Elisabeth knew she had asked a difficult question. If the answer hadn’t been important, she wouldn’t have. But never in a million arcs would she have expected the answer that he gave her. Nor would she have expected him to look her directly in the eyes when he told her…with a smile. 

And that was when he dropped the bombshell on her. It was truth to him but to her, she really didn’t know what to make of it. He [i]needed[/i] her. [i]Need[/i]. It was something that every person had to determine for themselves – what they needed in their life. Ezner had decided that she was an essential need and spoke it plain, simple, and straightforward. No one had ever told her that they needed her. Ever. No one needed her. Maybe...maybe... wanted her…but [i]need [/i]was a very different thing. 

Squeezing his fingers back softly, the young woman smiled at him, finding the words she was looking for. [b]“Ezner, I’m your friend. I will always be here. Now that you are free, we can do all the things you want. I told you that sometrail, you would see the world through your own eyes and now you have that chance. I would consider it an honor to be with you when you see things for yourself.”[/b]

The movement of his hands caused her to look down, watching as he spelled out her name – almost – in her palm. Breaking into a wide smile, her slender hand gently took his finger and traced out the letters again in her hand, but instead this time, drawing an ‘s’ instead of a ‘z’. [b]“EliSabeth. It’s an ‘s’. It’s ok though, the two letters sometimes sound the same and there is a version of my name that uses a ‘z’. Arguably, it’s more common than the way my version is spelled.”[/b]

Rising, Elisabeth kept hold of one of his hands, giving it a soft tug. [b]“It’s cold out here. Would you like to come inside? I was about ready to make dinner. No doing my dishes, alright?”[/b] A soft grin accompanied the comment, recalling what she had told him the first time he visited her house.