A cool spring breeze swept across the land. It carried with it the scent of rain and fresh soil. A few leaves fluttered down from above, landing on the grass beneath, only to be trampled by countless hooves. Birds chirped in the sky, singing sweet melodies that drifted through the open air. And a woman sat at the base of a tree, observing the children playing in the field beside her. As if on command, their laughter echoed throughout the meadow before fading into silence. She smiled as they continued to play. Their energy, innocence, and enjoyment filled her heart with joy, pride, and love. For them, the world was a wonderful place. They could play all day without feeling bad about it. No responsibilities, no worries. Life was good. Perfect. The way life should be. It's boring and predictable—very little fun.
But just enough to make it exciting every once in a while. Like right now. The sound of birdsong and rustling grass danced around her as she took in every breath. Her eyes closed peacefully, enjoying the feeling of the sunlight on her face. But then a strange thing happened. Her eyes opened wide again as she felt something brush against her cheek. Something soft and warm. It tickled her face and made her smile even more than before. She leaned closer into it, trying to find the source of the sensation. Then another thing brushed against her ear and yet more. And she could not stop laughing. She laughed until she had tears flowing down her cheeks. She had never laughed so hard.
"I got you!" Hector continues tickling her while she laughs uncontrollably. He laughs along, enjoying this moment, especially after hearing her laugh. Her laugh has always been contagious, and she is a woman who never ceases to amaze him.
"Now, tell me," he says, sitting up straight and placing both hands on her shoulders. He leans forward, close to her face, to see how she reacts to his question.
"What kind of magic did I use?" Hector looks at her and gives her a playful look before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
"That's not magic, and that is a dirty trick." She says, wiping away some remaining tears of amusement that managed to escape.
Her chest still aches slightly from laughing so hard, but after giving herself a pep talk before returning her gaze to him and saying, "tickling is not magic, though." Her head tilts slightly to one side, and she smiles as she continues.
"Want to see real magic?" Before standing up and extending her hand toward him, her eyes shine brightly.
"Come on, let's test it." She takes both his hands in hers.
"Close your eyes." She smiles as she places his hands on top of hers.
"Feel for my power." He closes his eyes and concentrates on her request.
A few seconds pass before he feels a strange but warm sensation, and a tingle of excitement runs through his veins.
"Can you feel that?"
"I can..."
"Just a bit more."
"Okay..."
"Look, we created a fireball."
He opens his eyes. Immediately, his mouth hangs open as he begins to process this information.
She starts giggling again. "I combine both our energies to make a fire." She turns her hand and shows off her palm, covered in glowing reddish flames. Then, she grasps the fire inside her palms, extinguishing it with a flick of her fingers. As she finishes, she holds her hands over his, causing the flames to return to her palms. She pulls away her hands and grins at him.
"Does it hurt?"
"No... Not at all. But I can feel the warmness."
"That makes me happy. This flame will only cause pain if the user intends it to."
"I see..."
He shakes his head and chuckles lightly. "I never touched fire this way before. I thought it was going to burn my hand.
"But the fire is nothing compared to you, Silvana. You are truly amazing."
The compliments cause butterflies to flutter in her stomach once more. She tries not to gush too much because if Hector sees it, he will exploit it. Instead, she gives him her signature smile before letting go of his hands. She looks out at the kids, who have not noticed anything weird going on, and walks over to join them.
He looks at her and the kids playing around, and seeing how happy and innocent they make him smile. Everything here has always felt simple and peaceful, as it should have been all along.
"I want kids..." She says quietly.
"Kids?" He repeats, thinking for a second. "You mean... You want us to have babies?"
She nods slowly, a shy smile forming on her face. After a second, she realized she should not say such a thing aloud. She can feel her cheeks warming from embarrassment.
"I-I mean... well, we have a lot of time to decide, and we got loads of time ahead of us before the baby comes."
He nods in agreement as he continues looking at her. She looks beautiful in the bright afternoon sun. Even wearing a long gown with sleeveless tunics, she looked like the most radiant goddess he had ever seen.
"We have been married for a while now, and I think it is time to have kids around the house." He adds
She laughs and thinks. "Well, we are both young, so we should not have any trouble having babies, right?"
"This is true. We are certainly fertile."
They stand there talking, taking in each other presence. Their eyes met briefly before looking away again.
"I cannot make fireballs like you. But, my magic is life creation." He smirks. "Sounds pretty useful, eh? I am sure we will come up with some interesting ideas together."
Her face turns red. She knew what it meant. She constantly gets a surge of heat from Hector's flirty remarks. Her heart beats fast, and her mind starts wandering.
Hector smiles when he notices her blush and says, "I like your reaction."
She rolls her eyes at his remark, but she is secretly flattered that he likes her reaction.
"Want to head back to our room now? And we can use some of my magic to bring life into the world.
"W-What!? N-Now!?" She stutters as she feels the blood rush to her face. "The war is getting out of hand lately," Hector said as he looked out the window at the smoke rising into the sky like dark grey clouds. Then he looked over at her, who was sitting next to him.