"Ahhh," she engulfed the brisk morning air greedily, enjoying the sensation of her lungs filling to the brim then slowly deflate. "It's great to be out of the hospital! Thanks for walking me home, Wizard." He flustered as she beamed at him, carrying her overnight bag. She reached to take it away. "You don't have to-"

"I want to." He drew it further away from her hand as he lead the strange troupe of girl, cat and frog back to the farm.

"I'm not completely helpless you know."

"I know."

"Then why?"

"Because I'm a gentleman."

Angela huffed, keeping up pace with him. All things considered, she was glad to spend more time with him, may haps even break through those walls and see the real Wizard. The sun was radiantly shining, and the birds were singing sweet melodies whose origins were known only to them. For once in her life Angela secretly wished Grendel (and Vivi for that matter) would get lost. Then she could nonchalantly hook her arm with the Wizard's, maybe lean her head against his shoulder, blame it on her hospital stay and fragile condition. Vivi seemed content to ride atop the overnight bag, and seemed to be dozing while Grendel was a few steps ahead. This could be my chance to try...

She drew in a long breath and thrust her arm through his, and slowly leaned her head against his shoulder, a scene she'd played through her mind a hundred times. He didn't recoil, like she had feared, and Grendel and Vivi seemed totally ignorant of the whole display. For a while he stared ahead, and Angela began to doubt her spontaneous decision at assertiveness when he leaned his head down, his lips softly touching her hair.

"Angela..." he said in that same faraway voice she had grown to love. She held her breath while she waited for him to continue. He didn't; instead they both stopped walking and looked into each others' eyes. Grendel kept going, and Vivi started snoring.

"Angela..." he repeated. A breeze blew by, stirring up a few stray leaves and tussling their hair. Without another word he leaned down as she leaned up, and their mouths were just inches away.

When her face finally collided with the hard surface that was the dusty path leading to her front step did Angela realize that she had imagined the whole scene. And that she stupidly tripped over an inconveniently placed rock while the others were several feet ahead of her. The others seem to only notice her absence when she fell with a solid thud. Quickly Wizard and Grendel made their way to her side.

"Angela! Are you all right? Did you get dizzy?" Grendel stood on her back paws and placed a front one on her forehead. To the casual observer it would have appeared to be a very cute scene between a girl and her beloved pet, but considering the disappointment of her reverie being just that, Angela wasn't amused.

"I'm fine. I tripped over a stupid rock." She leaned back, scooped the rock up, and angrily threw it into the depths of a pond. She quickly got to her feet and brushed the dust from her clothes.

"Oh my...maybe I should have borrowed a wheel chair from the clinic." The Wizard mumbled. That was the last straw.

"I'm fine! For crying out loud, I wish everyone would stop babying me and leave me alone!" She lashed her hand out and took the bag from the Wizard, her quick actions and sudden outburst waking Vivi up. She stomped her way back up to her house and slammed the door shut on Wizard and Grendel. Both stood in shock.

"Did I...do something wrong?"

Grendel sighed. "No, you didn't."

"Will she be all right?"

"Yes, she'll be fine. I apologize for...whatever that was. Thank you for looking out for Angela. She really does appreciate it, even if she doesn't always show it."

"Okay..." He fished around in pocket and plucked from it a small card. "If she should feel ill...or whatever, here's the number to the clinic..." He bent over and held it out.

Grendel sensed there were other intentions behind his offering Angela the direct line to the clinic, considering everyone who moved to Castanet was given a small phone book with each facility's number written in it, for emergencies and such. But she nodded anyway and took the card with her small mouth. She watched the Wizard depart before she began pawing at the door.

She let Grendel in quickly, looking out the window to make sure the Wizard was indeed gone. Grendel hopped onto the table and spat out the card. "For you."

"What is it?" Angela asked, marking off the two days she spent in the hospital on the calendar. It read back Spring 8th.

"A card with the number to the clinic. From Wizard."

Angela turned, puzzled. "Why did he give me that?"

"I don't know. I'm just the messenger."

"Hmmm..." She picked up the rose colored business card, taking care to avoid Grendel's saliva. Nothing special about it, no written note from the Wizard on the front or back. Just a standard card. With indifference she tossed the card over her shoulder.

"Angela!"

"What? I already have their number."

"Still, it was a token of concern from the Wizard. You grandfather would be disappointed by this and the absurd display outside."

That hurt. Though Grendel was fully aware of this, she stood firm. Sometimes people needed to be burned in order to stay away from the flame.

"I know that."

"Then why are you acting like a spoiled teenager?"

"Because!" She swallowed hard, not wanting to admit what the reason behind falling over the rock was.

"Angela, I've known you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper. I know you're lying to me."

Still, Angela remained defiant.

"Fine, won't speak will you? But you've painted an ugly picture of yourself for the Wizard." She jumped from the table top and headed for the bed where she curled up in a wedge of sunlight next to Vivi. The comment hurt almost as much as the one about her grandfather, and Angela knew Grendel, like usual, was right. While the two napped, Angela jumped into the shower, fixed her hair, and pulled on fresh clothes. Leaving only a note stating she would be back later, she slipped out of the house and made her way for the Wizard's house.

She almost felt like running back home, but she remembered what Grendel had said. Your grandfather would be disappointed. She knocked hard on the door, expecting no answer and surprised by one.

"Angela..."

"Wizard, before you say anything, I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for earlier. I was just, you know, embarrassed by tripping over a rock. In front of everyone. You always carry yourself so well, I wish I had your kind of self confidence..." She shied away with that last portion, she didn't even notice the contradiction in the Wizard's eyes.

I wish I had that kind of confidence too. "It's okay Angela...don't worry."

She was elated by this simple answer, and that fact took the Wizard aback. Such trivial moments seemed so significant to Angela. "Do you mind if I come in for a little while? After all, we haven't hung out yet."

He didn't know how to approach the situation. Usually when people wanted in, they were ready to get down to business and find out what their secret admirer thought of them. "I suppose so..." She pushed pass him, and walked to the middle of the room, absorbing its atmosphere with that same awe she'd shown when she first visited the Wizard.

"I'm always amazed by the things in your house Wizard. They're so neat."

"Thank you..."

She noticed the crystal ball adjacent to where she stood, and almost sat down behind it to see what her necromancy skills had to offer, but decided against it. She didn't want the Wizard to think she came over to have her fortune read, and she certainly didn't want to give the impression that she had eyes for someone else. Instead, he awkwardly invite her to sit at a rather large table near his bed, an object she had failed to notice earlier. She happily complied, and both drank green tea and talked; not chit-chatted, but actually talked. Well, Angela did most of the talking, but the Wizard found himself thoroughly enjoying her exuberance and energy and optimism. Truly the little things in life held great meaning to the young farmer/necromancer: she spoke excitedly about a sweet and slightly overweight blue bird she'd spotted on the way over, singing a happy tune, and told him in great detail about one morning while in the hospital she woke up before Grendel and Vivi to find them unconsciously snuggling close together while in the throes of sleep. That last story made her laugh and laugh, and he saw that her nose wrinkled up when she smiled. That alone caused him to grin, which was instantly noticed by Angela.

"Wizard!"

"Wh-what?" he suddenly became self-conscious, and hid the grin away. Angela frowned.

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what...?"

"Don't stop smiling! It looks great on you." His discomfort with himself intensified as he fumbled around for the right response. In the meantime, Angela had gotten up and began admiring his telescope, closely examining every angle and dimension. He jumped; he didn't like it when others got too near his prize possession. He was at her side in an instant.

"Please be careful..."

"Oh," Angela backed up. "I'm sorry, I just thought it was kind of cool. How do you operate something like this?"

"It's...complicated..."

Angela took that as a polite way of saying that this was not a good time for a stargazing tutorial. She looked at her watch and noticed it was already half past six. Oh crap! Here I've been talking his ear off, and he might have plans or something...

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice the time. I better get going." She scooted around him in the confined area between telescope and wall, and headed for the door. Surprisingly he kept pace.

"Thank you Wizard for hanging out with me," she said with earnest. He could only nod, holding open the door. Something confound her to stay just a minute longer, an idea that just popped into her head. "Wizard...are you busy tomorrow?"

"I don't think so..."

"Great. Than can you do me a favor?"

He pulled at his collar. "Y-yes, what is it?"

"Could you show me the Harvest King's ruins? I've heard around town that they're located on top of Garmon mines. Do you mind?"

"No, I'll take you there. Are you sure you're up for this?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I am! You know that hospital stay was overrated."

"All right then..."

"Cool! We'd better get an early start, so I'll come by around eight in the morning, okay? I'll even pack us a lunch. Thanks again!" She waved as she raced down the stairs and onto the main street. He held up his hand, watching her until she disappeared before disappearing himself into the sanctuary of his house.

"I'm glad you made amends with the Wizard Angela." Grendel said, wide awake now from sleeping all day.

She nodded. "Me too. And I can't wait for tomorrow!"

"It's going to be a pretty steep climb," they both looked at Vivi, who fervently shook her head in protest. They looked back at one another, glad that the frog decided to sit this adventure out.

"I know, but I'll be okay." She yawned and stretched her arms, content to hear the pop in the center of her shoulder blades. She flicked the lights off and climbed under the covers, but something felt amiss. She tossed and turned for about thirty minutes before figuring out what was bothering her. She flicked the light switch back on, and scanned the floor until her eyes fell on a rose-colored business card. She picked the card up, laid it on her bedside table, and turned out the lights, falling right to sleep.

A/N: A sappy chapter, but that's the way things go sometimes.