Oh My, I Messed Up the Story

Ilya, the girl who normally took the afternoon shift at the library, apologized for coming by a bit late. She had been filling in for someone at the mine who sprained their ankle during Warrior training the day before.

She stopped mid-word when she saw what they were doing and confusion lit her face. "What are you making checkerboards for?"

"We're going to see if they sell," Abby said with a shrug. "Katie and I have a plan to make the post-harvest celebration extra special but we need extra money for that."

The girl's eyes sparkled with anticipation. Katie and Abby's plans always meant something fun for the villagers. "Excellent! I look forward to it. As soon as you finish this up you can go on and head out. Isn't play practice supposed to start soon?"

She had completely forgotten. She hadn't even eaten lunch yet and had been ignoring the quiet demands of her stomach because she was so absorbed in her conversation with Blaise.

The clock tower let off one loud bong and Abby jumped to her feet. "It's supposed to start in ten minutes and I still need to eat something!"

Hastily stowing away the checkerboard materials under the circulation desk, she apologized to Blaise and hurried out the door. She didn't expect him to follow her to the bakery to buy a cheese bun she could stuff in her mouth as she walked to the amphitheater.

"You should not overexert yourself," he said. "They will forgive you if you are a few minutes late. You can blame it on the other librarian."

Abby shook her head. "No, this one was on me. I lost track of time because we were having too much fun."

Blaise stopped in his tracks so she had to turn around to hear him properly. He mumbled something she couldn't catch and flushed when asked to repeat it. "I asked if you truly had fun with me."

She hadn't realized what she had said would affect him so much. They were friends. Having fun with friends was a completely normal thing to do in her world. Was it not here?

"Yes. I always enjoy our conversations. And you did a really good job coloring the checkerboards too," Abby admitted. "There's a saying in my world… 'time flies when you're having fun.' That's what happened today."

A pleased smile crossed his face. "I am honored, Miss Abby. That is high praise indeed from a woman like you."

She quickly consumed the rest of her cheese bun to hide her embarrassment. Once she composed herself, she asked, "how did you manage to get so much time off anyway? Are you going to get in trouble for this?"

Blaise shook his head. "No. Technically speaking, I am on an errand for your brother-in-law right now. My commanding officer asked for volunteers and I was the first to raise my hand."

Abby couldn't help but roll her eyes. Al probably set this up on purpose like before. She wasn't sure whether to thank him or punch his shoulder later. Probably thank him. Those few hours with Blaise had been the most pleasant she had in a while.

"You wanted to see me that badly?" she blurted, unable to help herself.

Her face reddened and she couldn't look at him but heard his answer clearly and confidently. "Yes."

Oh. That further confirmed her suspicions that he had genuinely missed her while he was gone. In the beginning he had been so cold about leaving that she figured he would forget her entirely while he was living his dream.

Not only had he not forgotten her, he had been extra attentive since coming back even though they had only been able to meet twice due to differing schedules.

"Carrick, my commanding officer, says we should be able to move about the village freely in the evenings soon," Blaise continued as if he hadn't said something earth-shattering. "If I may impose, I would like to call upon your family for dinner. I enjoyed eating with you all before. You and Katie have the most diverting stories about your home."

Had he? He never gave off that impression. Exactly how much did this stone statue keep to himself anyway? He continued to surprise her.

"I'm sure Katie won't mind," Abby said. "I'll ask her for you."

Her family seemed determined to play matchmaker for them so she was positive neither of them would have a problem with it. It wouldn't surprise her at all if Al managed to extend the invitation himself the next time he was in the camp without even consulting her.

Blaise escorted her all the way to the amphitheater where all of her actors were already waiting. She apologized profusely and ended up using the librarian as an excuse like he suggested after all.

"What's he doing with you?" Lian asked accusingly.

"Al sent him on an errand and he ended up helping me make checkerboards," she said half-truthfully.

It wouldn't go over so well that he had sought her out specifically based on how protective the boy was being. Had they had some sort of encounter during training that would make him hold a grudge?

Her actors who were forced to participate in the training had complained about how strict the instructors were more than once. A few even went so far as to claim that the only way they were able to get through it was thinking about going to play practice later.

Abby had known it would be a good idea to put them in the first group. Al owed her one for preventing a riot.

She turned to Blaise and indicated with her eyes that he should go so she could put out the fire here. A slight smirk crossed his face when he caught her meaning and he gave her a respectful salute before heading back to camp.

"I don't like that guy," Lian muttered. "He doesn't have good intentions."

Abby had to muffle her laughter. It seemed more like he was jealous than holding a grudge over training. That was kind of cute, like when her little cousin declared he would marry her when they were younger because he didn't know you couldn't marry family yet.

That was how she viewed all of these children who flocked to her like moths to a flame. Even though some of them were considered adults in this world kids were kids no matter what to her.

"You should be nice to Blaise. I wouldn't even be here without him," Abby said casually. "He saved my life on our way to Annalaias."

Not all of these children knew how she had made it to Ilmir. Some were young enough that they likely assumed she had simply materialized one day. A few others knew she had been escorted by a Shibatsu Warrior but didn't know any of the details.

Lian bit his lip, torn. "I didn't know that. What happened?"

"A giant wave swept me right off the deck and he jumped into the choppy sea to save me. I never would have survived if he hadn't done that and I wouldn't have met any of you."

A few of the children gasped. "He's a hero!"

"He saved Abby!"

"Wow, that's so cool!"

After being around her so often, a lot of the kids had picked up a few of her slang words. 'Cool' and 'awesome' were very commonly used around here now.

The boy sighed reluctantly. "I suppose that was an honorable thing to do."

"Honor is his middle name," Abby assured him. "Don't you worry about me. I trust Blaise with my life."

With that, play practice resumed as if nothing had happened. But the next time Blaise walked through town he was baffled to find himself swarmed by an awestruck horde of children who wanted to hear more of his miraculous rescue.