"If you love something, set it free, if it comes back, it was meant to be."
This was the phrase that rung through Tae's head like the echo of a school bell. Does this famous saying of love apply to her? Should it apply to her? Does she want it to apply to her? She thought about it long and hard, lying at night, staring into the ceiling of her room. Were these just the ramblings of a lovesick woman? That might be the case right now but the question grew more and more complex the more she thought into it. She had set him free once and even chose to leave him, twice. So why does he keep coming back?
The first time she left him was when she had agreed to be taken by a gang of loan sharks for the sake of forgiving her father's debt. She thought that it would be the end of it there, seeing the end of the idiotic silver permed samurai and living her life as some courtesan in space. But he had went to retrieve her, with her younger brother, stealing a police car, and driving into a spaceship on its takeoff in the most opportune time. She thought of him to be her Prince Charming in shining armor, coming to her rescue. It was then that she began to fall for him.
There was another time when he left her, she set him free, to fight an evil doer, despite him being chewed up and hanging onto life, all for the sake of a sword maker he had met not that long ago. Despite him appearing to initially not want to go, she knew his heart strived to protect those that needed protecting. So she set him free. She lent him her umbrella, a cheap household product that she had held onto, for him to hold onto as a memoir of her. She waited for what seemed to be eternity for his safe return. When he did, more beat up then before, requiring someone to nurse him back to health, she knew she had to be the one. Then, she knew he had held her heart.
The second time she left him was for the sake of a childhood promise. She had tried to suppress her tears as she said her goodbye to him. She thought that this was it, the final goodbye, a fun trip, plenty of times for them to interact, but he went to save her, like the Knight in shining armor. Nearly getting himself killed in front of her, he managed to resolve the issue to the utmost perfection for her sake. This man could really twist your heart into a knot. By this time, he had won her heart, whether he intended to or not.
So does all this mean it was meant to be? He did return after she supposedly set him free on three different occasions. After so long, the subtle hints and gestures of affection unrequited? Does it mean that it wasn't meant to be? She couldn't say for certain. But she knew one thing, her soul had been tainted silver, and she didn't seem to mind.