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Tyler fistbump-ed me goodbye, while the hosts, one by one, shook my hand farewell, while the Witch handed me a small slip of parchment with a number written on it, adorned in little squiggly hearts all over. 

Somehow news of my abrupt departure got out and was echoing across the lips of many… and soon everyone was scrambling last-minute to the exit, eager to see me off to a hero\'s send-off. 

Many were content with just waving farewell by the sidelines, some preferred a more personal touch, and patted me on the back… many different thank-yous, a wide array of praises with a smile, but always the same goodbye.

"We\'ll see you next year, Hero!"

Next year, huh? I suppose I better get around marking that next year on my calendar. Hero\'s duty.

I found Ash a little while ago beneath the branches of a nearby meadow in the outskirts of town. Of course, Sera was with her… and the precise moment I entered the frame, I was beyond anything more to her than just a mere prop blending into the backdrop. 

Ash, at least, was significantly more receptive to my presence, eagerly, hurriedly striding towards me, lifting her dress, smiling her best… and almost forgetting her usual standard bow of the head in the process.

There was certainly a countless million infinite different things I could say to her, and in turn, so could she… but right then, those endless possibilities swirled and swirled and I just couldn\'t anchor onto a single one, and the more I tried, the more they slip away… until I was just left standing there with smoke coming out of my ears from all the excessive thinking.

It was like my vocal chords were wrestling amongst themselves, all with their own idea of what to say, but never once reaching a peaceful consensus. 

Now had it just been me struggling with my brain short-circuiting, that would have been all well and fine… but Ash, apart from her dignified hello, couldn\'t at all say anything more.

Really, I\'ve never seen her so speechless, staring timid, smiling meek, rubbing her hands so vigorously, so absentmindedly - what happened to her? Scratch that, what happened to us?

"Uh, we\'re… leaving now…" squealed a tiny little voice that surely couldn\'t have been mine. "Are you good to go, Ash?"

"Huh?" squeaked her voice, before with a shake of head, reverting back to her usual tone. "Ah, yes, yes, but of course, Master. I am ready whenever you are."

Christ, I just want someone to rattle me senseless. While they\'re at it, they should do Ash too. We\'re like a couple of robots with an error in their software. Bring a hammer.

"You, Sera?" I leaned out, staring at the haughty cloaked figure over her shoulder. "What say we call it a day, huh?"

Her small begrudging nod yes, brought us to present time, with me shaking the final hand of an adoring fan, assuring my best that I\'ll be sure to follow him back… if I don\'t forget first, that is. 

Outside. Like actually outside the premises, the actual exterior of the building, the feeling I got traversing from the in to the out was the most surreal sensation I\'ve ever experienced yet. 

It sincerely felt like ages since I\'ve felt the rays of the sun upon my skin, the distinct musty smell of pollution in the air was a breath fresher than ones from a filter.

The ambiance of modern times, the whirr of engines, the squeal of tires, they all sounded like a graceful symphony to the ears, Fantasy life was a fun time and all, call me old-fashioned but I think I prefer my realities with fewer duels to the deaths and more online feuds without end. 

Everything had this faint tinge of orange to them, and the wind was breezing in a chilly air, proclaiming dusk\'s steady arrival. 

"One, two, three, four. Elf, hero, fey, me..." Amanda muttered, counting heads, before stagnating a finger at an empty spot beside me. "Who\'s missing?"

"Oh, Adalia went to see her sister," I said, waving away her worry. "She\'ll meet us back at my place once she\'s done with that."

But her concerns couldn\'t be so easily waived with just a wave. "Is… is that a good idea?"

"You mean letting a stray vampire wander off all on her own in a city full of wandering, unknowing, warm-blooded folks?" I smirked at her, waving my once more. "Don\'t see anything wrong with it if you don\'t."

Amanda blinked, then pulled out her car keys again from a place better left unsaid. "Alrighty then. I\'ll go bring the car around… you guys wait here."

When she left. When it was just Ash and I standing side by side on the sidewalk there - Sera unaccounted -  the swirling came again, a raging tornado wreaking havoc whirling every unfortunate stray thought in its path.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see Ash immediately stiffened in place, her expression hidden beneath her flowing silver locks no doubt just as rigid too.

If she couldn\'t think of anything to say - Ash, the always eloquent, always articulate wordsmith of recent century - then what chance do I, the guy whom still doesn\'t know the difference between who and whom, have? Especially with the growing lump in my throat with all the constant infighting from my chords.

Think of something, anything.

I looked at her again. "I see they let you keep the dress, hm?" 

"Hmm?" Ash whirled her eyes around, and as expected, they stared unexpectedly, wide in surprise. "Oh! Oh yes, they did, indeed! It seems they believed it a deep injustice should I depart the convention as a knight and not as a princess. They insisted I keep it, with their only demands being that I… that I…"

Her ears began to droop, and her cheeks began to burn bright with color.

"That you what?" I asked.

"That I…" She breathed in deep. "That I refrain you from... sullying the fabric... too much."

"Sullying the…?" It took a few good moments of critical thinking before I finally got what she was trying to say. Why she was so flushed, flustered… I\'m guessing the Witch had a hand in planting that thought in her head.

Dirty bastard.

"You\'ve… I noticed you\'ve a change of attire too, Master," Ash suddenly spoke out.

It was now my turn to look back at her with surprise. "Ah, yeah, courtesy of Leon, that is. It was his originally, he told me to keep it… said it suits me better."

"Well then, I must wholeheartedly agree with his assessment," She said, forming a gentle smile on her face. "You look truly magnificent, Master." 

"Thanks," I sounded a little chuckle. "Y-you too."

"Thank you. As are you."

And that\'s it. End of conversation. Yeah, that\'s it. That\'s all that was said, and that\'s all that there\'ll ever be. What the hell was that? I know for a fact that that is not at all what either of us wanted to say to each other… and yet that\'s what we chose to say instead.

No better than a talk between passing acquaintances. Hell, no better than absolute strangers even. 

What was going on, why was it suddenly so hard to keep eye contact with her for more than three seconds? Why do I look away from her, why does she, and why does my heart pump so fast and so hard when she does?

This never happened before. Why was it happening now?

My mind kept drifting back to before my fight with Leon, and all those witless things I spouted at the heat of the moment. 

\'You belong to me. You\'re mine. You\'ll always be.\'

Those phrases echoing in my head, on top of seeing Ash acting all so… uncomposed. I guess I just didn\'t know how to proceed on from there, and I guess neither does she.

Maybe time is what we need, and I suppose, time is what we\'ll get.

The drive back home from the convention was a journey begun, and a journey done in absolute silence. Some chit-chat, some remarks about the weather, jokes about rain, but apart from that… we mostly kept to ourselves, Sera especially… albeit, not as if she could help it.

Once we\'ve finally pulled up to the driveway, and we swung our doors open, the gust of wind that filtered in aired out the culminating tension almost immediately, and I could feel myself breathe easy again.

Evidently, the car ride didn\'t amount to much time passed, and as such, Ash was approaching me with a stare polite but a smile so rigid, stating that she\'ll proceed on into the house first, taking Sera along with her in a hurry. 

Apparently, Sera\'s especially prone to motion sickness. Who would have thought?

By the time my feet found solid ground again, the front door was already swung wide open, with Ash and Sera nowhere to be seen. 

"Hey, psst, Hero," Amanda called out to me from the driver-side window, glancing at the same gaping entranceway with a stare perplexed and full of intrigue. "Is there something going on between you two? Ash seems… different."

I leaned in forward, breathing out, both arms resting on the roof of her car. "You noticed, huh?"

"Hard not to," She said, her intrigue immediately shifting to concern. "Wait, Is it… was it because we…? I\'m sorry if - "

"You\'re making it sound like a scandal, stop," I said, derailing that runway train of thought before it crashes into even worse thoughts. "She\'s… I think she\'s just embarrassed."

"Embarrassed?" Amanda glanced back at the empty doorway, lips agape. "Ash embarrassed?"

"Isn\'t the first time," I said, following her gaze. "Just a little bit longer this time." 

"Interesting..." There was a glimmer in her eyes. "Very interesting."

"What\'s interesting?"

"Embarrassment," She said. "That\'s what." 

"Can you elaborate?"

"Nope," She piped up right away, hands to the steering wheel. "If she isn\'t saying anything, then I\'m not saying anything. Girl\'s secret."

"Secret?"

"You wanna know?" She eyed me sideways, a half-smile visible. "Here\'s a thought - have you tried asking her yourself, or are you also embarrassed?" 

Silence answer for me, and she heard it loud and clear.

"You weren\'t embarrassed when it came to me, you know?" She muttered, looking her smuggest yet. "Why\'s that, I wonder?"

"Well…" 

"Think you can kiss her like you did me?"

"Uh - "

"Make her swoon, make her melt, make her feel like a woman for the first time in her life?"

"What the hell, Amanda."

"What? I\'m just saying!" She exclaimed, yet her ever-widening smile hinting more than just \'saying\'. "And maybe, perhaps, y\'know... she\'s just waiting."