by H. M. Gooden
"He may not look like much, but he has some dwarf in him, and he can carry a lot of weight. If they hadn't drugged us with their magic at night, I doubt they'd have been able to take him in the first place."
Mai nodded. It could work. If four of them were able to carry the smaller four, things would be perfect.
"Do you think we can get back today?" Mai asked Jake, remembering how long it had taken them to get there in the first place.
"No, probably not." Jake looked up at the position of the sun. "We'll be lucky to make it back to the cave we stayed at the first night, even if we travel in our stronger forms."
Mai sighed with disappointment, then watched as Jake addressed the kids in Norwegian. They watched him as if they were in the presence of a god, hanging on his every word. When he'd finished speaking, he turned back to Mai.
"I told them we were going to change into another shape and that we'd carry the little ones. They were fine with that. Are you?"
He looked at her with concern. Mai had always hidden her other form from everyone except her closest friends. She didn't want people to know that she was something other than human, but she figured they'd already seen it, so it didn't matter now.
Mai stood straighter and brushed her hair off her face. "I'm ready if you are. As long as you're sure it won't upset them, I'm totally okay with it."
Jake put his hand on her arm. "They'll be fine. Things are different up here, as I'm sure you've already noticed. Fairy tales are real life, which means that these kids believe in the good stuff, too."
Mai smiled, having no doubt that Jake was right, and let herself flow into the tingle that she always felt as she transformed shapes. It was both odd and gratifying to hear the little voices gasping in admiration at the sight of her bluish-green scales shimmering in the sun. One little girl ran over and then stopped, shyly holding her hand out ready to pat her. Mai bent her head, feeling the girl gently touch her then giggle at her own audacity.
Mai knelt down and tilted her head. "It's okay, you can climb up if you want. Just hold on behind my neck so you don't fall off."
The girl looked up at Jake, waiting for him to translate. He said a few words that caused the girl to smile broadly at Mai before she climbed up.
"I just told her that she could climb up and to hold tight," Jake explained.
Mai smiled and stood up carefully to allow the girl to maintain a solid grip. Jake spoke to a small boy, who also broke out in a big smile before racing over and climbing Jake like a monkey. Mai waited and watched as the short boy said something to the child that appeared to be the youngest, then helped them climb up onto his back. Although small, Mai noticed that he didn't even move when the boy was settled, appearing to be standing as easily as he had moments before being weighed down. Freya shook out her arms and Mai watched, curious to see someone else transform. She changed into an eagle-like creature in a quick blur. If Mai hadn't known what was happening, she could have easily convinced herself that the girl had been replaced by the creature in front of her.
Within minutes, all of the children were accounted for and being carried by someone. They decided to walk, as it was the only way they'd all be able to travel together as a group. Mai would have preferred swimming, but knew it would be hard to keep a small child from falling into the water, and Erik couldn't swim. There was also the little problem of the draugr that had threatened them earlier. Freya elected to fly circles around them and scouted ahead to make sure nothing was lurking.
They managed to make it to the caves by nightfall and transformed back to their human forms, tucking the children away safely for the night. Jake had tried several times to get a signal for his phone, but the land or the service had conspired against him and he hadn't been able to connect. The rocky land surrounding them had taken them back to an earlier time, when communication was via people and not machines.
Mai felt strangely happy. Here she was, cut off and isolated from the world around her, potentially at the mercy of whatever evil beings were lurking in this odd world where magic seemed to be everywhere. And all she could think about was how at home and content she felt to be with Jake, taking care of these innocent kids. For the first time in a long while, Mai felt at peace in her universe.
As they tucked the younger children into their cave bed that night, Mai looked at Jake and grabbed his hand, leading him to the entrance. Freya saw her and nodded, turning to Erik and saying something before both of them turned their backs, positioning themselves protectively around the others.
Jake accepted Mai's hand and followed with a curious expression. Once outside, he stopped, holding their joined hands closer to his heart.
"What is it? Is something wrong, Mai?"
She gave his hand a quick kiss. "No. Nothing's wrong. In fact, that's what I wanted to talk about. For the first time since I woke up in that park in San Francisco, I feel like I have a place somewhere where I belong. Look around us, Jake. This is like nothing I've ever known. The land here is strange and scary and full of monsters. We've faced creatures that I've never even heard of before, let alone seen. I've killed a nyk and a troll, and you argued with a dragur about territorial boundaries. We successfully swam away from a kraken. This last week has been overwhelming and liberating, in so many ways."
Jake looked relieved. "So you aren't upset? You still want to marry me?"
Mai laughed, amused by the fear she heard in his voice.
"Of course I do, you silly man. After all of that? I love you even more than I did when we left your parents' house."
Mai blushed, remembering the night before.
"Now that you've shown me what love is," she said then stopped, clearing her throat awkwardly before continuing, "well, that's something I'd like to practice a bit more."
She'd been looking down as she spoke, feeling uncomfortable admitting it, but when she looked up to see the fire in his eyes she once again felt that familiar yearning rise up in her abdomen. She had to take a deep breath to expand her suddenly collapsed lungs.
"Thank God!" Jake muttered quietly.
When Mai arched her brow and smirked, she saw it was his turn to have rosy cheeks.
"So what did you want to say? I was seriously worried that you were breaking up with me. I even wouldn't blame you under the circumstances. It's not exactly how I wanted to introduce you to my homeland and my family."
Mai touched a soft but steady hand to his cheek.
"Definitely not. I can't wait to marry you. I can't wait to live my life with you. But have you considered maybe that we could stay here? For a while, at least. Is there a rush to get back to the States?"
Jake's mouth dropped before he closed it again. It took him a moment to speak. "Well, no, not really. I just always assumed that you wanted to go home, I mean, you've lived there for literally centuries. I never thought you'd be interested in staying here." He stopped, then snorted. "I mean, I'm from here, and I've never seriously thought about coming home for more than a visit."
Mai smiled, seeing the small-town boy hiding inside the city man she knew.
"What if, though? Like you said, this land is different. Things that no one would believe back home are real and unquestioned here. Those kids should be traumatized forever based on what they just went through, but they mostly just look tired. And the way they completely accepted two dragons and a bird-lady as transportation tells me that there's a level of acceptance here that isn't waiting for us back in San Francisco."
Jake shrugged. "I've honestly never even thought about it. I don't know what to say. Are you telling me that you want to stay here?"
Mai looked off into the twilight at the sky filled with stars.
"I don't know. I'm just saying maybe we should think about it. We don't have anything to race back to. I'd like to get to know your ancestral lands better before we make any hard choices."
Looking back at Jake and into his eyes, Mai saw that they'd softened from the fear and confusion he'd felt when she'd first taken his han
d and returned to the intense gold that she remembered from their first meeting.
"I love you."
She said the words simply and moved smoothly when he drew her into him. They shared a deep, sweet kiss that went on for what could have been seconds or hours before slowly releasing. Faces close together, looking into each other's eyes, Mai felt the sense of peace and home surround her, and she smiled.
Tomorrow, they were going home.
CHAPTER 13 HOMECOMING
Shortly after lunchtime the next day, they made it back to town and were immediately surrounded by joyous people all talking at once. While Mai had no idea what people were saying for the most part, she completely understood the sentiment. They'd all changed back into their regular human forms just before they reached the town, except for Erik, who of course looked exactly the same. While Mai had felt comfortable being herself around the children, she wasn't sure if she was ready to have everyone in the town know her secret.
Freya had understood.
"Aud and I will often go for trips together as ourselves, but it's not something we talk about at school. It's never easy to be different, and some people can be cruel, even here where so much of this is commonplace."
Mai watched with a lump in her throat as each of the children were scooped up by their parents in various degrees of tears and joy. It had been so long since she'd had that experience herself that she was jealous, at least until she looked over at Jake. Someday, she might have kids that she could pick up and love. The thought hit her like a lightning bolt, overwhelming her with amazement and hope.
Jake's father came out of the crowd to clap him on the shoulder, before gripping it with his large hand, bringing him in for a tight hug then slapping him on the back with a laugh as he let go.
"Good job, son! I knew that you were up for the challenge." Anders turned to Mai and pulled her in for a tight squeeze, knocking the air out of her. "And Mai! You have impressed us all. I'm honored to call you my daughter."
Even as Anders smiled at her, Mai surprised herself when she burst into tears, unable to hold back her emotions any longer. She tried to stop crying by wiping the tears away, but they wouldn't stop falling. They continued to build up as the sunny sky began to turn dark around her.
Jake looked at her with concern before pulling her away from his dad, who was frozen with confusion over what he'd done to cause the meltdown.
"Shhh, Mai, it's okay. Don't cry." Jake wrapped her carefully in his arms, getting wet in the tearful downpour, and kissed her.
In a few moments, the warmth of his kiss penetrated her tears and she was somehow able to regain control. Jake took a step back to look at her face, still holding onto her carefully, in case she burst into tears again.
"Are you alright? What happened?"
Mai smiled, tear streaks still shining on her face. Dashing at them with the back of her hand, she laughed weakly and apologized.
"I'm sorry, Jake. I didn't mean to literally rain on the parade here. I just kind of lost it when your dad said I was his daughter."
Mai stopped speaking, her throat getting choked up again, but she was able to regain control by breathing slowly for a moment.
"I never thought I'd ever hear those words again," she sniffed, opening her eyes wide to try to stop the tears before wiping her nose. "I'm sorry."
Anders smiled in relief and reached out his hand, which she accepted.
"You are now. And I believe that my wife is waiting eagerly to make it official," he said, adding as he looked at each of them in turn. "Although I have a feeling that you've already made your promises to each other, you'll still have to have the formal services in front of an audience."
Mai's mouth dropped open in surprise at his cheeky words, but this time it was Jake whose cheeks flamed in embarrassment.
"Dad!" Jake said in shock, but Anders continued to laugh.
"Oh, hush you. Time to get home. You need to get cleaned up, then you're coming with me to talk to the men."
Anders laughed faded and he looked solemnly at Mai.
"I believe Astrid is waiting to talk to you. Now, the true battle begins."
Mai thought he was joking, but it was hard to tell. Astrid had seemed to be warming up to her before they'd left to find the missing children, but Mai wasn't looking forward to dealing with the last-minute details of planning a wedding.
"Yes, sir. Do you know where I could find her?"
Mai figured she may as well face up to her fears and waited as Anders took out his phone to call his wife. After a short conversation, he directed Mai to the seamstress' shop and Jake went with her, leaving the throng of happy townsfolk behind them.
"ARE YOU OKAY?" JAKE spoke quietly, grateful for the chance to be alone with Mai. Ever since they'd arrived in Norway, things had been so rushed. He couldn't wait to start his life with her, but it almost felt as if everyone was getting in the way of him spending time with his love. He watched as Mai nodded, smiling a little too brightly. He recognized her expression as the one she wore when she wanted to reassure him, but was actually feeling overwhelmed.
"I am, really. My reaction just took me by surprise. It was also right after I'd been thinking about having our own kids, so I just got a little more emotional than I think I normally would have."
Mai had been looking forward at the ground as she spoke, so she didn't notice as Jake tripped on a loose cobblestone until he caught himself. He winced at his clumsiness. It always seemed to happen around her, but he couldn't help being distracted as she gave him a sideways smile.
"Are you okay? It looked like you tripped there."
Jake started to bluster, but gave up and sighed, dropping his shoulders instead while Mai's eyebrow's wrinkled with concern.
"This is a big deal, Mai. Marriage and now maybe kids? I want to marry you and be a dad, I just don't know if I'm ready to do a good job. What if I screw it up? I've never been responsible for anyone else before. Maybe I'm not mature enough."
Jake kept walking, holding her hand without speaking as he remembered the one night they'd had together. It suddenly occurred to him that they hadn't used any kind of protection. A weird feeling settled in his stomach the more he considered how careless they'd been. They could have kids a lot sooner than he was expecting. But instead of feeling scared or rushed, a hopeful feeling spread through his chest.
After a few minutes of this contemplative silence, Mai abruptly stopped walking.
"Are we ready for a family of our own? I don't know, Jake, but I think it's something that we'll figure out together, as we go. It's not like it's all going to happen overnight, after all. The first step is getting all the formalities out of the way. It'll make your mother happy. Then we can just see what happens next. You're going to be an amazing dad, I know that, so don't even go thinking that you won't be."
Jake looked at her hopefully before he nodded, the fierce expression on her face convincing him that she meant every word.
"Okay. You know that I'd believe anything that you tell me. But, speaking of formalities, did you manage to get in touch with Cat and Vanessa, or Evelyn and Zahara before we left? I forgot to ask."
"I talked to Vanessa and asked her to pass the word on to everyone. We've only been gone a week, but that means that the wedding is in a few days. I'll try to contact them again when we get back to the house. I'm not sure if they'll be able to make it on such short notice, but I hope so. It's because of them that I even have this life and I can't thank them enough."
Mai smiled and Jake couldn't help thinking about what a crazy road it had been to get to where they were now standing.
"But we should go. Your mom's waiting and while she's been nice to me so far, I don't think I want to make her mad at me."
Mai tugged at Jake's hand and he nodded vigorously.
"That's a great idea. She can be pretty scary when she's upset. That's probably where they get the idea that dragons have bad tempers."
Grimacing, Mai shuddered. "Let's go now then.
I definitely don't want to see that."
JAKE DROPPED MAI OFF in the hands of his impatient mother, receiving his orders to meet his father immediately in order for Jake to try on his wedding outfit. Jake agreed without hesitation and swiftly disappeared down the street, leaving Mai to her soon-to-be mother-in-law's mercy. Luckily, Astrid was so happy to have them back that she seemed softer than the previous time Mai had seen her, so after a quick rinse to remove the layers of grime from the trip, Mai was able to try on her dress without any problems.
The wedding dress was every bit as beautiful as she remembered, and the image of the long ago dress on the bride she'd seen as a child came to her mind. She stared in awe at her reflection. She looked so different, regal somehow. She wasn't wearing any make up and didn't have her hair done, but it didn't seem to matter. She felt like a bride in this dress and excitement at the idea of walking down an aisle with Jake overcame her. For the first time, it was real. Astrid stood behind her, and Mai caught the shimmer of wet blue eyes in the mirror before Astrid noticed Mai watching her.
Astrid cleared her throat. "Be careful taking the dress off. You don't want to crush the fabric," she said brusquely. "I'm just going to have a quick word with the seamstress."
Mai nodded respectfully, but smiled inwardly. Maybe Astrid wasn't as icy and unsentimental as she seemed on the outside.
The last few hours of the day passed in a whirl. Astrid had already ensured that the flowers and the food were ready and they stopped by the church to make sure that the preparations were almost complete. Mai could feel herself fading, which Astrid eventually noticed and took pity on her.
"I think we're done for the day. We can go back to the house now and have a light meal, then you should get some rest. You're looking tired from your journey."
Mai nodded sleepily and was relieved when they arrived at the house a few minutes later. Astrid was as efficient as always and had already prepared food, so Mai was able to have a sandwich and make her excuses a few minutes later. Jake and his father hadn't returned yet, so Mai sent a quick group text to her friends then lay down on the bed in her room, falling asleep almost immediately.