Y/n is seen laying in the grass, a campfire was seen in the distance. The night sky showed many stars, and Y/n found himself chuckling. "What are you up to?"

Y/n's eyes lazily trailed upwards, making his head tilt a bit to the side, seeing Mereoleona walking towards him. The sounds of grass crunching and searing was a sound all too familiar to Y/n now. "Looking at the stars. Just my 6'0 foot self, myself, and I." Y/n then patted the ground next to him, "you're always welcome to join, just don't start stripping again."

"Hmph, you love to throw that in my face, don't you?" Mereoleona crossed her arms.

"Well, you throw more than-" Y/n was about to make a joke, only to roll out of the way of Mereoleona's attacks, "fine, fine, I'll let it go."

Mereoleona looked up at the stars, before her eyes trailed down to the lake, the stillness of the water evoked a majestic feeling towards the area. Especially as the crystals inside the water lit up with the moonlight. Mereoleona then slowly lowered herself to the ground, "I can see the beauty in this."

"Right? There's a certain wonder I get when looking at the stars. Perhaps it's my mother's fault." Y/n rested his arms above his head.

"You blame your mother for the stars?" Mereoleona asked, before turning towards Y/n.

Y/n chuckled, "not quite. You see, as a boy, mom always use to tell me that the stars are gateways to other worlds. But dad always believed that they were the people that had passed away. At least the important ones shine the brightest. The closer you get, the more you'll be able to see the person."

"And what do you believe?" Mereoleona questioned, starting to get curious.

"I think I wanna go up close and see for myself which one it is." Y/n simply said with a confident smile. Mereoleona looked at him a bit longer before replicating his posture, laying down in the grass. After a few moments of looking at the stars, she could feel it. The wonder.

"You know..." Y/n turned to Mereoleona after she spoke, noticing her gentle smile and calm tone, "I think I get it."

"Yeah?" Y/n asked, rather excited.

"Yeah, even though I've been out here for so long, I never taken the time to look at the stars like this. With someone else." Mereoleona stated and scoffed, standing up and entering the tent "this is starting to get too cliche for my liking."

"A little cliche is pretty good! Come on, Mery. Be a little awkward. It's not fun being awkward alone," Y/n laughed while Mereoleona gave him an affectionate eye roll before ignoring him and getting changed. "Oh well." Y/n started to close his eyes, "wonder whatever happened to 'her'..."

The morning would soon come about and Mereoleona soon found herself alone, not that it was a bad thing, she would say. However, no notice of another being in the tent concerned her a bit. Not even a hint of Y/n's smell near her, which could only mean one thing, "the idiot slept outside?"

Mereoleona walked out the tent, "hey! What did I say about getting sic-"

She then saw a quite interesting and quite confusing scene. Forest creatures from all over were carrying Y/n as if he was a king and loving on him, hugging him with care as if comforting him. "Hey!"

The creatures looked at Mereoleona, who terrified them. But even so, they held tightly to Y/n. She took a step, and the creatures all took one step back. The animals tried to move more back as Mereoleona started to get annoyed, "don't make me fry you."

"Mmhm..." Y/n muttered in his sleep before the creatures took off running.

"What?! Hey!" Mereoleona immediately dashed after them. A montage plays out as the animals pass Y/n off through the forest, somehow quicker than Mereoleona's speed. This all made her get even more suspicious, especially after seeing a moss pattern on each of the creatures. Eventually, Mereoleona swept down from the skies and grabbed Y/n, holding him bridal style in her arms. She glared at the animals, "scram!"

The animals seemed to get a little bit nervous but seemed confident nevertheless. They still left, confusing Mereoleona, "huh? Still is exactly where I needed to go...oh well. Good thing Y/n set that beacon again at base."

"Hmm, huh?" Y/n woke up and looked up at Mereoleona.

"Oh, so now you wake up?" Mereoleona teased as Y/n blushed.

"Ahh!? Let me go!! I can walk! I'm awake now!" Y/n tried to squirm, but Mereoleona tightened her grip.

"No can do, I don't want those brats to swoop you up again." Mereoleona stated and started to walk to the village.

"You are gonna put me down before we get to the village, though. Right?" Y/n asked as Mereoleona didn't say anything. "Mery..."

"Yes." She nonchalantly stated. Y/n sighed and held his arms around her neck, basking in the embarrassment.

"I've dealt with worse, this should be nothing." Y/n says before his communicator goes off. "Huh? (Coughs) Hello? Who is-"

"Help, Y/n!" the kid from all those years ago spoke, and with dire urgency.

Y/n quickly grew serious, "what? Hey, Desi! What's wrong?!"

Desi seemed to be panting and crying, "they've ruined it!! The village! Come quick! We need your help!!"

"Shit, I'll be there in a few. Hold off until then!" Y/n leaped out of Mereoleona's arms and looked at her, "Mery-!"

"I know, let's go!" Mereoleona was already on board. The camera zooms out to show a steam trail and blazing fire rushing through the forest at high speeds. When the two finally got to Kikka, Y/n started to let off a big amount of steam from his mouth and shaped steam immediately into his handle, becoming a sledgehammer.

"Where's the fire!?" Mereoleona looked around.

"With us! But where's the trouble!?" Y/n shouted, but it seemed peaceful. Kids were playing ball like normal, and it seemed to look just like how before Y/n left. "Huh?"

Desi laughed as he walked into the scene, "they messed up my ice sculpture of you. It was supposed to be a gift."

"Uh... what?" Y/n asked before some of the kids started to surrounded them.

"Whoa, wait, you guys look like the troublemakers kids." Y/n stated with curiosity and crouched down to look at the bright smiles.

"Welcome home, Y/n!" they all said at once, Y/n tumbled back a little. The message was curious and shocking.

"What is this?" Y/n looked at Desi, who held up a candle.

"Happy birthday, Y/n!" Desi says and held it up with a smile, "since the nobles aren't chasing you down anymore, your friend and I came over with a plan to bring you home."

"My friend?" Y/n immediately looked at Mereoleona, who crossed her arms and looked to the side. "Wow, just when I thought you couldn't be any lovelier. You're a sweetheart!"

Mereoleona scoffed, "don't spread lies about me! Besides, you weren't supposed to know that."

"Whoops, guess I messed up on that front." Desi scratched the back of his head, "seems like you dropped your communication device at some point when I called, luckily your friend was there to help."

"Don't say it." Mereoleona didn't even need to share a glance with Y/n to know he was gonna complement her.

"Hey, Y/n! Glad to see my animals made you return safely." Y/n's father walked ahead and smirked.

"I knew something was off with those animals." Mereoleona declared, "so, who's this?"

"Sorry, Mery. This is my pop! How've you been, Dad?" Y/n asked as he smiled bright.

"Good, market was trouble at first, but now we're doing stable." He said before looking at Mereoleona, and then growing fear. "I-uh, why is..."

"?" Y/n and Mereoleona were confused.

"A-anyway, come on. Your mother doesn't know you're coming yet. Let's go give her a wake up call." Y/n's Father stated before the scene cuts to the sounds of a hammer banging. His mother is seen hammering on the anvil, clearly looking a bit older. Fortunately, fate was kind to her as she only had a few added wrinkles, but kept her strength from her prime.

With another clank, footsteps approached, "are you buying or curious?"

"Why the material has plummeted? Yeah, pretty curious."

His mother frowned, still not looking up, "the material has actually increased, sir. But, my patience is plummeting."

"Just like your skill. Why is an old lady still working when there's no point?"

"WHY YOU-!" His mother finally looked up, seeing Y/n at the doorway. She froze in shock, "y-y/n?"

"Hey, Mom. How've you been?" Y/n asked and held his arms out. His mother put down the hammer and rushed into his arms with tears.

"You're okay. You're okay, I'm so thankful." Mom hugged tightly.

"You really softened up. You used to never cry around me." Y/n teases as Mom pulled back.

"Why didn't you visit eariler! Or at least call!" Mom pulled on Y/n's ears, who started to wince, "if you weren't being chased down anymore, you could've at least come-"

Mom then noticed the tall woman who walked into the shop, Mereoleona. His mother quickly bowed and gets worried, "forgive me, Ma'am, for not acknowledging you sooner."

"Huh? Why are you acting like she's a bug shot or something?" Y/n asked with his arms folded.

Mom and Mereoleona looked at him with disbelief. Father chimed in, "you seriously don't know who you've been traveling with? That's Mereoleona from Castle Vermilion, she's royalty."

"Wait, really?" Y/n was shocked but then held his chin, "I remembered that she recently said she was a noble, but I didn't think it was this big."

"You idiot!!" Mom slammed her fist over his head, which sent him plummeting to the floor.

"Gah-"
————-
"So, where are you heading now, son?" Mom asked while Y/n and Mereoleona are shown at their campsite, cleaning up the rest of the stuff.

"Headed to the Spade Kingdom. About time I question those there. Plus," Y/n threw his bag over his shoulder, "even if we do run into trouble, it's not like I can't handle it."

"Don't let that pride of yours be your downfall." Mom says before taking a page in dark aura, "anyway, on more important matters, here."

Y/n held it and his grimoire responded by shining, Y/n looked at the familiar material, "Wait, this is an old spell I imagined and made up as a kid..why is it a forbidden magic spell?!"

"Some demon in the underworld must've shifted it in the time you were gone." Father said as he shook his head, "I was against giving you that but-"

"He deserved to know." Mom says as Y/n put the slip away, pushing it into the furthest pocket from his head.

"Well, thanks. Hey, Mery! You ready?" Y/n shouted.

"You sure you don't want to stick around more?" Mereoleona asked, folding her arms, "I can go on ahead."

"Nah, I'm sure. This was already a great surprise." Y/n smiled bright as Mereoleona smiled and nodded.

"Hellva woman you got there, Y/n. Treat her well." Mom smirked and Y/n nodded.

"Course, you know me." Y/n gave his parents another hug.

"Happy birthday, Y/n. It was good to see you again." Mom said as Y/n kissed her forehead.

"Take care, you two." Y/n then caught up with Mereoleona, Father chuckled.

"Told ya he'd fall for the enemy." He chuckled.

"How would I ever guess that?" Mom complained.
————-
"Hey! Mery's b-day is also around the corner." Y/n looked at the stars when he realized the quick truth. He sat up and crossed his legs, "but what would Mery like? Hmm...probably a hot spring? But where could I-"

The scene cuts to Y/n busting in a tavern, "who knows anything about hot springs?!"

"Um, sir..." the customers were concerned about his seemingly fine condition. "Did you walk here...?"

"So nothing?" Y/n asked, "welp, time to hit the-"

"So you want to know about the legendary  legendary hot spring hidden within the country of winter and fog?" a hardy voice spoke up, as Y/n paused. Everyone turned to a man drinking some rum and snapped his fingers, as some men came and gave him a map. "I could tell you, but you'd never make it past the trials."

"Test me." Y/n said with pure confidence.

The man looked deep into Y/n's eyes before sighing. He passed him a copy of the map, "if you make it there, come back and let me know."

Y/n caught it and nodded, "alright, and if I don't make it back, it means I forgot."

"You mean you died."

"I know what I said." Y/n took off into the sky and started to surf on his steam again ahead. "Yikes, he's right. The snow might even be hard for Mereoleona to melt."

Y/n eventually sensed a surge of mana in one spot, "that's...not normal. Probably what I'm looking for." Y/n flew down on the floor and the ice, only to see an icy barrier above. Y/n huffed and then blew out a massive amount of steam, melting the ice and making Y/n fall through.

Landing on the surface, a statue is shown in front of him, "brave traveler who seeks the hot spring, face the first trial."

A pit is shown in front and the other side is far away. "Make it to the other side."

"What? Easy!" Y/n leaped your to fly but there were a plethora of devices that started shooting down if he got too close, "I should've known. What where's the path?"

"It's there. But you need to make it across somehow." the statue stated.

Y/n then had a bright idea, he picked up the snow and threw it over the pit, revealing some of the path. "Ah, I see." Y/n then used his steam to blast a bunch of steam forward and cover the whole path, Y/n then ran across with ease.

"The next trial awaits."

The next door opened as Y/n is seen surrounded by beams of light, but not one was touching him. Down the long corridor, was another door and statue, "come touch the door, traveler, without being touched by the light."

Y/n brushed his thumb past his nose before he turned into steam and blitzed to the other door. The statue shook with anger, "you...you..."

"Made it. Open the gates." Y/n says as the gate opened.

Last trial, the man from the bar stood, "to think you would've made it this far. You are a worthy specimen. For your last trial, you just have to beat me. Now face-

"Vapor Ferrum." Y/n surrounds his fist with a steam aura and punches the man, engulfing them in steam and burning their skin. The man flung around the area, bouncing around the ground before coming to a halt, knocked out. The gate opened and Y/n smiled.

Meanwhile, Mereoleona is looks around the land as the sun rises. Quickly noticing the animals around, she sighed, "he's not around. Go home."

The animals don't budge this time as Mereoleona rubbed her neck, "fine, I'll find out where he really is. It's been too long."

"Are you really that worried about me, Mery~?" Y/n walked out of the forest, with his bag.

"Where have you been?" Mereoleona deflects the question, but Y/n smirked and waved his hand.

"Come on, I've got somewhere special to show you." The scene cuts to Mereoleona sinking into the hot spring and sighing in delight. Y/n is also shown in the same hot spring, "happy birthday, Mereoleona!"

Mereoleona chuckled with a hard to see blush, "thanks, N/n."

"N/n?" Y/n blushed at the nickname, "uh, no problem, Mery. It's been a year since we met, how come you never told me it's your birthday today."

"I figured you'd figure it out, and I was just waiting for the right place and time." Mereoleona stated as Y/n growled in the water.

"I almost missed it, liar." Y/n mumbled underwear. As the two get out and walk to camp, the stars shine bright again.

"Look at that." Mereoleona pointed to the sky.

"Hm? Oh ye-" Y/n looked up as Mereoleona grabbed Y/n's shirt and pulled him in to kiss his cheek.  Y/n blushed massively, still feeling her warm lips on his side even after she went into the tent.

"Thanks for all this, I mean it. Come in when you're ready to sleep." Mereoleona nonchalantly says as she started to lay down.

"Course, I'll uh...be right back." Y/n disappeared in a puff of steam before smiling, and seen in the sky, "LET'S GO! WOOOOHOOO!!"

Mereoleona chuckled and rolled her eyes, "that idiot..."