The giants felt better after they had eaten.  Marta kissed Erik on the forehead.  Her lips felt like two giant rose petals as they gently touched.

“You are very welcome, Marta,” Erik said with a laugh and Marta blushed.

“I wish I could kiss you like a normal person,” Marta quietly said.  Marta sat with her legs underneath her and her hands on her lap.

“I am glad that I can make you happy, even if we can’t kiss like normal people,” Erik said as he rubbed her hand.  Jakob watched his sister with the little man.  Marta felt trust for Erik, that much was obvious to the giant.  It was an emotion new to the both of them to have towards an outsider.   Jakob felt that he could trust Erik just as his sister has.

A flash lit up the sky as the storm came blowing in.  Wind blew the barn doors open and Erik struggled to close them.  It wasn’t until large hands reached out to help him.  After the doors were shut, Erik looked up to see that it was Jakob who had helped him.

“Thank you, that wind is very strong.  I hope Maria and Elisa are alright.  I should go to the main house and check on them.  It is much too far to your home, you may stay until it subsides,” Erik tells the two giants.

“But momma and papa… They do not know we are here,” Marta cries.  Erik turns to the giantess with a solemn smile.  He pats her hand once again.

“Marta, they know.  I would never steal you away from them without telling them.  I know you and Jakob mean so much to them,” Erik said as Marta dried her tears.  To Erik a giantess is supposed to be a strong and fierce creature, Marta was strong but instead of fierce, she was fragile.  Erik loved that about Marta, she never flaunted her size like her brother had.

Jakob put his arm around Marta as the giants sat on the straw.  Jakob looked down at Erik with a serious look on his face. “Go do what you must before it gets any worse out there, I’ll take care of my sister,” Jakob said to the little man.  Erik just nodded and pushed open the barn door...

The storm is promising to be a bad one as Erik managed his way to the main house.  Maria was holding Elisa as Erik opened the door.

“We have to go to the cellar,” Maria tells her brother and Erik nodded, deeply worried about his guest out in the barn.  Elisa cried for her father and Erik quickly relieved his sister of her as they quickly made their way to the cellar.

“Papa,” Elisa cried as Erik made a comfortable little bed for her with blankets and tarp that was left in the cellar for emergencies such as this.

“Sleep my daughter,” Erik calmly tells his little girl.  The wine and cheese that Erik’s farm produced surrounded them in the rock walled cellar.  Erik pets his daughter’s blond hair and sings her a lullaby as she slowly drifted to sleep.

“Erik, I hope they are safe.  That storm is a dangerous one,” Maria whispers to her brother.

“As do I, my dear sister,” Erik said as he and Maria waited out the storm…

Marta cried as Jakob stayed close to his sister.  The boards of the barn walls creaked and moaned as the heavy wind blew.  Thunder sounded and lighting cracked while Marta prayed to herself that all will be well.

Jakob watched as the latch of the barn door was being tested by the wind.  He held Marta closer to him when a board from the barn wall blew away and rain starting coming in.

“It’ll be all right Marta,” Jakob repeated over and over as he protected his sister from the harsh elements coming in from the hole in the wall.

“Momma and Papa, what if they are too big to go down in the cellar?” Marta said with tears in her eyes.

“They are not too big.  They will have to be careful of the ceiling but they are not too big,” Jakob reassured his sister who had curled up in his embraced.  Marta cried as Jakob held her in his strong arms doing his best to weather out the storm…

Ansel and Gerta were careful as they went down the cellar steps.  They both had to duck and slouch due to the low ceiling.

“Now I know how Jakob and Marta feel like when they are cooped up in that barn all day,” Gerta tells her husband.

“Aye my wife,” Ansel responded as he sat down on the stone floor.  Ansel looks over at his wife and sees her tears.  She is worried much like Ansel is about their two gigantic children.  “Erik will take good care of them,” Ansel tell her and takes Gerta’s hand into his own…

The storm subsided and Jakob let go of Marta.  They both looked out the hole in the wall to see that the rain was only light.  Marta stood up careful of the beams.  It was nice not to have to slouch like she had in her father’s barn.  Jakob stood up and still had to slouch slightly.  The thatch roof surprisingly stayed in place.  Marta dried her tears while Jakob patted her back.

“I didn’t think we would make it,” Marta sobbed and Jakob hugged her.

“We have been through much worse,” Jakob whispered while Marta began to cry again.  “We’ll be alright, Marta.”

The barn door opened to Erik looking up at his two giant friends.  Marta’s sobbing subsided and turned to relief at the sight of the little man.  She pulled Erik into the barn and picked him up into her massive embrace.  She was careful not to hurt him but completely had Erik engulfed in her arms.

“Oh Erik, you are safe,” Marta said and Erik smiled up at the giant woman.

“You worry about me just as I worry about you.  I have come to see if you are safe and I get attacked,” Erik joked as he looked up into those loving blue eyes unaware his own feet were no longer on the ground.

“Oh Erik,” Marta said as she rubbed her cheek in Erik’s hair.  Marta’s golden hair blanketed the small man and Erik took in her scent and warmth.  He didn’t care about her size; Erik knew then and there that this giantess captured his heart in more ways than one.

“Now Marta, if you could please put me down, I wish to go see how the village and your parents fared through this storm,” Erik said as he looked down from his giantess’s grasp.

“I am so sorry, Erik.  I forget,” Marta said shyly as she put the small man back down on his own feet.  Erik reached up and touched her cheek.  He found himself lost in her blue gaze.

“It is quite alright, Marta.  You were just happy to see me,” Erik whispered.  Marta kissed his forehead once more.

“If it’s alright with you Erik, I’d like to come along.  Perhaps I can be of some help,” Jakob said.

“Jakob,” Marta scolded.  “The giant killers, what if they send for giant killers?” Marta said as she grasped her brother’s forearm.

“It’s a chance I am willing to take dear sister.  If anyone is buried or injured, I can get to them much faster and help them,” Jakob said as he took Marta’s hand.

“If you find any injured, bring them here.  Marta and I shall nurse them,” said a female voice.  It was Maria holding a frightened Elisa in her arms. 

“What about Elisa?” Erik asked his sister.

“What about Elisa?  We should introduce her to our new friends and perhaps she can help in her own way,” Maria said as she held the little girl close.  Jakob crouched down when he realized the child was afraid.  He gave her a warm smile.  Marta sat down next to Jakob but her eyes were solemn.  Marta realized that the child was no bigger than her own hand.

“Elisa, I want you to meet our new friends,” Erik said calmly as he took Elisa from Maria.  Elisa snuggled into her father as close as possible.  Erik saw the tears in her eyes.  “Now Elisa, they are good giants.  They are not going to hurt you.”

The word giant became a reality to Marta and Jakob when it was spoken from the normal sized person’s mouth.  Jakob and Marta still considered themselves human until they saw the fear in those innocent eyes.  This revelation shot through them like an arrow.

“We won’t hurt you, little one,” Jakob whispered and moved slowly like you would around animals.  “My name is Jakob and this is my sister Marta.  Do you have a name, little one?”

“My name is Elisa,” the little girl got up the nerve to say.  She refused to look at the giants as she said this.

“Elisa that is a fine name, do you want to be my friend Elisa?” Jakob asked the little girl in her father’s arms.

“As long as you don’t eat me,” Elisa boldly said and Jakob’s smile turned into a quiet laugh.

“I promise, can Marta be your friend too?” Jakob asked the little girl.

“Yes, I know she won’t eat me, she’s too pretty,” Elisa said as she looked up at the fair giantess.  Erik laughed and hugged his daughter.  He kissed her rosy cheek and thanked her for being such a sweet little girl.