Perhaps it was because the path was already familiar, having already traveled it once, making it seem shorter. Perhaps it was because we were unconsciously moving faster, our desire to finally get home stimulated us. Or maybe it was because our hearts and minds were now lighter, the problems of before no longer weighed down or overwhelmed us, but for whatever reason, Travis, myself, and the rest of our fellow travelers are closer From home.We both sat down once more under what has now become "our tree" and talked quietly about our plans for the future."Are you sure?""I'm positive""Jane, if you're worried about costs, you really shouldn't be. I only hide in the account when we all go out to eat because I think it's funny. The truth is, I have more than enough money saved from all the classified missions and other high-ranking missions that I have had over the years""And I have more than enough money saved from my missions and from working as an

I smile in triumph."That?" Mrs. Shiji creeps in with a crooked smile on her face."If the worst thing Travis can do is bother me once in a while, I think we'll be fine in the long run." I smile back.Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see something rise rapidly a few inches from her head and another is heading straight for her."NO!" Scream.I quickly push Mrs. Shiji aside, pull a knife out of my sheath, and deflect the projectiles with the plane of my weapon."We are being attacked!" I yell at the others, but when I turn to look at them, they are already deflecting projectiles with their swords."Dispersion!" Travis instructs the unarmed members of our convoy.In an instant, the servants and servants are launched in different directions through the dense forests. On the way to Japan and on the way back, Travis had instructed each member of our convoy on what to do in case we were attacked."We are a large group," he

"You can come home and stay with me and your mother. Anyway, we've missed you" Dad says cheerfully, gently rubbing the blanket with his covered leg.I just smile back and say nothing because as much as I love my parents, going home is the last thing I want to do. Leaving home was my sign of independence and coming home would be like taking a step back. Not only that, but I also know that Mom and Dad will worry about me all the time and unlike Madame Shiji, they still haven't learned the difference between "suffocate" and "let go" yet."Rose also offered to take you back as her roommate or she can move in with you and act as a full-time doctor in your apartment," Blanca says.Although a little better, again it is not one of the best offers I have heard so far. I love Rose and she is my best friend, but she can also make me nervous. That's why we barely spent a year as roommates before she decided to find a place for me.I feel a hand gently squeeze mine an

"Mom, Dad, thank you for trying to protect me, but this relationship I have with Travis is not something you can compare to other relationships. We have known each other for ten years. That is more than enough for a relationship to develop and grow between two people. If anything, he and I have taken a long time to get to this point, so even though things seem to be happening fast between us, it isn't, we should have been together a long time ago by now"My parents had been quiet as if trying to take in everything I had said. Then my father finally spoke."You're talking about more than just moving in with him, right?" - He asked as if he had learned the lesson "Look under the bottom" from Travis himself."Yes I am. Sorry, I've wanted to say it for a while, but the moment never felt right. You see, we're not just dating, we're… engaged" I said quietly."What about you?!" my mom screamed"Engag

In Japan, Valentine's Day is celebrated differently than Western countries do. Rather than being romantically involved couples exchanging gifts to express their feelings for each other, it's more about women giving chocolates to the men in their lives, whether or not they think of those men in a romantic sense.I enjoy the tradition that is also practiced here in the village. It allows me to show all the men in my life that I appreciate them and that they all have special meaning to me. And because of its tradition and the way the chocolates are distributed equally, I am not ashamed to go up to one of the guys and give him a gift that on any other day could lead to unwanted gossip.The only person I have dared to give more expensive and higher quality honmei-choco, or "possible winning chocolate" every Valentine's Day, at least until the year he defected was Albert. Yet even though he, like all the other men I had given chocolate to on Valentine's Day, had reciprocated