Home. The moment I set foot on the hill overlooking the beach, the sensation of being where I belong hit me so hard, I almost fell over.
I can't explain it, except I've never seen anywhere this amazing in real life. I'm sure it exists, but people living paycheck to paycheck don't go to random parts of the world to discover what's there.
The hills ahead of me are so green they almost glow, and the smell . . . I had no idea places have scents. It's honeyed, happy, welcoming, peaceful - the opposite of the brooding Shadow Knight beside me. That this world produced him baffles me. The sky stretches forever overhead, the heat of the brilliant sun tempered by a layer of gray fog and a cool ocean breeze.
This is love at first sight, not with a man, but with a beauty of a world I didn't know existed. It makes me happy. Not even the thought of losing a man I'm not sure I like to another woman bothers me.
"Come, witch." He starts towards a narrow dirt road winding through the emerald hills.
Okay. Maybe there is something about him that does bother me. That kiss was too amazing. The scenery manages to buffer the emotions building, and I drink in my surroundings instead of letting my mind drift to what it might be like to live here with him.
This is how Elizabeth Bennett felt when she saw Pemberley. I understand now the power of seeing Mr. Darcy's estate. She was meant to be there and knew it the moment she set foot in the park. It takes me close to tears of frustration, because I'm starting to admit there's a chance I really am destined to stay here.
Is that so bad? Do I want to, if it means I've got no chance with the man beside me?
"Why do you weep?" the Shadow Knight asks, glancing over his shoulder at me.
I'm trailing, grappling with emotions I can't define and thoughts that leave me breathless one moment and devastated another.
He stops and waits for me to catch up.
"I'm not." I wipe my cheeks angrily. I'm holding out for a relationship with a fictional character.
"I see the tears."
"I'm not crying!" I snap at him.
He chuckles. "As you wish."
I sigh. "That's a quote from one of my favorite movies."
"Madness."
His name is Atreyu. It's from The Neverending Story, one of my favorite movies, also about a reader who gets pulled into a book, where he meets Atreyu, the Hero. Atreyu is on a quest to find the source of evil in his kingdom, when he ran into the kid reading the book.