"I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do."
"Please, there must be some way you can help," my mother pleaded.
"I'm afraid not. I'm sure you've realized this by now, being this girl's mother, but she is mana-less. Healing magic works by injecting one's mana into the body to activate the target's and rapidly accelerate recovery. There is no way for me to heal her without being able to interact with her mana. The best you can do is hope that the swelling goes down with rest and elevation."
Later that day, my mother explained what the doctor was talking about. I also learned where she goes during the day. Because I require so much care, my family has trouble producing enough from our fields. My mother's good friend offered her a job making bread to sell for a portion of the profits, so she heads over to her house every day to help out. After that day, I continued getting into trouble and hurting myself, but it wasn't from feeling smothered like before. It was out of frustration at the fact that I'll never be the same as other people.
The second thing that weighs on my mind happens to be a person—a boy, the same boy that carried me home that day. Sometimes I would get frustrated and run off on my own, which resulted in me getting hurt, and he would always show up. I learned late that his name was Rune, Rune Argentus. And although he seemed rude and would always give a few biting remarks, he never hesitated to pick me up and take care of me and always made sure I made it back home safely.
As I grew up, I no longer wanted to be a burden on him. I no longer went far from my house and made sure to take care of myself. We no longer had many chances to interact, and as a result, we drifted apart. And soon, we stopped talking altogether. We couldn't completely avoid each other since our parents were friends and we still saw each other often, but our relationship was different now. I thought he had forgotten about me and was too afraid to ask.
There was a silver lining, though. I noticed how often he would watch me, and thinking about how often his gaze was drawn to me made me happy. I made an effort to come around more, and though we still didn't speak, I always found him looking at me. I started to think, 'maybe he didn't forget me after all,' and soon I found myself watching him too. I would visit the fields to quietly watch him from behind a tree or check on him when he went to hang laundry out to dry. These small acts of voyeurism made me feel like we were close again. But time passed, and neither of us made a move, and I found out that he was leaving soon.
That evening, I cleaned myself up earlier than usual, put on my best dress, and went over to his house with the excuse of checking on my mom. That same morning she pushed me to make a move, saying that I was running out of time, so I followed her advice. When I got there, he looked at me much more intensely than usual before he looked away and blushed. It was only a slight blush, but we'd been watching each other long enough for me to notice it.
'It's working; he likes my dress!' I thought to myself
Then my mom said she still had a little work before asking Rune to walk me home, something we had planned beforehand. I was surprised when he agreed and even more surprised when he took me by the hand.
'It's been so long since we've even talked, and now he's holding my hand!' I screamed inwardly. On the way home, I took the initiative to intertwine my fingers with his, which he didn't seem to mind, but I was still too nervous about speaking up. He never said a word, either.
'Was I wrong? did I misread things?' I thought to myself before letting go and turning around so he couldn't see my disappointment. But right as I was about to head Inside, he spoke up.
"Stella!"
"yes?" I responded, as my heart started to be faster
"There is something I want to ask you. . ."
'Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh. This is it!'