FarmVille

Now that we've passed the riverside, we're pretty much in the clear. The woods start to thin out, as we step forward hand in hand. The sound of rushing water fades away and a new melody reaches our ears, of sun and birdsong.

A wide green expanse of fields lies before us, and we can see some sort of civilization like farmhouses and we hear some horses whinnying in the far distance.

"We might need to camp in the farmhouse for a night before we go on. I'm worried we'll run out of energy. And I need a place to relieve myself." Abe says.

"Hello, forest?" I point to behind us, where he could have gone to the toilet behind a tree or something.

Abe chuckles and he says, "what if I want a proper toilet?"

"Well I guess we'll have to find out who's living there and see if they are friends or foes."

We arrive at the farmhouse, and we are just about to knock on the door when the door swings open on its own volition.

"Definitely not friendly," Abe purses his lips as the door opens and a short and stout woman with orange frizzy hair charges out. She looks strong with formidable biceps flexing as she raises her hands.

The woman who steps out of the big brown farmhouse raises a flamethrower at us as she shouts.

"Who dares trespass on my property?"

My eyes widen as I see the flamethrower in her hands. Not much good it'll do to me but it could potentially harm Abe.

"What's that saying? Out of the frying pan, into the fire?" I nudge Abe silence him.

We both put our hands in the air, and I'm racking my brain for something to say to calm her down. Suddenly she drops the flamethrower on the ground and rushes closer to us.

"Penelope? Is that you!"

Before I know it I'm enveloped in this squishy embrace. The woman smells half like apples and half like horse dung, if that's even possible.

"Oh my goodness, how is this possible?" The woman squeezes me even tighter and I huff.

"Can't-breathe-"

"Oh I'm so sorry!" She leans back.

The same look Abe gave me back when we woke up on the throne together crosses this woman's face.

"You don't recognize me?" She says.

"I'm sorry…I don't." I feel bad that I don't recognize her, but I really can't remember.

"Wait, wait. This doesn't make sense. Neither of you look as if you've aged even a year!" She mutters.

Looking left and right to check for safety, the woman ushers us into her home, locking the door behind us.

She puts on a kettle of tea and pulls out chairs for us. Abe goes to the toilet and while he's gone, the woman speaks to me first.

"Right, well. I know you. You're Queen Penelope. I've never had the opportunity to meet King Abe. But Penelope…we're cousins! I'm Martha."

Martha snaps a finger and the fireplace lights up and comes to life.

Hold on, what?

"You have fire power?" I ask.

"Runs in our family, Penelope." Martha says.

"We all thought you died, it was awful! King Uriah banished our family line from the court and capital city when he took his position."

"How come you and Abe have never met?" I ask, fingers tapping my chin.

We hear the sound of a flushing toilet and Abe steps out coming back to us. He sits next to me, and senses the strange atmosphere.

"Why haven't you met my cousin? Why can't I remember my own cousin?" I ask, feeling frustrated.

Abe shifts beside me, looking uncomfortable.

"I believe that's not my story to tell," Martha says quietly, watching us.

"Here, I have to go feed the animals. How about you have a nice chat with a cuppa tea, it'll be ready in a minute or so. I'll be back after. My home is your home!" Martha stands, and quickly pads away and out of the farmhouse.

Abe takes my hand, stroking his thumb against my palm.

"Penelope. I'm about to tell you how we met, and I know you still don't remember. But I hope you'll still understand why everything happened the way it did now even with the gaps in your memory. Remember that I love you."

"I received a prophecy, many summers ago. The prophecy of my fire bride who would save the Underworld from perishing. I searched high and low…every bloodline with fire powers, I tried to find the one. And eventually, I found you. I'm not proud of what I did to make sure you'd come with me to the palace and accept your position by my side."

I feel like it's surreal. Abe is speaking of our past together and our origin story but I can't even recall many details.

"I cut you off from any contact with your family for a while…I thought they would try to influence you in this. Which they did try but they began to dislike me for keeping you away from them. I was wrong. To keep you from your family and to try to force the position on you. But even through what I recognize now are my mistakes, we fell in love, you saved my life, you saved our world."

I've never seen Abe cry. But in this moment I see a splash of tears drop on the table from his eyes.

"Abe…" I gasp, placing my hand on his.

"It's okay. I know you feel sorrow still on what has happened. But we can't change the past. Let's look to our present and the future that waits for us. What matters is here and now. Us. Together." I want to reassure him.

And in this moment I just want him to know I don't hate him. I probably did once upon a time, but I don't now. I reach up and clasp my arms around his shoulders. Abe gently touches my hips as I kiss him with all that I have. I don't have all our past memories but I have our current memories, of all the adventure, misfortune, and things he's protected me from so far since we woke up on that throne together.

"Thank you," Abe says against my lips and I smile.

Everything is going to be alright.

We start rummaging around Martha's kitchen for some teacups, when we hear a bloodcurdling scream coming from outside.

"Martha!"

I run with Abe to see if she's okay.