Chapter 18

While on his adventure funded by her family Fern and the group of adventurers traveled through deserts, forests, abandoned towns, and ancient ruins. They observed stars that Leon had never seen before, only read about. They ate food at some of the highest recommended restaurants and in some of the most humble homes of the people who's family have lived on the land for as long as there are records.

After gaining some trust of the native people they were brought to a cave that had paintings and writings that the people claim are from the very first people. When asked if they could take pictures of the inside of the cave they were denied and the group accepted that answer. Leon spent months of their exertions thinking about that cave, he wrote in great detail what he could, but he knew that getting photographs of the paintings and writings would be the best way to tell the story. So, after eleven months of traveling, fully funded by the Appleton family, Leon parted from the group and spent over a year in the village that showed them the cave in the first place. He learned their language, he learned their food and before he knew it he had become a part of their village. Listened with the children as the elders told They didn't call him Leon, they called him Jahanjuy, meaning seeker of the world. He fell in love with the people and the way they lived for each other.

Looking so different from the brown haired, caramel skinned, and green or golden eyed villagers didn't stop them from welcoming him, and was partly responsible for the amount of women from the village who were seemingly always around him, asking if there was anything he needed or that they could do for him and swooning as he let his dark hair continue to grow out again. The men of the village teased him about the effects he was having on the single women, and despite the teasing, or perhaps because of it, Leon felt accepted and welcome.

The winter he spent with them was particularly harsh and cold. He did his best to keep himself warm in his small house by keeping the fire going and wrapping himself in the furs and blankets that he had spent the Summer and Fall making alongside the women. All of his efforts were of little use though as the Winter winds found their way into the house through every nook and cranny that first night and as he sat by his fire, waiting for the soup he was making to finish, he knew he would need to learn how they survive this kind of weather each year, move in with one of the families, or leave for the Winters and return in the Spring. He was in the middle of weighing his options when there was a knock on his door.

When he opened it he quickly welcomed whoever it was without waiting to find out because he wanted to keep as much warmth as he could inside the little house. As the guest began removing layer after layer of furs and leathers he realized it was one of the few villagers he hadn't spent very much time with. She has dark golden eyes and unlike the rest of her village her hair has a slight red to it that looks almost like copper. "Valantia?" He was shocked. Of all the people to visit him during the storm he wasn't expecting a young widow known to be one of their most talented healers.

When she turns to him she looks irritated. "Are you hoping to freeze to death Jahanjuy?" Her voice is harsh as she begins pushing some of her discarded layers against the bottom of the door and into some of the openings that the windows create. "Give me some of your leathers and furs," she demands as she continues to close off the holes. As she does he notices the small building begins to warm up a little.

"Why didn't I think of that?" He wondered aloud as Valantia sits down next to him by the fire.

"Because you're not used to living in a place like this in weather like this." Her words are a little less harsh as she holds her hands up to the flames.

"Here, let me." He says as he grabs her hands and wraps his around them before blowing hot breath on to them and rubbing his hands over hers. He hadn't notice her wide eyes and pink dusted cheeks at first, but when he did he stopped, still holding her hand. "I'm sorry, I should have asked before I just—" He trailed off as she pulled her hands away. "Why did you come check on me? Have we ever even talked before?" He asked.

She looked stunned and a little hurt as she spoke in a low and injured tone. "Perhaps you just didn't notice because of all the younger, less damaged, girls following you around, but I do great you every time I see you— and I asked you once if you were enjoying your stay with our village."

He laughs from how awkward this all feels to him. "I apologize. They are rather demanding for my attention…" He chuckled nervously. "How did I answer?"

Her brows pull together a bit. "Hm?"

"To your question. Am I enjoying my visit?" He tilted his head with a humored smile.

She turned back to the fire as the blush in her cheeks increased, hoping the light from the fire would hide it, it did not. "Your eyes lit up and you said that you've never felt more welcome in a place before. You went on to talk about how much you enjoyed our food, despite the lack of sweets… I get the feeling you do miss the cookies you mentioned…"

He laughed and enjoyed the warmth that was finally taking over room and some of his body. "You still haven't told me why you came here?"

She turned to him with an angry look. "I had a feeling— someone like you might be in danger of his ignorance killing him in this kind of weather."

He cracked a smile. "You are quit right. I nearly died in this kind of weather almost two years ago now…" His smile faded as he remembered the loss of his friends, and even darker as he remembered Violet.

"Figures. You seem like the kind of person that wouldn't hesitate." She huffed.

Leon got up to check on the soup and the hot water for tea that are just about ready to be consumed. "Your wrong about that… I seem to hesitate when it's most important."

"More important that properly preparing for the weather and terrain? More important that possibly dying?" She raised her copper eyebrow as he sat back down.

"Yes." He sighed, eyes fixed on the flames.

Valantia watched his face, his handsome, gentle face, and knew he was talking about love. "I see." She whispers.

He turns to her after a moment of silence. "How did your husband die?"

She was shocked by the sudden, very personal, question and needed a moment to think before answering. "He was killed-- by another villager."

"Why?"

She sighed. "Because some men want what they cannot have."

"How long ago?" He asked, eyes glued to her now as they shook a bit with emotions and memories.

"It's been two years." She whispers with a knot in her throat. For some reason she felt comfortable with Leon, something she rarely felt with other people since her husband died, and she opened up to him. "Since he died, I've dedicated my life to healing. At first I was just trying to distract myself from how lonely I felt in the beginning. Healing the sick and wounded, helping women bring their babies into the world, it's given me purpose, something great enough to replace and overshadow the loneliness."

Leon listened intently, even as he dished up the soup and tea, and he wondered if that was what he was doing now with his adventures and expeditions; trying to overshadow the loneliness with purpose. She spoke in length about the great man her husband was becoming when he died, a man that could have possible become the leader of their village if he had wanted. "He taught me most of what I knew in the beginning about healing, until his knowledge wasn't enough and he introduced me to his mother and grandmother who were incredible healers at the time."

She spoke in length about how badly she struggled in the beginning, but once she got over the initial awkwardness, "Learning felt as easy to me as flying does to a bird."

They ate their soup and she asked about his life, and he told her everything about is childhood. A part of him wanted to tell her about Violet, but as he talked about his mother, and about hiding at the observatory she had inched her hand to his until they touched. The more he spoke about his life the more their hands came together until their fingers where interlaced.

The strong Winter wind howled outside as their faces moved closer and Leon did not hesitate this time to press his lips to the woman beside him.

Weeks passed and snow storms finally started to settle. Every night since their kiss Valantia came to his house until one night she fell asleep in his arms, and she stopped going back to her house.

She taught him how to ward against the cold during storms like what they experienced, both in the house and on one of the last nights she trained him how to keep warm in a tent.