Infinitum

@ Jinx...

"I also possess wind magic, that made the flying easier. And yeah, I was quick enough to play tag with you, but I had to resort to hiding a lot to catch my breath when you were it." Jasper laughed, carefully setting her down on the rock before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I set most of this up earlier, but I did have someone bring the food, so it would be fresh." He smiled sheepishly, taking her hand to help her take a seat on the blanket that was set up.

---

Meredith blushed as he called her impatient, opening her mouth to protest, but she fell silent as he began to use his magic, her eyes widening as she watched him curiously, leaning across the table to get a better look. "Wow... It's beautiful." She murmured, smiling up at him once it faded away. "Do you use your magic for lots of things? Or only to impress girls?" She teased. "Do faeries that have magic usually use their magic as part of their job, like if you have earth magic does that require you to be a gardener or something?" She asked curiously, wondering how everything worked.

@ katahdin
Emberly chuckled and smiled as he pressed his lips to her head. She looked around grinning as he admitted to setting this up earlier and having help. It was sweet really. He had been thinking about this earlier, probably since she suggested it and it made her feel warm inside. She sat down with him and crossed her legs as she sat leaning back enjoying the babbling of the river. "This is the same creek I knew as a child isn't it?" She asked him looking at it with new eyes. How could something so small seem so big now. She wondered if after lunch she could challenge him to another game of tag since they where finally on more equal playing grounds but this time she would have to say no flying for him since she wouldn't be able to catch him in the air anymore.

---

Leo grinned as she watched his magic calling it beautiful. He chuckled, "Just what every guy wants to hear, his magic is beautiful." He winked. When she went on to ask a dozen more questions he held up his hands. "Slow down Meredith, one at a time. "The simple answer is not anymore." he said and took her hand using his other to eat when he could take a moment to take a break from speaking. "Remember we use to be a society divided and so we used our magic all the time but since the four magic elders came together and used their magic to create things we haven't really needed to depend on our magic. Yes some magic makes things like being a gardener easier and more likely but that doesn't determine who will or wont be a gardener." Leo answered her question wondering if she had another.

@ Jinx...

Jasper sat on the blanket next to her and began to pull out food from the basket, enjoying their time together as he ate. He looked over at her when. She asked if this was the same stream, nodding a little. "I was sitting here when I saw your shoe go by.. I went and pulled it out, and then a few minutes later I saw you crying over there, so I brought it to you." He explained, pointing out where'd they'd first met before nudging her. "Come on, eat. I did all this work to give you a special day, and you're not even going to eat lunch?" He teased with a little grin.

---

Meredith fell silent when he held up a hand, used to her mother or the healer stopping her when she asked too many questions. Although usually her mother would hit her and scold her for asking questions instead of finding a husband. She smiled a little when he took her hand, squeezing it gently. She was glad he didn't hit her. She nodded a little as she listened to him explain, eating her meal quietly. She had a few more questions that she could ask, but because he'd told her to stop she didn't want to push it, instead focusing on her breakfast. "Thank you, for explaining. I appreciate it."

@ katahdin
Emberly looked where he was motioning to and she bit her lip remembering herself as a little girl and a little him. She looked at him as he nudged her and blushed. "I'm sorry." she said and smiled took a bite of the food. They hadn't had a time limit that she was aware of but she was willing to turn her attention back to the food. She bit her lips thinking as she ate slowly. This was all real. What was she suppose to do with the memories now that she knew they where not made up? She remembered more than she had told him about. She didn't know if he knew how much he had been his confidant in the years following even id he hadn't been able to hear her.

---

Leo noticed the change and frowned squeezing her hand again. "Hey what just happened? We where being natural then you closed up on me. What happened?" he asked her. He was glad she had liked his explanations but then something had changed and he had to figure out what it was. Leo needed to be there for Meredith like she was for him. He wanted to know every ounce her her just as she was trying to learn him as well. Leo pressed her hand to his lips. He was trying not to say anything directly saying anything about how she had closed him off but he needed to know her and what made her tick.

@ Jinx...

Jasper laughed a little, shaking his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Emberly." He smiled as he turned back to eating. He figured she was thinking over a lot of stuff, so he was happy to just sit and enjoy her company while they ate. Once he was finished he slid down off the rock carefully, moving toward the stream to get something to drink.

---

Meredith looked up from her plate with a frowned when he asked what had happened, shaking her head a little when he squeezed her hand. "Nothing.. You held up your hand and told me to stop asking questions, so I did... Did I do something wrong?" She frowned, pulling her hand back from his. "I didn't mean to if I did. I was just trying to be quiet, like you wanted." She frowned, sinking a little lower in her chair as she looked down at her lap. She didn't want Leo to be angry with her.

@ katahdin
Emberly looked over at Jasper at some point and took his hand her fingers lacing with his. "How many times did you see me after we first met but you could't talk to me?" she asked wondering how much he had gotten to hear whens he had come back to talk to him even if she hadn't used his name. He he known she thought the boys of the village looked funny and she had called him handsome in her preteen years? She bit her lip. She had spent so long wishing he was real and ow he was and she was hesitating, she was scared and didn't believe this would work out. Why was that?

---

Leo shook his head and came around the table kneeling down in front of her on his knees and took her hands gently. "Meredith." he whispered and waited until she looked at him. He was worried about her. He had never seen her act like this. "I didn't ask you to stop, just to slow down. You did nothing wrong Meredith. You are allowed to ask as many questions as you like I just want to explain fully so if you could ask one at a time it would help me answer them all." he said and kissed her hands. "You are no longer bound by the necessity to listen to anyone ordering you around like you use to and we can explore those boundaries together if you want. Meredith..." he look up at her sadness in his eyes. "What happened to you make you cringe from me? Who hurt you?" he asked her worriedly. Leo could not explain how much he had to understand this part of her right now. He needed to know what this was so he could prevent it from happening again.

@ Jinx...

Jasper climbed back up onto the rock once he'd filled his cup with water from the stream, returning to sit back with her. He smiled when she took his hand, lifting her hand to press a kiss to the back of her hand before looking over at her when she asked how many times he'd tried to come visit her. "I tried most days, but my brother or parents would usually catch me and bring me back before I could get to your village to see you. My plan was to find your house and come visit you when I could, but I ended up getting locked in my room or with guards following me, so it was very tricky to get away, especially when I knew you were in the woods too. Sometimes I would be able to convince Leo to let me go see you, but he'd always tag along and make sure I never revealed myself, so I always had to hide." He sighed, looking over at her.

---

Meredith looked down at him as he moved over to kneel down in front of her, frowning a little as he spoke. She nodded a bit, feeling a bit better knowing that he wasn't upset with her, and that he didn't want her to stop asking questions. Her frown only deepened as she saw how upset he looked, reaching up to gently brush her fingers against his cheek. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to upset you.." She murmured, sighing as he asked who had hurt her. "I... My dad used to.. before he died.. And then my mom would sometimes, when I asked too many questions, or if I didn't do the chores properly... I'm sorry, Leo.."

@ katahdin
Emberly nodded. "I understand but how many times where you just close enough to hear me and couldn't say a word. How often did we come so close together that I could have seen you again if I really looked. "Tell me about the times you spent with me when I wasn't aware of it." she asked him. She wanted to know before she let them both go on with the rest of their day. Emberly wondered if even once she had seen him again in the wood if she would have been able to let him go again. Her mother had called her obsessed with him but she had needed him, needed to feel that sense of belonging he had placed inside of her as a child.

---

Leo shook her head as she tried apologizing. "It is not your apology that I need, that will not bring us closer together and help me understand you in the way you wish to know me." He pressed his hand to hers as she touched his face and leaned his head into her hands. When Meredith admitted who had hurt him he sighed softly and then laid his head in her lap. "You don't need to be sorry Meredith you did nothing wrong." Leo moved closer and slowly, gently took her face in his hands. He looked into her eyes and stroked her hair. "They had no right to treat you like that and no one will raise a hand to strike you here, if they do they will have severe punishments to face." Leo shook his head. "Please trust me with more of yourself like this. I know it is not easy but I want to be there for you." he said softly.

@ Jinx...

Jasper frowned a bit as she asked her questions, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks as he looked away. "There are too many times to count.. I'd try to get as close as I could, sometimes sitting on a branch above your head, or under a root by where you sat.. I wish I could have said something, Emberly. I really do. But I had no way of turning you into a Fae too, or becoming human, so I thought.. I thought that one day you'd stop coming to the forest, and I'd go looking for you, and I'd find out you had a husband and children and were happy, and I'd go back to the tree and be forced to marry someone I barely knew, and I'd be miserable, because I never got to see you again.." he sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I suppose that still could happen... You meet some Fae man, and fall in love with him, and leave me to marry whoever my parents choose as my bride... I'd let you, though... If it made you happy."

---

Meredith leaned into his arms as he moved closer, resting her head against his hands as she frowned up at him. "You... You won't hit me either?" She asked softly, almost hesitantly as she curled into his arms, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "...Can we go back to bed?" She murmured. She was feeling a bit stressed out from telling Leo about her life, although she was glad she had. But it made her want to curl up in bed like she normally did, although she knew she wanted Leo at her side, to make her feel better.

@ katahdin
Juniper frowned as he looked sad. She listened to him blushing realizing h knew it all. He might have missed a few things but mostly he was there and knew she spent hours talking to him asking questions she knew she wouldn’t get answers to. “Jasper...” she whispered as his thoughts ran dark. She moved over and cupped his face turning him to herself so he looked in her eyes. “Don’t go there. Focus on what is present. Your on a date with me and I asked you remember?” She pressed her forehead to his and then scooted closer so she could hold him. “I am a fairy now and no matter what I want us to be friends.” She said and then pulled back slightly to look at him. “I can’t promise you the world but I can promise that we stay friends. As long as you don’t kidnap me again.” She teased.

---

Leo frowned more his eyes watering as she asked if he would hit her and he shook his head. “No Meredith I would never hit you.” He said and pulled her into his arms as she asked to go back to bed. He nodded and scooped her up placing tender kisses on her head before taking her back to bed trying not to let her see the tear slip from his eye. He hated her father and her mother too. It was appalling that she was treated that way. He laid down with her on his chest. “When you are feeling better I will show you more magic then we can go to the library. You will love the library, the librarians can keep up with your inquisitive mind.” He said softly rubbing her arm.

@ Jinx...

Jasper leaned his head into her hands as she cupped his cheeks, a little frown on his lips as he met her eyes. He supposed she was right. They were on a date, and she'd kissed him, and she was promising to be his friend... But he wanted her as his wife. His bond. He wanted everything his brother had now. It wasn't fair that his brother had found his bond and brought her to the tree within days of meeting, while he had to spend years suffering and preparing, and even now he was nowhere close to having Emberly love him the way he loved her. He sighed, wrapping his arms around her tightly as he rested his forehead against her shoulder, his fingers brushing gently down her back between her wings. "You asked me for years to take you away from the village... I don't really consider it kidnapping when you asked."

---

Meredith curled into his arms as he lifted her up, glancing up with a frown to see his eyes welling with tears, feeling guilty for having made him cry. Once in bed she hid her face in the crook of his neck as she tugged the blankets around them, her fingers gripping his shirt lightly. "I'm sorry I made you cry.. I didn't mean to." She apologized softly, looking up at him after a moment. "We.. we don't have to talk about this stuff anymore. We can just forget about it. I don't really like talking about it anyway.." she admitted soflty, tucking her head into the crook of his neck again.

@ katahdin
Emberly smiled as he came back with a good come back. "You're right I did ask but a little warning wouldn't have hurt." she chuckled and buried her face in his neck her stomach tightening with a strong emotion she hadn't felt before and didn't understand. His fingers brushed her back a hairs breath from her wings. She clung to his shirt breathing him in finding comfort and.. what ever this was... desire? Emberly cupped his check and brought his mouth back towards hers. She paused her lips a breath away. She could feel it stronger now and it was desire. "You know this is defiantly a step towards that courting in a much better way than the Fae do it." she giggled nervously and then pressed her lips to his. It was just a moment as their lips met and she pulled back to take a shaky breath before she wrapped her arms around him again kissing him harder. Her tongue came out and ran over his bottom lip wanting him to let her kin but also hoping he would take the hint and let this progress.

---

Leo frowned and shook his head. "It is not your fault Meredith you have nothing to apologize for. I love you so much that your pain even if it is past hurts a part of me I can not explain." he said and soothed her hair back with his hands. Leo shook his head and kissed her lips, just a brush of his to hers. "I want to know you from the way your wings flutter to the possibilities your future has." he said pretty much quoting back to her this morning when she said she wanted to learn about him. "If you do not want to talk about it now I will understand but if you are ready to tell me I will listen." he said and laid his head on hers.

@ Jinx...

Jasper smiled a little. "I did try to warn you.. You didn't believe me though." He teased gently, holding her close. A pleasant hum escaped his lips when she kissed himself, gently cupping her cheek in his hand, although he was surprised when she kissed him again, but harder. His arms snaked around her waist to pull her close, lips parting when her tongue brushed against his lower lip. He didn't want things to go to far, not wanting to take advantage of her. But if she was kissing him like this.. He'd go along with it, at least for a while.

---

Meredith curled into his arms as he spoke, blushing as he repeated what she'd told him earlier. She hummed happily as she kissed him gently, snuggling closer. "I love you.. Thank you, Leo." She murmured as she snuggled close, resting her head against his chest. "Can we just lay here a little while? Maybe you can show me more magic tricks?"

@ katahdin
Jasper might have been right but it didn't make her feel much different about it all. Emberly felt him kiss her back and accept her in. She hummed as he pulled her closer his hands on her skin. She ran her tongue in letting hers touch his as her fingers slipped up into his hair. She stroked her tongue over his. The taste of him was so sweet like the nectar from the tree that was often in their meals. She kissed him until her heart was hammering in her chest. She pulled back slightly her head pressed to his and she panted softly her eyes closed. Emberly ran her hands up his chest and sighed. "I can tell when you hesitate... why do you hesitate as if you have to think every action out?" she asked him.

---

Leo grinned. "I love you too." he said and smiled. He nodded. "We can lay here a while but magic is best done not in the bed." he said and smiled as he kissed her head. "I can do little things like..." he made a flower grow for her. He tucked it into her hair and smiled at her. "The bigger more impressive magic happens with more space when I am not afraid of dirtying or ruining out bed." he winked at her and kissed her sweetly.

@ Jinx...

Jasper pulled her close as they kissed, keeping her body pressed to his even after she broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers as he gently ran his fingers through her hair. "I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to... I don't want to hurt you, or make you mad, or take advantage.. it wouldn't be fair of me." He murmured soflty, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips before loosening his arms around her, sitting back with a sigh. "Maybe I'll be one of those Kings who never marry. Or maybe I'll be like my great great grandfather, and have six wives." He said, hoping to lighten the mood a little. "I think I'd rather never marry. But then Leo or his children would become King once I died, and I'm not sure he'd want that."

---

Meredith smiled a little as she watched him grow the flower, blushing as he tucked it into her hair. She blushed even brighter when he mentioned dirtying their bed, hiding her face in his chest after she kissed him back. "All magic is impressive to me... I'd be lucky just to be able to do what you consider little, although I'm sure your parents wouldn't think so highly of me if I was only good at simple things.."

@ katahdin
Emberly listened to him and frowned. When he pulled back she sighed her heart aching. She didn't like how he pulled away. He told her that she could have all the time she needed and then went on these guilt trips. "Jasper..." she whispered. "You're thinking way to far ahead... the entire point of getting out of the tree was so you wouldn't have that stress of who would be king for five minutes, so I could get to know you, get closer to you. But you've put up this wall and you have determined I must either love you fiercely or not at all but do you not know like all fires even love starts as a simmer?" she asked him and closed her eyes looking upset. She sighed then stood. She looked over the water. "I'm not ready for marriage, or kids, or the responsibility of being a queen yet and your making you and all that a package deal with no options. If you keep that up I will run, it's to much for anyone not born like you into the life. I cam from a village where the most they expected of me was not to eat the children and live in the limits of the town." she looked at him her eyes darkening with the ache that was inside of her. "Can't I just get to know you before I get to know King Jasper, before I met have to be a father Jasper?" she asked and shook her head. She wanted to go for a walk down by the stream now just to clear her muddled head. Here they were sharing this amazing kiss and she is looking at the possibility of them and he is looking at how she's not ready for the future yet. It baffled her how he pushed back against her trying to get closer to him. "And Jasper... I am perfectly capable of knowing y own limits and when a kiss is to much, or a touch I will stop it so stop trying to protect me from you."

---

Leo kissed her head. "Magic is produced through powerful emotions. You don't need to worry about what my parents think of your magic Meredith. To me just your smile and the sparkle of your eyes is magical enough." he stroked her hair. "You have so many gifts Meredith. Your love of learning will be your greatest gift here. I really want to show you the library, you will feel like you finally belong somewhere. I am pretty sure the library Fae can keep up with your questions." he teased and kissed her head smiling. "How are you feeling?" he asked her after a moment worried about her.

@ Jinx...

Jasper frowned as he listened to her, standing and brushing the dirt from his pants. "I am King Jasper. Maybe not yet, but in a few weeks or months I will be. It's who I am, and I can't pretend not to be so that you can decide what you want and how you feel. If you were someone my parents had chosen, we'd already be married, regardless of how either of us felt." He looked at her, eyes hard. "I spent years listening to you beg me to bring you here, saying that you cared for me and missed me and wanted me to take you away from that village and those rotten people, how you thought you loved me and that if I brought you here we'd be together. So I'm sorry if I assumed that those words were true, that you actually wanted me to do those things." He scowled as he turned away from her. "If you want to go back there, I'll have Artemis make you a potion. Your wings will disappear, so will your magic, and you'll be human again. She can even make one that takes away your memories, so you won't have to remember any of this. I can send your friend, Meredith back too. You don't seem to like her much, so I can take her memories too, and you can watch her go insane from being away from her bond but not knowing who or what it is. Is that what you'd prefer? Or would you rather I just marry whoever my parents want to appease them and my people, and then take you as my mistress once I'm King? That way you don't have to worry about marrying me or having my children, but can kiss and touch me to your heart's content. No responsibility, but all the perks of being in my court. Is that what you want? You can't take forever to make your choices, Emberly, the world doesn't work like that, whether it's in your village or here. Tell me what you want to do, and I'll have it done, whether it's sending you home, or setting you up in a house somewhere in the city."

---

Meredith snuggled closer as he spoke, wings fluttering a little as she pressed against him. "I'm feeling alright... We can go to the library now, if you'd like. I'm awfully comfortable, but if you don't want to stay here, we can go. I'd be happy to learn what I can from the Fae who work in the library." She murmured, resting her head against his chest as she traced over his mark with her fingers.

@ katahdin
Emberly looked at him her eyes welling with tears and when she slapped him her hand was hot like lava even though she hadn't meant for it to be. Emberly turned from him and ran. She made it off the rock. She didn't know where she was going just away. She was so hurt by everything he had said and to know he was offering her a way back to the village but he was being an ass about it. She pushed the tears away and fire sparked from her fingertips as she shook the tears off her hands. She frowned and shook her head looking around and took a breath diving into the water. She sank to the bottom her tears being swept away into the water. At least here she couldn't set anything on fire but the water around her grew warm. She sat at the bottom holding her breath as she shook with the rage and the pain. She finally wasn't able to hold her breath anymore and came to the surface gasping for air and swam over to a rock sitting soaking wet and still shaking. Emberly pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed into them. He never should have said those things to her. He was being cruel and she was tempted to leave but he was right she didn't want to. This had felt more like her than anything else ever had. But he had taken the words of a teenage girl to heart. It had been years since she went to the forest to speak with him. Since her 18th birthday actually.

---

Leo grinne. "I want to do anything with you but I think you will love the library and we shouldn't stay in bed all day. How about a little longer then you can come outside and watch my magic before we get ready and go to the library. "I always keep a promise Meredith." he said and kissed her head. He watched as she traced his mark and grinned. It was very comforting and yet it excited him. He ran his hand through her hair. "I love you Meredith." he whispered to her. He wanted her to be happy here but knew it would take time, she needed to adjust.

@ Jinx...

Jasper hadn't been expecting her to hit him, especially not when she was using her powers. If he had, he would have deflected, or at least used his own powers to lessen the burn of hers. But he didn't do either of those things, so when she struck him across the face with her hand burning so hot, he cursed in surprise and pain as he stumbled back, reaching a hand up to cover his face where he'd been struck as he tumbled back off the rock. When she'd hit him she'd struck his cheek and eye, burning the skin there quite badly, despite his own powers working to lessen the burn a bit. But the damage was done, his skin burned badly enough to scar, and the burn to his eye making it nearly impossible to see out of it. After getting over the initial shock and pain of what had happened he stood shakily, looking around frantically as he tried to find where Emberly had gone, although it was nearly impossible with him half blind. "Emberly! Emberly, where are you?" He called, attempting to fly back up onto the rock, although he misjudged the distance and overshot, slamming into another rock before dropping to the ground with a groan. He pushed himself to his feet again, panting as he looked around frantically. "I-I can't see you.. I don't know where you are, Emberly. You'll have to come to me.. Emberly?" He called, clearly in a panic before sinking to his knees, tears leaking down his cheeks. "I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry.."

---

"I love you too, Leo." She murmured into his shirt, relaxing into his arms with a happy sigh. She managed to doze off for a little while, happy to have a little nap curled up next to him, although when she woke she was happy and ready to go to the library. She stretched with a yawn and went to get dressed, choosing an outfit that would allow her to be comfortable and move around easily in the library. After brushing out her hair she turned to Leo with a smile, taking his hands and squeezing them excitedly. "Ok, I'm ready to see your magic now."

@ katahdin
Emberly was sobbing the roaring of the river to strong in her ears for her to hear anything and when she sobbed herself dry that was when she noticed it was dark. She looked up the last light of dawn escaping behind the trees and the light of the moon the only thing to illuminate her. She hadn't expected be out here this long. Perhaps Jasper had just left her to angry with her to deal with her. The last words she had said before running off filtered through her mind now, You don't love me, you love the idea of me. She didn't know what happened but as she stood still cold from the water she rubbed her hands together generating a heat inside of her that dried her cloths and warmed her body. She looked around trying to get her bearings straight determined she would walk to the tree if need be. From the mushroom forest he said it would be three days walk? Or was it a week? Emberly bit her lip. She hadn't paid as much attention coming to the river. She swallowed and decided she should at least find a way to safely light her path. Emberly found a little stick and spun some dried moss around it securing it before lighting it with her embers. At least she had learned a little magic. Now critters would be less likely to come after her. Emberly decided she needed to climb up high and get a better perspective. Damn she wished her wings could hold her but though they beat franticly with worry and fear behind her they gave her no access to the air. Emberly was on her way up a pine tree where the bark worked like branches.

---

Leo smiled and got ready with her. When she said she was ready to watch his magic he walked out to the balcony and opened the doors making flower petals fall from the sky as she walked out. He grinned and turned to her. The tree around them grew closer building a little bench. He waited until she sat then smiled and made two flowers grow the tree binding around them to form the beginning of a ring. Leo plicked the little thing from the roots and covered it in his hands then kneeled in front of her. He presented her the ring and smiled. "Marry me my bond, my love, my Meredith." He said softly. It was probably the most corny way to propose but he wanted it like this where he offered her every once of himself to her.