Days 38-55: Going Home

The following day, Mei, Kuro-san and Mii said goodbye to Grandma and the other goats. Somehow, Mei found this goodbye, leaving his grandmother behind, harder than he’d found the decision to leave his herd to run away with Gabu. Perhaps it was because, that first time, he had thought that no one in his herd cared for him anymore, so he wasn’t losing anything by leaving them behind. This time, he was leaving behind someone he knew he wanted to see again but didn’t know if he’d get the chance to.

Kuro-san didn’t seem as bothered by the prospect of a long journey away from the Para Para goats. He’d travelled on his own in the past, although never as far from home as the Emerald Forest. In fact, Kuro-san was overjoyed to be spending another three or so weeks with Mii and Mei.

“This will be just like old times,” Mii said to Mei as they were leaving. “The two of us going on adventures together. And Kuro-san, I mean.”

Kuro-san chuckled. “You’ve been on adventures before, then?”

“We got up to all sorts of trouble when we were younger,” Mei said. “Getting lost in unfamiliar forests, exploring caves, crossing ravines... The adults were worried about us constantly.”

“We had lots of fun, though,” Mii said.

“Do you and Gabu-san also have adventures together, Mei-san?” Kuro-san said. “Besides jumping into rivers and crossing over mountains together, I mean.”

“All the time. Every time we met up was an adventure back when we were keeping our friendship secret. I lost count of how many times someone almost found out about us or tried to eat me.”

“There must have been some enjoyable times too, right?” Kuro-san said.

“Of course!” Mei smiled at the many pleasant memories of times he and Gabu had shared together. “One evening, after playing together all day, we watched hundreds of butterflies emerging from their cocoons all at once. Gabu told me a legend that if you watch that happen with someone, the two of you are destined to be friends forever. And, as it turned out, he was right.”

“You two are really good friends, then?” Kuro-san said.

Mei wasn’t quite sure what the other goat meant by that. Of course they were good friends. “Yeah, we are,” Mei said with a smile.

“So...you’re going to spent the rest of your lives in the Emerald Forest? Living together?”

“We don’t exactly have anywhere else to go. Gabu doesn’t, at least.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” Mii shouted from behind them. Mei and Kuro-san turned to look at her. “Mei, what Kuro-san is trying to ask you is are you and Gabu boyfriends?”

Mei stared at Mii in surprise, and turned to look at Kuro-san. Kuro-san smiled sheepishly, not denying what Mii had said.

“Oh, um, yes, we are,” Mei said. “We’re in love with each other.”

“I knew it!” Mii exclaimed. “I mean, it was obvious from the start that you were sneaking off to visit a secret boyfriend; I just never would have guessed it was a wolf. For a while, I was convinced he was visiting you, Kuro-san.”

Both Mei and Kuro-san looked at each other and blushed. Mii laughed.

“How did you know that Mei-san was visiting a boyfriend?” Kuro-san asked tentatively.

“I’ve known that Mei was interested in males since before he did,” Mii said with a grin. Kuro-san seemed slightly alarmed at this. Mei himself had no idea that Mii had known, not that he’d made any effort to conceal the fact.

They travelled for a few more minutes in awkward silence.

“So, Mei-san, have you and Gabu-san ever...you know?” Kuro-san asked.

“I’m just going to get some berries,” Mii said suddenly, and left the two of them alone. Somehow, that made it even more awkward.

“No, we haven’t,” Mei said quietly. “I’m not even sure how that would work.”

“It can be done. I’m not sure if it’s different with wolves, but...would you like to know?”

Mei thought about it for a second, glanced off to the side where Mii had gone, and slowly nodded his head.

Kuro-san walked over and whispered something in his ear.

By the time the three friends arrived at the start of the path around the mountain, four days into their journey, the moon had shrunk from a narrow crescent to an almost invisible sliver in the sky. From then on, night after night, the moon gradually grew wider. Seven days later, when they were halfway around the mountain, the moon was a half circle. Another four days, and the moon was almost full. Now, with about three days to go until they arrived in the Emerald Forest, Mei was getting worried.

“Is everything all right, Mei?” Mii asked.

“I really wanted to get back in time to see the full moon with Gabu,” Mei said, “but it looks like we might be too late.”

“The full moon is special to you two, isn’t it?” Kuro-san said.

“Yes, it is. Gabu has always found a lot of comfort in watching the moonrise on a full moon’s night. Just before everyone found out about us, he took me to a cave in Poro Poro Hill with a perfect view of the sky. He wanted us to watch the moonrise together that night, but the fog meant that we couldn’t see a thing. The day we were reunited was the first time we got to see the full moon together, and we haven’t had another chance to since.”

“We could take a shortcut by climbing a short way up the mountain and down again,” Mii suggested.

“Too dangerous,” Mei said. “If there’s another avalanche, we could all be killed.”

“Then let’s hurry, and hopefully we’ll get there in time,” Kuro-san said.