Jack was seated in the lone chair in his house beside his table as he ate his small lunch consisting of a small loaf of bread, some corn, and a glass of milk. As he ate Buddy sat underneath the table next to his feet and gnawed on a small grey bone until his ears perked up at sound of footsteps coming from outside. He sat up and stared at the door and started to growl when the sound of the footsteps stopped and was then replaced with the sound of someone banging on the door. Jack looked up from his meal and stared at the door for a moment before glancing out at foggy landscape viewable from his window. He got up from his seat and walked over to the door to open it and was greeted by Keira who immediately embraced him as soon as she could.

"K-K-K-Keira?" Jack stuttered in surprise as she tightened her grip around him and rested her head on his chest. "W-What are you doing here?"

"Th-that girl Jack, that girl!" She cried frantically. "Who, who was she?"

He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away a bit but continued to hold onto her as he stared at her confused. "What girl?"

"That, that girl at the festival, who was she Jack?" She asked.

"Muffy?" He asked. "She was just some girl who needed someone to dance with until her date arrived."

Keira's confusion only worsened. "W-What?"

"Her date to the festival was running late and she wanted to dance so she came up and asked me to dance with he. I didn't want to be rude or anything so I accepted her offer." He explained.

"Th-then why did you kiss her?" She asked.

"Well, I mean it's not like I really wanted to or anything but… well… it's just that she said she had a lot of fun dancing with me and want to repay me for it so she kissed me and then ran off to meet her date when he arrived." He replied.

"So… so you don't love her?" She asked happily as a few tears formed in her eyes.

"No." He answered. "I don't even think I'll see her again."

Keira stared at him for a moment before embracing him tightly again. "Oh Jack you don't know how relieved I am."

Jack slowly placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away again. "Why does any of that matter Keira? More importantly what are you doing out here? Everyone got so worried when they saw you run off yesterday." He looked down at her dress and took note of how wrinkly it was and all the dirt stains scattered about it. "Have you been hiding out here since then?"

She nodded her head causing him to become startled.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked in a panicked tone.

"I… I just needed to know that I haven't lost you." She told him.

"What?" He asked.

She threw herself into his arms once more and buried her face in his chest. "At, at the festival… when I saw you kiss that girl… I… I was so scared… I-I thought you were in love with somebody else."

The word love seemed to greatly startle him as she felt his body shake as soon as she said it.

"W-W-What?" He stuttered.

"Jack I… I… I think I love you." She told him.

She felt as his body shook once more before he separated her from him once more.

"W-what?" He asked in an incredibly surprised tone.

"I… I need you Jack." She told him.

"Keira what are you talking about?" He asked. "I… I mean we haven't even known each other that long."

She shook her head. "You, you just don't understand Jack." She began in a stressed tone as she looked back at him. "Ever since you saved me all I can think about is you."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

She sighed and looked out towards the fog covered forest. "Back when I was a little girl I was always forced to learn how to be a proper young princess and I could never do what I wanted. My parents had always told me that it was for the best but I could never believe there words. I just wanted to be able to do what I my heart desired like all everyone else in the world but I just wasn't allowed to. My caretaker could see my plight and let me go and run around in the castle garden for as long as I wanted whenever she could but when she died so did those opportunities."

He shook his head in confusion at her.

"Those opportunities… those chances I had to be free to do whatever I wanted… When I lost them I started to forget about them…" She continued. "But then when you took me here to your farm after you saved me and let me work with you… being able to go out in your field and help… it made me remember that I don't want this life."

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"I… I want your life Jack." She answered.

His confusion with what she was talking about only became more evident by the strange stare he gave her. "W-What?"

"This life of yours, this life of being a farmer…" She told him as her eyes began to water. "I want it."

"What do you mean you want it?" He asked.

"Jack, I want to be with you because I know you can help me rid myself of this life of a princess." She told him.

He shook his head at her again. "I… I just don't understand."

"I don't want to be a princess anymore Jack; I want to be a commoner like you!" She cried. "And I know that you can help me make that dream come true."

He stared at her silently for a moment until the sound of voices in the distance attracted their attention.

"I think I heard the princess's voice coming from over here." They heard someone shout to someone else.

Keira's eyes widened with fear and she quickly grabbed onto Jacks hands and brought them to her chest as she looked at him fearfully. "Jack please you have to hide me!"

"What?" He asked.

"Please Jack, those are my guards! They're looking for me! Please you have to hide me for the time being! Please!" She begged.

He continued to stare at her for a moment before placing his arms around her and leading her inside his house. "Alright, stay here."

She nodded her head and he shut the door as he stepped back outside. She turned around to watch Buddy emerge from under the table and approach her. She bent down in front of him and stuck out her hand which he then sniffed for a moment before licking it. She removed her hand from the front of his face and gently patted him on the head for a moment until she began to hear the faint sound of voices coming from outside. She walked over to the window and peeked her head out, being sure not to reveal too much of herself, and watched as Jack conversed with two of the towns guards that were likely searching for her. They didn't seem to be aware that she was watching them and they soon started to walk back into the fog as Jack waved goodbye before stepping back inside.

She slowly walked towards him. "They're… they're looking for me aren't they?"

He nodded his head.

She ran up and embraced him once more. "Thank you Jack."

He wrapped his arm around her and placed it underneath her hair so it was resting against the soft fabric of her dress and embraced her back for a moment.

"So… you… you really want to be with me?" He asked. "Like… a couple?"

He felt as she nodded her head against his chest.

"I understand but… we just met awhile ago. Don't you think you're going a little fast with this?" He asked.

She looked up him before resting the side of her head on his chest again. "I know but when you're a princess you don't have a lot of time for romance… especially with someone like you. When you live a life of royalty your parents want you to be wed as soon as possible."

"That's alright." He replied. "If you really want to be with me then I won't argue. I have no right to go against what you say."

She tightened her grip around him. "Thank you…"

She felt as he began to gently rock her side to side for a moment before laughing a little.

"Kind of funny." He remarked. "The princess of a kingdom liking a simple farmer…"

She broke away from him and looked down at the ground emitting a feeling of sadness. "Yeah… I just don't know how my parents will take it… that is if I can ever tell them…"

He walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright Keira. If this is what you really want we'll find a way to make it work."

She looked up at him and remembered how the Goddess had told her the same thing. "You're right. I know we can figure this out."

He gave her a smile as she looked over at the table.

"So what were you doing before I showed up?" She asked.

"I was having lunch." He replied as he removed his hand from her shoulder and walked towards the table. "If you want I can get you something to eat as well, I'm sure you haven't eaten since yesterday."

She smiled and gave him a hug. "Thank you."

Jack walked over to his cabinet and pulled out some fruit that he had been saving and placed them on top of a somewhat dirty rag that he set out atop the table. He allowed Keira to use the chair beside the table while they ate leaving him to stand though he didn't mind. Every few seconds she would look up at him and smile at how happy she was with the fact that he had accepted her request to which he would always respond with a smile back. With each moment she sat in the house with him she could feel as the commoner she longed to be inside her neared the imaginary wall separating her from reality. She knew that with Jack's help she would find a way to overcome it but how and when it would happen had yet to reveal itself.