Thank you Tsuray for your review :) That made my day ^^
The young woman seemed to be frozen in place, lost in thoughts. Too lost to realise that she was still holding his hand.
She was staring at the ground. A minute passed, when Descole suddenly felt the girl's fingers intertwine with his. He blinked in disbelief, totally off guard and having a hard time keeping his serenity. Still, no one said a word. A long silence passed with feelings in the air, neither of them could describe.
Then, the scientist loosened his fingers and let go of her hand. Emmy's expression was hidden in the dark, until he spoke.
"You should get rest, since you'll have to return to your own world tomorrow." He said with a little hint of sorrow in his tone. That line made Emmy spin around to him, staring at his masked face. He saw the shock and surprise on her face while she kept looking at him.
"B-but I… l-" she started but he cut her off by taking both of her hands in his.
"I do... Like you, too, Miss Altava, but you know as well as I that this shouldn't be." He said softly to comfort her as he looked at their hands. She could only blankly stare at him. Her hands dropped to her sides like the lifeless ones of a puppet when he released them. Silence again, only this time a sad and shorter one.
He turned around and walked over to the door.
"It's Emmy, for you." She said with a smile on her face. He turned around and could only admire her for smiling at that point. Still, he smiled back.
"Then you may call me Jean, if you like." He replied nicely before leaving the room and silently closing the door.
The next morning came faster than she had hoped to. Sleepily, Emmy got out of the bed and stretched her arms while she yawned. She stepped out of the room and rubbed her eyes against the sunlight. When her sight cleared, she gasped in surprise.
In front of her – standing in the kitchen and preparing breakfast – was Descole. But he probably just gotten ready, too, or at least half...
He turned around when he heard her gasp. Both stared at each other for a while, until he noticed that he had not put on his shirt yet. Of course, he had put on his hat and mask, but since he had come out of the shower only a few minutes ago, he had not fully dressed yet. Plus, his fresh clothes were in the bedroom. He had hoped for her to go to the bathroom and then quickly get his things out of the closet. Now it was too late and neither of them had expected the current situation.
"Morning." He muttered in a deep voice and tried to hide his smile as he saw her cheeks flush in a deep red shade. Emmy turned her head away and tried to stop herself from staring. She bit her lip when he walked towards her and went past her into the bedroom. She inhaled shakily and fought herself not to peek inside the room. Instead, she walked over to the kitchen counter and gazed out the window for distraction.
"The horses are back..." she whispered to herself.
"They were never gone." Descole's voice rang from behind her. She turned to him as he came to stand next to her to look outside as well. Emmy could not help but observe the rather muscular man in front her, buttoning his shirt. "Are you alright?" He asked and placed the back of his hand on her warm forehead. The young woman blushed even more and lowered her head to hide it. He could not hide his smirk anymore.
"Just fine." She quickly answered and quietly exhaled in relief when he removed his hand and continued preparing their breakfast.
After they had finished breakfast, Emmy went to get her camera and fix her hair, while the scientist went outside the hut. She followed after a minute, but could not see him. Warily, she went around the hut to find a small stable for the two horses. Both of them were saddled and ready.
"Shall we?" Descole asked her and offered her one horse. The girl nodded and mounted the horse. She was glad that she was able to ride a horse and would not make a fool of herself.
Descole stopped his horse when they had reached the end of the forest. The horse Emmy was riding reacted on him, too, stopping as well.
"I can't get you any further right now." He started, eyeing the village down the hill from the shadows. The young woman sighed. Dismounting her horse, she regarded the valley, too. The man dismounted his horse as well and stood by her side. "Now go; they will be waiting for you." He said as he took her hand and stretched it out for her to follow his gesture and walk away. Only this time, it worked. Hesitatingly, Emmy wandered down to the small village, leaving the scientist.
When she reached the valley, she turned around to see Descole's silhouette in the shadows of the forest.
"Emmy!" The professor's voice called. Soon, she was surrounded by the professor and his apprentice.
"Where have you been?"
"What happened?" They asked in a rush and hugged her tightly. She could not help but smile.
"Don't worry, I'm okay." She answered calmly and added a 'thanks' in her mind while glancing over to the abandoned forest. Although she knew that she would live on in her world now, she could not help but feel that they would meet again.