As much as I loved AdventureFriends (both 1 and 2), there's about negative reasons for my Hero to go, given her backstory and background. So, for fun, I quickly wrote down what she'd have done instead. Enjoy.

"Ash!"

An unfamiliar woman had just come sprinting from the Guardian Tower, skidding to a halt in front of him. Despite the distance she just ran, she didn't seem at all out of breath. Her eyes were sparkling as she brushed down the fabric of her flowing plum dress.

"You're staying on duty, right? I mean, you said so yesterday, I just wanted to make sure you didn't suddenly have plans or anything like that," she said, all in a rush. There was a ribbon in her windswept, graying brown hair. Her sleeveless dress bared well-muscled arms. On her belt was a Destiny dagger, its blades glowing in prismatic colors. A Dragon Amulet gleamed at her ear. "It's not like I won't come if anyone nee—really needs me and Adri will be watching out for trouble today but I would definitely feel more at ease if you're going to be at the ready, too…"

It was the casual use of a nickname for the World Destroyer dragon that made things click. It was her, Riese, Hero of Falconreach, a friend he's known for many years and definitely not someone he'd fail to recognize just because of a change in outfit.

Seriously, how was it that, as long as she was in some kind of armor, any kind of armor, he never failed to recognize her, even if she had on some face-obscuring helm or hood, but if she wasn't in armor–well, it was a good thing he cottoned on quickly this time. She clowned on him for not recognizing her in a skirt for months.

"Good morning to you too, Riese," he said, blinking at her speed, managing a smile. "And yeah, I don't have plans for today. You're all dressed up, though. What's the occasion?"

She looked pleased. "You recognized me. For a second there, I thought you didn't again."

"Ha ha…"

He was not going to admit that he almost didn't recognize her.

"And since you asked…" She beamed, apparently unable to hide her excitement. "Since you're on duty and nothing's going on…" Her smile grew even bigger; he'd never seen her look so happy before. "I'm taking a day off. I'm going on a date!"

"That's great!" Her joy was infectious, he couldn't help but beam back. "You're seeing someone?"

She nodded, still unable to stop smiling. "My husband. Oh, it's going to be so great, we're gonna have a picnic by the statue at the brook, then see a play at the theater–"

"Wait—" he nearly dropped his sword. "You're married?! Since when?!"

"Since way before I became an adventurer," she said casually. "We have a daughter together. She's turning fourteen this year."

"Wha—"

"Anyway, you will keep that a secret, right?" she continued as if he hadn't spoken. "They're–they can't fight and being related to me–it's dangerous. But I trust you!" she finished, beaming at him, warm, open, and filled with belief that's almost staggering to see. "You're my friend. One that I can really, really rely on."

"W-well, yes," he stammered. "O-of course you can count on me but why are you only–I mean," he coughed at her resolute stare. There was a question in her eyes, one she'd already spoken. "I'll keep your secret safe."

"Good," she said, relieved. "As for your question, there's lots of reasons why I'm telling you this now. Lots of them are just 'me' things," she admitted. "But the important thing is that you agreed to keep it secret. And were honest about it," she added. "I could tell. If you weren't, I'd have to use my Cryptic powers to erase your memories."

He stared. "Wait, wha—"

"Anyway, the reason I'm telling you about my date plans now," she continued blithely, either not noticing or willfully ignoring his gaping. "Is so that in case there's an emergency and you or anyone else needs my help, you'll know where to find me. I have all my gear on hand and a set of armor in case something comes up. Chaosweaver," she added, showing off a bundle of dark clothes and gauntlets she'd pulled out of apparently nowhere before returning it to that same space. "So I'll be able to move fast. I mean, we aren't going out of town so if anything explodes, I should be able to hear but… better safe than sorry, right?"

"Y-yeah–can we go back to the part where you would've erased my memories?" he pleaded. "With-with your Cryptic powers?"

She smiled at him, sweet and seemingly without guile. "No."

… well, since he wasn't planning on telling anyone, it shouldn't matter. It shouldn't. It shouldn't.

"... so, why did you decide to go today?" He asked, more than a little desperate to change the topic. "We've had a lot of– some quiet days here and there and you've never took days off then."

"Today's Hero's Hearts Day," she answered easily. "I mean, sure, it's a corporate shill-fest and Big Daddy is obnoxious about monetizing everything… but, you know, I don't mind the atmosphere."

"It's nice," he had to agree. He had honestly forgotten about the holiday but, now that she'd mentioned it, there were more couples out than normal and the air smelled like chocolates and flowers. Not a lot of roses, though. Roses were an unpopular flower in Falconreach. "If that's the case, I'm… surprised you're not over at Big Daddy's. Don't you usually help him out?"

For the first time since they'd started talking, her expression turned sour. "He just wants more test subjects for his stupid love potions," she groused. "If he wants a Hero, he knows where to find me. If it's just more 'One and Only True Love' garbage, I'm… it's not selfish," she said, speaking more to herself than to him. "He's got tons of test subjects, he can do without this one."

"Oh, right, those…" He heard about those during last year's festivities. Apparently, the most they gave people were weird, nonsensical dreams. He remembered Riese telling him about her dream, which had been long, garbled, and apparently had something to do with school and a venture about questing. "He still hasn't finished them?"

"Not if he's still looking for test subjects …" She didn't look too enthused. "I don't know about you but I'm not really willing to spend another Hero's Heart Day as a human guinea pig for some matchmaking potion or whatever. I've already–I don't need Big Daddy's help to know who I'll love." Her expression briefly turned tender in a way he'd never seen from her before, soft, wistful, and just a little vulnerable. "I've known for years."

He couldn't help but stare. He'd never seen her look like that before. She looked… beautiful. Happy. And yet also terribly, painfully guilty.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen someone in love. He just never knew that she was, too.

… come to think of it, before earlier, when was the last time he'd seen her look that happy? Before the ice? Before the Great Eclipse? Sure, she'd never seemed down but… when had he ever seen her look legitimately, honestly happy? She was always fighting tooth and nail for other people, no matter the time, no matter the day, even on holidays. This was the first year since they'd met that she was actually celebrating Hero's Heart Day and not serving to facilitate it. And today was the first time he'd ever seen her look quite that happy.

And yet, even now… she was still going to her date with contingency plans in case she was needed. Because, no matter how clearly happy it made her, she just… cared about being a Hero that much more.

Right there and then, he promised to himself, quietly, that he would help make things a little easier for her. She was the Hero, it was natural to rely on her… but since he was trying to be a hero, shouldn't he be someone she could rely on, too? Even if he can't fight on the same level, can't he at least be able to give her more time to–to do things for herself?

"I'm glad you do," he said sincerely. "So… just to be clear, you said no to Big Daddy this year because you don't want to be a… human guinea pig?" At her nod, he continued. "And since he had lots of volunteers already, you didn't feel… obliged to go?"

He could volunteer to take over Snugglegram duty next Hero's Heart Day. He used to be a mailman, it couldn't be that different. Even if he had to wear that Snugglebear getup–sure, it was embarrassing but if she could do it…

"Pretty much," she said, shrugging. "I mean, it's not like I'm leaving him high and dry or anything. I even asked my sister to go help out. Angel. You've met, right? You must have."

"A few times," he confirmed. He didn't know much about her family–after today, he was sure he barely knew anything about them–but he does know all her sisters. She had three, all of them younger, all of them adventurers in their own right. Angel, the Riftwalker, was second-eldest. They'd worked together extensively during wars and while Riese had been frozen, though she never stayed for long after. "She was alright with going?"

She was quite a strong hero, in her own right. Maybe they could work together to lighten Riese's workload. Her and her other sisters. He didn't know them well but he knew for a fact that they were close, at least from how they talked about each other. If he could get their help…

"I didn't even have to ask twice," she confirmed, her smile returning. "After I mentioned I wanted to go on a date, she was the one who volunteered. Honestly…"

He definitely needed to get in contact. They had a lot to talk about. But first off…

"You should get going," he said, making her look at him inquisitively. "You sound like you've got a lot planned."

"I do," she said. Her cheeks turned faintly pink–another expression he'd never seen from her before. It made her look surprisingly young. "This–this is my first date since… since before I was a herosicle. I want him to have a great time, you know?"

"I'm sure he will," he reassured her. "Honestly, you sound like you've planned a fun day and, well…" He tried to find a way to say it well. "You look great," he finally said. She looked taken aback but smiled after a moment, brushing down the fabric of her flowing dress. "Really, you go have fun on your date. We've got things handled here."

"Alright but, again, if anything goes wrong—"

"If something goes wrong and I can't handle it, I'll call you," he reassured her, though, really, unless the sun got eaten or something on the same scale, he'd sooner call the Guardians or other adventurers for help. "Seriously, you go have fun."

She beamed.

"Thanks."

It was a quiet day in Falconreach.

"—Overall, it was the best day of my life."

It was the morning after Hero's Heart Day–a thankfully, completely uneventful Hero's Heart Day. The sky was overcast and gloomy, compared to the sunshine of yesterday, and there was the faint smell of ozone in the air, signaling there was probably going to be a storm. Despite all this, the Hero looked nothing less than jubilant. He'd only asked her how her day went and she'd treated him to an enthusiastic recounting of it, from the details of the play they got to see (which had been awful, trite, and a delight to watch) to the food they had (something called a 'tartiflette' that they made together).

And honestly? He never thought he'd be the type of person to be interested in a friend's romantic life before but this? He was, to his own surprise, invested. It was her happiness, he told himself, it was just infectious. Even now, dressed in her full regalia as a Cryptic and ostensibly 'on-duty', she looked relaxed in a way he'd never seen her before.

"Did you get each other tokens?" he asked. It was Hero's Heart Day tradition… though, thinking about it, that was also probably something Big Daddy started to make a profit…

She nodded, cheeks turning a faint pink as she brushed her hair behind her ear, fingers lightly grazing the cluster of sweet-smelling lilacs twined in her hair. "I don't normally like flowers," she admitted. "But these, these smell really nice."

"They do." He smiled back. "What did you get him?"

She looked proud. "I gave him a knife," she said earnestly. "Forged it myself! A brand new filleting knife. He loved it." She sighed dreamily. "I saw him sharpening it this morning, he's really so sweet…"

"…er, right." This was Riese, he reminded himself. That probably was quite romantic, in her eyes. And in her husband's eyes, too apparently… he wasn't the weird one, was he?

"Angel!"

Her voice broke through his reverie.

"Hey, sis." The Riftwalker gave a weak wave. "I hear things went well?"

She ran–glided–up to meet her. "Hey! Yeah, things went–oh, things went amazing, I can't remember the last time I had such a great time and–"

Side by side, their similarities were a lot more apparent. They didn't look particularly like each other at first glance–Riese was built lithe, Angel was broad of shoulder–but they had a similar coloring, though Angel's hair and eyes were in lighter shades. While he normally saw her with her long hair down, today, she wore it in a messy bun, with a pair of unfamiliar silver goggles on her head. Still, when the two of them were together, they were unmistakably related.

"–but enough about me, how're you doing?" Riese finished, looking curious. "How'd things go with Big Daddy?"

Angel flinched.

"It was…" she fiddled with the goggles on her head. "It was weird ."

"…are you okay?" he had to ask. "Angel?"

"I saw the face of Love. Love was beautiful," she mumbled. "So beautiful but so sad. I saw the world end. You were there, sis," she said, turning to her sister, wild-eyed. "There was coffee everywhere ."

He looked at Riese, who only shrugged. "I do like coffee," she said, scratching her head. "And Love… Love is pretty beautiful."

"So beautiful," Angel said fervently. "I wanted to burn my eyes so I couldn't see anything else but their radiance…"

Ash looked at Riese, who only shrugged.

"I guess what you saw was pretty overwhelming," she said, her voice understanding. "Love is like that, sometimes."

"What did you see?" Angel asked her, eyes glued to her face. She and Riese both had gray eyes but hers were paler, almost silver. "You've seen Love, before, what did you see from Love…?"

"Honestly? Love looked just like my husband," she said, scratching her head. "Wearing an apron…" Then, under her breath, a smile at the corners of her mouth: "And nothing else."

Angel seemed to come to a little. "That would make me want to burn my eyes, too," she said faintly. "But for different reasons."

"Ehh. Even I can't help with bad taste," Riese said dismissively. Her eyes were concerned. "Seriously, though, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ash finally said. "Were there side-effects to Big Daddy's potions?"

"I don't… think so?" She toyed with her goggles. "I–my dreams were weird but… that's the point, right? Right. It's just… a lot to take in."

Riese put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Dealing with Big Daddy can be rough," she agreed. "But… rewarding, too. I mean, those are some nice goggles."

"Do you want them?" She didn't wait for a response, she just chucked the goggles off of her head and into her sister's hands. Her expression was troubled. "Keep them. I think you were probably who she was looking for… but who was she, again? Why can't I…?"

"Er…" After exchanging a look with Ash, Riese pocketed the goggles. "You know, maybe you ought to see a doctor," she suggested. "Or maybe a therapist. I can recommend mine. And since this happened since I asked you to fill in for me with Big Daddy, I'll pay for everything…"

"And I'll get you some soup," Ash decided, making his way back to the inn. "You look like you could use the pick-me-up."

"I don't… there was a Sk'aar…"

"Uh, well, I have a good scar ointment if you want? Works every time. Seriously, Angi, you should go lie down…"

All things considered, it was still a quiet day in Falconreach.

I legitimately had written her background when I was a kid, way before anything about Gravelyn(n). Kind of funny how their motivations ended up mirroring each other in that sense. Only with less adultery and a still-living love interest. No wonder Sepulchure hates her so much

Angel is currently my only level 90 alt. In story, she's a respected warrior who doesn't advertise her relationship with the capital H Hero. She and my other alts are the stand-ins instead of Mr. Green Guy, Mr. Guy, or Mr. Test Guy, only with less stuntwork and more delegating smaller jobs.

For AF2, I played while in character. If she weren't already in a relationship, she'd be pining for Tek, someone who may or may not exist in DF. (I did do all the routes for the items though. The aviators are the best)

All my rambling aside, hope this was enjoyed.