Mono was up bright and early, carrying with her a bucket of chicken feed. This was a little thing she enjoyed doing. Feeding her yellow little chickens sometimes made her laugh, their cute little butts running as fast as they can to get as much food to fill their little bellies. She stopped suddenly hearing a horse whinnying and as she placed the bucket of feed down she saw that it was Agro. Wander had just finished giving a lesson and went to brush Agro. Mono looked to her left and then her right. She wanted to see how he was doing but felt that if she approached him that the look of Wander looking at her in that new found love way would give them away. She was about to turn around and head inside but Wander looked to her and nodded once, acknowledging her. Mono nodded back and built up her courage to walk over to him. She had no idea what she was going to say but she wanted to be near him.
"Good morning." Wander greeted her. Mono only smiled, petting Agro. "Agro has missed you."
"I have missed Agro." said Mono. "But I have missed you more." she said that last bit under her breath.
Wander couldn't help but smile a bit. "It hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet."
Mono kept her gaze on Agro. "You never have given me a riding lesson."
"You never asked." Mono gave him a glance and smirk. And then quite loudly Wander said, "Well then, Miss Mono. Would you like a riding lesson?" Mono almost blushed and Wander ran to get a saddle fit for Mono. It only took him a few moments to get everything ready and adjusted to her size. He helped her up with ease and took the reins, leading her around the fenced in area. All was good and Mono even took the reins herself after a while, leading Agro all by herself. Wander stayed by her side. He was happy to see her enjoying herself so much but, after a while Agro was getting a little out of control and wanted to be left alone and go eat something. Wander took Mono step by step about getting down. He would have gladly just taken her by the waist and helped her down that way, but Mono wanted to do it the right way and as luck would have it she slipped right at the end, getting her foot stuck in the stirrup. Wander was quick in releasing her foot from it and held out his arms to support her. After the little accident they both looked to see if anyone had noticed and thankfully no one did. "We should take a look at that." Wander told her.
"Where?" Mono was nervous now. "I'd let you carry me, but…" her voice trailed off. "I can just wait for it to stop hurting." she was about to go hop to the fence and rest against it but Wander had another idea.
"To the barn," he said. "I have something that will help your foot." Mono was a little reluctant at first to go along with him, but her foot was really hurting and she hopped all the way inside the barn. Wander was quick to close the barn door and went to grab a box full of stripped cloth and other bandages. He helped Mono on to a high haystack and removed her sandal carefully and placed it next to the box of bandages.
"I'm so clumsy." Mono pouted.
"Would you believe, me if I told you, that I did that more than I care to admit when I first started riding Agro?" Wander told her.
"Really?" Mono raised one brow and smirked. It was then that Wander was fixing up her ankle too fast and she took her free foot and pulled Wander closer. "Slow down. If you haven't noticed, we're alone." If anyone were to come barging in the two had a valid excuse as to why. Wander's hands lingered for a while, his fingers tangled in with the bandages. He removed them and placed them around Mono's back and kissed her. This is what Mono was waiting for; the touch of Wander's lips on hers had been lingering there all night and now she had him back again. Wander played with the ends of her hair and scooted her even closer. Mono was now sitting on the edge, her legs wrapped around Wander's hips. The sounds from outside in the village did not bother them. For now they were in their own little world.
"Let me talk to your father." Wander finally said.
"What about?" Mono asked.
Wander rested his head on hers, closing his eyes and finally saying, "About us. I want to ask him if I can court you…for real this time. I don't want to hide anymore."
Mono was scared all of a sudden and not for herself but for Wander. "I don't think that's such a good idea. Let's keep us our little secret a while longer." she kissed him, cradling his face with her hands.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to just stand by in the village as you walk pass me. I want to talk to you, hold your hand, kiss you, take care of you." he paused for a moment. "I think with a little persuasion and time your father and mother can come around to the idea of me courting you."
"I want that more than anything, Wander." Mono explained. "But we should wait. Just a little longer. I like our little moments like this." Wander was about say something but she shut him up with another kiss and a long one this time. "Remember when you told me that you'd take me away from here if I wanted to?" Wander nodded. "I sometimes think about doing that. Just you and me."
"Yes, you know I would but, only if you are unhappy here. We have everything we need right here. We could build our own house if we really wanted to." It pained Mono to hear Wander talk like this. He had such high hopes and yet he had no idea about her fate and she didn't know if she would ever have the guts to tell him. If she did they would be out of here within minutes by the first light of the moon.
"I want that too, really, I do."
Wander tucked some of Mono's hair behind her ear, kissing her forehead. "Let's get that ankle fixed up shall we? People might start to wonder if we stay here for too much longer."

Before leaving Wander and Mono made plans to meet up in the forest the same time as yesterday. There were very discrete by the way they left the barn and the little kids waiting to ride Agro called out to Wander for help. One of the children, though, a little boy, was gracious enough to help Mono back to the front steps of her house. "You should be more careful, Mono." he told her.
Mono laughed and smiled a little, thanking the little boy. "Oh, I will. I promise. You take care too, Abram." The little boy, Abram, smiled and ran back to the other group of kids. By the time it came to meet Wander in the forest Mono's foot was feeling much better. She kept the bandages on, liking the fact that Wander put them there. She was far more careful where she stepped and even looked back to see if anyone had followed her before entering the forest. When the cost was clear she disappeared into the green forest and went looking for Wander.
"Right over here." said Wander. "How is your ankle?" he asked her.
"Just fine now, thank you." They held hands and started to walk, talking about how their day was. "I was really busy today. All those kids wanted a ride." he laughed.
Mono giggled. "You have a way with kids."
Wander shook his head quickly. "No, Agro does." and they both laughed. "Listen," Wander started. "I think it's time we really start thinking about telling your parents."
"Oh no," Mono groaned. "Not this topic again,"
Wander rubbed her hand before kissing it and looked straight at her saying, "I know your scared, but I think your parents will be ok with it. I'm a hard worker, good fisherman and a even better hunter. Your parents would know that you'd be in good hands."
"It's not them saying no that I am worried about, Wander."
Wander gave her a confused look. "Then what is it?"
Mono didn't know what to say so she lied, "Lord Emon, what will he think?"
Wander scoffed at the very idea of Lord Emon. "What does he have to do with us?"
"My parents listen to him about almost everything, Wander. I'm sure if you told my parents they would go running to him."
Wander couldn't help but sighed. "Ok, you win. We'll wait. For now, let's enjoy our time."
"Speaking of time," mentioned Mono. "How much do we have left?"
"About another hour,"
Mono pouted. "Too short," She suddenly stopped in her tracks and pointed to a tree. "Oh no! Wander, look!" Lying next to the tree was a hawk staying perfectly still. At first it looked as though it was dead, but it shivered out of fear.
"Careful." said Wander as the two crept close to it. "Poor thing. It's right wing is all banged up. Must have gotten into a fight."
"We should take it back with us and help heal its wing." Mono suggested.
"If it will let us take it home that is." Wander tried getting just a few inches closer and it screeched at them.
"Too fast, Wander." Mono said. "Let me try."
Wander had to stop her. "Hold on a second. What if it attacks you? Your parents will start asking you questions and keep an even closer eye on you than they already do."
Mono's brows furrowed and she looked around. "Perhaps if we fed it something it would not be so scared?"
"We could, but do we really have time to do that? All I can think of is feeding it fish and I have none of my equipment with me."
Mono felt defeated and put her hands on her hips. "I don't want to leave it out here to die. It's so beautiful."
Wander tried one last time to get the hawk on to his arm but it screeched and flapped its one good wing again. "Maybe it will still be here by tomorrow? I can go fish early in the morning and try helping it again."
Mono thought for a moment. "Alright, I suppose that's all we can do, huh?" They left the hawk be and continued to walk. Wander taught her all the names of the birds they saw and even told which ones migrated and the ones that stayed during the winter. He taught her many things and Mono often wondered how on earth so much information could stay inside one person. If not for Wander, Mono would know nothing of the world around, well, probably. Who else would be there to show her all these amazing things if Wander was not? She never liked to think about it. Being apart from Wander, knowing that if he just suddenly vanished it would break her in two. When their hour was up they walked back to the village and parted ways before coming into view of the place.

As Wander watched Mono go he felt as if something was a little off. Ever since she told him she loved him she had been more distant than she had ever been while they were growing up. He wanted to reach out to her and ask her what was really bothering her but he knew that argument would be lost very quickly. Before returning to his home Wander checked on Agro, thinking that taking him out in the morning would be a good idea. That way he wouldn't have to walk to the sea and just relax the whole way. He was bound and determined to help that hawk. The look on Mono's face after leaving the poor thing made him want to do it even more. It was a wonder how anyone could love someone so much. Of course, Wander loved his parents, but loving Mono was different. If anything bad happened to her he'd be devastated. And if anyone ever tried to harm her he would bleed to protect her. She was a precious girl, Mono was, and Wander dreamed of the day he'd marry her, build their home, have kids and be happy always. The idea of how he would tell Mono's parents often ran through his mind and each time it was different. As he walked inside he saw his father head off to bed and his mother sitting at the table finishing her supper. "You're late." she said.
"You made supper early." Wander commented, a little surprised.
His mother pushed her plate away from her and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Your father was very tired today. He was with Lord Emon for most of it. They left the village for a couple of hours. No idea where they went to and your father refuses to tell me." she gestured toward the last fish sitting on a plate with some bread. Wander was glad to eat and gobbled it down finishing it off with a refreshing cup of water. "I'm heading off to bed, too. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Wander was left to clean the dishes himself and clean off the table. By the time he was done the sun had gone down and the crickets had begun their singing. He wondered if Mono could hear them too. And the moon was big and bright, shinning down on the village. He sighed, wishing he could spend a night with Mono. Nothing would happen, just lying next to her while she slept would be enough. And that's when the thought finally hit him; maybe the reason why she was acting so funny was because Mono was in an arranged marriage! She never made any hint to it but, then again, he probably would have been too blind to tell the difference. If that was the case than he felt like such a jerk, acting all happy and care free when she could be engaged to someone else and too afraid to tell him. Wander got himself ready for bed but it was pointless. He could hardly sleep and when he finally dozed off his worries came to him in his dreams.