Months passed by were heavenly. Rose and I were an official couple, we spent most of our time together. She'd come to my brother's house and whisk me away to a quest. We'd go hunting in Silverpines; play shooting games and the Mercenary Camp; and my favorite, lay in Mistpeak Valley in the evenings and watch the sky change colors as we just lay there, holding hands.
I loved and savored every second of it. Every hug, smile and kiss was like a precious treasure. Walter didn't mind, but he didn't talk to me much.

"There's been heavy focusing of Logan's soldiers here and here in Bowerstone." Page said.

Rose, Swift, Page, Walter and I were looking to see where it was safe for us to go most of the time and where to avoid. I really didn't care because I spent most of my time with Rose, so wherever she went I went. We were hunched over a map in a circle, I looked up at Rose who was wearing the top of her Practical princess dress, her Highwaywoman trousers and boots and no gloves. Her hair was put up in a bun because of the recent Summer in Albion. I stared at her for awhile and ignored Page.
Rose eventually noticed and smiled at me. I put my hand to my chin and tapped my finger on my mouth. She giggled and tapped her finger on her mouth pointed to me inconspicuously. That was our language for "I want to kiss you after this very long, boring meeting." But unfortunately Page and Walter noticed this early.

"Ahem." Page interrupted.

She glared at me, and Walter coughed toward my direction. I took my finger off my mouth and groaned.

"Right, now according to recent information..." Page continued.

I tapped my elbow twice, which meant:"I want to hold you, BAD." She tapped her ear once which meant:" I want to whisper sweet things in your ear." I smiled and put my chin on my hand and pressed two fingers on my cheek, which meant: "I want to be alone with you soon."

"Will both of you stop it!" Page yelled throwing her arms in the air. "All this secret romantic language during meetings is so annoying! For a minute can you both just stop with the tapping, hand movements and staring so you can pay attention?"

"That's like asking me to fly." I told Page. "You're just jealous that Rose and I are together so your love for me is unrequited."

Page went red and gritted her teeth. She stomped over to the exit and opened the door.

"FINN! OUT! NOW!" She demanded pointing to the door.

"I'll see you after, Rosie." I waved her goodbye.

She winked at me and pressed two fingers on her cheek. I laughed and stepped outside. Page slammed the door with a loud metal clang. Tommy strode next to me and wagged his tail.

"Hey boy, how are you?" I asked giving him a pat.

He barked and jumped up.

"Looks like Swift and Jasper aren't the only ones that aren't utterly pissed I'm with Rose." I said as I vigously rubbed his back.

Tommy stopped wagging his tail and looked down.

"Wait, so you are utterly pissed?" I asked him.

He looked up and me and shook his entire body as if he was covered in water.

"So you aren't...Then why the long face? No pun intended."

He whined and ran off. After a few minutes he brought back a book and dropped it in front of me. "'Pets Need More Than Puppy Love.' Feeling lonely boy?" I asked him.

He howled loudly and gave a loud huff.

"I might be able to find a nice little lady friend. How does a Golden Retriever sound?" I asked leaning down.

He whined.

"Another Border Collie?"

He barked, but he didn't sound excited.

"Hm... I know! The perfect partner, how about a beautiful Husky?"

He jumped up and barked happily and ran in circles.

"Maybe one day I'll find one for you. But for now you're going to wait for your mate."

He whined and laid down.

"I promise one day." I vowed.

He groaned a bit. I laughed and stroked his head. Then I felt someone grab my hand from behind. Rose hugged me from behind and whispered in my ear. "Let's go somewhere we can be alone."

"Only if you do what we 'talked' about in the meeting." I replied.

"When do I not?"

She turned me around and kissed me passionately on the lips.

"AHEM." a deep voice interrupted.

It was Walter who shot me a dangerous glare. Rose sighed.

"Don't worry Walter, everything I do with Ben I am completely in control of. He's not forcing me to do anything nor is he acting like a total jerk or womanizing bastard, now can you stop the death glare?" Rose reasoned.

Walter grunted and walked away.

"Now where was I?" Rose asked me pulling me close to her.

"I thought you wanted us to be alone."

"We will, in a moment."

Rose teleported us to Sanctuary.

"Madam, Mr. Finn. Good to see you both in good heath." Jasper greeted.

"Same to you, Jasper." I nodded.

"Make sure to keep Walter off our trail, Ben and I need some alone time." Rose spoke as she approached the Map.

"Not too alone, I hope." Jasper announced. "Young love can be so...Dangerous, pregnancy before marriage. Disastrous!"

I turned red at the comment. "Um, Rose and I don't plan on becoming anywhere near that intimate for the time being."

"Defiantly not." Rose added.

"Good, then selling all those condu-"

"Don't say the word." Rose demanded.

"You stand correct, the word should not be apparent until after marriage."

"Jasper that's a bit fast Rose and I aren't planning to get married." I told him, but I thought Rose would be offended. "Well we might... I mean, we don't know. Maybe one day... But, I mean we don't need to talk about it right now. So..."

Rose had turned bright pink and continued to look at the map.

"Oh, there's a nice little place called Driftwood, lots of sea and little islands where we won't be disturbed." Rose pointed.

"Sounds perfect." I smiled. "Shall we go?"

"No!" Rose shouted. "I need to get dressed for swimming, I think I have some of mum's old clothes." Rose mumbled running into the wardrobe.

"Sorry Rosie, I don't have the clothes to go swimming." I called to her.

She popped her head out of the Wardrobe Chamber. "I have old clothes, come in. Don't worry, I'm still dressed."

I walked into the room to see Rose looking through drawers.

"Aha! Got them." She remarked.

She pulled out a pair of old brown trousers and a plain white button up shirt.

"Here, change into this, but not while I'm here."

I smiled and took the clothes from her. She continued to dig though the drawers.

"Hey, Ben." She called.

"Yes, Rose?" I replied.

"Do you remember the day we met?" She asked.

"I believe it was on May seventh, in Mourningwood." I answered.

"May's next month... Do you want to have an anniversary or something?"

I was surprised. What an odd, yet completely understandable question.

"An anniversary sounds nice, it can be just the two of us for a day, anything we want to do. That sounds great!" I smiled.

Rose turned around and smiled as well. She had brown trousers and a blue shirt in her arms.

"I'll go get dressed over there." She pointed to the fold out screen. "You can just dress out here. Can you step out for a minute, Jasper?"

"Of course, Milady." Jasper bowed.

He exited the room and Rose went behind the screen. I took off my clothes and put on the ones Rose gave me.

"This shirt's a bit tight." Rose remarked. "Looks like my mum wasn't blessed in the bosom, as I am."

***IN THE AFTERLIFE (AGAIN)***
Sparrow looked down at her chest.

"Not fair, I gave birth to her, she should be the same as me!"

"Now, now Sparrow, no need to get antsy." Alex calmed.
***

I turned red. "Please don't talk about that, Jasper might hear."

"Alright, alright, there. I'm done." Rose announced.

She stepped out of screen. The shirt was indeed tight around her chest. Rose was already well portioned on her chest, this made it even more obvious.

"Does this look...Strange?" she asked.

"A little bit, you should wear a cloak or something." I turned around and grabbed my army vest. "Here, wear this over until we get there."

She kissed me on my lips and hugged me. "You're so sweet Ben."

She slipped on the over sized vest and giggled. "You must have some really big muscles."

I puffed out my chest proudly. "I'm amazing aren't I?"

She giggled again and put her hands on my chest. "We should step out before Jasper gets the wrong idea." She swept my bangs to the side of my face.

We walked out holding hands and Jasper bid us farewell. We teleported onto a secluded beach. Rose laughed, removed my vest and ran into the water. She was about waist deep then dived her whole body in and stood back up.

"Come on Ben!" Rose waved at me. "The water's warm!"

I smiled and walked up to the lapping waves. I walked into the water, it was in fact quite warm. I smelled the salty air as I approached Rose. She laughed and jumped on me without warning. I lost my footing in the sand and fell backwards into the water. My back was pressed against the sand and my face was covered by water, but luckily I managed to hold by breathe before I hit the water.

"Ben!" Rose panicked and lifted me back up.

She opened my mouth and started blowing air into my mouth. A normal person would say: "I'm fine." But I'm Ben Finn decided to take advantage of the situation. I grabbed onto Rose and stood back up and kissed her feverishly on the lips. She grumbled and hit my shoulder so I pulled away.

"You faker!" She yelped hitting me.

"I'm not a faker if you're the one who jumped to conclusions." I said grabbing her wrist.

"Ok, you win this round." Rose pulled back and kissed me on my lips again.

Rose looked behind me and her eyes widened.

"What? What?" I asked turning around.

A dark, tall shadow stood out from the clear blue sky.

"The Tattered Spire." Rose whispered. "Why didn't I see it before?"

Rose walked toward the direction of it.

"I'm going to swim to it!" She yelled.

She dove into the water and started swimming frantically in the Spire's direction.

"Rose! Stop!" I yelled.

But she kept going. I dove in after her, swimming as fast as I could. Luckily I caught up to her. I grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her back.

"Rose, this is insane!" I yelled forcing her to stand up.

"I need answers, Ben!" Rose replied.

"Rose, I'm not doubting your strength, but anything can happen at open sea. I'm not letting you go, understand Rose?" I told her.

Rose and I glared at each other for awhile. I sighed and pulled her close.

"Rose...I care about you. I don't want you to get hurt. One day, by ship, we'll both go to the Spire and find answers together."

Rose hugged my neck. "Promise?"

"I promise."

Rose looked at me in the eyes and kissed me again.

"We've been doing a lot of kissing." I commented.

Rose laughed. "Do you have a problem, Mr. Finn?"

"Not at all."

The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming and laying on the beach. Rose and I held hands as we watched the sunset.

"We can go back to the Sanctuary, Jasper's a great cook and before we have dinner we can take a bath..."

"What?" I yelled.

"No! No! Not together. There's a bathtub in your room and my room so...Yeah." Rose turned red and looked down.
"Shall we go?"

I nodded. We teleported into the Sanctuary.

"I hope you two enjoyed your swim." Jasper greeted.

"Jasper can you please do me a favor and run the bath in my room and Ben's." Rose asked.

I had come along with Rose on so many adventures that her guest room became my room. I even leave spare clothes and extra ammo in the drawers, but thankfully Jasper promised not to tell Walter.

"Of course. Will Mr. Finn be staying with us tonight?" Jasper questioned.

"Yes, can you also buy some dinner using my gold?"

"Any requests?"

"Ben?" Rose turned to me.

"Um... Roast chicken." I requested.

"Ah, I know a recipe." Jasper said. "I will go after I prepare your baths, please give me a few minutes."

"Thank you Jasper."

Jasper walked off, leaving Rose and I alone in the map room.

"Rose I remembered. " I said. "That night, during the festival, you told Walter something wouldn't happen again... Rose, I need to know."

Rose looked down and sighed. "When we're alone Ben, I can tell you."

There was a long pause.

"Both of the baths are ready!" Jasper called peeking his head into the room. "I hope you don't mind Lavendar, Mr. Finn."

"I won't."

Rose and I went to our respective rooms. I saw that the tub had been filled with water and bubbles. I closed the door, which Jasper added prior to the Festival, and undressed. Putting my body into the tub, I relaxed. A bucket of water, some soap and a red towel was next to the tub. I washed myself well, rinsed and soaked in the tub for a few minutes.

I heard a knock at my door.

"Mr. Finn, I want you to know I'm coming in. Rose had instructed me to bring you fresh clothes."

"Come on in." I replied.

The door opened, Jasper came in and laid neatly folded clothes on the bed. I knew at first glance they weren't mine. The white shirt seemed more fancy, and it also had black pants.

"Jasper, these aren't-"

"Rose requested that you wear this tonight." Jasper answered. "A special occasion, she asked to buy strawberry wine."

I shrugged. Jasper left, and I got up and dried myself. By the request of Rose I got dressed in the formal attire. My hair was still damp, so I continuously rubbed it with the towel. Another knock at the door.

"Ben, it's me, Rose. Can I come in?" she asked.

"You can," Rose began to open the door. "If you want to see me naked."

Rose yelped, and quickly shut the door. I laughed loudly at her adorable reaction.

"Just joking Rosie, I'm clothed. Come on in."

Rose grumbled, she walked in the room with an angry, but very cute, pout. Her cheeks flustered red, either from anger or embarrassment. Rose was wearing light blue dress that clung to her body, but not too tight, she had a laced corset and a purple wrap around the bottom of her waist. Her hair was wet and wavy and gathered at one side.

"That wasn't funny, Ben. I thought I was going to have my innocence taken away." Rose complained, swatting my hand.

"Innocence? You kill things." I chuckled.

"My mental innocence."

She sat next to me and used her hand to push me. She looked at me again and giggled a bit.

"Your hair looks so funny."

I looked into a nearby mirror. It did, it was tangled in several places, my bangs pointed upwards and the back of my hair was even spikier.

"I towel-dried my hair." I answered.

"Let me help."

Rose ran her fingers through my hair, rearranging it. After a few strokes of the hand it was back to normal.

"There." Rose said proudly. "Back to the way I like it. Spiky and sexy."

I laughed. "It's always the hair that gets the girls."

"It's not just the hair, it's the eyes."

"Don't forget my dazzling smile."

Rose giggled again and kissed my cheek.

"Dinner is ready!" Jasper called.

"Coming!" Rose stood up, then offered her hand. "Let's go Ben."

I smiled and followed her into her room. The walls were light blue and the furniture was a light oak. A purple sheeted Queen bed was also in the room along with a few bookcases. There was a table that looked like it could seat about six or so, on it was some red roses in a vase, a candle, two plates and two sets of utensils, two goblets and a covered plate.

"Candles, roses?" I wondered.

"I thought it would be fitting." Jasper walked in with a bottle of wine.

"This is perfect Jasper." Rose beamed sitting down. "Come on, Ben."

I smiled and sat down across from her. Jasper chuckled and took the silver cover off the dish. It was a large roast chicken, covered in spices. The warm, inviting smell wafted into the room.

"Smells great." I smiled.

"Beautiful, thank you so much Jasper. You may retire for the night." Rose smiled.

"If you wish, Madam." Jasper bowed and left.

Rose helped me cut the chicken into equal halves and she poured some wine for the both of us. I put a piece of chicken in my mouth happily.

"This is the best dinner I've had. Ever." I said, my voice slightly muffled.

"Agreed." Rose said, she then took a sip from her goblet. "This wine is great, it's so sweet."

I took a sip as well. "Better than ale."

Rose nodded and continued to eat. We talked about previous quests, joked around and kissed at least twice every five minutes in a time span of about two hours. When the chicken was finished as well as the bottle of wine Rose sighed contently as we both sat on the bed, kissing. Thankfully she wasn't drunk (or at least not completely), even though her cheeks were flustered pink.

"So, we're alone now. What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

Rose sighed and looked at me directly.

"The thing me and Walter argued about was... He was afraid." Rose began slowly. "Of me getting heartbroken, like before."

I scowled. "Who was the stupid bastard that broke your heart?"

Rose looked down. "He didn't break my heart... Elliot was killed."

My face immediately dropped. "I'm sorry Rose."

Rose sniffled so I wrapped my arms around her.

"Not only was he killed, but he was killed by was afraid not only for me when I started a relationship with you, but he was afraid you'd be killed too." Rose stated sadly, tears fell from her eyes so I wiped them away. "And Ben, I'm afraid too."

"Don't be Rosie." I comforted.

"I can't help being afraid!" Rose stood up and faced away from me.

"Rose, I'm not going anywhere." I held her from behind.

Rose cried quietly. "I'm afraid because I love you."

The whole world stood still. Rose turned to face me and swept my bangs to the side.

"I'm sorry if this is too soon Ben." She whispered.

"I love you too, Rose."

I put her in a tight embrace and smiled.

"I always will."

"I'm so happy!" Rose squealed tackling me on the bed.

I looked up to see her sitting above me. She kissed me feverishly and I returned the favor. Rose pulled away after a few minutes.

"Ben, are you thinking what...I think you are?" Rose asked with a sultry voice.

"What?" I replied.

"You don't want to-" Rose's face turned pink. "Forget I said anything."

"You weren't thinking we should..."

"No!" Rose shouted. "Forget I said anything."

She stood up and walked out of the room, but stopped at the door. "Goodnight Ben, I love you."

"I love you too." I replied with a smile.

She shut the door. I chucked.

"I wonder how long it's going to take for her to realize-"

The door opened again.

"This is my room." Rose huffed. "Can you come out?"

I laughed. "Of course."

I crossed the hall to my doorway and Rose stood in front of me. She gave me a quick kiss.

"I love you." I told her again.

"This is getting really cliche, but I love you too." Rose said.

I laughed and closed the door.