I was quietly relieved to see that Medein was not waiting on the beach for me, worried that Stelios might spot him and turn the boat around before I could even set foot on the sand. Instead, I was almost to the first of those still creepy statues before I felt arms reach around me from behind, barely able to keep myself from letting out a scream of fright. The moment I realized who it was, such an obvious thing given he was the only person living on this island, I felt my body go limp with relief.

"Medein, please don't startle me like that," I said softly as I slowly turned around, gently pulling his arms away from my sides while retaining a gentle grip on his hands.

"You come back," he slowly spoke, a relieved smile on his lips as he looked at me, almost like he expected me to vanish before his eyes. Seeing the look in his eyes, I wondered just what someone had done that he seemed to have expected me to leave him here alone. Who had hurt him like that and for what reason? Perhaps that was why he stayed on this island, away from everyone else?

Bringing a hand slowly up to rest on his cheek, I looked up and met his eyes steadily before speaking again. I could only hope he understood enough of what I said to relax. "Of course I came back. I told you I would return to you and I keep my word."

The smile he gave me this time reassured me that he did indeed understand enough of what I told him. Maybe not everything I had said, but enough to remove the doubt from his eyes. Perhaps the time I had spent talking to him had been helping more than I had thought.

With a smile, I pulled the backpack off of my shoulders, smiling excitedly as I began pulling out a good sized picture book I had found. Time to start putting names to more of the world for him, names that would allow us to understand each other more, and maybe I could get him to teach me some of his words as well!

Opening the book, I enjoyed how wide his eyes got as I flipped a few pages and pointed to the object pictured.

"Medein, this is a house. House. It is similar to the one I will be living in when I go back home. What is your word for house?"

--------

We had been so engrossed in the picture book that we had almost missed lunch, finally pulling the food out when our stomachs had both made it clearly known that they were ready to eat even if we were not. The laughter we had shared at that point had been enjoyable, leaving us both smiling.

I was left realizing yet again just how handsome Medein looked with a smile on his face. And surprised that it was once more aimed at me.

For some reason, the simple lunch I had packed that morning tasted better than I'd expected it to.

~~~~~~~~

Looking over at her, the male was still a little surprised at how quickly she had returned to the island, having expected at least a few more days to pass. After all, the other one had always taken several days at best before returning to his side, usually at least a little reluctantly. Especially towards the end, right before she had stopped coming back. To see the young woman before him seeming so happy to see him again had been a pleasant experience, bringing an enjoyable warmth to his chest each time she smiled over at him.

Even now, her smiling face caused him to smile back in return, his lips curving upward as he pulled the book of pictures towards him again. He was more than ready to see more of the wonders the world held after all these centuries of being trapped on this island.

Flipping to a page near the front of the book, he looked down in awe at the image before him, barely able to tear his gaze away long enough to glance at (y/n) questioningly before turning back again to the picture he'd found.

"What?" His question hung in the air as he waited for her to begin talking, trying to find the right words to describe to him what the image was in all it's vividly colored glory. What was this amazing thing he was seeing?

"Fireworks. Those are fireworks. They are made mostly from gunpowder and are used to celebrate holidays and sometimes birthdays or other days of importance. Here, let me show you," she said with a smile, reaching into her backpack again as she brought out the thing she called a 'cah-mu-rah' or some such name.

Medein watched as he mulled over some of the confusing words she had used, wondering what this 'gun-pow-dar' was and how it made the colorful sky fire shown in the image the book held. And what was a 'hall-uh-day'? Were they similar to the festivals he'd seen the Greek people celebrate in the past? Or was it some kind of wedding? He'd heard nobles would bring interesting things in for weddings, and he had to admit that these fireworks seemed interesting indeed.

Fiddling with the contraption for a bit, (y/n) finally turned it around and showed Medein a flat dark surface moments before it seemed to explode into color. He watched in stunned silence as lights burst across the screen, raining down to the bottom of the device before vanishing without a trace.

Before long, he was reaching out and cupping her hands, bringing them (and thus the device) closer to him as he watched in fascination. When the fireworks finally ended, he let out a sigh of disappointment, not ready to have the strange device stop sharing the images with him.

How amazing it was that humans had come so far, able to trap such things inside their small boxes.

The sound of gentle laughter had him turning his head towards (y/n), his eyes widening yet again at the sight before him. In all his time on Earth, never had he seen anything as beautiful to him as the one he saw now, the sun shining down and highlighting her hair like spun silk, tracing gently over her scars like they were something to be treasured rather than hidden away, and lighting up her eyes like they held the very sun within them.

Right now, even she couldn't hold a candle to the beauty before him, not even when she had worn gowns of silk with jewels spilling from her neck and wrists, her hair cascading down her back after it finally grew back after she'd cut it so short. She might have been lovely to look upon, but she had lacked something that (y/n) seemed to be so filled with it was spilling over, filling the very air around her with a vibrancy that spoke of life, energy, and a promise for something great, even if he could still see that little bit of brokenness that was inside of her.

The broken part that had first made him start paying closer attention to her, trying to figure out why it was there. He still did not have enough words to understand the things she mumbled about when she thought he wasn't listening, nor the things she had cried out during the times she slept on the island, few though those were. Just as he lacked the words to ask her about it. But he was determined now that he would learn the words he needed.

As well as the words to tell her how beautiful he was coming to find her.