“I want to say ‘I’m sure you didn’t do anything that bad,’ but the way you are looking at me right now is kind of freaking me out...” Barry smiled nervously.

Standing in middle of the forest, a little away from Banshees and a little away from home, both Freya and Barry were learning new secrets about each other. Barry couldn’t believe the Banshees were giving Freya back her memory. It almost didn’t make them the bad guys but the fact she wasn’t willing to take it back was concerning to him.

“Freya, what did you do?” Barry asked, looking at her back.

She was facing the other way but he could feel how nervous she was. She slowly turned around, fidgeting with her fingers, she met his eyes. Freya wasn’t sure if she should tell him. What if he thinks she’s just like every other monster and decides to run away from her, like she runs away from every other creature.

“Come on, tell me.” He took a step forward.

Freya wanted to turn around or at least take a step back away from him but she didn’t - she didn’t stop him as his hands reached for her face and his thumb caressed her cheeks. She didn’t stop him, instead she closed her eyes for a bit. It was nice to feel a human touch that wasn’t hers.

Human touch or Barry’s touch? Her mind shot back and her eyes flew open, breaking the moment.

“I - I don’t remember much of it.” She said and looked away.

Barry dropped his hands and sighed, “it’s alright if you don’t want to tell me. I won’t pressurize you but know that I’m sure you will feel a lot lighter if you let it out.” He smiled at her and turned around.

He sat on his knees and opened his back to take his shirt out while Freya looked at the man in front of her. It's been a few days since she first met him. Freya was sure he was an idiot who’s going to get killed the very next day but she was wrong. He might be goofy, weirdly sarcastic but he wasn’t an idiot. He knew what he was doing. He was a smart mouth but he knew what to say to make her feel better... and Freya wasn’t sure what to do about this feeling inside her.

Barry took off the giant leaf attached to his chest. His eyes open wide when he notices there isn’t a single scratch on his chest.

“Hey, it’s gone!” he exclaimed, looking back at Freya.

“What’s gone?” She walked near him.

He stood up and turned her face towards her, “The scars from the... thing Banshees did. They are gone and it does not even hurt.” He smiled proudly, causing Freya to shake her head,

“It is because of the oak tree’s mixture. What are you so proud of?” She rolled her eyes playfully,

He looked at her with fake hurt expressions on his face, “What can a man do to feel happy here!”

Freya laughed and looked at him. His muscles flexed as he put on his shirt. Picking the bag from the ground, he looked at her,

“What?” He asked confused,

“Nothing.” She shook her head.

She felt sad... she wanted to tell him what happened but she could only remember bits of it. She wasn’t even sure what to tell him but she was certain whatever happened to her parents, happened because of her.

Barry smiled and started walking forward. Freya stood looking at his back; struggling between whether she told tell him or not... she took a deep breath.

There is no reason for not telling him... She thought to herself.

“I was nine when it happened...” her voice made Barry turn around and she looked away. She couldn’t face him while telling the story, “I - I didn’t know about how the Island works. The mistletoe, Banshees, animals, creature; I wasn’t aware of anything. My mom, Anne and my dad, Brian, I don’t know how they got here but I know I was born here. They would always tell me about the world outside here and how one day, ‘help will come,” Freya smiled, “I never got the chance to ask what help? Who will come? I never got the chance to ask anything,”

“What happened?” Barry’s voice made Freya come back to reality. She didn’t realize he was standing close to her.

“It was around mid-night, I guess. I remember something happened outside our house which made me curious. Mom had a strict ‘no one leaves the house after sun goes down’ rule. Everyone followed it pretty religiously,” She smiled, “I saw something run in front of the house and I got up. It took me around five minutes to stumble past mom and dad without waking them up. I left the house and chased that thing into the forest. I don’t remember what I was following or how long was I outside the house but when I came back, mom and dad were up. They were furious,” a tear escaped her eye and fell to the ground, “They were yelling. Both of them, holding each other accountable for the fact that I left the house. It wasn’t until the main door opened with a loud bang, silencing both of them,” the hurt of her face was visible to him, “Something huge and gnarly broke down the main door and stumbled in the house. Roaring loudly, so loudly,” She sniffed, “I hid under my bed. Both of them – mom and dad – they took out their guns and started shooting at the creature but it was too big for them to take on. While both of them fought with it, mom yelled at me to run. She said, ‘Run, Frey, run!’ and so a nine-year-old Freya ran,” Barry looked at her, as her tears fell to the ground and she continued, “I ran - I ran for so long, I couldn’t feel my legs. I couldn’t stop crying and I couldn’t stop running. I was so far away from the house. Before I knew it, I fell down, which made me stop. I couldn’t even stand up straight so I dragged my body behind a huge tree to hide myself,” Freya was crying now. Tears streamed down her face endlessly as if she’s imaging herself in that situation all over again,

“Hey, hey, shh,” Barry pulled her closer to his chest, “It’s alright. You're okay.” he hugged her.

Freya couldn’t talk anymore. Her heart felt calm as Barry squeezed her against his chest.

“It wasn’t your fault, Freya. You were just a kid and neither was it your mom and dad’s fault.” he rested his chin on her head.

The island looked on at both of them wrapped around each in the cold, dark night. It wasn’t often the long, lost, forgotten Island witnessed a blooming love story.