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Jude continued walking in quiet thought for a good part of the afternoon. An open clearing met the giant on the other side of the tunnel. Beyond that, there were scattered trees and fields of crops as far as the eye could see.

A rustling near his foot caught his eye. Jude paused, taking a more careful look at the edge of corn crop. When nothing moved again, he continued on.

Not ten minutes later, he heard another rustling in the shrubbery. He was far enough away to ignore it, and entered into a thin grove of trees that were just a head taller than him. When he heard the noise again, he recognized shuffling feet. He slowed his stride, glancing down through the tree branches. He couldn't see clearly, so he crouched down.

Twin boys with matching black hair were huddled on a branch. They were whispering hurriedly to each other, but gasped in excited fright when the giant caught sight of them. One boy tried to get a better grip, but lost it instead and slipped with a yelp and crackle of branches. Jude reached in-between the branches and removed the small boy from the prickly hold of the tree.

“Why are you following me?" He asked the wide-eyed kid. His brother piped up instead.

"We-" he faltered when the large blue-green eyes settled on him instead. "We heard from Old Man Willows that you get three wishes if you catch a leprechaun... We thought if we caught a giant we could get a gazillion!"

Jude raised his eyebrows. They looked young, only about six or seven. He couldn't help but smile at their naivety.

"That's pretty silly. You did come pretty close to nabbing me, though. How about I get you down from that tree, instead?"

Pen found herself awoken by speech both belonging to Jude (mostly due to the vibrations she received by being so close to his vocal chords) and what sounded like young children. When she opened her eyes and rubbed the heavy weight of sleep from her vision, she straightened her spectacles and looked toward the twin boys. They appeared and sounded adorable. She smiled and let out a small giggle. Pen couldn't help but notice that Jude was quite good with children.

Her giggle earned a confused look from both twins when they looked up to see her smiling down at them.

"Hey." Jude turned his head to greet her. Then he proceeded to reach between branches and pull out the other kid by the back of his shirt, adding him alongside his brother in his other palm.

"These two rascals were tailing us." He caught her up to speed with amusement evident.

"Put us down!" They squealed.

"What do you think, Pen? Should I put 'em down?"

"Oh, be nice." Pen climbed out of the giant's shirt and on to his shoulder with a silly grin on her face. She gave his face a playful swat and shot the twin boys a wink.

"I heard the comment about the leprechauns. Want me to tell you a secret about wishes?" She spoke in a stage whisper.

The boys looked at her with eyes as big as saucers. One finally remembered to nod. She was silhouetted by the late afternoon sun and looked almost ethereal, especially in comparison to Jude.

He raised his hand to chest level so they could converse with Penelope more easily. One of them fell back from the momentum and he made a noise of surprise.

"It's all squishy!" He exclaimed quietly to his brother as he pushed against the flesh to sit up He laughed lightly and agreed to comply.

"Be very careful." Pen cautioned as she managed to leap straight on Jude's increasingly more crowded palm. She bent down and grinned.

"Jude here is a very ticklish giant. I'll tell you the very best way to get your wishes granted but first you need to help me with something."

She ushered them in and bent down, whispering something in their huddle. Then she bent down, nodded and started tickling Jude's massive palm, ensuring the boys stayed closer to the middle.

He immediately knew something was up when she whispered to them so he couldn't hear. Before he could say anything however, he found himself under attack by the trio.

"Pehehen! Stohaha-stop-" he couldn't get full words out.

His fingers curled inward a bit as he burst out in helpless laughter. Jude rocked back on his heels, falling into a seated position on the leafy ground. The tricky thing about it was he had to get them to stop without traumatizing the kids for life.

He decided on lowering them to the ground by his leg, escorted them off his palm with a gentle nudge.

"Oy, I'm getting lightheaded..." He sighed, then flicked Pen lightly on the behind, shaking his head. "You are a horrible role model."

Pen had been laughing with the kids over Jude's reaction, only to jump nearly ten feet in the air and yelp at being finger-spanked. The blush on Pen's face made the twins laugh even harder.

"Says you, buttsmacker!" She sputtered out in a flustered manner before bolting up and pinching Jude's leg in vengeance.

"Ooh, that hurt." He drawled.

The boys were in stitches at the moment, the pair in front of them was quite possibly the funniest thing they'd ever seen.

"You two have names?" Jude asked. They suddenly found themselves the center of attention again. They answered over top of each other, each wanting to be the spokesperson.

"I'm Sam and he's Arthur."

"I'm Arthur... And he's Sam!"

"Well, I'm Pen and he is Jude. It's nice to meet both of you young adventurers." Pen extended her hands and gave each of the twin boys a hair ruffle in turn.

"I can think of two very brave men from different stories, actually. One was a hobbit named Samwise the Great and even though he was little, he was brave and strong and a loyal friend who risked his all to help his comrades." She smiled and spoke animatedly.

"And I know of an Arthur as well. A great king with a legendary sword who became great friends with a wizard and fought to keep his kingdom safe from the wicked and the unjust."

Jude's smile softened momentarily as he watched her interact with them. He found himself thinking what a good mother she would be someday, with kids of her own.

"I know that story!" Arthur stood up straighter, as of assuming the nobility his name alluded to. "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Pa told me it once."

"Oh yeah.." Sam remembered aside.

"Do your parents know you're out stalking a giant?" Jude interjected.

"Oh we play out here all the time. We're allowed." Sam waved off his concern as if that were a stupid question. "Where are y'all headed?"

"Rutherford Falls."

"Never heard of it." Arthur leaned back to look at the giant's face, shielding his eyes from the sun by making binoculars with his hands

"It's just over the border." Jude doubted they would be familiar with giant territory. Indeed, they raised their eyebrows at the mention of the border they were strictly commanded never to cross.

"You kids should make sure you're nice and careful on these roads in case any more giants come by. Make sure they know if you're under foot, okay?" Pen gave them both an encouraging smile each before recalling something.

"And the best way to get a wish is to think of it every night before you go to bed. You can use a little magic of your own." She explained.

Jude heard the finality in her voice, and took this cue to get up into a squatting position.

"She's not kidding about that magic stuff." Jude agreed.

The boys looked both excited and perplexed by the suggestion. Arthur didn't seem convinced.

"That's too much work. Come on, let's try to find a fairy." He tugged at Sam, who followed reluctantly.

"Bye!" He waved as his brother pulled him through the branches.

Jude gave a little wave and waited a moment after they left before looking to Pen. "Cute kids. Seemed to fancy you."

Fondness and contemplation sat within the gaze that followed the boys until they'd disappeared from her sights. Unconsciously, her hand found a place all women would know and guard with ferocity: her belly. She wondered what it would be like to have children over her own blood, to create life, to carry it for months and bring it into the world. Softness reigned over her body entirely.

"...I would like to know what motherhood is some day." Pen admitted. "To raise boys or girls like those kids. To give life to someone.."

That was pretty heavy for Jude to swallow, seeing as he knew nothing of maternal instincts. He softened, cocked his head to the side as he looked down at her.

"Those kids will be lucky to have you as a mum." He said, with a tone of reverence for the deepness of her desire.

Pen realized in this moment that unless they found a way to change one of their bodies even if just for a moment, she would never be able to have children with Jude. Her cheek lit with fire at the thought of that. The thought had just come to her so easily without the slightest hesitance. It was amazing really how much she'd come to love him. The cleric leaned against his leg and remained thoughtful.

"Hold me." She said softly.

Her back was to him; yet he could sense she was perturbed by something. Even though he didn't understand where that feeling was coming from, he didn't hesitate to fulfill her request. Thick fingers wrapped around her with an unspeakable care and lifted her to his chest. He silently communicated as he held her securely that whatever it was he would go through it with her; she wouldn't have to face her trials and fears alone.

"I wish...I wish we.." Pen started and stopped.

She felt the annoyance of tears in her eyes. Pen knew she was better this, better than crying so illogically. She buried her face in Jude's shirt, her hands grasping tight fistfuls of fabric. Her voice felt like it was failing her, her throat closing over what she wished to say.

He did his best to comfort the small woman. In truth, he had no idea why she was suddenly reduced to tears. He rubbed her back-- then it clicked: their previous conversation about motherhood combined with the 'we' she had just made a muffled mention of... He realized with a start that she might be thinking about having children with him, and the impossibility of that endeavor. He glanced down at her. His heart raced at the notion and he quickly took deep breaths to relieve that.

"Don't let tomorrow trouble you just yet, love." Jude said gently.

Pen let everything go and just cried the hardest she had in a long time. Perhaps it had been a result of everything that had been underlying- her worries of her future with Jude due to segregation laws, worries of whoever her grandmother would inevitably send to hurt Jude and take her away from the only true happiness she'd ever known, worries of how they would adapt to the future together in a world not built to hold them both together at once.

She could only be so outwardly strong for so long. All she wished was to disappear with Jude somewhere just for them. Somewhere only they knew. Pen felt her face constrict as if in pain as she let out quiet, gasping sobs, channeling every bit of her frustration into a single action.

"I know..." he murmured.

His own mutual fears for the future were awakened as he clutched her closer. He didn't know what would happen to their unlikely love, and he refused to pepper her with "it will be okay" and "don't worry"'s. That was hollow comfort.

After her trembling had subsided somewhat, he raised her to her lips and kissed her tear-dampened cheeks.

"I love you." He whispered.

"J....Jude...." Pen sniffled pathetically.

She could feel her nose getting runny, her eyes stinging with tears both shed and unshed. The touch of Jude's lips brought her more comfort than she could possibly express. He was everything that was brought to mind when she thought of the word "safe."

"I'm sorry...This just....It came out of no where...." She rubbed her eyes.

"It's fine," He smiled gently, his tone making it clear that apologizing wasnt necessary. "You have a lot going on right now... Don't be sorry."

Jude brushed her cheek with his thumb, cupping her in his hand like she was made of the most precious crystal on earth.

Pen held Jude's thumb to her reddened cheek with a delicate hand and closed her eyes as if to will this spell of emotional excess to wash away. She drew in breath after breath and took the time to taste the forest within the oxygen. It calmed the cleric beyond words.

"...Thank you, Jude. We should get moving again." She exhaled, severely calmed. "Can you carry me like this the rest of the way?" She asked, looking up into his eyes.

He nodded once and rose to his feet. Jude adjusted his satchel, then slowly regained his pace and began walking towards Rutherford.

He was quiet for a while, her tears prompting more sobering thoughts of his own. The sun was getting low in the horizon. All the while, he held her carefully, looking down at her frequently.