Slowly, Ayndi stirred awake. Heat was lingering over his form, and he found the feeling to be quite refreshing. He made no noise, as that would have ruined his moment. It felt as if he had just awakened from a deep, peaceful sleep. He did not sit up, but what he did was evaluate his situation while lying down. He appeared to be on a couch, the same couch that was in the old woman's home that he had visited several days before. His head was rested back against a pillow, and he was covered in a colorful, decorative blanket. He could feel the fabric against his bare skin. His shirt had been removed, along with his hat and his shoes, and even his pants were missing. The dust that floated through the air seemed less dense than before, and the only sound that could be heard were simple tapings coming from the kitchen area. He soon sat up, rubbing his head, most of his pale white skin shown off on his upper body.

"Oh, mister Ayndi." He heard the familiar voice of the young woman from the night he rescued the slaves, and he looked over at her.

"You're awake." She stated, walking over to him and smiling somewhat.

Ayndi could only look at her silently. He wasn't able to find the words to speak, and simply left it for the young woman. He seemed to be captured and comforted by the warm feeling he got from her green eyes, and she looked much more peaceful in the outfit she was in. She wore a long dress, simply covering her body as needed. The sleeves on it were short, and the neckline was a little low. She wore a shirt beneath it for modesty, and the skirt came down to hide her feet and barely touch the ground. He wasn't quite certain she wore anything else aside from those, the desert temperatures more than likely being too hot for such. She suddenly walked away from him, back to the kitchen then, and he watched her. She seemed like a maid, and the feeling her hospitality gave him was hard to decipher. She soon came back, holding in her slender hands a steaming bowl of soup.

"You've been sleeping for several days." She said, her voice calm, with a sort of happy beat to it. "Would you like some soup?"

"Oh, um, yes." Ayndi responded quietly, taking the bowl from her. He had no utensils, obviously intended to drink it.

"My mother can't thank you enough." She said, just standing before him, showing interest in him as he sipped and drank the soup. "She was overjoyed when I came home."

"Where is she now?" Ayndi asked calmly. "Is she alright?"

"Yes, sir." She answered. "She's in bed right now."

"You must be Rosaline." Ayndi said then, looking to her.

"Yes I am mister Ayndi." She said. "I personally thank you for rescuing me from that man."

"Not a problem." Ayndi responded.

For several moments, there was silence. He tried to ignore her as he drank the soup back, but her presence seemed undeniable. In the corner of his mind, he knew she was watching him, for whatever reason. It bothered him a bit. He was curious as to what she was thinking, and more so, how he was going to get home. He still felt a little weak, not his normal self, so he knew she wasn't going to let him leave. He just knew she was the kind of person to help others. Why else would someone persist to live with his or her old mother? Rosaline soon broke the awkward silence with a question that caught Ayndi off guard.

"Why?" She said, out of the blue.

"Hm? Pardon?" Ayndi looked at her, and she seated herself at the table he sat in several days before.

"Why did you agree to free all those slaves?" She asked shyly. "The idea has been bothering me for some time now. Why do you do what you do?"

"It's hard to explain, but I have my reasons." Ayndi said. "I do what I do for the right of the world. At many places, the law has failed to enforce the rights of humans… such as the legal use of slaves and the legal action of slavery. Anyone with a half of a mind could see that it is totally wrong."

"Yes, you did break the law." She said.

"I don't care." He responded calmly.

"And you didn't ask for a reward?" Rosaline asked.

"I can get by without them." The Rogue responded.

"… You are a kind man Ayndi… and you'll always confuse me." Rosaline said before getting up and going about her business.

It was obvious to the Rogue that he was going to spend several weeks at this house. At first, he thought his weakness as something that he could brush off. But the strange effects of the spell had him weakened for much longer than he had anticipated. As soon as he attempted to stand up, something struck him quite suddenly, and he nearly collapsed, though Rosaline was quick to hold him up. For several days after that, Ayndi would push himself to return to his normal way of life and go home, but during random times during the day, he would be effected by the spell. His body would completely shut down, only for a few seconds, causing him to fall over. When he would come to, he would be very disorientated, and possibly sick. Those slavers certainly weren't going to let him get away with what he did. Rosaline wouldn't let him leave the house let alone leave Morroc. But despite her efforts, Ayndi tried to confront the illness and get over it.

The young woman, in her early twenties, seemed to have no problem taking care of both her mother and Ayndi. Somehow, she seemed to manage it with a calm, collective attitude. She never let things get out of hand, and she gave them both any and all attention they needed – which was more for Ayndi. He never wanted to stay put, and Rosaline was stuck following him around almost all day. She didn't think it was necessary for him to be out, but she couldn't stop him. So, when they were both out, she would try to talk with him. But the stone-faced man was hard to communicate with. It was hard to find out his interests or anything like that. Ayndi too had trouble talking with her due to his quiet nature. But one thing they did have in common was their selflessness. They both cared about other people more than they cared about themselves.

For instance, there was one night in Morroc. Ayndi had decided to see how long he could last without collapsing, and with Rosaline's mother being asleep, she agreed to follow along and help him, as usual. Everything was the same, Ayndi would walk for several minutes, trying to talk with her, and then the spell would kick in, and she would be stuck carrying him along until he could walk again. Though, they met a drunkard on their way home, and he immediately started talking to Rosaline, making crude comments about her body. She wanted to avoid him, but he persisted to the point where Ayndi spoke wearily. He warmed the man to back away. When the man didn't listen, he pulled away from Rosaline and confronted him. All Ayndi did was push him over, and the man was a helpless wreck. So, they left for home, Ayndi collapsing once again on the way. Though, during that time, rather than thanking him, Rosaline scolded him for being reckless, and told him he should have just left it alone, he was in no condition to do such things. Obviously, they cared more about the other's condition rather than their own. Plus, Ayndi got to see a side of Rosaline that he'd never encountered before.

Weeks passed, months even, and the Rogue found himself celebrating his birthday with a family he had never known before. He had plenty of time to get to know them… He soon saw them as personal friends. He had very little friends in the past, so the feeling was new to him. He hadn't even realized at first that he could speak with Rosaline and her mother quite openly. He started conversations, and actually gave a damn about what happened to them. At first he thought he was just being grateful, but as he put more and more thought into it, he realized that he had gained a bond with the two of them. It took him some time to embrace this bond, and as time went, it only strengthened. He found himself wanting to spend time with them, and thinking less and less about going home. And when his birthday came around, he seemed content staying just where he was, for one main reason – Rosaline.

He couldn't explain it himself. During the months, he had become attracted to her. He couldn't pin it to a certain moment when it began, but every time he attempted, he would think back to when he attempted to protect her from the drunkard. She cared more about him than her own well being, and he cared more about her well being than his own. It was a confusing thought. But as he thought onward, he remembered one time when he needed to fetch her back home as a request from her mother. She had traveled out to an oasis during the night, and when he had gone to get her, she was just getting out. He had been staring at the sand until he heard her movements, the water rippling and splashing as she moved to get out of the oasis. When he looked up, their eyes met. When he saw her, her beauty seemed amplified. The moonlight and the water must have had something to do with it. Her gentle green eyes stood out so well, and the delicate curves of her form made themselves more noticeable than ever. He didn't know if it was because of her nudity, or just something else that seemed to make her shine. Time had frozen for the both of them before Rosaline let out a little shriek, and he turned away quickly, embarrassed maybe for the first time in his life. Ever since then, he'd looked at her in a different way. He became gentler around her, and more gracious. Somehow, he knew, that he had fallen for her, whether he liked it or not.

"Ayndi?" Rosaline approached him, now comfortable enough to use his name without formalities. "What are you doing out here alone?"

"Just thinking." Ayndi responded. He had left the house to go outside and think, staring at the stars, alone with his thoughts.

"But it's your birthday." She said, stepping over next to him. "You shouldn't trouble your mind so much."

"I was thinking about the future." He responded, not looking at her.

"The future?" She asked him curiously. "Why ever would you think about that?"

"Well, I was just wondering what life might hold. I've lived alone, worked alone, and I will perhaps die alone." He answered.

He had done a lot of thinking. Every time he looked at Rosemary, he would gain feelings he could not explain. He had once gotten the opportunity to give her a friendly hug, as she was upset about her mother's health one night. He took it, and when he held her, they both seemed to linger in that moment without even noticing it. They only noticed long after it was done, and they both had similar thoughts on it. Little did Ayndi know, but the two of them had been on the same wavelength for several months. They had both been thinking about one another, and they had both wanted to say what they intended to say on that very night. Rosaline turned to Ayndi, looking up at him since she was slightly shorter.

"Well, perhaps someone will come to you one day, and you'll just know that they will be the one, from the moment you first see them." She said.

"Sounds like a fairy tale." He simply responded.

"Sometimes, living in a fairy tale, even for just a moment, can make you feel happy." She said to him, smiling at him. "Having that one, prince charming, come and save you."

With those words, he turned to her and said, "Hm, perhaps."

"Having some man save me from peril and make me feel safe." She said, looking away from him. "It's every little girl's dream… And I never really grew up."

"This has happened." Ayndi said with a slight smile. "I saved you, but it wasn't anything like a fairy tale."

"But I still see you as prince charming." She said quickly, blushing, as she had not intended for it to come out that way. Ayndi was surprised, his expression changing to one that had been caught completely off guard.

"I… I mean…" She went to explain herself. "Ayndi, you saved me, for no reward whatsoever. You took me out of the place I feared, and led me back to the place I loved. But at the same time, you took me to a better place. I knew that I would be safe around you Ayndi, and every time I see you, I feel like nothing can go wrong. Even though there are slavers, rapists, and everything, I see you, and it all goes away. I just know you're going to meet a woman, and fall in love with her. So if I don't tell you how I feel now, I'm going to miss out forever."

"… Go on." He said, looking down at her seriously. Though, he felt awkward, seeing the worried expression she wore.

"I know you want to go home." She explained. "But I don't want you to go. I know you must feel like a burden to me, but I don't want to stop caring for you. I know that if I could, I'd keep you near me forever. Because I know you'd keep me safe, and I like that feeling. I feel secure around you, and it's like nothing can ever hurt me. But… it's not just that. You're also so handsome to me; I sometimes can't stop looking at your face. But I have to… I have to because I know you might not feel the same way about me, that I might be just another job. But… I feel this way, and I've told you."

She stood there, feeling cold in the desert night. She turned away from him, hugging her arms around herself. She couldn't bear to look at him. She was scared. She may have been rushing this upon him, and he may not have had any interest in her at all. She feared that everything she just said would have come back at her in a bad way. She didn't even fully understand how she could have fallen for some man who had just shown up one day, out of nowhere. Things seemed to be so mixed up, and they wouldn't fall into place. The only things that kept it from coming together were Ayndi's thoughts. Whether he felt the same or not would have made things concrete, or destroyed them altogether. And she waited for Ayndi's insight, but had no courage left in her body to face him. She felt like a child.

Ayndi stepped closer to her. Resting a hand on her shoulder, he gently turned her to face him. She didn't look up though, for fear of his face. His eyes would have told her everything. But he insisted, and gently guided her face to rise, and her gaze to meet his own. He was fairly silent, but he explained his thoughts and feelings. He explained that living with her had been more peaceful than anything he had been through before. He felt like his life had more meaning, and that no hole was left open. Things seemed solid, a good foundation for his feelings. He told her how beautiful he saw her as, and how much he admired her ability to care for everyone and anyone, no matter whom. He said he was torn, wanting to stay, but needing to return home. Though, he said, if he could change himself, he would have eliminated any need to leaver her at all. To his pleasure, she took this the way he had intended, but expressed it in a way that confused him.

She began to cry, and fell against him. He could only stay sturdy and hold her up as she pressed herself close to him. He took the situation calmly, as he did with all situations, but acted with a gentle nature he rarely felt the need to use. His grip was comforting as he pulled her to stand up straight, and wrapped his arms around her to hold her study as he looked down at her, watching her happy tears flow. He stood silent as she cried and babbled about how much she wanted him to stay, and never fall over again. She rambled on and on about things that seemed to shy away from the point she was trying to make. All her emotions seemed to boggle her brain, and make her forget the three words she was looking for. So, taking thing into his own hands, Ayndi quietly leaned down to her, and said the words that silenced her, leaving her in an air of surprise.

"I love you too, Rosaline."

With that, he let her go and walked to the door of Rosaline's home. She stood in silence for several seconds before snapping to reality. She ran, as fast as her legs could carry her in a dress. Ayndi blinked and turned back to her as he'd opened the door, only to be taking right off his feet and hit the floor beneath her. She froze for a moment, looking down at him shyly, regretting her actions for a moment, and almost checking to see if he was hurt. But, seeing his stare back up at her, and no visible pain, she was assured. So she continued, moving against him to press her lips to his in a shy embrace. Ayndi wasn't at all surprised by this kiss, not as he would have bee if she hadn't admitted how she felt. He returned the kiss as just, and it gradually grew more loving and passionate through the next several moments.

"Happy birthday, Ayndi."

From that night on, they were officially a couple. As the remaining months of the year came to a close, they had planned out how to make each other happy. Him and Rosaline both agreed to get married, and become an official couple, and then Rosaline would return with Ayndi to Al De Baran. But they had to wait until Ayndi could safely move, and it wasn't until the end of that year that he regained his full abilities. At that time, they did get married, and they readied their things. Rosaline got a sort of caravan that Ayndi paid for to take them and her things back to Ayndi's home. Of course, Ayndi's "home" was not fit for Rosaline, so after a brief period in that "home," Ayndi bought a new home, a real house, and they moved into that. They lived as a happily married couple for two more years, sharing the joys and worries of companionship. Neither of them could have been happier, and the happiness didn't seem to ever end.

Well, at least not until…