"I don't want to go." Amelia whines softly as we board a carriage borrowed from the baron.

"We don't want you to go either, but your mom misses you." Apricot and I sit on either side of the depressed blonde so we can each put an arm around her, two in my case. "And, you miss them too. Go home, re-connect with your family, and we'll be waiting when you get back."

"And, with the bond." Apricot adds. "We're never more than a thought away."

"I know." Amelia sighs. "But, it's like we've been living in our own little world this past week. Now, we're entering the real world again and won't be able to spend all our time together."

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing." I say, having seen what happens to couples that spend too much time together. "You're bound to get tired of us if we spend too much time together. And, if you don't believe me, then Apricot and I can prove it by having a pun contest."

"Please don't." A tiny smile appears on her lips.

"That's what I want to see." Apricot traces a finger across her lover's lips. "And, if you get lonely. Just think about what we're going to do to you next time we're together." The pixie's voice comes out as a low purr.

"Nnh." Amelia whimpers. "Please don't get me all worked up right before we reach my parent's house."

"You're no fun." Apricot drops back into her seat with a smile at having broken Amelia's funk.

Amelia rolls her eyes at the smug pixie, but her smile grows to match. "Thank you, and I know you're probably right Sorrel. I've seen plenty of friends go a bit love crazy with their first relationship, but I'm still going to miss you both."

"It's not like we're going anywhere." I give her a little squeeze. "We just won't be glued to each other all day long anymore. And, maybe this way I'll finally have some time to work on translating Frankenstein for you." I give her a little something extra to look forward to.

"Oh, I'd almost forgotten about that." She bounces in her seat a little, making Apricot and I giggle. "Are you really going to be able to write out a whole book from memory?"

"It's in my head, just like all those songs." I prevaricate slightly, still not ready to drop the whole gift from a god thing on them just yet. "The hardest part will just be working through all the flowery language."

"So, I can't tempt you with sex, but he can with books?" Apricot puts on a fake pout.

"Oh, I plan to fuck her brains out too." I chortle when my coarse language turns the blonde's face bright pink. "I just understand that she craves a good read as much as she does a good fuck."

"You two are mean." This time Amelia is the one to put on the fake pout while Apricot and I laugh.

"Mhm, we love you too." I pull her in for a kiss before handing her off to Apricot.

The carriage slows to a stop before we go any farther than that. "We've arrived at the Rialta's home." Amelia's blush turns beet red when she realizes the driver was able to hear everything we just said.

""Hahahahah."" Apricot and I crack up laughing again. "One of us really needs to learn a sound-proofing spell. Hahahah."

"Shut up." Amelia flounces her way out of the carriage. "It's not funny."

"It really was." Apricot says between giggles.

"Just blame your brother." I say quietly enough that said brother, who's waiting at the door with their parents can't hear. "If it wasn't for him stealing the wagon, we could have just borrowed a horse. Sir, Ma'am." I speak up once we get a little closer to her parents. "Sorry for getting her back so late, but the Baron's chef went all out for dinner."

"That's quite alright." Turner says with a smile. "I just hope you were able to finish healing that little girl."

"She has a few small patches left, but I'll get to them in the morning." They look relieved at hearing my words. "And, I'll be getting trained in proper healing spells soon, so I'll be able to do better in the future."

"I may have been by the road, but I saw Myra's face when you took those bandages off." Rodrick says with passion. "She may not have been in danger of dying from those burns, but you gave that little girl her life back."

I don't know what to say to that, fortunately, Amelia comes to my rescue. "And, he had to eat a week’s worth of food after that, and every other healing. Sorrel wants to learn the spells so he doesn't have to drain himself just to help someone."

"Not having to wait half a day between major healings would be nice too." I nod and bring out several large chocolate bars. "But, helping a little girl isn't all I did today. I'm guessing that Amelia must get her sweet tooth from one of you, so I made some extra chocolate for the both of you."

"The little wagon thief doesn't get any." Amelia punches her brother on the arm.

"Don't hit your brother." Kaitlyn says perfunctorily, but her eyes don't leave the platter of treats.

"Alright, we should get going." I pull Amelia into a hug. She blushes, but hugs me back. "It's getting late, and I have to try healing Annette's ears tomorrow." I pass her off to Apricot, who behaves herself, despite the twinkle in her eye.

"Don't overdo it, okay?" Her eyes still look worried despite my repeated assurances.

"I won't, I swear." One last three-way hug and three soft "I love you's" that she doesn't blush over, even though her family does. And, the pixie and I leave.

We're subdued on the ride back, both of us already missing her. Neither of us saying anything, but polite 'good night's' to our hosts as we head straight up to our room.

"Are you doing okay?" I sit down next to Apricot on the bed.

"The bond is fine, I can still feel Amelia just fine." She answers a question I had, just not the one I asked.

"That's good." I slip my arm around her. "But, are 'you' okay?"

"Nnh." She shrugs my arm off and flops back onto the mattress and hides her face with an arm, but not before I see the tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't know. I can still feel her, and I know she's not going anywhere. But..."

"You miss her." I hug the pixie tight. "I do too. You can go to her if you want, I can survive on my own for one night."

"Then, I would just miss you." Apricot hugs me back. "And, we've already gone over this. I'm not going to leave you alone tonight."

"Fine, fine." I finally relent. "But, I want you to fly to her first thing in the morning. Now, come on." I pull her farther onto the bed. "Amelia keeps hogging big-spoon, and I just want to wrap you up in my arms tonight."

...

I wake to find Apricot still wrapped up tight in my embrace. She's still asleep, so I just lay there, happy that we both seem to have gotten a good night's sleep.

"Morning." She says dreamily, a few minutes later. "You slept well?"

"Very, you make a great little-spoon. I can see why Amelia keeps stealing you for herself." I trail a finger along her hip. "Is she awake yet?"

"Almost." Her orange mop of hair bobs slightly when she nods. "I'll go to her soon, but will you please fuck me first?" The cute little thing actually seems somewhat shy when she asks that.

"No." I shift our bodies so that instead of hugging her, I'm now leaning over her. "But, I will make love to you." Keeping my eyes locked on hers, I lean down just enough for our lips to meet. "I know this is hardest on you, but I swear it's just temporary. We'll all be together again soon."

"Thank you." Her lips brush mine again.

...

"No Apricot?" Elise asks when I sit down for a late breakfast. Apricot and I took our time earlier, she was having fun pushing the sensations of our lovemaking down the link to tease Amelia.

"She was missing Amelia, and flew over to spend some time with her." I answer while filling my plate. "Her mom hasn't seen her for months and is feeling over-protective. Which I understand, but poor Apricot is caught between cultures here."

"I don't know much about pixies, but I've never heard of one being on her own like that."

"She says she was kicked out because she played too many pranks." I explain. "But, the way she closes down when talking about it makes me think that one of those pranks must have gone horribly wrong."

"That poor girl." Glynda shudders slightly. "Is she going to be okay?"

"She's a tough little thing." I smile just thinking of her. "Speaking of tough little girls. I took care of the last of Myra's burns on my way down, so I'm ready to have a go at fixing Anne's ears. Is she still around, or did she have to go back to work?"

"She has today off, she just loves to sleep in." Her mom answers. The woman is clearly trying not to get her hopes up, but I can see the hope in her eyes whenever she looks at me. "Once you finish your meal, we can go up and wake her."

"That works." I nod. "William said they were planning to head back to the farm in a little bit, and I wanted to tag along and speak with his neighbors."

We head back upstairs a moment later. Glynda has me wait in an antechamber while she goes to wake her daughter. Elise sits down next to me with a worried face.

"Will you really be able to heal her?" The healer's comes out as little more than a whisper.

"I believe I can." I lower my voice to match. "I healed the old infection scars on Amelia's Aunt and, while it took more energy than a fresh wound, I didn't have any problems. At worst, it'll just take me a few sessions."

"Sorrel." Anne's voice draws my eyes to her bedroom door. She's standing there in a long satin robe, her hair still messy from sleep. Her eyes holding a mixture of trust and fear, hope and worry.

"Nice bed-head." I smile when she blushes. "Heheh, come here and have a seat; I just need you to drink this." A wooden glass quickly fills with healing sap. I've mostly recovered what little I used on Myra earlier, but don't know how much this is going to take. So, I only give her about a third of my maximum.

She takes a steadying breath before downing the sap in one go. I close my eyes and guide it to the damaged auditory nerve in her right ear first. That side had the most damage, and will, therefore take the most effort to restore. She squirms at the strange sensation of her nerves growing back together.

I hand her another glass without opening my eyes. It looks like I should have just enough to repair the nerves in both ears and touch up the worst of the noise-related damage in her cochlea. Her nerves are much worse off than the small amount of scarring that Carmen had.

The third glass goes down just like the first two, and it isn't long before she can hear. Well, she could if there was anything to hear. Her mom and Elise are holding their breath, and the thick walls of the manor house block out any other noise. My job done, I sit back and nod at Glynda with a smile.

"Baby?" Her voice squeaks out.

"Momma. Oh, Momma. I can hear you." They cling to each other as tears flow freely down their cheeks.

Not wanting to intrude, but mostly wanting to restore my spent energy, I slip out of the room. Elise follows me a second later.

"Thank you." She says while a few tears of her own leak out.

"She still has some noise-related damage." I create a handkerchief for her. "I'll take care of it later, but she probably won't even notice the difference. Now, go back to your family, I can reach the kitchens on my own."

"Sorrel, Elise? Where'd you go?" Anne calls from the door.

"I need to go eat, she was just thanking me."

"We'll come with you." Her robe slips open when she steps into the hallway, revealing a barely-there slip.

"Maybe you should get dressed first." I say while looking at the ceiling.

The sight of her tight, toned body. Her soft, round breasts. Those milky-smooth thighs. The barest glimpse of downy hair through the nearly sheer fabric. It's more than enough to make me forget about food in favor of an entirely different kind of hunger.

"Eeek!" She disappears back into the room, her mother's laughter ringing out when the door slams shut.

"Oh, that girl." Elise shakes her head with a sigh. "Thank you again, Sorrel." She bows her head to me before following after Anne.

"Fuck me!" I breathe out the oath and just stare at the closed door for a second until a rumble from my stomach reminds me that I'm starving. "I really need to learn those damned healing spells."

***