“Do you love me?” she asked.

He stopped and stared at her. The question just seemed to come out of nowhere.

He looked at her. Her eyes, a brown so deep they were almost black. Eyes that took in the world with a sense of wonder he’d almost thought gone in this day and age.

Her hair, the a deep shade he could only describe as mahogany. Long, soft, thick. Beautiful.

Her face, so young, so innocent. Her smile that held a joy of life he had never known until he met her, that grew brighter whenever they went for walks in the forest. A smile with dimples that would make Shirley Temple green with envy.

Her body, even under the loose clothing she always wore, made heads turn everywhere. He loved looking at her. Not out of lust, but of sheer appreciation of how beautiful she was.

And behind all that beauty, an intelligence he had never found in another woman.

Did he love her? “Yes. Always.”

“Then we’ll be together, always, dancing until end of days.”

The other dryads envy their sister. They dance there, still.