“I love you.”

Those words, spoken so softly that they barely even disturbed the dust hanging in the air of the library, nevertheless sent echoes out into the worlds.

First, they reached Anne’s ears, leaving her stunned. Those few small words had entered into her soul and begun the work of rearranging everything she’d ever thought about herself and her own life. The process would take a few minutes, during which Anne would appear to be staring blankly at Corvina.

Next, they reached the ears of the original Saintess, the other Anne, wherever she was, cutting through her confusion and disconnectedness in an increasingly rare moment of lucidity. When those words echoed through the dark void, the Saintess fell to her knees, lit as if by a spotlight from nowhere, whispering to herself, “No. No no no no no.” She clutched the sides of her head, gripping her own hair almost hard enough to pull it out.

After that, they reached the ears of the Goddess. Probably. As all things did, if you believed in the Goddess or the fact that she had ears. It would be the sort of thing the Goddess would hear if the Goddess was around and capable of hearing it, anyway. She generally preferred not to confirm much either way.

Then they reached the ears of several large inter-dimensional beings whose mode of existence was so alien and incomprehensible to the human mind that it would be impossible to describe them. These beings didn’t react at all, since they were used to hearing that sort of thing, and anyway, it had nothing to do with them.

Finally, eventually, and with some delay, since magic worked at a speed just slower than the inherent connectedness of all things, it reached the ears of Sister Eva, who had just been released from her arboreal prison.

“You just have to learn how to speak the language of the trees,” said Prince Zaos, somewhere behind her. “I get along with them quite well, which is why Elyon sent me on this mission, even though it would otherwise be far beneath me. You should be thankful for my kindness, woman.”

“After being stuck in a tree all night I don’t have any energy left to have a gender…” moaned the assassin, from the ground.

“You should be thankful for my kindness, curse-breaker,” said Zaos.

The assassin sat up suddenly. “What the hell does that mean? What is a curse-breaker?” The assassin’s voice had a pleading, desperate tone to it. “And what do you mean talking to the trees? Why do the trees here have souls? Nothing about this damned forest makes any sense.”

Eva was only half-listening to any of this. As long as the assassin and the elf prince were wrapped up in their own pointless conversation, they would leave her alone, which suited her purposes just fine.

That, and Eva was well and truly exhausted after a night spent stuck in a tree, so it was hard to concentrate on following a conversation anyway.

Eva shivered on the ground as she remembered the feeling of the branches wrapped so tightly around her that she could barely even wiggle her fingers and toes. There was no way she could have comfortably slept like that, without knowing if she’d ever be able to escape. She’d barely been able to breathe.

And, worst of all, she hadn’t been able to use her magic.

She had reached inside herself, again and again, to the well of power inside her. She could feel it. So open, so accessible. It used to be difficult for her to reach it. It took a lot of effort and concentration. But over the years she’d honed her abilities so that it should hardly take a thought to tug at the power within.

But something about the tree had created a barrier between her and the power. No matter how deeply she reached inward, she couldn’t touch it.

Eva dragged herself upright, leaning against the tree for support. The elf prince had freed her, and he would make sure the trees didn’t grab her again. They were no longer a threat. And Eva could feel her magic again. She could reach it. She could use it.

Her first priority was to make sure Anne was okay. Or, at the very least, not in immediate danger. What if Anne had thrown herself into danger, going into the deep forest to try to find and rescue the lost Eva? Or what if she was distraught, not eating or sleeping from worry? Or what if something worse had happened?

So Eva activated the spell that let her see and hear through the lapel pin she’d given to Anne.

Luckily, it seemed that Anne was still wearing it. That made Eva happy, knowing that Anne still treasured the present Eva had given her.

Anne seemed to be in a library. Not a particularly dangerous location. And she was talking to Corvina… unfortunate, but not unexpected. If Eva wasn’t there, then of course Anne would turn to other sources of comfort.

Don’t worry, Anne, thought Eva. I’ll be back by your side soon.

Eva concentrated on the spell a little more, so that she could listen to what Anne and Corvina were saying.

“I don’t know what it’s like. But I do know that it’s not impossible to love you.”

“But how could you…”

“Because I’m in love with you.”

Eva was gripped with a sudden panic. It felt worse than being stuck in the tree all night. She couldn’t breathe.

Eva stumbled over to the others. “You!” she shouted.

Zaos, who had been deep in conversation with the assassin, turned around. “Me?” he said, pointing to himself. “How dare you address me that way! Do you not know who I am! I am—“

“Which way to the edge of the forest from here?” Eva asked. She didn’t have time for this. She didn’t have time for anything. She might already be too late.

Zaos paused and looked around. Then he cocked his head to one side, like he was listening to something. Then he placed his hand on a tree for a moment. Eva felt like she was going to explode.

“That way,” Zaos said, finally, pointing. “For the next ten minutes or so, but you really should let me escort you out or else—“

Eva reached inwards to the well of power.

Eva knew very well what the power was made of. She knew that the pool was only so deep. That she had a limited supply. And she knew what would happen if she used too much.

But there were more important things.

Eva yanked at a large amount of her hidden power, pouring it out into herself and the world around her.

Eva disappeared from the Forest, leaving a very confused elf prince and assassin behind.

Anne let out sort of a half laugh and pushed Corvina’s hands away, backing up a step. She said, “It’s okay, you don’t have to say that. I don’t actually have super low self esteem. I know I have friends who care about me and stuff.”

“No, Anne, you don’t understand,” said Corvina, taking a step forward. “I love you.”

“You know that’s not actually an elven greeting, right?” said Anne, taking a step back again. She bumped up against a bookshelf. “I just told you that because I was embarrassed by all the stuff I said when I was drunk that night when we met.”

“I know,” said Corvina, taking another step forward. “I pretty much knew from the first time you said that, I just went along with it because… It just seemed polite, I guess. Or maybe I already liked you a little. But Anne, this time I truly mean it. I love you.”

Anne was trapped up against the bookshelf now, so she couldn’t retreat any further. Corvina was so close their torsos were almost touching. Anne had to crane her neck up to look Corvina in the eye.

Corvina’s eyes were pink. That was something Anne had laughed about, once, when reading The Foundling’s Wings. It was such a cheesy fantasy novel combo, the purple hair and the pink eyes. Sometimes it was hard to take a story like that seriously. It was cartoonish.

But the reality of it was different, especially up close. Eyes, real eyes, were rarely actually just one solid color. Corvina’s eyes had streaks of a darker shade of pink, almost red, radiating out from her pupils. And there was an uneven ring of lighter pink around the edge of the irises, so pale it almost blended right into the whites of her eyes.

Her purple hair, too. There was always something fundamentally artificial about dyed hair, no matter how high quality the dye was or how skilled the stylist was. But Corvina’s hair looked so natural, despite its ‘unnatural’ color. Anne could almost forget there was anything strange about purple hair.

Anne was completely absorbed in these fine details, her mouth hanging half-open, when she suddenly noticed that Corvina was blushing. A lot. The blush extended from her face to her ears and all the way down to her shoulders, were exposed by the style of dress she was wearing.

Anne shifted slightly and Corvina abruptly pulled away. Then she doubled over, groaning and covering her face with her hands. “Goddess!” she said. “This wasn’t how this was supposed to go! I had a whole plan! I had several plans! This wasn’t romantic at all… I’m such a mess. Why couldn’t I have just waited for the right moment?”

“Corvina, are you okay?” Anne bent down and touched Corvina lightly on the back. Corvina startled at the touch, turning to face Anne, but still covering her face with her hands.

“No!” said Corvina, one of her eyes just peaking out in a gap between her fingers. “I’m not okay! I’m mortified. Can we just forget all about this and try again another time?”

Anne crouched down to be eye-level with Corvina, taking hold of both her hands to pull them away from her face.

“You really love me?” Anne asked in a low voice.

Corvina nodded.

“Why me?” asked Anne. She couldn’t stop herself from asking it.

“You saved me,” said Corvina. She stood up and leaned back, half-sitting against the table. Anne also stood up, leaning back against the bookshelf, watching her.

Corvina struggled for a moment, looking this way and that, searching for the words. “The way I was raised, I… I worked hard over the years to turn my heart to stone.” Corvina put a hand on her chest, clenched into a fist. “I thought I had to be perfect. In order to survive. I knew the world was a dangerous place and I had to weave this delicate dance through it, or else the consequences would be dire. I didn’t think I had any other choices. But then you!”

Corvina gestured towards Anne with both hands. “You just… strolled into my life like you didn’t have a care in the world and you casually said things that shattered my world like they were nothing to you. Like they were simply… obvious. And suddenly everything changed.” She shook her head. “No, that’s not right, everything else was the same, really, but I changed. And suddenly my options didn’t seem so limited. And I could breathe again. I could..” Corvina placed her hand on her chest again, patting it twice. “I could feel my stone heart beating again.”

Anne was just starting as Corvina spoke, trying to process all of this.

Corvina laughed then, just a little, and shrugged. “I apologize if that was a bit dramatic. The truth is, you’re also very cute, and kind, and funny, and—“

“Corvina,” Anne stepped up to Corvina, closing the distance again. She gently placed her hand on the back of Corvina’s neck. Corvina fell silent, and they spent a moment just staring into each other’s eyes. Anne couldn’t get enough of those eyes.

“I love you, too,” said Anne. It was almost a whisper. “I’ve loved you since before I met you.”

“I was hoping you might say that,” Corvina whispered.

Afterwards, neither of them could remember who it was who had initiated that first kiss. It was possible they both moved at once in one of those rare moments where the desires of two people perfectly align and for a brief flash in time everything just works out the way it should.

Afterwards, Anne would mostly remember how soft the kiss was, and how delicate. How their lips had interlocked perfectly together. Hesitant at first, neither of them really knowing what they were doing, and then slowly gaining confidence, finding the right rhythm together.

Afterwards, Corvina would mostly remember how it wasn’t like being struck by lightning, the way some books described it. Rather, it was like a pool of warmth that started at the base of her ribcage and spread throughout her body until she was trembling with the anticipation of it.

Who knows what that kiss might have turned into if Eva hadn’t arrived at that exact moment?

“Anne!” shouted Sister Eva, sternly.

That ended the kiss.

“Eva,” said Anne, a stupid grin on her face. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Come with me, now,” said Eva, grabbing Anne’s arm.

“No,” said Corvina, grabbing Anne’s other arm. “You don’t have to go with her. Not if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay,” said Anne, patting Corvina reassuringly on the cheek. “I’ll just talk to her for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

Despite the look on Corvina’s face, Anne was too happy to feel at all worried about what might happen in the immediate future. Anne didn’t even notice the anger in Eva’s eyes as she practically dragged Anne out of the library. If Anne knew how to whistle, she would have been whistling.

Corvina loved her. Corvina! Her!

Now that was a real miracle worth praising the Goddess for.