HELLO BOYS! I'M BAAAAAAAAACK!

Too Much? I don't really know to how to break the ice since I haven't been active here since November. As always, I will explain what has happened since my last update and enjoy this long-awaited chapter.

Chapter 7

Inma

The sun rose in a timely manner, illuminating all possibilities; the sunflowers lifting their heads to bask the natural sunlight, the farm animals waking up in preparation for what's in store, and the potential blooming of a historic friendship. Yet, it wasn't the effect the young giantess was experiencing.

Inma found herself standing in the middle a dark realm save for sporadic lightning. She turned her attention to the right as she heard two swords clashing one another and one of the voices belonging to her dad.

"Inma, you and your tiny friend must go! They mustn't step foot on the land of humans again!" Inma was confused. "Wh-what do you mean again? Who's "they"?!" She flinched when she saw a sword all aimed above her father's head. Before she could assume the worst, Inma had turned her attention to another direction. This time, all she could see was a giant hand. The young child might not know whose hand it belonged to, she did not want to after studying its grotesque details. Everything about it from the dirt covered palm and gnawed off fingernails. The amount of grease glistening was enough to make her skin crawl. However, the only reason she couldn't look away was because her tiny friend was at the center of the vile prison.

"JACK!" Inma tried screaming but her voice was negated from the thunderous sound of a lightning bolt.

"It's too late for me! Please, take out the beanstalk and save my people!" Before the young giantess could respond, she was interrupted.

"WHAT WILL IT BE GIRLY? SURRENDER OR WATCH YOUR FRIEND DIE!" The mysterious voice was booming so loudly, Inma covered her ears.

"IF YOU WON'T MAKE A DECISION, ALLOW ME TO CHOOSE FOR YOU!" Inma felt tears running down her cheek for she knew Jack was moments away from being crushed to a bloody pulp. The blonde child felt sick to her stomach and covered her face as she wept uncontrollably. Moments later, she heard a third voice. Unlike the other voices, this one stood out for it presented itself with a soothing presence and hummed a gentle melody to ease the frightened child.

"Inma, you must protect the boy at all costs. Both of you are the key to saving both the giants and humans…

The blonde child was becoming conscious but managed to hear the soothing voice's final line: "…And for saving me". Inma shot up from her bed and gasped. She looked around and calmed down when she saw the familiarity of her room. Inma then remembered her little man and sat up to lean towards her dresser. She was relieved to see Jack resting ever so peacefully in the jar and wrapped her arms around it carefully. She didn't mind her tiny friend being asleep, all that mattered was he was safe.

Jack

"Five more minutes…" Jack mumbled and wanted to go back to sleep. The sudden movement of the bottle caused him to wake up abruptly. "For the last time mom, I don' want to—" The young farmer grumbled as he took a few step forward only to knock his head on the glass. Jack flinches and rubs his head then opened his eyes, only to find himself staring at Inma. The charcoal-haired teen wanted to scream but decided against it because gigantic or not, what concerned Jack was a girl on the verge of crying.

"Oh Jack! I'm so happy you're still here!" The blonde child pulled back just enough to get a full view of her friend in the jar. "I had a horrible last night. I saw my dad fighting someone with a sword and you were—" Inma chocked up for couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. The young farmer had no idea how comfort someone, let alone someone over 60 times his size. In any other situation, Jack would've tried to pretend his capture was nothing but a dream. However, him seeing his captor at her most vulnerable reaffirmed him the moments she took care of him were sincere and he couldn't bring it to himself to ignore someone in need of help. He would at least try to cheer up Inma.

"Hey uh, Inma, Mind letting me out of here?" Jack asked and knocked on the glass.

"Oh, Right." The young giantess flipped the jar and made sure his descent towards her palm was all but gentle. Landing on her palm was fine in Jack's opinion but what frightened him were the giant fingers that curled around his body, leaving only his head exposed to breathe. He calmed down a little when he felt his face being rubbed onto his captor's cheek.

"You know, m-my dad told me sometimes you don't have to say anything. B-being around a person you trust is just as meaningful." Inma pulled her hand away and gave Jack a big smile. This one act from a girl bigger than life itself melted all his worries away and made him feel all fuzzy inside. This wholesome moment did not last long because all of a sudden, the young farmer felt himself being dragged down, he started squirming once he realized was being pulled to Inma's chest.

For the young giantess, it was a harmless act of being that much closer to her tiny human. "Thank you, my Little Man. You being here has made my day." She whispered as she didn't want to hurt his ears once more. Unfortunately for Jack, he was becoming uncomfortable encased in darkness listening to the loudest heartbeats in his life.

"Well, at least I know this isn't a dream." He continued to squirm.

"Inma, Time to get up!" A giant voice bellowed.

Jack was relieved to have some distance away from Inma's heart for he needed to check on his ears and make sure he hadn't gone deaf again. He had one question to ask though.

"Are you going to hide me again?" The charcoal-hair teen asked.

"Yes, but this time I'll be taking you along" The blonde child replied. Without warning, she stuffed Jack into the pocket of the coat she wore yesterday, hanging on a chair. She put it on herself and went downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm definitely not dreaming" The young farmer shrugged as he got himself comfortable and checked on his hearing.

Inma

The young giantess entered the kitchen to meet her father as this was the place he'd usually be at this time of day. "Morning Papa." Inma went in for a hug.

"Good morning, my daughter." He placed various ingredients on the counter and hugged his little girl back. "How are you feeling today?" He asked out of concern.

"I'm okay, really" Inma said.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, Inma" Her dad lets go and kneels down to see Inma eye to eye. "You know I like to mess around with you. But that doesn't change how I may have gone too far and came off inconsiderate. I always ask for respect, I must earn yours as well. Should you find what you wanted to show me yesterday, know that I'll always be here for you." Inma looked up at her father and smiled.

"Th-thank you papa. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled, it's just I found…something from the stories we read together. She peeped nervously.

"Oh." Her father said in response. "Well, promise me you'll show me your discovery whenever you're ready?"

"I promise." The young giantess kissed her father on the cheek and went to the front door. "I'm going out to play for a bit. See you soon."

As Inma's dad watched her run outside, he realized she didn't put on her shoes. But it was too late to catch her attention. "She seemed eager to go out, it's just not like her. Eh, better than her sulking around." He thought to himself. "In the meantime, I ought to get started on making Inma's favorite snack."

He double checked all the ingredients he needed and then looked up at the sky through a window. "It's a nice weather we got today. It'll be a real shame if it were to rain all of sudden.

*SIGH* Where do I even begin? If one doesn't include the occasional updates I made, I haven't published a chapter in almost two years. Perhaps i'm being too hard on myself, but I can't help it.

As for the reasons why I haven't gotten around are a few things:

1) I graduated from community college 2 years ago and have attended university since.

2) Animal Crossing took over my life up until recently.

3) COVID-19

I'm not trying to make excuses for myself, but I want to keep it real. And although my summer is coming to an end soon, I am as determined as ever to finish this story. I want to see this through the end, and continue to grow as a writer. This chapter has been on my mind for 2 years, but I have not been unable to put it into words. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to read all this and I hope in this surreal time, this will brighten your day.