Epilogue: The Compass
There was hardly any green to be found in the leaves now, and the air was cooler than it had been on the day when this whole adventure had started. So many other things had changed since that day….
Jack felt his heart sink when he and Ketiya reached the boundary stone that marked the end of the enchanted path and the edge of the Lady's kingdom. Because it meant that they would have to say goodbye and go their separate ways again. He didn't know if he would be able to do that.
They stopped walking and he turned to Ketiya. "Are you sure you don't want me to…"
"We already discussed this," she reminded him. "I have to finish my service here, and you shouldn't stay for my sake. What you have to do…it's more important than us." Not me, but us. She was right, and he knew it, but he still regretted it.
She lowered her eyes and took his hands in her own. "I read this poem once," she began, "I don't remember exactly how it went, but I remember that the poet compared himself and his beloved to the two feet of a compass – not a navigation compass, but the kind that you use to draw circles."
He nodded, although he did not understand what she was trying to say. She looked up at him again. "Even when the feet of the compass are spread far apart, they're still attached to each other. They're never really separated." She closed her eyes and caught her lower lip between her teeth. "Am I making any sense at all?" she asked.
He had to give her an honest answer, so he thought for a few moments before replying. "Yes, but not completely." She smiled at him, and he forgot his sadness for a moment. She had that kind of smile.
"Listen," she said, changing the subject. "If you find a way home and we're not back together…promise me that you'll take it." She looked him in the eye. "I want you to say it. Promise that you will."
Instead he surprised himself by saying, "I am sorry, but I cannot. I know I should, but…" he trailed off, and gripped her hands tightly.
He saw tears sparkling in her eyes for a few moments. Then she lowered her head and began to cry. He put his arms around her, trying to comfort her even though he knew that by doing so he might simply be making it worse. But it was all he could do.
She returned his embrace and put her head on his shoulder. "I love you," she whispered. Then, a few moments later, "Even if we never see each other again, it was worth it."
Though he tried his best to hold them back, he felt tears in his own eyes. He buried his face in her hair and drowned in a sea of mixed elation and misery for the minute that they spent simply holding each other, saying nothing.
It was she who finally pulled back a little, so that they were looking into each other's eyes, and put her hand on his cheek. Then she kissed him; he closed his eyes and reveled in it, savoring the salt of their mingled tears. He tried to make it last forever, since it would certainly be their last kiss for a long time to come and might very well be the last that they ever shared. But, like all such things, it had to end. They separated, and she wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.
The wind picked up, chilling his own damp cheeks and generating a soft thunder of rustling leaves. He would, he decided, leave with this wind, before he lost the strength to leave at all. "Goodbye, Ketiya," he told her. He felt that he should add something, but he did not know what else to say.
"Goodbye," she said, and waved as she took a few backward steps down the path. He bowed to her, then forced himself to turn in the opposite direction and go on his way. He had only walked a few steps when the leaf blew in front of him; he reached out and caught it in his hand. It was bright crimson, with a green center.
Then it hit him – he understood the meaning of the compass. It was so simple. He turned around to tell her as the gust of wind faded away and died.
But she was not there. She had vanished among the trees without a trace.
~The End~