snot nose? Are you little kid or what?”
         “Alright, you want something more adult? How about bitch then?” Nalia rolled her eyes and glanced at Seth, “thanks for sharpening my sword.”
         Nalia walked out, Valia followed and grabbed her arm, “listen, I don’t know who you think you are, but stay away from Seth. He’s mine.”
         Nalia looked at her, “I don’t think I want him anymore if he likes girls like you, he’s not even worth it then.”
         Valia glared, “He’s worth more than you are.”
         Nalia rolled her eyes and faced Valia, “I think not”, she ripped her arm out of her grasped and walked off and into the forest.
         “I can’t believe he’s going out with her!” thought Nalia to herself as she wandered around the forest, “she’s got her nose so high in the air, it’s probably out farther than the stars. I figured Seth would change, but how could he go that low? I thought maybe what we had would still be there between us. Obviously it’s not in him anymore…I know I still like him…though it’s getting hard to when he’s with a girl, let alone a girl that’s a snob.”
         Nalia thought she heard something behind her, she jumped up into the nearest tree and looked through the branches. A large, black figure came crashing through bushes.
         “Damnit, I thought I saw her go this way! Where could she have gotten to?” it was Seth.
         Nalia quietly got down behind him, “looking for someone?”
         Seth jumped and whirled around to face Nalia, “What’s up with this sneaking!?”
         Nalia smiled, “Rangers are always quiet, get used to it. Now, who were you looking for?”
         “You, Valia came back crying said you’d hurt her, so I came looking for you.”
         Nalia’s smile disappeared and her eyes went the cold, “I did nothing to the snob, even though I really would have gotten some satisfaction of wiping that smirk off her face.”
         “Then why was she crying? What did you say to her?” asked Seth not noticing the quick change.
         “She said I was to stay away from you, I told her I would since your not even worth being around anymore, if that’s enough to make her cry, then to bad.”
         “What? What do you mean I’m not worth being around anymore? What’s gotten into you Nalia?”
         “What’s gotten into me? What’s gotten into you! Your girl comes crying to you just saying she was hurt, and you come flying at me! You know I wouldn’t hurt someone you cared for, no matter how much I changed! I don’t know what the hell you see her, but you like her, that’s fine, I still won’t hurt her no matter how much I hate her. I was your friend for 12 years, we were best friends! Now there is nothing between you and me, I think it is you, that has changed the most Seth. Not me. I’ll see you around.” Nalia jumped up into the tree and was far away before Seth came to his senses.
         Seth slowly walked back to his shop, rethinking about everything Nalia had said, “What was I thinking? Valia didn’t say what had hurt her, I just assumed it was Nalia. Valia didn’t even say how much she was hurting, she does cry easily. But Nalia was wrong about one thing, there is something between us…I just don’t know what.”
         He arrived at the blacksmith and Valia was there waiting for him.
         “Honey, can we go home now? We’ve still got plans tonight,” she said.
         “What? Oh yeah, sure, come on.” Seth took her hand and they walked home. The whole time they were secretly being watched.
         “They’ll be next week, I’ll watch them more, it’ll be fun to do a double killing. But tonight, I’ve got other plans,” thought the mysterious being that was watching Seth and Valia. It ran off.
         Nalia had cooled off and was now walking around the village. Taking everything in, making routes and plans for her night routine, her routine that would hopefully catch the murderer. She had her night routine almost planned out when she heard a scream. She completely forgot about her plan and ran where she had heard the scream coming from. Nalia skidded to a halt when she saw a bunch of people crowded around a house. She tried to get to whatever they were see but it was no use. She gave up pushing and stepped back then did a quick handspring over them and landed on the roof.
         “Excuse me! May I have your attention please!” Nalia yelled, everyone looked up at her, “Thank you! I am Nalia, I’m the ranger, or for you who don’t know what those are, protector of this forest and if you would be so kind, I’d like to help you.”
         The people moved away, except for two. One was a man on the ground in a pool of blood; the other was a woman weeping over him. Nalia jumped down from the roof and took it all in. The body had many dagger wounds all over, and was missing parts of its body. It seemed like the murder had a dagger and a sword.
         Nalia looked up at the closes person, “You, get an old blanket to cover this poor man,” she turned to a woman, “You, help this woman, get her inside and calmed down,” Nalia turned to one last person, “and you, is the murder like the other ones I’ve heard have happened?”
         This last person was an old man, he nodded, “Yes’m, but each murder gets worse and worse, at first it was only a slit throat, now it seems the murderer is taking pleasure in destroying the body. And now it is happening more often. We are starting to get worried.”
         Nalia frowned at that, “Alright, listen up everyone, I am going do everything I can to protect you, protect this village. If you see me walking around at night, do not be scared. If you hear noises that are odd, then you are to be scared and make as much noise as possible. I am quiet; the only way you will know I’m there is if you happen to see me. Now, if anything else happens like this or seems to be connected to this, I want to be told of it. That is all for tonight, someone take care of this man for now and tomorrow you can have a proper burial.”
         Everyone nodded and went back about their things, now reassured. Nalia let out a breath and went off to rethink her plans. She’d have to work faster; luckily, Nalia was good at being fast.
{c}
         For a week Nalia walked her night routine and slept in the middle of the day. She stayed away from Seth and Valia, and instead of sleeping at her old house, she slept in the woods. She didn’t want those memories haunting her. The sun was setting now; Nalia had yet to find anything to do with the murder, she was hoping that tonight she would.
         She was watching the sun go down while sitting on the roof of her old house when something caught her eye. She only tilted her head slightly and watched out of the corner of her eyes as something crept across the rooftop. Whatever it was, it was covered in all black and coming toward her, it must not have seen her.
         Nalia quickly slid off the roof, hoping it didn’t see her yet. She crouched down in the shadows and watched it jump from roof to roof, then it was on her old house’s roof. It continued on, Nalia followed it in the shadows on the side of the house. It stopped at Seth’s house.
         Nalia quickly went in through a window; she saw Seth and Valia sitting on the couch together in an embrace. Nalia winced and hid in the shadows, luckily they hadn’t seen her. She saw the black thing come in on the other side through a window just like she had. She saw the glint of a sword as he raised it.
         Nalia quickly drew hers and came out of her hiding spot, startling Seth and Valia, and the black figure. Nalia saw that the black figure was a man, it was the one that said she should come protect this village. Seth and Valia still hadn’t noticed the other man; they just sat staring at Nalia.
         Nalia kept her eyes on the man, “didn’t think I’d catch you did you? Thought just because I’m a female I wouldn’t figure it out?”
The man chuckled, scaring Seth and Valia, “Well since you did figure it all out, it means tonight I get to kill three,” he swung his sword right for Valia’s head.
         Nalia jumped forward and knocked Valia back while blocking the sword, “I don’t thinks so, you don’t get to kill anymore, not while I’m here.”
         Seth finally came to his senses and grabbed Valia and they backed away from the two fighters. Nalia moved off the couch and onto the floor and faced the man.
         “Oh good, I love to play,” he slashed out at Valia and she blocked again and slashed out, leaving only a small gash on his side, “Oh, you’re going to pay for that.”
         “Heh, you’re going to pay for everything you’ve done,” said Nalia as she blocked another swing and slashed back, making another gash.
         “Alright, now I’m mad,” he slashed at Nalia, she blocked again, but this time he quickly drew his dagger and cut a deep gash in her side.
         Nalia pretend it wasn’t there and kept blocking and slashing at him, finally she saw her opening and she plunged her sword right through him then she pulled it out.
         “Ah!” the man doubled over clutching his wound, “you bitch!” he charged at Nalia with the last of his life and cut another deep slash from her right shoulder to her left hip. Then he died.
Seth and Valia sat holding on to each other in a corner; Seth finally let go and stood up, “thank you Nalia, you saved us.”
         “No problem,” Nalia answered weakly then she fainted from blood loss.
         “Shit! Nalia?!” Seth ran over and carefully picked up Nalia, she was bleeding badly. He took her and ran to the healer’s house, without a second glance at Valia.
The healer quickly took Nalia from Seth and quickly went to work, leaving Seth to his own thoughts.
         “She saved me, she risked her life to save me when I was a complete jerk to her. She hated Valia, she could have let him get rid of her, but she didn’t. Instead she fought for our lives, and is now suffering,” thought Seth as he paced in front of the healer’s house, “I can’t believe I acted that way to her…maybe some of it was hurt coming back for her leaving…maybe it was the surprise of seeing her again. I don’t know what it was, but I know there is something between us. I just have to find out what, and I have to make everything up to Nalia.”
         The healer finally came out after a half-hour, she spotted Seth and walked over to him, “Are you the one that brought our protector in?”
         Seth nodded, “Will she be alright?”
         The healer smiled, “She’ll be fine, she can’t move for a week though, if he does she might reopen the wounds and she’s lost enough blood already. Is there somewhere you can take her? I’ve seen her going into the woods in the day time, but she’s out and about during the night watching over us, I don’t think she has a place she can go.”
         Seth smiled slightly, “I think I have the perfect place for her…but it needs things inside. It’s just an empty house at the moment. Do you think she can stay here over night and I’ll pick her up late tomorrow after I’ve gotten the house ready?”
         “Sure, she’s welcomed to stay as long as it takes to get the house ready. It’s the least I can do for our protector.”
         Seth smiled at the name she kept calling Nalia, “Thank you, I’ll be back tomorrow then. Good night.”
         The healer went back inside and Seth went back home. Valia had already left. He cleaned up the bloody mess, then went to bed. The next morning he was up early and he went over to Nalia’s old house and went to work.
{c}
Nalia woke up two days after her fight. She found herself in a recognizable room; it was her old room! But it was different. She was in a wood bed and surrounded by plants. She noticed a note by the bed and she picked it up.
Thank you for everything, if you need anything, just ask.
         It was signed, Your grateful Village. Nalia looked around again taking in all the flowers and other plants, something inside her softened. She slowly sat up, grimacing in pain. Seth walked in.
         “Hey, you’re not suppose to move Nalia,” Seth sat in a chair near the bed, he looked like he hadn’t gotten much sleep.
         Nalia smiled, “ I know, I’ve been hurt like this many times before. Well…not as bad, but I know I’m not supposed to move. I just had to sit up, your not going to tell on me, are you?” Nalia looked at Seth with a bit of laughter in her eyes.
         Seth smiled back at Nalia, “As I recall, you were that tattle-tale.”
         “And you were the one that was always getting into trouble. Anyway, am I really in my old house?”
         “Yes, almost everything you see was donated by the village. They were all so glad that you got rid of the murderer and when they heard you needed somewhere to stay and that this was your old house, well they chipped in and gave you these things.”
         “That was nice of them, but I was only doing what I said I’d do.”
         “Well, you just arrived here, they weren’t expecting you to care and they didn’t trust you to do what you said you do. But I trust you, I should have trusted you that first day too and I didn’t. I’m sorry.”
         Nalia smiled, “Well at least you can say sorry now, you hardly ever did when we were growing up.”
         “Ha ha, very funny Nalia,” Seth smiled anyway.
         “Well I thought so, anyway, I forgive you, if you forgive me about the things I said about you.”
         “I don’t, I deserved what you said, I was being a jerk, and I’m sorry for that too,” Seth looked down.
         Nalia reached out weakly and lifted his head up and looked in his eyes, and something sparked between them. Nalia blinked, “ ah…look, I forgive you for everything, don’t worry about it.”
         Seth smiled, “Alright, thank you Nalia, I always knew you had a good heart.”
         Now Nalia looked down, “Yes, a good heart for some things,” she sighed.
         “What are you talking about Nalia? You have a good heart. For your friends, for anyone that needs help, for everything.”
         “Well it wasn’t good enough for you,” Nalia looked at Seth with tears in her eyes, “I wrote you a letter before the one I gave you, I wrote everything down, I was going to give it to you. Then I remembered how you didn’t even care that I was getting hurt, so I burned it and wrote another letter, the one that you got. I was going to tell you that I loved you, but I figured if you couldn’t care about me getting hurt, you wouldn’t care that I loved you. You know how I told you I’d remember you forever? Well in the other letter I said I’d keep you in my heart forever. I’d love you forever. I love you now, I’ll love you tomorrow, and I’ll keep on loving you. Now that I’ve told you everything, you should just go,” by now tears were falling from Nalia’s eyes.
         Seth had a shocked expression on his face, “Nalia…”
         Valia walked in and gave Nalia a cold glare, “Honey, come on, leave miss hero here to sleep,” she walked up and grabbed Seth’s arm and they walked away. Seth was too stunned to do anything but let Valia drag him away.
         Nalia laid down and cried herself to sleep.
{c}
         Seth didn’t show up for the next three days, Nalia was healing fine and figured she could get up now. Nalia found her clothes, neatly mended, and her weapons. She got dressed and only felt slightly weak. She walked out; taking one last look at her house then slipped into the shadows and went into the forest.
Ever since she spilled her heart out and got nothing in return, Nalia had felt her heart go cold and hollow. She was hoping that being in the forest might help ease her heartache.
She found a small grove. The scent was overpowering with flowers, but Nalia could careless. She sat in the middle of the grove and stared off, but wasn’t seeing the flowers or the trees. She was a twelve-year-old again, the day she realized she loved Seth. He was doing dangerous things again, and all Nalia could do was watch. When she thought she was about to lose him, she realized how much she cared for him, and she knew she cared for him a great deal more than on a friendship level.
         Nalia sighed, and all Seth had cared about was being friends. Now, all he cared about was Valia, the snob, who didn’t even changer her feelings toward Nalia even after she saved Valia. If it weren’t for her duty to protect the forest, she’d leave. But as it is, she couldn’t, but what she could do was hide out in the forest.
         Nalia’s focus went hazy and she felt dizzy. She laid down and passed out.
{c}}e:star}
         Meanwhile, Seth was going crazy looking all over the town for Nalia. He couldn’t fine her anywhere. He’d gone to the house that afternoon to talk with her and found her gone. No note, no nothing. Her clothes and weapons gone; there was no trace of her.
         “Damnit! Where is she?!” Seth ran around town asking people if they’d seen her. Finally one said they thought they saw something go into the forest. Seth immediately ran into the forest and crashed around.
         Seth burst into a clearing and saw dark green and dark red among the flowers.
         “Nalia? Nalia!?” Seth shouted as he rushed over.
         It was her, and she had blacked out.
“Nalia…” Seth picked her up and held her close while walking through the forest.
         He finally found a small pool of water and laid Nalia down. Then he soaked apiece of cloth and gently wiped Nalia’s face.
         “Come on Nalia, wake up!” said Seth.
         Nalia finally stirred. She slowly opened her eyes and jerked up when she saw Seth, “What are you doing here? Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here. You’re supposed to be staying away from me,” Nalia was stuttering the whole time.
         Seth leaned over and kissed her, “That’s why I’m here Nalia. I came to tell you I love you. I couldn’t tell you before; I was so shocked that you would still love me after all these years. Then I had to get rid of Valia, which wasn’t pretty. And then, I had to find you. You know how to sneak away very well, only one-person thought they saw you. And I still had trouble finding you in here. I hope you forgive me for waiting so long, but please tell me you still love me.”
         Nalia stared at Seth, she felt like she was coming back alive. She slowly got up and wrapped her arms around Seth and kissed him.
“I do, I love you,” she repeated over and over again.
Seth held her tight and they sat in each other’s arms for a long time.