I had not known what true happiness was until I heard Mareini utter the four-letter Forian word that changed our lives for eternity:
"Imis."
Smiling, I got up and fixed the feather between her cap and left ear, while Lola was undergoing cardiac arrest in the background. "Will you come with us now?" I asked my beloved. "Have I given you enough reason to do so?"
Smiling as well, Mareini confessed, "I was going to come with you anyway. I simply figured that you needed a 'push' to give me that feather."
Upon hearing this, I laughed, "Well, it most certainly worked." Then, without thinking, I took both of her hands into mine. We stared down at them for a moment, and then into each other's eyes. We spoke simultaneously: "I love—"
"Stop speaking in Forian!" Lola scolded, interrupting us. "I want to know what you're saying!"
For a brief moment, I thought of chastising the violet-eyed nuisance for being rude. However, that thought was quickly replaced by a burning desire to proclaim to the world how I felt. Keeping my eyes fixed on my beloved, I happily responded, "I was about to tell Mareini that I love her."
"And I about to tell Senti the same," she added, smiling sweetly at me.
Lola said nothing, for she was unable to form words.
"Pardon me for asking," said Levi, "but did I just witness you two becoming engaged?"
After Mareini and I nodded in response, Lola shot him a hostile glare.
Noticing this, he laughed, "Give me a few years. Then we'll talk."
Transforming her glare into a giddy smile, Lola turned to her brother and suggested, "You guys should have a double-wedding! It'd be great! We could invite all of the dello tribes, all of the Fay, all the Fire Spirits, all of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood—as well as their families—and all six of the gods!"
Following a long period of silence, Cameron responded flatly, "No."
"Anyway," Mareini sighed, facing the tree, "we must call upon the birds to sing the 'Ballad of Nature.' Are you ready, Senti?"
"Yes, Miss Makai."
With that, she sang the Forian song, "Call of the Sparrow." And by the end of it, the tree's branches were filled with a large assortment of various birds. "Now, tell them to sing you the song," Mareini instructed.
Nodding at her, I spoke to the birds in Forian tongue: "Sing to me, the Chosen Hero of Fora, the 'Ballad of Nature.'"
Immediately, all of the birds fell silent. Then, they sang this melody in a harmonious choir:
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