"I'm so, so sorry for worrying all of you," Megan said for the twentieth time at least that night.

"Please, my dear, don't apologize. We're all just so relieved that you are back home, safe and sound!" Omiyo exclaimed as Tototara and Miranda nodded eager agreement.

"Just don't go wandering off into the hills and getting yourself lost in the middle of the night again, yeah? Next time someone might have a heart attack!"

Iluka cuffed him as she clicked her tongue in reproval. "Honestly, you have no tact! Do you think she did it on purpose just to get attention? Whose attention do you think she'd be trying to get anyway, yours? Numbskull!"

"Though he does have a point," Ford added, sidling just out of Iluka's reach. "Who knows what harm might have befallen you? You should look before you leap, as the saying goes."

"I know, and I'm really so very sorry."

"Enough with the apologies! Let's eat already!" Schalk shouted from across the clearing.

The adults gathered around Megan all laughed, and suddenly all was well once more. The populations of all three villages crowded around the great Lulukoko bonfire, sharing stories and songs and food and drink, enveloping everyone in its light and warmth.

In the shadows, well outside the circle of light, six non-humans observed the festivities.

"How surprising," the Harvest Goddess mused. "I don't think I've seen three such different villages bond so closely before. Two villages, yes, long ago and after a great deal of effort. But not three."

"Yeah, it's almost sickening, all this happiness and crap," the Witch Princess grumbled.

"Mmmmph mmmmg!" Witchie thumped her on the arm, and she looked down at her with a scowl.

"Oh, yeah. Almost forgot. Crud, and I was really enjoying the peace and quiet, too. Ah, well," the Princess sighed and snapped her fingers.

"I'm SOOO gonna get you for that!" Witchie snapped, rubbing her aching cheeks.

"Good luck. I'll be waiting," her aunt replied smugly.

"Still, you can't deny that these three villages have drawn much more closely together recently than ever before in their history," Harvest Goddess continued.

"It's 'cause of Megan!" Dessie exclaimed, tugging at her sister's sleeve. "She's sooo nice, and helpful, and kind! Everyone loves her, and that brings them all together!"

"Yes, it was quite a sight, the way everyone pitched in to search for her and care for her farm when she was 'away'," Master said, glancing down at Inari, who was staring at the subject of their conversation with a rapt look on his face.

"Ahh, well, I suppose we'd better get these naughty little girls tucked in for the night, don'tcha think, H.G.?" Witch Princess commented after a shrewd glance, elbowing her in the ribs as she spoke.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I expect you're right. Good night, Princess. Good night, Vixy. I'm sure I'll be seeing you both again sooner or later."

"Hopefully much, much later," Witch Princess muttered, then the four of them vanished, leaving only Inari and his Master watching over the villagers.

Master Vixeni watched her protégé for some time, a curious look in her eyes. She was remembering a time long in the past, and a certain young man with hair like midnight and eyes like stars. Though his life had been little more than a heartbeat compared to the centuries that hers had thus far spanned, she remembered it well, a spark of fire in the lengthy twilight of her years.

"Inari," she called softly.

Obediently, he turned towards her, though his eyes were reluctant to meet hers. "Yes, Master?"

"You know that humans and Vixeni do not belong together."

"I-I know, Master," Inari replied quietly, flushing as he looking at the ground.

"You know, too, that a human life is brief, a tiny flame—bright, but so very quick to burn out."

"I know this, too, Master."

"And you know you have your duty, as I have mine, as she has hers. You are the guardian of Tsuyukusa, and you cannot leave your post. You must be there to receive the prayers and hopes of the village, to guard and protect them as best you can at all times. Even if you could overcome the difference in species and in lifespans, you could never live together as a properly espoused couple."

Inari tore his gaze from the ground and looked at his Master, his eyes full of pain and misery and grief and unrequited love. "I know, Master, I know. It cannot be as I would have it. Even if she wished it, too, still it cannot be. I know, and yet... and yet...."

"And yet, little Inari?"

"And yet... I would still share what little I could with her!" he cried passionately. "Her life may be as a day compared to my centuries, but I would rather spend one single day with her than a thousand millennia alone. We may be human and Vixeni, but what is that to two hearts that beat as one? And even if we could never live together as a proper husband and wife, we can nevertheless share a bond that is deeper than the deepest seas, stronger than the mightiest oaks, greater than the highest mountains, can we not? And at the end of her life, when she rises to the starry skies, leaving me alone for the remainder of my life, I would not regret one single moment spent with her."

"Then, my dear Inari, perhaps you should turn around," Master said with a smile, then she vanished from sight.

Inari whirled around, and standing there, pale in the moonlight, was Megan.

"Is that true, Inari? What you said just now?"

But humiliated and appalled, Inari turned and fled, dashing through the grove, past the shrine, down the streets to the great old cherry tree at the edge of the village, where he often went to contemplate and pray for guidance.

Megan found him there, leaning against the tree for support, sobbing soundlessly in the shadows.

"Inari...?"

"Please, leave me be. Master is right, I know that. Even if you would have one such as I, we can never be together. So please, Megan, go. Find yourself a proper lover, someone who can truly share your life. I will watch over you, and your children, and your children's children, and...." His voice caught, and he sobbed a ragged sigh. "Just please go."

"Inari, I... I have found a love. And... I know this is horribly selfish of me, but... I came to ask your blessing. I would like to marry him. We have our differences, but I think we can overcome them. So will you? Please?"

Inari froze, unprepared for such news so soon on the heels of his accidental confession. Then he straightened up, forced his expression into a serenity he did not feel, and smiled at her.

"Of course. What is his name?" His mind ran over the possibilities—he knew Hinata and Yuzuki both followed her wherever she went, with their eyes and their hearts if not their feet. And then there was that big, strong man from Lulukoko, Ludus. Most likely it was one of them, he thought, his heart sinking like a man gasping his last breath.

"His name is... Inari," she replied, and he stared at her, his mouth agape in astonishment, as she reached her hands out to him beseechingly.

"I-I... but... you... and... when? Why?" he stammered.

"I'm not sure when, exactly," she replied, taking his hands in hers (so small, he thought, so soft and warm) and pulling him down to sit beside her on the carpet of rosy petals beneath the tree. "But it's been a very long time now. Perhaps even from the first time I met you. I... I never said anything or let it show, because...."

"Because why?" he asked, still stunned.

"Because it seemed so presumptuous. I mean, you're a Vixeni. A guardian spirit, a deity. And I'm only a mere human. As for why, well, because you are Inari, and I couldn't help but fall in love with you."

He held her tightly, then, and together they laughed and cried in their newfound delight.

"You... you're very sure?" he asked her a little while later. "You know that no one else can see me. Others may think you're crazy, if you are seen apparently talking to yourself. They love you now, but they may someday shun you, if they think you are not right in the head."

Megan shrugged. "I don't mind. Honest! I already talk to myself a lot. It's a habit you get into working alone on a farm, I suppose. Or maybe it's a family trait. I know Uncle Frank does it, too. So does my father, come to think of it."

"And what will you do when others come to woo you? You can hardly tell them you are the consort of a village deity. They'd lock you up!"

"My love life is no one's business but mine, unless I choose to share it. And you're the only one I want to share it with, Inari, my love."

He tingled all over at the addition of that term of endearment, and squeezed her shoulders tightly. "And... and children? I... I can't promise... I don't know if we could ever...."

She hugged him quickly. "I don't mind, either way. Children with you would be lovely, but I won't regret my choice if we can't."

He sighed in relief. "Then I've nothing else to say."

"Well, there is one more thing...."

"Yes, dear heart? What is that?" he asked, suddenly apprehensive.

"You haven't actually said 'yes' yet."

He laughed like he'd never laughed before in all his life, and when he could speak again, he whispered softly into her ear, "Yes, my love. I will marry you, and I will do everything within my power to make your life a happy one."