The Journey (6 page)

“
I
knew why.”

“Yeah… only you.”

“I love those shoes above all other shoes that have ever been—Pooh’s boots. The main reason why you had to get a job, and the only reason I was blessed to meet you.”

“After you left… I boxed them up, hid them in the back of my closet.”

“Until you started down the fated path you now walk.”

“They were the first thing I packed.”

“Truly? And why’s that?”

“Because they reminded me of you. I was leaving—going off to travel the world. There’s no way I could leave your precious memory boxed up all alone in the back of a closet. They were my only tangible connection to you—them and my Pooh Bear. Of course I packed them first.”

I smiled when he tugged on my hair. It felt like we had slipped back in time. Back to when we were both happy—not a worry in the world.

“When I saw these sitting there in that store window…” I ran my hand down the soft, black leather. “I had no idea how they would ultimately change my life.”

“And that’s why I couldn’t leave them all alone in that busy airport in India.”

“What happened? Why in the world did I have my boots off in a place like that? I don’t remember.”

He chuckled. “It was way too hot to be wearing boots in the first place, but that’s not why you slipped them off.”

“No?”

“No. Your flight was delayed. I watched you scan through your journal for a while. Then you took out a gold thing, flipped it open, and started playing a game. I knew what it was as soon as the music started up.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Oh yeah… my Zelda DS.” I chuckled. “How in the world did you remember that song?”

“How could I forget it? You almost flunked out of Statistics—sitting up all night playing that silly game.”

I bumped him with my shoulder. “It’s not silly. I’m in love with Link. He reminds me of you. Especially all the newer versions and artwork.”

“I look like a Fairy?”

“Link’s not a Fairy. He’s a blond-haired, blue-eyed, sexy hero.”

“Hmm… Guess I could live with that.”

When he wrapped his arm around me, I leaned against his side. He felt so warm.

“Yeah, well, you should,” I mumbled. “Being compared to Link is a
great
compliment.” He yanked on my hair again. “Truth is… that game’s
not
the reason I nearly flunked out of Statistics. I
hated
that class. Stupidest class in the world.”

“But you got a C, right?”

“Yeah,” I grumbled. “My
first
C.”

“Was it your last?”

“…No.”

Drella laughed then. “Anyway, you know what you always do when you get enthralled in something like that—a game, a book, your journal.”

“I have to cross my legs.”

“Yep.” He chuckled.

“What? I can’t help it. It’s the only way I can concentrate.”

“I know, Pooh. I know. But sitting cross-legged in that airport chair was hard enough, forget the boots.”

“Oh… I think I remember that. When they finally announced the arrival of my plane…”

He filled in the blanks when I didn’t continue. “When they announced its arrival, you started packing your stuff away and ran across those pink and gold sandals you’d bought from that little girl set up outside the Temple.”

“Yeah… that’s right.”

“You slipped them on, picked up your little game thing and your backpack… and never looked back.”

“…My boots were on the other side of my chair. I can’t
believe
I forgot them.”

He squeezed me just a little. “You had your mind on Link. Not me. Now that I know the truth of it, I’m jealous.”

“Oh, stop it.” I looked up at him when he chuckled. “Hey, Drella… thanks. I really mean that. Thanks a lot. I tore my luggage apart looking for these boots. My first three days in Seoul, I sat in my room and cried.”

“Did you? I’m sorry, Pooh. I didn’t know.”

“What do you mean? Haven’t you been watching over me all this time?”

“No, my love. I am not a Guardian. I am a Seeker. Our paths have crossed many times through the years, yes, but that was only via coincidence. Although I
will
admit… every time I saw you, I tarried on my task. I couldn’t pull myself away from you. That smile, those eyes, that laugh—I loved you too much. Wherever I found you, I’d stay until
you
left.”

“Oh, Drella… I loved you too much, too. I still do.”

“Then we are yet of like mind, my precious little Pooh.” He kissed the top of my head and rested his cheek there. “I got you something that day,” he whispered softly.

When I quickly glanced up at him, Drella’s cheeks were flaming red.

“In Mumbai? You
got
me something? A gift?”

“A token.” He looked away. “It was foolish of me—knowing that I’d never be able to give it to you
myself
. But… it called out to me—had your name written all over it.”

“Yourself? What do you mean? Have you ever given me anything when you
weren’t
yourself?”

He nodded. “Once.”

I only tilted my head to the side.

“On your thirty-fifth birthday.”

“On my thirty—”

“You were with Brother Gopal that day as well. Remember?”

I glanced toward my well-traveled backpack. “…My shawl.”

Drella smiled. “You always dress too…
scantily
when you’re in Bhutan.”

I swallowed down my coming chuckle. “That’s what the vendors on the street sell there. I’m just blending in with the local culture.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He tapped the tip of my nose. “I saw that lovely blue shawl while passing through Italy. It had butterflies on it.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I know. That’s why I kept it. Brother Gopal said he found it near the donation box, and seeing as how it was my birthday, he brought it to me.”

“I laid it atop that little stone wall near the main steps. I’d hoped
you
would stumble across it. You needed something to cover your arms, Pooh. The backs of your arms are always chilly. Right?”

I swallowed hard. “You remember that?”

“I remember everything about you, Jem.” His cheeks flushed again. “I wanted to give you something…
and
cover you up a bit.” He paused then, a distant look in his lovely blue eyes. “You always said you hated the
fives
.”

“The fives?”

He smiled softly. “You didn’t mind the zero birthdays. They were like starting something new and exciting—your twenties, your thirties… the zero birthdays. But the fives…”

“I
do
hate the fives… When you hit twenty, it’s fun. When you hit twenty-five… you’re in your
late
twenties, and it’s all downhill from there. Then thirty—yay! Zero years are like a do-over—clean slate, you’re fresh and young again.”

“Yes, and that’s why I wanted you to have something beautiful and precious on your thirty-fifth birthday. I wanted you to start your
late
thirties off with something that would make you smile… warm your heart.”

“Mission accomplished, Drella Walker.”

“I know. I watched you that whole day. That dazzling smile never wavered.”

“And it was all thanks to you, my love.
All
my happy times, precious memories, banner moments in life… every single one of them came from you. Every. Single. One.”

“Hush now, Jem.” His cheeks were flaming. I could feel the heat radiating off him. “It was just a trinket, really. Something to keep your arms warm. Some little something that made you smile. That’s all. No need to gush.”

I suppressed my smile and didn’t say anything to embarrass him further. I simply waited on that gorgeous man to gather up his courage and go on.

“Anyway, like I said… I watch you when I can. You’ve kept your hair long. I like that.” He glanced back towards me and blushed
again
. “And you are forever tying it back or tucking it behind your ears.”

“I
think
better that way.”

“Yeah, I know.” He smiled with only one corner of his mouth. “But those elastic things you twist up in your ponytail… they break your lovely golden curls—makes it sorta fuzzy right around here, sometimes.” He lightly touched my hair. “And since I know how much you like butterflies… when I saw this scarf, I just couldn’t help myself.”

When he carefully pulled the sheer fabric from inside his cloak, I gasped.

“Drella… it’s beautiful…”

“I thought the blue would match your eyes… and then all the butterflies, of course.”

I swallowed down the lump rising up the back of my throat. “I love it,” I barely managed to whisper. “It’s the prettiest scarf I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m glad you think so. It wasn’t much… just another little trinket to carry around in that old backpack of yours. But when I saw it hanging there, I knew it would suit you perfectly.”

“And you’ve carried it around all these years? Ever since that day in the airport?”

“Right along with your precious boots.” He smiled. “Turn around and let me bind your lovely locks, pretty lady. I wanna see what it looks like tied in your curls.”

Drella was so gentle in his task, I didn’t even realize when he had finished.

“Now, let me see.” He turned me back around to face him, his gorgeous smile already set. “Wow, Pooh… you’re the most beautiful girl in the world.”

I wrapped my arms around him, burying my tears against his chest. “Why can’t you just stay with me like this?” I whispered.

“I will… until you have to leave me.”

Then, Drella held me as I cried… again.

After several comforting moments in each other’s arms, he gently kissed my forehead.

“It’s about that time, Pooh. We need to be getting over to St. Anthony’s.”

I sat up and looked at my accidentally found pendant. “But… what’s missing? It doesn’t look broken. Just a large brown stone. It’s not even very pretty, actually. There was just something about it… it
felt
right. Like, it belonged to me or something. I slipped it on and never took it off.”

“That’s because it was
meant
for you. It’s your key, Pooh.”

“My…
key
?”

“Yes. But it’s only the key to get
in
. You need the other part if you want to get back out again.”

“Key to where? Get back out of what?”

“The Nether.” He lifted the stone then, gently rubbing his thumb across it. “This is the part that lets you walk into that place I pulled you out of. You need the
other
stone if you don’t wanna be trapped there.”

“Trapped?”

“Yeah. I had gone to Taktsang in search of an ancient manuscript. That’s when I saw you mediating with Brother Gopal. When I came back outside, I saw you sway, then disappear.”

“I disappeared?”

“You opened your mind, Pooh. The Buddhists have mastered freeing their souls, slipping into a transient state.
You
can now take that a step further. When you set your spirit free, you went straight through the door this stone unlocked. If I hadn’t seen you… who knows how long you would have been stuck there until someone stumbled across you.” He visibly shuddered. “I pulled you out and brought you here. To get the exit stone.”

“…Did you find the manuscript?”

“The what?”

“The ancient manuscript you were looking for at Taktsang. Did you find it?”

He stared at me a moment before chuckling. “Pffts. That’s the part you were worried about? An old book? Not the part where you were trapped in the Otherworld?”

I felt my cheeks getting red. “Well… did you?”

“Yeah, I found it alright—laying right there in the center of the main table. Funny thing, though.”

“What?”

“There was this
huge
spider squashed right in the middle of it—smeared all over the brittle pages.”

When he cocked a single golden brow, I bit my lip and turned away.

“You wouldn’t know anything about that now, would you, Pooh?”

When he playfully bumped me with his shoulder, I could no longer control my embarrassed smile. Even my ears were burning.

“I dunno… Maybe.”

“Maybe, huh?”

“What? Like you said, that thing was
huge
.”

“Umm hmm.
Everything
looks bigger when you smash it and smear it around a bit.”

“You
saw
it. It was as big as my whole hand.”