Alissa smiled and hugged him tightly, "I'll still miss you so much!"

"I will miss you, as well," he answered, returning her hug. "Be sure to tell me everything that happens."

Alissa nodded, "I should go to bed early tonight, the carriage will be here before dawn, will you come and say goodbye to me?" she asked.

"Of course I will," said Randy, "and I will be here to greet you when you return."

Alissa kissed his cheek, "Thank you, and goodnight," she said.

.....

The next morning she went to find Randy to say goodbye to him, looking very sad and forlorn.

Randy didn't seem much happier, though he attempted to give her a smile for encouragement. "It will only be one short year," he said, just as much for himself as for her. He was rather concerned about the sort of treatment Alissa would receive at the school, and reminded himself that he was there to study her way of living, not grow attached and interfere with it.

Alissa nodded, she wasn't looking forward to a year away from her friends, especially Randy, whom she'd become deeply attached to. Realizing it was her last opportunity to act on her feelings for him she took his face in her hands and kissed his lips, "I love you, goodbye," she said as she turned and rushed to the carriage before he could say anything to her.

Randy stood, stunned, as he tried to place the exact meaning behind the gesture. Among his own kind, it could have been nothing at all, as kisses on the lips were a common expression of affection shared rather freely. Humans, however, tended to have a different system. He hadn't had a chance to scan her thoughts and emotions, being caught off guard, thus the full implications of what she'd said and done eluded him.

"Och, I think the lass is in love wi' ye," came the rough voice of Errol from behind him.

Randy frowned. "In love...?"

"Aye, she's the right age ta ha' her first love, seems she's picked ye," said Errol, "But Ah say better ye than a Winston!"

Randy couldn't bring himself to disagree with that. After all, nearly anything was better than a Winston. Still, what could possibly come of it? "Do you believe it will pass before she returns?" he questioned.

"Who's ta say? She may love ye e'en more," said Errol.

"Oh, dear... I am unsure of the appropriate emotional response," said Randy as he continued to gaze in the direction that the carriage had gone.

"Just go wi' yar heart lad. 't ain't somethin' ye should ower think," replied Errol.

Randy gave a nod, though at the moment even his heart wasn't telling him much of use. "Well, whatever comes of it, I do love her dearly," he sighed.

"Ah thought so, ye spend near damn every day wi' her for tha past two years...if that ain't some kinda love I'll be buggard by a damn harse," Errol gave Randy a rough pat.

Randy smiled a bit at that. "She is a wonderful girl. I do pray that this life doesn't kill her wild spirit, hard though it may try."

"Nah, That one's got fire, she'll be a'richt," said Errol, "gonna be an awful dull year fer us though,"

"That is true." Randy's brow furrowed. "But a year goes by quickly enough." His expression changed with the thought that, while he may not have Alissa's company, he would still have the others to speak to, including Ellen...

It was a relatively nice year, save for the visits with Winston, Ellen made sure to keep Randy company and Hans even approached him one day with a request to learn better English from him.

While his own knowledge of English was not complete in every way and was sometimes sprinkled with guesses or substitutions from older languages, Randy's ability to understand and convey what was being meant without direct translation came in handy. And despite not being a native speaker, his grasp of the language was indeed as good as if not better than that of many who were. Still it felt strange to have such a thing asked of him, given what seemed such a short time ago that he had been in a similar position. All things considered, he was confident in his ability to help. He would teach Hans in much the same way he'd learned it, himself.

Hans was a quick learner and it was clear that the young man was exceptionally intelligent and cunning, as his English vocabulary grew he revealed himself to be surprisingly clever and insightful and even at times, poetic.

Randy found that he enjoyed Hans' company the more he got to know him. He said as much one day, noting how glad he was that the man seemed to have opened up to him since their initial meeting.

Hans beamed and presented Randy with a small potted plant, "This is for you, to thank you for your help!"

Randy thanked him with a grin. "I have never kept a plant... What is it?"

"It's a tulip, I brought some over from Holland," explained Hans.

Randy gave the flower a sniff. "Well, it's lovely."

Hans smiled, "Just give it a little water every day, and some sunlight!"

"I can and I shall. Thank you again," said Randy. This time he held the plant close to his face, examining it from all angles and carefully tracing a finger across the leaves. He was very tempted to taste it, but thought better of that.

Hans smiled and went to do his chores, and so the year passed and the day came for Alissa to return to the manor....

As promised, Randy was eagerly awaiting her arrival with open arms.

Alissa had grown a good deal in the past year, her figure had filled out and she had lost the awkwardness that plagued most teenage girls, she was a very lovely young woman, but when she caught sight of Randy she ran right up to him and threw her arms around him as though nothing had changed at all.

Randy embraced her with a delighted chuckle, pleased to see that she was well. "My, how you've grown!"

She stepped back and let him get a good look at her full curves, "Haven't I? You haven't changed at all though," she gave him another hug, "I have missed you so, I missed our evenings together,"

"It hasn't been the same without you," said Randy. "Now you must tell me about the school."

"It was dreadful, all the girls did was gossip and speculate about getting married," Alissa grimaced.

"It sounds awfully boring," Randy commented with a smile.

"It was! I missed home," said Alissa, tugging at one of her long, dark, curls, "W...when I said goodbye...did you...did you dislike it?"

"Well, no," Randy replied, "though it did leave me a bit confused."