“Come on! Let’s dance!” The doctor extended her hand and pulled the taller woman closer to the bridge where the festival was held, though they were careful not to mix within the crowd. The two friends just danced their hearts out, not caring who passed them. Yuw’s mind then started to drift and blur, the colors around her blended until it was a familiar sight. The giant found herself awakened from her slumber. She wanted to go back, to continue to dance with someone who was close. The timing was almost impeccable as the day was getting started.

It wasn’t until the next night that both of them had met up yet again. Once more, questions were asked between the two as they compared their experiences with each other. “So I’m curious,” The doctor started to ask, becoming absorbed in the conversation, wanting to know where the giant was from. “What are the names of your planets?” 

Yuw stuttered as she spoke up, surprised to be asked such a question, almost feeling like she was suddenly being quizzed. To be put in the spotlight in such a way was nerve racking. Swallowing her fear, she mustered up an answer to give. “Well, there are four planets in the star system. I live on Gujin. Our sun’s name is Favina, and going down in order we have… Heivir, Gujin, Aurelia, and Morva. What about you?” The giant spoke a bit nervously when she named the planets. She wasn’t sure if Alex asked the question to spark a conversation, or if she was actually interested in the information itself. 

“Ah, well…” the smaller woman seemed a bit disappointed that Yuw wasn’t from the same place as she was. Though, the saddened emotion was dropped very quickly as she began to introduce what she herself was familiar with. “I lived on Ulbi, and we orbited Alessa, our sun.” Alex said, recalling her elementary education. “There are eight planets in total; we have Atoti, Turu, Ulbi, Patrus, Nol-Ja, Neju, Thori, and Rylar.” Alex explained, smiling widely as she spoke. “Nol-Ja is my favorite planet, it being the biggest of them all and the prettiest. Its name is based on one of our mythologies’ deities. Nol-Ja was a strong warrior who carried out violent deeds, capable of taking down Alessa if he wanted to, but he remained loyal and did what was required of him.”

While the doctor was speaking, Yuw noticed a pink-eyed person from afar, the same one that she saw during her first time visiting the Realm. She quickly looked away, avoiding eye contact. The giant didn’t dare to bring it up to Alex either, fearing that the longer her focus was on this pink-eyed person, the more bad luck she’d attract. Yuw would occasionally see the same individual during her visits to the Realm and found herself avoiding them at any cost.

After seeing the blue haired giant get rejected from the Library over and over again, the doctor couldn’t help but speak up about it. “Have you ever actually made it into the Library?“ she asked the taller woman. And when Yuw admitted, embarrassingly, that she hadn’t achieved such a feat, Alex then looked up as if she just had an idea, “You know, therapy may help you in the answers you are looking for.”

“O-oh… Um…” The giant was closed off by the idea from the start as the pull from the Library was too strong, but she still gave it some thought as a courtesy for Alex, not wanting to be rude.  “I’ll consider it, but I have a gut feeling that what I need is in there.” The tall woman then nodded her head towards the large building nearby, taking the time to admire the life-like stone carvings mounted on the walls. “It’s hard to shake the feeling, you know?” Yuw looked back over to hear a reply from the doctor, but instead saw her smiling and staring towards the back entrance. At Miao.

“I never asked… Why do you come to the Library so often?” She asked, looking down at the smaller female. “I never see you go in.”

Alex snapped out of the trance she seemed to be in, and looked back at Yuw. “Ah, um… you know, the place has a nice view.” The doctor replied, even though the blue-haired woman noticed the slight blush on her face, clear as day. “That is all, you can say this is my favorite place to go…” The thoughtful woman’s gaze slowly resumed back towards the guard for a moment.

“Right…” Yuw added, feeling a bit of discomfort from the doctor’s attention being somewhere else. “So… How long have you been here in the Realm?” The miffed giant asked, in an attempt to get her mind off of the subject. The conversation seemed to continue on as normal from there, with Alex being more expressive and responsive to her, she threw that little hiccup into the back of her mind.

As time went on, though Yuw still felt the attraction towards the Library, she found herself looking forward to her talks with Alex more than the possibility of getting into the building. She found comfort in the woman’s presence and small gestures when explaining things. The giant didn’t want to admit it, but she found herself dependent on the doctor and worried that Alex wouldn’t be there when she visited one day.

One of the things the two would do together, was to watch the petals in the plum tree garden form into their childhood memories as they spoke about them. They marveled at the differences between them, and felt joy in the experiences that were familiar. 

“Who is that? They keep appearing in your memories?” Alex asked, pointing at a recurring feminine figure. 

“Ryahno.” Yuw said, lowering her head, deflated in dejection. “We used to be close… Until we weren’t… She… grew up without me, I guess.” There was so much of Yuw’s life that had Ryahno in it. She couldn’t even remember a time when the friend wasn’t in it. Alex’s friends on the other hand seemed to be ever changing throughout her entire life, according to the petals; which was weird to Yuw, considering how open and friendly the doctor was.  

As the topic of friendship was brought up, it started to make the giant wonder if a friend was what she was missing in her life as of late. It would certainly help her balance her focus, not putting her attention and thoughts all onto one person. Up till now, she really wasn’t close friends with anyone else other than Ryahno. Not with the Guild members that she grew up with, not with the other volunteers for charity, not with people at work; and whatever relationship she had back in her school days were long lost. It wasn’t because she moved away or had difficulty contacting people. She just didn’t bother to do so. She had Ryahno at the time, and that one friend was enough. It wasn’t until much later did she start contacting Autumn more frequently, but their relationship wasn’t as close compared to Ryahno.

Perhaps Alex was someone fate had sent her way to break that cycle of isolation. They got along well, and always had pleasant conversations that never seemed to run out. For all she knew, they could even form new memories together. Possibly more. And perhaps, this time, Yuw should be less passive and become the one that makes the first moves.