The Journey

by Jennifer Ensley

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Oh yeah… my Zelda DS.” I chuckled. “How in the world did you remember that song?”

  “How could I forget it? You almost flunked out of Statistics—sitting up all night playing that silly game.”

  I bumped him with my shoulder. “It’s not silly. I’m in love with Link. He reminds me of you. Especially all the newer versions and artwork.”

  “I look like a Fairy?”

  “Link’s not a Fairy. He’s a blond-haired, blue-eyed, sexy hero.”

  “Hmm… Guess I could live with that.”

  When he wrapped his arm around me, I leaned against his side. He felt so warm.

  “Yeah, well, you should,” I mumbled. “Being compared to Link is a great compliment.” He yanked on my hair again. “Truth is… that game’s not the reason I nearly flunked out of Statistics. I hated that class. Stupidest class in the world.”

  “But you got a C, right?”

  “Yeah,” I grumbled. “My first C.”

  “Was it your last?”

  “…No.”

  Drella laughed then. “Anyway, you know what you always do when you get enthralled in something like that—a game, a book, your journal.”

  “I have to cross my legs.”

  “Yep.” He chuckled.

  “What? I can’t help it. It’s the only way I can concentrate.”

  “I know, Pooh. I know. But sitting cross-legged in that airport chair was hard enough, forget the boots.”

  “Oh… I think I remember that. When they finally announced the arrival of my plane…”

  He filled in the blanks when I didn’t continue. “When they announced its arrival, you started packing your stuff away and ran across those pink and gold sandals you’d bought from that little girl set up outside the Temple.”

  “Yeah… that’s right.”

  “You slipped them on, picked up your little game thing and your backpack… and never looked back.”

  “…My boots were on the other side of my chair. I can’t believe I forgot them.”

  He squeezed me just a little. “You had your mind on Link. Not me. Now that I know the truth of it, I’m jealous.”

  “Oh, stop it.” I looked up at him when he chuckled. “Hey, Drella… thanks. I really mean that. Thanks a lot. I tore my luggage apart looking for these boots. My first three days in Seoul, I sat in my room and cried.”

  “Did you? I’m sorry, Pooh. I didn’t know.”

  “What do you mean? Haven’t you been watching over me all this time?”

  “No, my love. I am not a Guardian. I am a Seeker. Our paths have crossed many times through the years, yes, but that was only via coincidence. Although I will admit… every time I saw you, I tarried on my task. I couldn’t pull myself away from you. That smile, those eyes, that laugh—I loved you too much. Wherever I found you, I’d stay until you left.”

  “Oh, Drella… I loved you too much, too. I still do.”

  “Then we are yet of like mind, my precious little Pooh.” He kissed the top of my head and rested his cheek there. “I got you something that day,” he whispered softly.

  When I quickly glanced up at him, Drella’s cheeks were flaming red.

  “In Mumbai? You got me something? A gift?”

  “A token.” He looked away. “It was foolish of me—knowing that I’d never be able to give it to you myself. But… it called out to me—had your name written all over it.”

  “Yourself? What do you mean? Have you ever given me anything when you weren’t yourself?”

  He nodded. “Once.”

  I only tilted my head to the side.

  “On your thirty-fifth birthday.”

  “On my thirty—”

  “You were with Brother Gopal that day as well. Remember?”

  I glanced toward my well-traveled backpack. “…My shawl.”

  Drella smiled. “You always dress too… scantily when you’re in Bhutan.”

  I swallowed down my coming chuckle. “That’s what the vendors on the street sell there. I’m just blending in with the local culture.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” He tapped the tip of my nose. “I saw that lovely blue shawl while passing through Italy. It had butterflies on it.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, I know. That’s why I kept it. Brother Gopal said he found it near the donation box, and seeing as how it was my birthday, he brought it to me.”

  “I laid it atop that little stone wall near the main steps. I’d hoped you would stumble across it. You needed something to cover your arms, Pooh. The backs of your arms are always chilly. Right?”

  I swallowed hard. “You remember that?”

  “I remember everything about you, Jem.” His cheeks flushed again. “I wanted to give you something… and cover you up a bit.” He paused then, a distant look in his lovely blue eyes. “You always said you hated the fives.”

  “The fives?”

  He smiled softly. “You didn’t mind the zero birthdays. They were like starting something new and exciting—your twenties, your thirties… the zero birthdays. But the fives…”

  “I do hate the fives… When you hit twenty, it’s fun. When you hit twenty-five… you’re in your late twenties, and it’s all downhill from there. Then thirty—yay! Zero years are like a do-over—clean slate, you’re fresh and young again.”

  “Yes, and that’s why I wanted you to have something beautiful and precious on your thirty-fifth birthday. I wanted you to start your late thirties off with something that would make you smile… warm your heart.”

  “Mission accomplished, Drella Walker.”

  “I know. I watched you that whole day. That dazzling smile never wavered.”

  “And it was all thanks to you, my love. All my happy times, precious memories, banner moments in life… every single one of them came from you. Every. Single. One.”

  “Hush now, Jem.” His cheeks were flaming. I could feel the heat radiating off him. “It was just a trinket, really. Something to keep your arms warm. Some little something that made you smile. That’s all. No need to gush.”

  I suppressed my smile and didn’t say anything to embarrass him further. I simply waited on that gorgeous man to gather up his courage and go on.

  “Anyway, like I said… I watch you when I can. You’ve kept your hair long. I like that.” He glanced back towards me and blushed again. “And you are forever tying it back or tucking it behind your ears.”

  “I think better that way.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He smiled with only one corner of his mouth. “But those elastic things you twist up in your ponytail… they break your lovely golden curls—makes it sorta fuzzy right around here, sometimes.” He lightly touched my hair. “And since I know how much you like butterflies… when I saw this scarf, I just couldn’t help myself.”

  When he carefully pulled the sheer fabric from inside his cloak, I gasped.

  “Drella… it’s beautiful…”

  “I thought the blue would match your eyes… and then all the butterflies, of course.”

  I swallowed down the lump rising up the back of my throat. “I love it,” I barely managed to whisper. “It’s the prettiest scarf I’ve ever seen.”

  “I’m glad you think so. It wasn’t much… just another little trinket to carry around in that old backpack of yours. But when I saw it hanging there, I knew it would suit you perfectly.”

  “And you’ve carried it around all these years? Ever since that day in the airport?”

  “Right along with your precious boots.” He smiled. “Turn around and let me bind your lovely locks, pretty lady. I wanna see what it looks like tied in your curls.”

  Drella was so gentle in his task, I didn’t even realize when he had finished.

  “Now, let me see.” He turned me back around to face him, his gorgeous smile already set. “Wow, Pooh… you’re the most beautiful girl in the world.”

  I wrapped my arms around him, burying my tears against his chest. “Why can’t you just stay with m
e like this?” I whispered.

  “I will… until you have to leave me.”

  Then, Drella held me as I cried… again.

  After several comforting moments in each other’s arms, he gently kissed my forehead.

  “It’s about that time, Pooh. We need to be getting over to St. Anthony’s.”

  I sat up and looked at my accidentally found pendant. “But… what’s missing? It doesn’t look broken. Just a large brown stone. It’s not even very pretty, actually. There was just something about it… it felt right. Like, it belonged to me or something. I slipped it on and never took it off.”

  “That’s because it was meant for you. It’s your key, Pooh.”

  “My… key?”

  “Yes. But it’s only the key to get in. You need the other part if you want to get back out again.”

  “Key to where? Get back out of what?”

  “The Nether.” He lifted the stone then, gently rubbing his thumb across it. “This is the part that lets you walk into that place I pulled you out of. You need the other stone if you don’t wanna be trapped there.”

  “Trapped?”

  “Yeah. I had gone to Taktsang in search of an ancient manuscript. That’s when I saw you mediating with Brother Gopal. When I came back outside, I saw you sway, then disappear.”

  “I disappeared?”

  “You opened your mind, Pooh. The Buddhists have mastered freeing their souls, slipping into a transient state. You can now take that a step further. When you set your spirit free, you went straight through the door this stone unlocked. If I hadn’t seen you… who knows how long you would have been stuck there until someone stumbled across you.” He visibly shuddered. “I pulled you out and brought you here. To get the exit stone.”

  “…Did you find the manuscript?”

  “The what?”

  “The ancient manuscript you were looking for at Taktsang. Did you find it?”

  He stared at me a moment before chuckling. “Pffts. That’s the part you were worried about? An old book? Not the part where you were trapped in the Otherworld?”

  I felt my cheeks getting red. “Well… did you?”

  “Yeah, I found it alright—laying right there in the center of the main table. Funny thing, though.”

  “What?”

  “There was this huge spider squashed right in the middle of it—smeared all over the brittle pages.”

  When he cocked a single golden brow, I bit my lip and turned away.

  “You wouldn’t know anything about that now, would you, Pooh?”

  When he playfully bumped me with his shoulder, I could no longer control my embarrassed smile. Even my ears were burning.

  “I dunno… Maybe.”

  “Maybe, huh?”

  “What? Like you said, that thing was huge.”

  “Umm hmm. Everything looks bigger when you smash it and smear it around a bit.”

  “You saw it. It was as big as my whole hand.”

  “Umm hmm.” He tossed me my cloak. “Come on, fradie cat. We’ve got work to do.”

  *****

  Being allowed into the vault at St. Anthony’s was a breeze. Well, it was a breeze for Drella. I’m not sure I would have ever been granted access. Not by my own measure.

  We walked in the door, Drella asked for the stone, and we were taken to it immediately.

  “Wow… I wanna be a Seeker.”

  He snorted. “You’d get bored within a week, Ladybug. Come on. Let’s grab some lunch before we get into the heavy stuff.”

  “The heavy stuff?”

  We both squinted as we walked back out into the warming sun.

  “Yeah, the heavy stuff.” He motioned toward the stone around my neck. “Namely like… what’s that tiny red stone for?”

  “Tiny red stone?” I mumbled, looking back to the pendant. “Hey, Babe… how long were we in there? Why’s it so bright out?”

  “A few hours… give or take.” He squeezed my hand. “What did I tell you about calling me Babe?”

  “Wha— You said I could.”

  He smiled. “I’d hoped you had forgotten.”

  “You hate it that much… really?”

  “Nah, not when you say it, Pooh.” He gently kissed my forehead. “Hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  “Maybe you’ll take my advice next time about breakfast.”

  “Pffts… Not bloody likely,” I mumbled as he tugged me along behind him. “How were we in there for hours? It didn’t feel like more than a few minutes.”

  “Time doesn’t move the same. Not where this type of work is concerned. You’ll get used to it soon enough. Now, enough with the questions. What would you like to eat? It needs to be somewhere quiet, preferably close.”

  “I’m in your hands, Babe.”

  He shot me one of his gorgeous, crooked grins. “If only that were still true.” He winked at me. “Come on. I know the perfect place then.”

  *****

  The pub was pretty quiet. Our table was back in the corner. Yet, the food was way too greasy for my palate.

  “Not hungry, little lady?”

  “I’m good, sir. Thanks.”

  “Will that be all, then?”

  “I’ll take another draft. Oh, and some soda crackers if you got’em.”

  The man walked off, mumbling under his breath.

  “What’s up with you, Ladybug? I’ve seen you eat stuff in Osaka that made me gag.”

  “I don’t know, Drell. I’m still a bit queasy, I guess.”

  “You said you didn’t care where we ate.”

  “And I don’t. I just… well, I mean… I thought they’d at least have a house salad on the menu. Who doesn’t offer a house salad? It’s like the easiest thing in the world to make.”

  “Pffts.” Drella shook his head. “I almost forgot how much I missed you.”

  We sat in silence until my fresh draft arrived.

  “Do you ever think what it would have been like?” He took another bite of stew. “If we’d been given a chance?”

  “…Every single day,” I whispered.

  He smiled. “Tell me true. What is your favorite fantasy concerning the two of us?”

  “I don’t know if you’d call it a favorite or not. I only have one vision of our shared future… if we’d been granted one.”

  “Then tell me, Pooh. What do you think life would have been like for us?”

  I sighed as I ran my thumb down the tall glass, watching the moisture bead-up with its passing.

  “I would have become pregnant.”

  He strangled on his beer.

  “Within three or four months… I would have had to stand in front of my loving parents and tell them I was carrying your child. We would have gotten married before graduation, of course. Seeing as how I’d be knocked-up and all, I’d lose my cross country scholarship… and no more barrel racing for sure. I’d keep on working at the gas station and you would have to quit school to find a job with health insurance. We’d end up living in a little piece of crap trailer off the main road. Before the baby came… you’d drink too much and we would yell at each other… a lot.”

  “Damn, Pooh…”

  “We were kids, Drell. Way too young to be that in love.” I sort of snorted. “I could never deny you, Drella. I worshipped the ground you walked on. You’re the only one I’ve ever felt that way about.” I took a long, cold drink. “But… you didn’t let me finish. After the baby, after the fear and the stress and the regret… all I can see are smiles, our smiles. We may not have had much to start out with, but we had each other. And for me, that was enough.”

  He took my hand in his and gave it a tiny squeeze. “That sounds like an amazing fantasy.” He kissed my fingertips and smiled. “And to be honest, it’s probably not too far from the truth. As crazy as I was about you, I can see every bit of that happening. Although I will have to disagree with you on one point.”

  “Oh yeah, and which point would that be?”

  “It wo
uldn’t have taken you three months to get pregnant. If you had allowed me, I would have known you for the first time the night of our first date.”

  “That’s what I’m saying, Drell. You were my kryptonite. I would have allowed you anything.”

  “Dear god…” He squeezed tight my wrist as he looked away. “Stop before you kill me, Pooh.”

  So, I did. We finished our drinks in silence before paying our tab and walking back to the Inn.

  “You’re tarrying, aren’t you, Drella?”

  “…Yes. I can’t help myself. I told you, I always stay until you leave me. I’ve never found the strength to walk away first.”

  “So… if I were any other Witness you were tasked with seeking out?”

  “We would have gone to St. Anthony’s as soon as we stepped from the Nether.”

  “I see.”

  “About what you were saying back at the pub. If things had been—”

  “Drell… you can’t unbake a cake, Babe.” I looked away, biting my lip to keep it from trembling. “I can’t unbake a cake,” I whispered.

  *****

  I collapsed across the bed, relishing the feel of the cool night air settling across my still-steaming skin.

  “Shower’s all yours, Babe. The water’s kinda hard, though.”

  “Don’t worry about me, Ladybug. I am no longer human, no longer alive in this realm.”

  I glanced at him sideways. “So, you don’t bathe?”

  “Not like you do, no.”

  I buried my face in the pillow and sighed. “Drella?”

  “Yes, Pooh.”

  “You gotta walk away this time.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  I moaned before dragging myself off that comfy bed and plopping down beside him on the couch.

  “You have to.” I snorted out a bitter laugh. “Because I don’t have a clue where to go from here. As long as you sit here, I’ll just sit right here beside you.”

  “I can’t leave. I still have to tell you about the keys.” He picked up the little wooden box the priest had given him. “…And how they work.”

  “Do I have to get dressed?”

  He smiled that cute little crooked smile I loved so much. “I’d prefer if you didn’t.”