It's been a week since then. Alice learned a lot in that time from Tania. Like for example chieftain's name is Thyriel. She has been the village chief for past 220 years. Because of dryads anatomy all of them are female and are born from the heart of the forest. She also learned how to control her dryad rend better and for longer. Alice decided to also tell chieftain and Tania that she has 2 rends. They surprsingly took it very well. But her favorite moments of the past week were going out with Tania to have fun and play.
"Alice stop your training ! You promised to go play with me and my friends and me" Tania demaned her to drop her training this moment. It wasn't because she was a spoiled brat but because she grew very attached to Alice. She followed her everywhere. Even slept with her in one bed. Even thought it was uncomfortable for Alice she didn't want to be rude to Tania.
"Sure" She was taken to Tania's hideout where all her friends were. They still weren't too used to Alice being around but as long as she had her dryad rend activated they didn't mind her at all.
"By the way Tania. I thought you were scared of... humans" One of her friedns stared at Alice with disgust as she said that. The smile on the young dryad's face. She wasn't a very confrontational person but she was very emotional. She was on the verge of tears.
"Oh come on why can't you jsut be nice to her ?" Alice said.
"Because she is friendly with a human. That's taboo here" Its the first time Alice has heard of that. She couldn't argue with tradition. She felt guilty for putting her through it.
"Excuse me. I think I left something outside." She ran out. Feeling terrible for what Tania went through for her because of her kindness. She was thinking of just leaving the forest right there but she got stopped by Thyriel.
"You should come with me" She said in a serious tone. Alice didn't want to disrespect her so she wiped off the tears and went with her. "Its really hard to say, but I'm thankful you are the one who came here. Not only did you get rid of the laboratory inside our forest you are also the first friend my Tania ever had." Alice could see saddnes in chieftain's eyes and tone.
"What do you mean ?" The young girl still felt guilty for the way they treat Tania.
"She has always been an unsocial girl. I was a very strict mom and didn't allow her to go out a lot, I have tried fixing my mistakes since then but i caused too much harm to her. But ever since she met you, she has been beaming with happines and a friendly aura. For that I thank you" The chieftain showed her respect to Alice.
They could hear a loud thud next to them. It was Tania who snuck up on them. She turned red as she was caught. So did Alice, and even Thyriel.
"I'm sorry... I was trying to run away" Alice told Tania.
"But why ? Is it because they were harrasing you ?" The dryad looked confused.
"No... I felt bad for making you go through their harrasment. I was scared you will be bullied further if i stayed there" Alice decided to confess, now with new found motivation from Thyriel who has already excuses herself out. Her personality made it very hard to say what she feels easily. It was already a shock to hear this much from her.
Tania hugged Alice. "Can you feel it ?" She asked her face was beet red.
The young girl could feel Tania's heartbeat. It was beating very fast. Alice hugged her back and could feel the dryad's heartbeat speed up even further.
"Whenever I'm with you I feel like my heart will jump out of my chest. I don't understand why its happening and it scares me. But whenever I'm not with you I can feel a strong pain in my chest."
For anyone else the things Tania felt would be an obvious crush but because Alice never had experience with that she didn't realize the implications of her words.
"I also feel very sad when you are not here" She embraced the sad dryad. "I'm sorry for trying to run away."
Alice decided that she won't train her magic any longer until academy starts. She felt like just spending time with Tania. Their bond grew even closer.
One day they went to fish. They barely caught anything but they both enjoyed each others company.
Another day they took care of the village garden.
"Wow you are surprisingly skilled at this" Tania complimented Alice's gardening skills.
"Let's just say that it was my hobby for some time" In reality one of Alice's chores back at her office was taking care of the plants around the building. She never really liked it but being praised by Tania made it all worth it.
The time they spent together flew so quickly that in a blink of an eye it was time for Alice to leave.
"Sorry Tania. I have to go back..." Alice said on the day of her departure.
"Do you really have to ? I want you to stay here with us.... with me" She looked with pleading eyes.
"You know i can't. Thank yo for your hospitality" She said to Thyriel.
After that she hugged one last time with Tania before going on her way. She wished she could stay as much as Tania wanted her to. But at the same time she really wanted to finally attend the academy and finally sleep in a normal bed.
...
In the meantime Tania talked to her mom.
"Will she ever come back ?" She asked.
"I don't think we will ever know" Her mom was blunt and strict as always. "But if you care so much why don't you just follow her ?" But she tried changing for the sake of her daughter.
Tania's face instantly lifted up towards her mom. Thyriel nodded with a smile.
"I will be on my way mom !" She said as she started running.