Hey, all. I know I never finished this fic, but after finding most of my notes and rereading what I'd written, I want to give finishing it a go.

Wizards cannot die from disease or injury. Old age does not touch us nor starvation nor thirst. But we are not immortal, as I once believed. We can, in fact, be killed but only by the most extreme of events. In essence, we must be destroyed so utterly that our magic cannot compensate. For instance, imploding a mountain, as I once did to cull an evil cabal, and crushing a wizard under an overwhelming avalanche of rock works. Forcing a wizard to the darkest depths of the ocean would eventually work, as would the vacuum of space.

The Goddess, however, had chosen lava as my executioner. Sweat rolled down my naked body as my magic struggled to compensate for the intense heat surrounding me. My clothes had been taken, imbued as they were with magic against the elements. My mouth was bone dry and my stomach cramped from hunger. She wanted me to suffer.

I was not to die yet. The Harvest Goddess needed Hikari to wake to see if the rancher could still commune with the magic of the bells. If she could not, then my time in this world was limited. I didn't hate the Goddess; I'd had to make some tough decisions in my life. But, in my ignorance, I had left her little choice.

I bowed my head again, the words of When A Wizard Takes A Wife running through my mind. The kiss acts as a seal. Of all the oaths and pacts a wizard could make, a seal was the greatest. Seals were truly permanent, unlike a geas or pact. Seals were used for one thing and one thing only: to create a witch or wizard. My seal mark was the tattoo under my eye. Vivi's seal rested over her heart. If Hikari hadn't had magic, the seal would do nothing, but because she did, her magic would be tamed, contained, managed. I allowed my thoughts to wander. Where would Hikari's seal be? What would it look like?

Opening my eyes, I sat up, the most movement the Goddess-metal chain would allow. My gaze fell on the white tattoo that snaked around my wrist. Proof that Hikari was my student for ever how much longer I lived. I would have loved to teach her, to show her the wonders of magic. I reached out through our bond, which had been strong and present since I kissed her, to see if I could sense her. I hoped she was awake so that she could feel how much I cared for her.

When I found her, though, a jolt ran through me. Not only was she awake, but she was close. Moments stretched to minutes and then I heard scrabbling feet as the farm girl descended the last steep stairs leading to the bottom of the lower mine. Wide-eyed, I watched her wipe her forehead, take a long drink from a canteen, and rush to my side. "Wizard! Thank the Goddess I found you!"

I gave a wry laugh that came out as a croak. Speaking was painful, but I pushed that pain aside. "Don't thank her. She…put me down here." I willed my struggling magic to bubble and cover the rancher as best it could. Sweat ran down her face as swiftly as my own.

Despite the nature of our situation, Hikari reached out and cupped my cheek, her thumb stroking my skin. I shivered as she spoke, the contact almost too much for my tired body to handle. "I know. I know what you did and what the Goddess thinks you did. And I'm here to rescue you." She brought her canteen up to my lips and I drank greedily. I sagged against her offered support and closed my eyes for a moment. I enjoyed the feelings washing over me from our bond; she cared for me as much as I cared for her.

When Hikari shifted, I sat up fully again. She pulled four small vials of blue liquid from her pack, uncorked one, and poured the contents on one of my chains. The metal hissed and bubbled before the whole length crumbled to dust. She answered my question as she took care of the other chains. "The Witch Princess wanted to help."

I almost said Vivi's name aloud, so amazed was I. The chains were gone, though, before I could think on her kindness much more. Hikari offered me a hand and helped me up, not releasing my hand after I found my feet. Together, we trudged back through the mine, stopping to eat and drink once. By the time we reached the main entrance, I was exhausted, but my magic had returned to normal. We paused at the threshold between the mining town and the mines. I felt Hikari's eyes on me and I sensed that she was registering my nakedness for the first time. I grinned at her. "Am I…such a sight to behold?"

The emotion that flowed from her wasn't arousal but wonder. She tentatively traced a swirling tattoo on my chest, her eyes taking in the others that littered my skin. I grinned wider as I felt her jerk her attention back to my face. A blush rose to her cheeks. "It's not like I've never seen a naked man before." She rummaged in her bag and drug out a worn blanket. It was just large enough to suffice. We hurried through the night, the mild autumn air refreshing after our ordeal.

As we walked hand in hand, I asked what had bothered me since Hikari's sudden appearance. "How did you…escape the Harvest Goddess's notice? Surely, she…didn't let you…waltz into the mine."

"She did, actually. Once I proved I could still give Edge wishes. Jin told me his wish a little after I woke up, so I hadn't had the chance to tell Edge yet. She's still mad at you, though, so she said if I wanted you, I had to get you out on my own."

I brooded in silence for the rest of the walk. What was going on? Hikari shouldn't have been able to communicate with the Harvest Sprites anymore. I didn't understand, but I would. When we reached my home, Hikari insisted on staying to make sure I was well. I dressed while she made tea. For my part, I insisted she go home and get some rest. She had been through far more than I the last three days. She said after two days of sleeping in Jin's clinic, she didn't want to think about sleep. But soon she nodded off, laying her head down on the table while waiting for the water to boil. I smiled softly and picked her up. Carrying her to my bed, I tucked her in. I wouldn't need it anyway. I returned to my desk where When A Wizard Takes A Wife still lay open. I sat and began reading from where I left off.

In magic, seals are used to help create a witch or wizard. They must have the required knowledge, love of magic, and hunger to learn for learning's sake to survive the sealing, but as long as those are present, nothing shall go amiss. Now, most wizards you ask, dear reader, will tell you rightly that seals are used for this purpose and this alone. But they are ignorant in their correctness. Just because a farmer once did not know one could make butter from cow's milk does not mean that butter never existed elsewhere in the world before then. The farmer simply did not know this other use for milk. So too with wizards and seals.

A seal normally binds one's soul to his magic, but in the case of your soulmate, a seal will bind your soul with hers. This way, if tragedy does strike, your soulmate will always be reborn close to where you are. It also serves to instill a certain amount of dissatisfaction in any romantic relationship your soulmate might have before you find her again.

I slumped back in my chair and glared at the book. If I'd only kept reading, this whole ordeal could have been avoided. Why did anything to do with Hikari make me feel like a dog blundering into a porcupine? Never in my career as a wizard had I let so many accidents and uncontrolled events occur. My master would have been ashamed. Personally, I didn't know what to think. Part of me enjoyed the unpredictability that clung to the farm girl and everything she touched. Part of me hated that loss of control. Part of me knew nothing permanently dangerous had occurred, though we had escaped death or madness a number of times. That part of me also insisted that unpredictability was a good thing every now and again.

I decided the last part of me was right. While we should avoid danger, letting things come as they may wasn't a bad way to live. After all, it was how Hikari lived. She never knew what the next day would bring, had no true plan in place for every hour of every day. I wasn't so strict myself, but I knew one could almost set a clock by me. My days blended together into featureless years until I met Hikari. Since then, my life was anything but regular.

Still, though, I flipped to the front of the book and began to read. This book was challenging what I thought I knew about magic. That wasn't something I was okay with. Taking events as they came was one thing. Putting our lives in danger again because of my ignorance was another.

When pale dawn crept into the sky, I closed the book. My mind reeled with the information I'd absorbed. I knew now that the mistakes I'd made were among the most egregious, though there still might be issues to arise in the future. A content smile spread across my face. Nothing else would come between Hikari and I. Not if I had anything to say about it.

Lack of sleep clouded my mind, and without thinking, I crawled into bed beside Hikari. I snuggled against her and she against me. I fell asleep almost immediately to the sound of her soft breathing.