Dylas was just starting to get antsy at how long Avani had been gone when we finally heard her wolf approaching in the distance. I had no doubt that he could move silently if he wanted, but right now he was frolicking like a massive puppy, even with two large, heavy skins of water strapped on his back. Avani was laughing at his antics as they stepped into the light of the fire, which we had built up against the chill of the night. She removed the water skins and passed them over to Dylas, then she grabbed Baldur's head and shook it roughly side to side, speaking in a funny high-pitched growly voice to him as he whined and thumped his massive tail on the ground, licking her face ecstatically. Then she gave him a hunk of dense bread to gnaw on, and he settled down just at the edge of the circle of light from the fire.

Dylas sat back down on his log, and she sat on the ground next to him, laying her head against his knee and wrapping her arms around his leg as she looked into the flickering flames. He looked down at her, and an uncustomarily tender look came into his eyes as he gently stroked her hair. "Tired?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Uh-huh, guess so. We had a really early start, and we were up so late last night," she replied drowsily.

Dylas flushed red, saying, "Oh, uhh... sorry about keeping you up...."

She looked up at him, blinking in surprise, then she realized what she'd just said and smiled, saying, "Are you? I'm not." Then she lay her head back on his knee and closed her eyes.

"Hey, don't fall asleep like that!" he protested after a moment as her breathing began to slow. "Neither of us will rest well if you do."

She sighed, rose a little unsteadily, and went to wash her face. She returned rather slowly and pulled something made of white cloth out of her pack. Then to my surprise, she started to strip off her clothing right there in front of the fire.

"H-hey! What are you doing? Don't do that here!" Dylas exclaimed, turning red again.

She looked at him in sleepy confusion, saying, "Why? I mean, it's not like you haven't seen..."

"Not that, you idiot!" he interrupted hastily, "We're not alone—or did you forget already?"

"Oh! I see," she exclaimed looking over to me. "I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable, Leon?"

I grinned, saying, "Nope, not in the least."

"Well, that's okay then," she said, and attempted to loosen the laces of her tunic with fumbling fingers.

"No, it's not okay! I wasn't worried about you making him uncomfortable, dammit!" Dylas said in exasperation. "I was worried about what he might see!"

"Oh?" she said, then paused again for a minute. "Hey, Leon?" she asked, looking at me. "Have you ever seen a naked woman before?"

I laughed—I couldn't tell by now if she was teasing Dylas unusually hard, or if she just really was that tired, but I found it all pretty damn funny either way. "Well," I replied, still laughing, "yes, as a matter of fact, I have seen a few in that state before. Dragon Priests were not expected to be celibate, at least, not in my time we weren't."

"So that's fine," she said turning back to Dylas. "He already knows what women look like naked."

"He doesn't know what you look like!" he protested, turning an even deeper shade of red.

"I don't think it would take much effort to imagine what I look like naked, though," she said turning her attention back to her laces.

"That... that's not the point! Or, okay, it is the point! I don't want him imagining you naked!" Dylas shouted, flustered.

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong..." she said sleepily, stifling a tremendous yawn, "but if Leon is a man, he probably already has. I mean, isn't that pretty common? For men to imagine what women look like naked? Leon, you are a man, right?"

Laughing even harder, I replied, "Last I checked, yes. Want me to check again, just to be sure?"

"No, that's all right. I'll take your word for it," she replied, trying to suppress another huge yawn.

"H-hey! Not all men are like that!" Dylas protested.

"Oh? You mean you never imagined me naked before we became lovers? Not even once?" she asked him, looking genuinely surprised.

"W-well, I-I.... Shut up! Just... shut up! Come with me. I'll keep an eye on you while you change over there where it's dark."

By then I was gasping for air, I was laughing so hard. But I still managed to call after them, "I'm sure you'll keep a very close eye on her while she changes!"

From the shadows, his voice shouted back, "Shut up already! Don't you ever stop laughing? Geez!"

************

While they were gone, I changed into pyjamas and spread out my sleep roll. I built up the fire for the night, and by the time I'd finished with that, they'd returned, Avani wearing a cotton chemise and Dylas carrying her clothes for her. She really did look about ready to drop as she stumbled along, and he kept a steadying hand on her to keep her from falling. He spread out her sleep roll for her while she knelt next to Baldur. "Who's a good boy?" she cooed as she scratched his ears. "Guard, Baldur," she instructed him, as he whined and wriggled.

"Oh, that reminds me, how do I make friends with your pal there? I don't want him mistaking me for an enemy in the middle of the night," I asked, watching her caress the giant beast.

"Oh, well, I don't think that will be a problem. But... come over here." I walked over to her and knelt next to her. "Baldur, friend. Leon is a friend," she said, gently stroking his head. He turned and looked at me with his vivid cobalt blue eyes, appraising me for a moment. Then he thumped his tail on the ground before looking again at Avani. "There," she said, "he's acknowledged that I consider you a friend, not an enemy. Now hold your hand out. No, like this," she said, turning my hand palm side up and straightening my fingers. He sniffed my open hand, then traveled up my arm, snuffling deeply. Then he licked my hand and lay down with his head on his massive paws, still watching me with his brilliant eyes.

"Now... let's see..." Avani mused as she stumbled sleepily over to the bags of supplies and rummaged a little. "Ahh, here—give him this. It's not his absolute favorite, but he really likes it. Giving him a treat will definitely secure his friendship, if he'll take it. He knows he's not allowed to accept treats from just anyone—he'll only take them from me and from those that I've permitted him to accept treats from before. He'll remember that you gave him something he particularly likes, too. And if he won't take it—that means he hasn't made up his mind about you yet." She handed me a small chunk of cheese.

"Ugh, cheese? Really?" I said with a grimace.

"It's not like you have to eat it. But he likes it, probably most of all the things we have on hand. So unless you want to stay up cooking a meal for my wolf...," she said, shrugging.

"Okay, okay. I'll give it to him. But I'll have to wash my hands to get the stink off afterwards," I grumbled as I walked back to Baldur. Then I stopped when I reached him and asked, "Hey, should I let him take it from my hand, or should I set it on the ground?"

"Depends on how much you like that hand," Dylas interjected with a malicious grin.

"Shush, you. Baldur's my big lovey-wuvvy puppy dog and you know it." Avani retorted. "It's up to you. He's actually very delicate and precise—you saw him eating the stew. He never bites... at least, not on accident." I felt like this was some sort of challenge, so I knelt down next to him and held out the cheese on the palm of my hand.

The wolf raised his head and looked at me, then ignoring the proffered cheese, he looked at Avani, who said, "It's okay, boy. Leon is giving you a nice treat. Go ahead and take it." He turned back to me, and as gently as a mother picks up a newborn baby, he lifted the chunk of cheese from my hand and set it carefully on the ground between his paws before slowly eating it.

"Looks like my offering has been accepted," I said with a grin.

"Yep, you're part of his family now," she agreed with another yawn as she returned to the fire.

Looking beyond exhausted by that point, she sank down onto her sleep roll, falling asleep almost instantly, before she could even pull her cloak around her for warmth. With a look of affectionate exasperation in his eyes, Dylas spread her cloak over her. "You're hopeless," I heard him say softly as he looked down at her, smiling. He changed into pyjamas, spread out his sleep roll next to hers, and said good night to me as he pulled his cloak up around himself. He, too, was soon asleep, one arm flung over Avani's waist protectively. I quickly followed suit, leaving guard duty to the great wolf lying at the edge of the shadows of the waning fire, his silver fur gleaming in the flickering light.

************

When I awoke the next morning, I found Dylas and Avani were already up. I looked around, and spotted her a short ways away. She was dressed in some unusual costume similar to a swimsuit but less revealing, and she was on top of a large, flat rock, doing a one-armed handstand, legs splayed into splits above her. As I watched, she slowly and carefully placed her other hand down, shifted her weight, and raised the first arm up, standing on the second hand alone. She remained like that for a minute, then placed her other hand back down, straightened her legs up into the air, and then slowly and deliberately lowered them down behind her head without raising her hands off the rock, her back in a high arch. Again she held that position for a short time, then shifted again until she was poised, palms of her hands still flat on the rock, back arched, and her knees bent so that she was resting on her shins, her toes nearly touching the back of her head.

I'd never seen anyone capable of such a range of motions—and I'd seen some pretty interesting things, I had to admit. Next, she reversed through her prior movements until she was doing a handstand on both hands. Then with a strong push, she catapulted into a back flip off the rock, landing neatly in a crouch, staring up at me with a startled look on her face.

"Oh! You're awake," she said as she rose and brushed the dirt from her hands. "I hope I didn't disturb you with my morning exercises?"

"Well, you didn't wake me, anyway," I said with the sudden realization that I'd been gawking at her all that time. "Where's Dylas?" I asked, ignoring her questioning look.

"Oh, you know him—as soon as I described the little lake where I'd filled the water skins, he couldn't think of anything but fishing. He was off while it was still dark. I made him take Baldur, at least—he gets so absorbed when he's fishing, he'd never notice if something snuck up on him until it was too late!"

She walked over to the makeshift washing station at one end of the camp kitchen, where the water skins were suspended from a sturdy tree limb and linens hung drying on low branches. She drained a small amount of water into a basin, then splashed it onto her flushed face and neck, drying off with a towel she pulled from a branch. She turned towards me with a smile, saying, "There's coffee, if you want some. Dylas should be back before long, no doubt with some fresh fish for breakfast. It's a good thing you two are both so fond of fish, given how much that man can catch!"

I looked in surprise at her as I poured a mug of coffee for myself. "Don't you like fish?" I asked.

"Oh, I'll eat nearly anything," she replied with a shrug. "I'm not very picky. I do have some favorites, of course, but I find that they're mostly based on how much energy I can get from them rather than actual taste preference. The only exceptions I can think of are that I really don't care for those big, green, mild peppers some people like—they taste bitter to me—and I'm not fond of things made from grapes. Fresh grapes are okay, and I enjoy wine, but as far as juices and foods made with grapes... I'm just not a fan. I have a sweet tooth, but I'm pretty sure it's only because I can get a big burst of energy from the sugar. And I really like spicy foods, like curries."

"Interesting," I said, filing that information away for later. "So tell me, where did you learn to move like that? I've never seen anything quite like it in. It looked like an interesting workout. Is that something common these days?"

She frowned slightly, shaking her head and saying, "I don't really know. Somehow my body just knows how to do it. Sometimes it seems like my body remembers things from my past that my brain has forgotten, at least consciously. And no, I don't think it's common, at least not around here. Everyone who's seen me exercising has commented on it, so I guess that means it's unusual in these parts."

"Even more interesting," I said, sipping my coffee as I looked at her. "Have you noticed anything else that your body remembers, as you put it?"

"Well," she said thoughtfully, "everyone seemed surprised at how quickly I took to farm work—I just seemed to know what to do. And of course fighting skills. Forte was astounded—once I had recovered physically from my injuries from my fall, I quickly surpassed even her in skill. Much too quickly for someone just learning for the first time. Again, I seemed to know just what to do, how to move, but it was all subconscious. Forte called it instinct, but I don't think that's it—it feels more like my body is remembering past training."

"Hmm. But still no return of your memory?" I said, watching her.

She just shook her head, saying, "No, nothing. It's still a complete blank. And the few facts haven't proved helpful—no missing person reports for a green-haired girl, no census reports of an ethnic group prone to green hair and eyes that might be related to me. My clothing apparently is rather unusual, but no one could identify its origins, not even Arthur with all his trade contacts. Fighting and farming skills aren't exactly unique, and no one has seen anyone exercise or train like I do. So...."

She sighed, pouring a mug of coffee for herself and sitting on the log next to me, staring into the embers of the fire as she absentmindedly stirred them, causing them to flare up into a low flame. "It's... it's strange. I have a vague sense that there is something—or someone—that I mustn't forget...and another that I mustn't remember. But I can't pin it down better than that. It's too nebulous. And I've no idea what or whom either of those might be."

I thought for a few minutes, then asked, "Were you a virgin?"

She looked at me, startled by my frank and seemingly unrelated question. "What?" she asked.

"Your first time with Dylas, were you a virgin?" I clarified.

She shrugged, saying, "Honestly, I don't know. It... didn't hurt? Not very much anyway—less than I expected it would. So maybe not? I... did have a hard time, but not in that way. But what...?"

"Just thinking—if you have a sense that someone or something was important to you in your past, perhaps that person was a lover or even a husband," I explained.

"Oh, I see," she said. "But then... if that was the case, why hasn't he found me? I mean, if someone that meant a lot to me vanished, I'd search the whole world over, never resting until I found them. And it's been over a year and a half now since I appeared in Selphia—plenty of time for someone with any determination to track me down. So I don't think so. Or at least, even if there was anyone who had been important to me, I guess I wasn't as important to him."

I put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, and she leaned against my shoulder. "Well, regardless," I told her, "you've made a home  for yourself, and you have people to whom you are very important. So don't worry about the past. If your memory comes back, or if someone or something from your past returns, you can deal with it then. Meanwhile, we've got plenty to keep us busy in the present." She nodded, a half-smile on her face as she gazed pensively into the fire, sipping her coffee.

"Hey, what's going on?" Dylas's voice came from behind us. We jumped, startled out of our reveries, and turned to see him approaching, a string of fish in one hand and a makeshift pole in the other, Baldur at his heels. He looked curious rather than annoyed or angry, though, and I explained that we'd been discussing the past, or rather, her lack of it.

He turned to her, saying gravely, "Remember what I told you, okay? I don't care what your past was. I'm just happy that you're in this time and this place, here with me. You're more likely to remember stuff if you aren't trying too hard, you know." He set the fish and his gear down and came over, motioning us to scoot over and make room. He sat on the other side of Avani and put his arm around her, too. "Listen, you have a good life. You have a nice home, plenty of work to keep you busy, friends who love you, and great health. Don't focus so much on the past that you don't enjoy the present, okay? Let the past take care of itself when it's good and ready." He gave her a squeeze and kissed the top of her head, then stood up, saying with a grin, "So... who wants some delicious fresh fish for breakfast?"