Given a day after seeing Kal in his shrunken state, Ivy still felt an odd pang in her chest. She was nervous? It didn't feel quite the same. Every time she thought about seeing Kal, dressed as Robin Hood, held up like a teensy toy on her palm... it was like watching a movie from her childhood. Ivy still remembered reading fairy tales about the gentle giant, helping the village, protecting its people, falling in love with a fragile man. She wanted to say she was just envious, jealous that Anna had found something so magical, had someone who wanted to share a fantasy, to live happily ever after. It defied her usual logic, it was primal, and Ivy felt the throb again, this time lower down. It was a foreign whirlwind, one that threatened to leave her breathless and distraught. And yet, enjoyable, intoxicating, she was watching her youthful dreams unfold. But staying to the sidelines, watching vicariously, it felt like a mistake. She wanted what they had, but she wanted it for herself. Someone so brave and curious as Kal was, yet who wanted her to be the gentle giantess. Someone who wanted her as their caretaker, lover, dominant, and friend.

She was resting in her own bedroom. It reflected the split of her ability and her fantasy. Her oversized, stuffed teddy Rocky cradled a physics text. Her desk was immaculately lined with a series of pencils, each capped with a rainbow unicorn head eraser. Her favorite pillow was a dolphin named Bon-Hwa. He was plush, light ocean blue, with a soft white underbelly, playful beady eyes and a smile. They had been together as long as she could remember.

Ivy knew that she came across as intense. It felt different to her. Every time she was faced with an obstacle, it became an adventure to overcome. A dragon that needed slaying. She had to rally her mind and her ability each time, designing a creative way to defeat such a barrier. Yet she kept this side private, and all anyone saw was the shy, intense exterior. Her gears turned, the fantasy buried deep within a complex series of neurons, never displayed to those who watched with simple eyes. It wasn't that real life was too boring, she wasn't crazy. The real world had always inspired her to great things, to great heights, and to want more. And so she turned full circle, retreating back to cuddle with Bon-Hwa, nestled at the head of the bed with a lengthy novel.

The path that she followed only led her back to that same place. She had seen fantasy and reality merge, blended seamlessly in an unimaginable way. Ivy merely wanted to be included. She wanted to be thrust inside that world, with companions who saw it for wondrous place it was. But that someone wouldn't be Kal, she needed someone to call her own. Someone to perch atop her shoulder, to stare off into a magnificent sunset, nestled close to her nape. And the only person she knew who had ever found one... was Anna.