Zoe's silent vow seemed to lift some kind of a hidden burden of the 17 year old's shoulders. She began to take Salem more places, venturing past the Kedar's house and the Snake's Lair. Zoe found children around Salem's age in the parks as the snow melted and winter began to evolve into spring. Zoe herself made friends with the parents, finding many of them were close to her in age. Although her visits to Karana and Ashlar were still very important to her, they were now for fun and rarely for guidance. Karana grinned from ear to ear as she watched the maturing mother-daughter pair together. She was very proud of Zoe, and her granddaughter simply had her wrapped around her chubby little finger. Salem's favourite place became the park. They took walks in the evenings, watching the various animals. Zoe taught her daughter about all the different animals in the park, and how they were families, just like they were. Salem never asked about her own father.
"Maooo!" Salem explained one evening in April. The weather was becoming warm again, and dusk was longer and longer each night. Zoe smiled, stroking her daughter's hair.
"That's right, Saylee, the moon is out tonight. And the sky is full of stars. See how brightly they shine? It's just like litle bits of magic twinkling up there." Salem smiled and bent her neck back, staring up at the sky with wide eyes and a half-open mouth.
"Moooo.." She gurgled, looking back at her mother.
"Where's the moon, Sayl? Point it out to me." Salem pointed a small, deliberate finger at the moon and said quite clearly,
"Moon." Zoe gasped,
"Your first word.." Before she had time to congratulate her daughter for maturing to a new stage in her life, Salem turned on Zoe's lap to look straight at her. Placing her hands over Zoe's eyes delicately, she spoke again.
"Eyes." Zoe giggled and took Salem's hands into her own, kissing them.
"That's right, Saylee!" Salem grinned and pointed back up at the moon again.
"Moon!" Her head swung back to stare at her mother. "Eyes.." She said in a softer, more knowing tone. Zoe giggled, and Salem joined in. Sitting back against her mother, she began to repeat the words, beating out a rhythm to it on the sides of Zoe's legs.
"Moon, eyes, moon, eyes, moon, eyes, mooneyes.." She giggled madly. Zoe grinned from ear to ear, watching her daughter discover the beauty of language for the first time.
"Your first word, Salem! Do you know what this calls for?" Salem's eyes widened and she shook her head, staring at her mother in wonder. Zoe grinned. "It means it's time for a special trip! How does a doll and an ice cream sound for tomorrow?" Saylee clapped her hands and hugged her mother, obviously happy with the decision.
This summer was already Zoe's third in Galla. It went by the fastest of them all. Zoe didn't know if it had to do with how fast Salem seemed to be growing up, or something completely different. By June, only 2 months after she had said her first word, she had mastered a 25 word vocabulary. This doubled by mid July, and again by the end of August. As the leaves starting to fall again in Cria, Salem was able to point to each one and not only identify them as a leaf, but also by their colour, and even in some cases, the tree they had fallen from. Her vocabulary was now a full one hundred twenty words, give or take a few prepositions.
"Orange leaf." Salem told her mother, pointing at a large one on the ground. Zoe grinned,
"Yes, an orange leaf. That's from a maple tree."
"Maple tree." Her daughter repeated quickly. Zoe sighed contentedly, tossing her faded hair her behind her shoulders, allowing the still warm wind to blow through it. It was nearing the 20th of September. In a little more than a month, Zoe would celebrate her 18th birthday. This on her mind, after she fed and bathed Salem, she sat down in front of her mirror, truly looking at herself for the first time in years. The dye in her hair had slowly faded over the past four years, her hair was now a honey brown. Her face was slightly rounder, softened by childbirth and motherhood. Her pale moon eyes, which one held a dangerous flare of cynicism and wit now sparkled subtly, suggesting wisdom and a well-nurtured spirit. Zoe smiled, pleasantly surprised with how she had matured. Standing up, she walked into the nursery next door, where Salem was playing with her favourite doll, Zazi. It was the doll Esperanza had given her on her first birthday, almost a full year ago now. When she first began to talk, Esperanza's name had been too hard for her to pronounce, and so she had became Zazi, as did the doll. Zoe kneeled down next to her daughter.
"Hey Saylee.." She said gently, smiling. Salem looked up and smiled back.
"Hi Mama." Zoe lowered herself into a sitting position.
"How's Zazi doing today?" Her daughter grinned.
"Real good, Mama."
"Have you and her been playing all day again?" Zoe questioned with a grin, genuinely interested in what Salem had to say. She nodded.
"Yup."
"Hmm.." Zoe's daughter looked up when she made that curious sound, her dark eyes wide.
"Whats it?" She laughed,
"Nothing, sweetie. I was just thinking that Zazi must be awfully tired, if you two have been playing all day. Do you think she might want to go to sleep for the night?" Salem giggled,
"Soon. No now, Mama? Pwease?" Zoe smiled, and kissed the top of her daughter's head.
"Okay. I'm going to get ready for bed myself, and once I'm finished, you can climb into bed with me, and I'll tell you a really great bedtime story. How's that sound to you and Zazi?" Salem smiled, reaching up and kissing her mother.
"Real good, Mama." Zoe grinned and stood up, ruffling her daughter's hair.
"I'll be back for you two later." She told them, and left them be while she readied herself for bed.
The golden leaves of September did not last long. They quickly shriveled and turned brown, crunching under people's feet as their steps quickened, for the October winds were cool and nipped at the more tender parts of the body. Salem and her playmates now met at each other houses. At first it was nice for Zoe, having Salem gone for a few hours practically every day. It gave her time to herself, allowed her to read, bathe, or spend some time alone with Karana. The time made things easier to deal when all of Salem's friends met at her own apartment, she was more prepared with things to entertain and feed them. At least, it was nice for the first few weeks. However, by mid November, she realized just how used she had grown to constantly having Salem by her side. Now their only time was in the evenings, when she bathed her and got her ready for bed. Almost every morning she was waking up only to fed her daughter breakfast and walk with her to someone's house, and then to spend the day alone. Not knowing what else to do with her time, Zoe began to spend her days doing early shopping for Midwinter. She needed a good deal of gifts, for Salem of course, but also Karana and her family, and all of Salem's friends. By the first week of December, she had bought an ample amount of gifts for almost everyone, and only had a few things left to pick up for Salem. She, of course, got the most gifts.
Walking through the streets of Cria, Zoe stopped inside a shop she normally didn't. It always smelled heavily of strange incense and made her cough. Today, however, she was greeted with the refreshing scent of pine. In honor of Midwinter, she was sure. Zoe browsed through the aisles, picking up a few various things for Salem and others. She paid for her things and decided to continue onto other stores. Feeling around for her money purse, she found it gone as she started to depart from the store. Stopping in the entranceway, she began to search frantically through her bag, not noticing when a young gentleman came rushing through the door until he plowed right into her.
Zoe yelped, toppling backwards, the contents of her bad spilling throughout the front of the store. The culprit gasped.
"I'm so sorry, miss! Oh, geez, I didn't mean to do that! Here, let me pick these things up.." He sputtered quickly, bending over and collecting the things that had spilled. Among them was her money purse, she noted with relief. He piled the contents haphazardly into her arms, grinning nervously. Zoe looked up into the man's face, and was slightly taken aback. He was very handsome, in a childish sort of way. His light brown hair was cut in a somewhat grown-out, shaggy version of a pageboy cut. His featured were well defined, and slightly weathered, looking as though he spent much of his time outside, nice weather or not. Even through his nervousness and embarrasment, his light green eyes sparkled playfully. His face made her grin, despite her original annoyance with him. He stood up, and offered his hand to Zoe, which she accepted. With surprising grace, he hoisted her up and handed the now-filled bag back to her.
"Once again, I'm sorry. Truly, I am." She couldn't help but laugh. There was something about this man, although he looked like he couldn't be older than 22.
"It's okay, stop apologizing." She smiled at him. "My name's Zoe Kedar." She said, offering her hand. He shook it, not firmly, but his grip was soft, almost tender.
"I'm Forrest McGregor. A pleasure to meet you, Zoe." He opened the door for her as she walked out, following her quickly. She giggled,
"Did you not have something to buy in there?" His slighty bushy eyebrows knitted together.
"Buy? Oh! Oh, no, I can always get it another time." He waved his hand in a dismissive motion. "Not important. Mind if I walk with you?" She grinned.
"Not at all, Forrest. So," she began, not allowing her any awkward silences in the conversation, "Are you a true Gallan? Or were you born in another country, like I was?" He ignored her question, wanting to asking his own. This girl was certainly intriguing. She could not be more than 19 or 20, although she held an aire around herself that could intimidate a king. Well, maybe not a king. But certainly a duke! Forrest thought to himself.
"You're not Gallan? Where were you born? What brought you to Galla? Does the cold weather bother you?" She grinned, and began to kick her feet up higher as she walked, thrusting some of the fresher snow into the air, letting it swirl around their ankles.
"I'm a pure blooded Tortallan. A need for adventure brought me to Galla," she told him, and added with a laugh, "And no, the cold weather doesn't particularly bother me." He grinned.
"I was born and raised here. I've always loved the cold weather, especially near Midwinter. Everything is white, and pure looking.. have you ever scaled any of the mountains during the winters here?" Zoe shook her head. "Oh, the site are absolutely breathtaking! I would paint them, if I knew how to safely bring a canvas and paints with me. She smiled, watching him talk. He seemed so passionate. Zoe had taken an instant liking to this man.
Forrest continued to go on and on about the beauty of the country during the winter, everything from how the tree limps bent gracefully under the weight of a new, wet snow to his theories on winter being the season the Gods used to let us experience what their realm was like. When he finally allowed there to be silence between them, she looked up at him and grinned.
"This is all rather fascinating. Would you like to continue to talk about it with me over dinner?"
"Dinner?" His voice nearly cracked, which drew a child-like giggle from Zoe. He grinned crookedly.
"Dinner would be wonderful. I know this great little place-"
"Actually, I would have to cook. At my home." He tilted his head to one side, looking at her.
"Why? I mean, that'd be wonderful, I haven't had a home-cooked meal in the longest time - but I'm curious, nonetheless." Zoe smiled, reaching her apartment.
"My daughter, you see. She's barely 2 years old, and hasn't exactly developed a real taste for restaurants yet."
"You have a daughter?" Forrest asked, his eyes wide. Zoe nodded. For a moment she thought he was going to assault her with questions of affairs and criticism about unwed mothers, but all he did was grin broadly after a few moments.
"That's wonderful. What's her name?" She let them both into her apartment.
"Her name is Salem. Salem Karana Kedar." Forrest let out a low whistle. "What?" She demanded, grinning.
"That's a very impressive name. Very strong, very beautiful." He grinned. "I'd never said anything bad about a child." Zoe opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment, another knock sounded.
"Speaking of children, I think mine is home." She answered the door, and sure enough, there was Salem, holding the hand of her friend's mother. Zoe and her chatted for a few moments before Salem said thank you, and they waved goodbye.
"Saylee, I've got friend here I want you to meet." Salem grinned.
"My friend?" Zoe laughed,
"Maybe, honey." Walking into the kitchen, she found Forrest making a feeble attempt at starting a pasta dinner. She giggled. "Salem, this a friend of mine. His name is Forrest McGregor." Zoe put Salem down, who promptly walked up to Forrest and stuck out her hand for him to shake.
"Hi. I's Salem." Forrest laughed, and shook her hand delicately.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Salem. As your mommy said, my name's Forrest."
With the introductions over, Zoe finished preparing dinner while Forrest and Salem had something reminiscent of a conversation at the table. The conversation continued into dinner, and Zoe joined in, throughly enjoying herself. After dinner, she took Salem and got her ready for bed, bathing her and tucking her into bed. While Zoe cared for her daughter, Forrest cleaned up from dinner. She was pleasantly surprised when she finally walked back out into the main part of the apartment, partially because dinner was cleared, and partially because Forrest was still there, sitting on the couch. He grinned as she sat down her to him.
"Hello." She smiled back at him.
"Hi. Thanks for cleaning up dinner, you didn't have to." Forrest smiled at her.
"I wanted to. You already have so much to do, I figured you wouldn't mind." She grinned, and then yawned, covering her mouth politely. He grinned. "You look worn out. Here, lie down.." Forrest told her. Yawning again, Zoe obeyed, resting her head in his lap. She smiled and closed her eyes as he began to stroke her hair gently. Forrest smiled down at the girl. She was very beautiful, he thought to himself. Her hair was a shade in between honey brown and light brown, which accented her pale eyes wonderfully. Her figure, although softened by childbirth, was still gorgeous, and he truly loved her personality.
"Zoe?" He said finally. She opened an eye to look up at him, slowly.
"Hm?"
"Would you like to go out to dinner sometime? You could bring Salem along, if you wanted.." Zoe blinked, and opened both her eyes. If she accepted, this would be her first date over 2 years. Also, she knew she felt something for Forrest. It was certainly not the burning passion that she once held in her heart for Dante, but there was something. After watching his tensed face for a moment, she smiled and kissed his cheek.
"I'd love to." Forrest grinned, and let out a long held breath.
"Would this Friday be okay? I know it's close to the Midwinter Celebrations, being that they start on Monday and all, you don't have to accept-"
"Friday would be lovely." She told Forrest, interrupting his rambling. He grinned.
"Okay. I'll come by around 8." She nodded, and then snuggled her head back into his lap, dozing off to sleep quickly. When Zoe woke that morning, she was still laying on the couch, a pillow under her head and a blanket pulled over her. She grinned and got up, going to see if Salem was up yet.
Zoe and Forrest's first date went wonderfully. He took her to a small Scanran restaurant, her favourite type of food. They conversed and flirted with each other easily, almost like they had known each other for their entire lives. Zoe had a wonderful time, easily one of the best times she had had around people other than family in a very long time. She agreed to another date, to a commoner's ball being held during the Midwinter celebrations, and he promised her a large surprise that Monday morning.
Over the weekend, Salem and Zoe spent the days wrapping presents for the Kedars and Salem's playmates. Zoe couldn't help but wonder what Forrest's surprise was going to be. Her mind jumped from one unoriginal gift to the next - flowers, jewelry, fine food, but she doubted he was the type to give such traditional presents. Zoe tucked Salem into her crib on Sunday evening, and fell asleep while reading on the couch.
That morning, she was awakened by a cold draft flowing through the room. Opening her eyes, she shivered and looked around. Her door was open. Zoe stood up quickly, looking around the living, dining and kitchen area. There was no side of stolen objects, or any sort of ransacking. She breathed relief for a moment, until another thought struck her. Salem. She ran frantically down the small hallway and burst into Salem's room.
The scene that followed was one in which Zoe couldn't decide whether she wanted to brutally attack Forrest with knives, or laugh joyfully and give him a large hug. Salem was alright. In fact, she was more than alright. She was currently playing with the new toys Forrest had given her on her brand new bed. Her first bed, actually.
"What in the-" Zoe started. Forrest grinned and stood up.
"Surprise." He told her, and kissed her gently. Nonplussed and unsure, Zoe kissed back tentatively. The kiss was short, almost platonic, but nice enough. Forrest was still grinning from ear to ear when he pulled away. "I knew that it was almost time for Saylee to get her first bed, so I figured that I could save you some trouble." Zoe balked.
"I don't believe you! You.. You leave my door open, and expect me to hug you!? I thought I had been robbed! I-I thought Salem had been taken!" Forrest stuttered for a moment, and then hugged Zoe.
"Calm down, Zoe. I'm sorry I left the door open.. I must have forgot. But, please, calm down.." She sighed and leaned against Forrest for a few minutes, composing herself. Finally, she smiled up at him and kissed his chin.
"Thank you for the bed, Forrest. I'm sure she'll love it." He grinned. She turned and hoisted her an almost two year old Salem up into her arms. "Now, Saylee, let's go open presents!" Salem squealed, and they all headed out to the living room. Midwinter passed, and it was one of the best ones Zoe had had during her time in Cria. From Forrest she recieved a beautiful, intricately quilt. The scene depicted a forest in deep, lush colours. Flitting around the forests were tiny sprites, brightly coloured and sparkling with silver magic. Also present were more mundane animals, squirrels and chipmunks, as well as a wolf cub. The Kedars bestowed three gorgeous new oufits upon Zoe, complete with small accessories like jewelry, and in colours that accented her natural beauty wonderfully. Salem recieved many new toys and clothes from Zoe, Forrest and the Kedars as well. The new year, 659, came quickly. Salem turned two, and was showered with even more gifts by her friends and family. Zoe and Forrest continued to spend a lot of time together, although Zoe wasn't sure what to call their relationship. There was some sort of chemistry between them, but for Zoe, at least, it was almost all platonic. She didn't know what Forrest was thinking, but she hoped it was the same thing.
Zoe supposed that Forrest's relationship was some sort of therapy for her. It should have made her happier and more fulfilled to have people who cared for her outside of Salem and the Kedars. But it didn't. Spending more time away from the Kedars only seemed to increase her need to be with them. Or if not them, some sort of family. Zoe couldn't understand it. The entire reason she had left her home in the first place was because of her family, and now she found herself desperately reaching out for one to cling to.
This was the realization Zoe was having as she sat silently at a table with Forrest on the porch of the Snake's Lair.
"I need to go home." She said, her voice full of determination, and stood up. Forrest blinked, and almost choked on the piece of cake he had been chewing slowly. He stood up as well.
"What? What's wrong?" Zoe began to gather her things, putting on her coat.
"I need to go home. To Tortall. I'm sorry, Forrest."
"Tortall?" His eyes widened.
"Yes, Tortall. I need to see my family again. I miss them horribly, Forrest. I know this is sudden, but just.. just let me do this. I need to go home. For a long time." With that, she began to walk home quickly. Forrest followed.
"Zoe.. Zoe, I don't know what to say. I don't want you to go, but I'm not going to try to force you to stay." She let herself up into her apartment. "Will you write me?" He asked feebly.
"Oh.. of course..of course I'll write.." She said distractedly, beginning to pack her clothes into a large sack. Forrest sighed, realizing she was barely even listening to him.
"I'll go pack up Salem's room." He told her, and left to do so. Zoe didn't even notice him leave.
The evening, Zoe had finished packing everything she felt she needed to take. This included 3 large sacks of clothing, and another 4 sacks full of trinkets and objects that were special to her, including Salem's bed, taken apart and each piece carefully packed away, and the quilt Forrest had given her. Salem didn't truly understand what was going on, but the idea of suddenly becoming a princess was more than enough to convince her to agree to the idea of a life in Tortall. Finally, after Salem had been put to bed in Zoe's bed, Zoe sat down heavily on the couch, exhausted. Forrest looked at her tepidly,
"Zoe?" She glanced at him. The look in his eyes caused her, for the first time, to comprehend what her actions truly were. She looked back at him.
"Forrest?" She replied, trying to keep her tone light. He managed a small smile in response.
"You really will write? I don't want you running of and just completely forgetting about me.." She smiled and moved close to him, placing her arms around his hips and her head on his chest.
"I'll write. I promise. It'll be one of the first things I do in Corus." He stroked her hair, grinning.
"Okay. Maybe I'll come visit you." Zoe smiled, and said softly,
"I'd like that." The next half hour, the two sat in silence, each pondering their own reactions and feelings about her decision. The 19 year old, light brown haired, pale eyed girl thought about the twining threads of excitement and absolute fear that were slowly creeping through her entire body. The 23 year old, shaggy haired man was still slightly nonplussed and unsure about what exactly to think of the decision, but forced himeslf to accept it and be content. Finally, one spoke.
"What were we, Zoe?" Zoe looked up at him.
"What?" She asked innocently.
"What were we? Were we friends.. were we more?" He questioned. His words had a desperate, reaching aura about them, despite the innocent tone they were delivered in.
"We were.. " She started, and trailed off, making sure her phrasing was correct. "We were something in between. Sort of like a platonic girlfriend and boyfriend, if that makes any sense." She laughed. "It probably doesn't, but that's what I think." A dawning of true contentment and relief spread over the slightly older man's face.
"It makes perfect sense." He said with a grin. He kissed the top of her head.
"Have fun in Corus." Zoe grinned wryly,
"Oh, I'm sure I will." Those were the last words Forrest and Zoe said to each other that late evening. Zoe, shortly after, fell asleep on his chest. Forrest used the opportunity to carefully make her comfortable on the couch, and leave. Zoe and Forrest never said goodbye, because there was no reason to. She would write, he would visit. Life would go on.
