Rick nuzzled Gigi's neck, placing several kisses up the length of it as she giggled. They lay on his couch, Leah in her cage being remarkably quiet.
The past few days had gone along blissfully. Now that he had come to terms with his own feelings towards her, and hers for him, it was much easier to spend time together.
"Ricky, I'm ticklish!" She giggled.
"Oh really now? You probably shouldn't have told me that." He nipped her neck gently.
"Mmmm." Gigi groaned softly.
"Gigi?"
"Yes Ricky?"
"I think I know what I want." Rick said cautiously.
"What is that?" Gigi adjusted so she could look Ricky directly in the face.
"I want to see your home. Can I do that? Before it was torn down, I mean." Gigi stared at him wide-eyed and doe like. Rick tried to piece together her reaction. "I would like to know more about you, and the way things were..." He paused and tried to find the right words.
"Is that what you really want?" Gigi looked at him hopefully. He could tell she was trying to not be too excited.
"Yes, that's what I really want. You seem to know so much about me, but I don't really know about you. I mean I know what you've told me, but I don't think it's enough. I want to know how you lived, what your family was like. I want to see the woods the way they were. It's been awhile since I got out in the wilderness. I guess yours would be a good place to start."
Gigi jumped up from the couch and threw her arms in the air. "Oh Ricky! You made me so happy!"
She pulled her arms in and giggled as she floated. "One blast from the past coming up!"
She raised her arm in the air and pointed to the ceiling. All at once the room seemed to dissolve around them. Rick watched her from the couch. He was afraid to move.
The walls fell like paint melting, the items in his apartment seemed like part of the picture. At once everything was gone, nothing but trees surrounded them. Before he could react, the couch disappeared and Rick fell to the ground.
He landed hard, the breath knocked out of him. Gigi rushed to his side. "Oh! I'm so sorry Ricky! I have got to work on my landings." She helped him up.
Rick brushed leaves and dirt off of his black pants. He looked around. Forest surrounded him on all sides. He was caught off guard by children running with some fawns. Rick blinked and wiped his eyes.
"Did... Did I just see what I think I saw?"
"Yes you did. As a matter of fact, that one was me." She pointed at a particular blonde child. Gigi smiled as she watched the children play.
"What about the time-space continuum? Won't this change history? We can't be seen here!" Rick stammered.
"Oh relax would you? Mortals." Gigi rolled her eyes. "I swear it." She fluffed her hair. "You don't have to worry about any of this Ricky. This is all in my memory. We aren't actually in the past. Nothing we do here will change anything. It won't even change my memories. You asked to see how I grew up; I'm going to give you a living slideshow. That is all. Stop being such a worrywart."
"I am not an anxious blemish!" Rick exclaimed.
Gigi looked back at him and blinked. She stared for a moment before erupting in a fit of giggles. "Oh Ricky was that a joke? A pun perhaps? From you? Oh the hilarity!" She fell back and laughed.
"I make jokes a lot, you just never noticed." Rick said defiantly as he crossed his arms.
Gigi looked up at him. She floated back up and leaned into his face. "Wow, I never realized how cute you look when you pout." She grinned at him.
Rick took a step back and dropped his arms. "IāI umm... that is..."
Gigi burst into another fit of giggles. "Come on Ricky, I want to show you everything." She grabbed his arm and tugged him along.
They approached a rather large grouping of trees. Within the trees he could see little windows and doors. Each tree seemed to be a different house. The tallest and largest of the trees was in the center of a circle. Surrounding the tree were mushrooms of every shape, size, and color. Everywhere he looked; there were more and more people. None of them looked like they belonged in the woods. All in the same type of flity dress as Gigi, most of them in earthy and flower colors, all of varying lengths. The men seemed to wear a similar type shirt and loose pants.
The part that confused him the most was the fact that all of people were various sizes themselves; some as small as a mouse, some a big as he and Gigi.
"What is this place? And why is everyone a different size and dressed the way they are?"
"As I said, everything is not always as it is portrayed." Gigi floated in front of him. "Fairies vary in size because we want to. If I wanted to be as big as a tree, I could be. I just don't want to be, and most don't. Fairies believe in using only what we need and nothing more. There is no excess here."
Rick followed her as the scenes changed. "Fairies also have no concept of 'embarrassment' when it comes to dress. We wear what is comfortable to us; if we wear anything at all." Gigi pointed towards a grouping of people having a conversation, all six of them completely in the nude, none of them seeming to notice or care.
"In the winter we wear stronger clothes, in the spring we wear to shield from the elements, in the summer, we spend most of our time bare. It's a lot more comfortable."
They reached a clearing. Rick looked down and noticed his toes were on the edge of a very steep cliff. "Frequently, there is a need to climb to the mountain tops. It's a very refreshing way to clear your head. Some just like the view; some use it to scream." At that Gigi threw back her head and let out a wordless bellow. Rick grabbed his ears.
"What was that for?!" Rick exclaimed.
"Because it was funny." She smiled at him.
"Don't do that again," Rick rubbed his ear. "At least not without warning me first."
Gigi giggled again. "Kay."
She turned and started walking. Various animals came up to her. She patted each gently and they scampered off. She enjoyed her walk through the woods. Rick watched her with fascination, he felt as if he was intruding in her deepest thoughts.
"Please tell me more. How do you speak to the animals?" He pressed.
"It's simple really. Fairies share a telepathic connection with all things. The very air you breathe, we feel it, we know its mood. The plants and animals are the same. Sure, a tree cannot have a cognitive thought, but it has feelings, it has needs. We feel their need and tend to them accordingly."
The scene changed again. This time, the trees were covered in orange X's. "But when the humans came, they did not care about this. They did not care about the needs of the trees. Only saw them in the way."
They stood before bulldozers and men in hardhats. Rick recognized a familiar figure before them. There she was, standing there, facing down a log truck worker. Her mouth was moving, but the words could not be heard. Rick watched the scene in horror as the man walked up to the girl and slapped her hard across the face. Rick stepped forward but an arm caught him.
"You can't do anything Ricky. You can't undo the past, no matter how hard you try."