Susanna awoke with a pounding headache. She did not know how long she had blacked out, but she remembered very clearly the feeling of suffocation and smothering that had overwhelmed her. She felt as if she were being drowned outside of water, the very oxygen being deprived from the air around her. She was feeling much better now and slowly was returning to consciousness.

The first thing that she had noticed was the she no longer smelled the strong fragrance. Instead, the air carried another aroma: smoke. Something was burning...something very close. Alarmed and fearful that she was potentially in danger, she quickly rose up and looked around.

The area was vaguely familiar, though at the same time very foreign and different. Susanna stood in the middle of a clearing. It was very barren and empty. She recognized that it was the glade. However, in her memory she recalled a garden of flowers embedded among lush, verdant grass and surrounded on all sides by a circle of tall, white birch trees.

Now, all Susanna could see was destruction.

The ground was scorched and black, except for the area immediately around her, which was unscathed. The grass sizzled and popped and smoke arose from its crisp, burnt blades. Most significantly, Susanna saw that the birch trees, which had once stood as sentinels around the glade, had been completely decimated. All that remained were smoldering stumps in their stead.

Susanna spun around in confusion. What had happened here?

It was then that she saw, hovering just above her head, a small little man, no longer than her finger. His was sitting in the air, paying no heed to gravity, with his head hung between his knees. His brown curly hair was disheveled. She could see his face; it was covered in sweat and soot. His countenance was weary and tired, as if he had just undergone a great ordeal. His clothes had the hint of a shimmer to them, but were singed and tattered. He sat silently.

"Vincent!" Susanna cried.

He acknowledged her with his eyes, but otherwise did not budge and remained silent.

"Vincent...what happened?! Are you okay?"

"I am fine," he replied with a somber tone.

Looking around at the ruins of the glade, Susanna was starting to piece together the evidence. "...Did you do this?" she asked.

Vincent slowly nodded.

"Oh my..." she said with silent awe. She had seen him conjure balls of fire, but nothing on the scale required to wreak the devastation seen all around. It looked like a firestorm had been unleashed, sending a wildfire burning throughout the clearing, consuming everything in its path.

"You saved me, didn't you?" she asked.

Again, he nodded.

She paused. "Tell me what happened."

The force of the vortex nearly caused Vincent to pass out. He felt as if his skin were about to fly off his bones. He spun around so quickly that he could only see the world in streaks and blurs. Despite all of his efforts, he could not resist the wind. It controlled him and he lay captive to its will, unable to fly to safety.

"Let me go!" he shouted. "Cease this at once!"

There was no response. The wind continued its reckless spree.

"Why are you doing this?!"

A disembodied voice answered upon the winds: "Sussssannnnaa muuussst sssstaaayyy."

Vincent immediately spotted Susanna, who was directly below him. He was being flung around her and he had difficulty making out her blurred form, but he knew that it must be her. She lay on the ground very still.

"Leave her alone! She does not belong to you!" he cried out to the wind.

It did not listen. "You are ourssss. Sheee iss ourrsss. Yooouuu musssttt sttaayyy...or dieeee!!"

"Great Forest! You are my home. I love you. You brought me into existence," Vincent shouted. "But I warn you this: if you do not release us...I will forced to destroy you."

Vincent could hear laughter in the wind. It was haughty and proud, as if to taunt him. The tornado of air increased its speed, far in excess of hundreds of miles an hour, threatening to break his small body apart.

"Nooo."

From below, Vincent could hear Susanna coughing and choking, struggling for air. She did not have long and he would have to act to release her from the forest's smothering grip.

"Have it your way, then!" he seethed in anger.

His blood boiled and an array of retributive thoughts flurried through his mind. His love for his home was being outweighed by his love for a woman. He felt conflicted, but at the end, he knew where his loyalties lie.

At that moment, the sky grew dim with a hint of red. Vincent closed his eyes. All of a sudden, a very small spark flew out from Vincent's hands and into the middle of the vortex, where it hovered in still suspension. The wind threatened to blow it out, but the tiny flame stood firm. In fact, the wind was only serving to fan the fire. The flame began to rapidly grow.

Within minutes, the fire expanded and enveloped the area, being carried to and fro by the vortex, soon becoming a mighty tornado of burning fire. It ripped through the branches of the trees, consuming the leaves and bark, and stripping everything bare.

"Sstttoooppp thiissssss!" Vincent could hear the wind cry, far more frantic and fearful.

The heat of the air was intense and inescapable. One by one, each of the birch trees burst in the flames. The fires engulfed them from their roots to their highest branches. The trees were completely vulnerable and the fires burned through them like paper. Within moments, they were reduced to ashes.

When the last tree was no more, the wind ceased to blow, having already increasingly dwindled in speed. Vincent was no longer being flung about, but was very dizzy. His body ached in pain and was drenched in sweat, his skin pink and feeling raw. As soon as he regained his composure, his eyes darted around the remains of the glade.

"Susanna!"

She was still laying in the middle of the clearing, motionless. Vincent rushed over to her and was relieved to find that she had been unharmed by the fires. She had been safe and protected. Checking her vitals as he had done far too many times in the last couple of days, he was relieved to find that she was breathing again.

Vincent looked around him and saw what his hands had wrought. Rising into the air, he surveyed the ruined landscape. He hovered in silence. His body trembled and a tear emerged from his eye. The tiny droplet rolled off of his face and plummeted through the air, landing in the ground with a barely noticeable sizzle.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way," he whispered.

Vincent broke down into tears as he related this story to Susanna. He lowered himself through the air until he was right before her, where she was able to take him in her hand.

"It's all over now," Susanna said softly, comforting her friend. "You did what needed to be done. We're safe now."

Vincent continued to tremble in her hands, rocking himself back and forth. He was afraid. His fear stemmed not from any danger of his life: not the trees nor the wind. He feared himself.

Susanna did not know what words she could say to him; perhaps there were no words. Instead, she cradled him in her hands, her finger stroking him up and down his back.

She carried him away. They no longer needed to be in that place. Slowly she walked through the forest, past the ruined trees until they were behind them. Soon, the world was green again and there were no signs of the fire. She made her way to the creek, continuing to comfort Vincent all the while. Kneeling down, she dipped her finger in the river and proceeded to wash him off with drops of water. The soot and grime ran off his face in dirty rivulets. Susanna took her hair and gently dried him off with her auburn locks. Before long, Vincent was clean again.

"Much better."

Vincent looked up and smiled at her. "Thank you, Susanna."

She took him to her lips and give him a soft kiss on the head.

"Thank you."

They sat together on a rock overlooking the creek in the shade of Lydia and Dan. There they rested for several minutes in silence, watching the waters flowing over the river stones. Nearby, a little turtle plopped into the water with a quiet splash and casually floated along past them. The birds were singing sweet melodies in the air. It was very serene and peaceful. It was what they needed.

After a while, Vincent stood up, his composure regained.

"I'm going to take a break from my powers for a while," he said to Susanna.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked.

He nodded. "I'm sure. Don't worry, if something comes up and I need them, I'll still have them. But I'm going to try living life a little more...normally. Just for a bit, at least. Until I'm no longer feeling exhausted by them."

"Understandable. Will you go back to the island?"

"Eventually. But not immediately. I'm going to wander for a bit. Explore. I haven't really done that in a long time. I think you've inspired me," he said in a more upbeat voice.

"That sounds like quite an adventure. But do be careful! I'll be back in a few days and want to hear a full report from you."

"I will document it well," he said with a smile. "Anyway, I think I'm ready. Shall we continue on?"

"Let's."

After an hour, Susanna and Vincent finally came to the end of the forest and to the gardens on the edge of Cairnbridge Manor. Vincent had never dared to be as close to the estate as they were now.

"That place...it is massive!" he said with awe and wonder.

Cairnbridge Manor was not the largest country house, but it was quite sizeable. It had grown over the centuries with new additions and wings being added to it by different ancestors. Susanna did not know how many people could be hosted there, but in the past she recalled family reunions being held there with a couple hundred people in attendance.

"It is something, isn't it? Perhaps you'll be able to explore it some day."

"Really?" he asked. The thought daunted him. He could easily get lost in just one of its dozens of rooms.

"Some day," Susanna replied, "but not today."

The two of them lingered for a while before it became certain that it was now the time for them to part. Susanna set Vincent down on the ground, almost dropping him, forgetting his temporary withdrawal from flying. She then lay down on the grassy lawn, prostrate to the ground so that her head was (almost) at Vincent's level.

"Meet back here on Friday?" she asked.

"I'll be here!"

He turned around to make his way back to the forest. Before he could take a few steps, however, Susanna called out:

"Hey, Vincent!"

Turning around, he saw that her eyes were closed. Her lips were puckered. She wanted a goodbye kiss! He obliged, running towards her face. However, he lips were still a little too far off the ground, so he gave a running leap and planted his face upon them before falling back to the ground.

"Goodbye, friend...for now."

The knowledge that their time apart would only be temporary helped assuage the sadness, but it did mean that their first experience together was coming to an end. They would never have a first day together again, another first kiss, another first near-swallowing, another first argument, another first gift, or another first slumber together.

The time for firsts was over. Now was the time for seconds and thirds and fourths and fifth.

The happy truth for Susanna and Vincent was that there would be many, many more to come...