"Glad to see you alive and well brat." Rowen spoke as he approached, pulling Kayn into a hug.
"Saw what you looked like when Charlotte brought you back, can't believe you're back to your too good-looking smug face already. I think I preferred you all wrapped up." Rowen spoke as he patted Kayn on the back.
"You visited me?" Kayn asked as he was quite surprised to hear this.
"Of course! Although, only just a couple times…" Rowen's voice trailed off before he found his courage again, "You need to talk to Kinzie…"
Rowen's head hung low, but he continued talking before Kayn could open his mouth.
"I, no we, thought you died over two years ago now. It took her a while to get out of her slump after waiting so long for you to come back. But she did, and she got out and even started seeing this new kid she met while adventuring again.
"But then that guy blew up Charlotte's and Lara's home. Kinzie, despite my saying otherwise, followed the fight. You know what she saw? You. But it wasn't the you she grew to love. I mean, come on kid, you ripped a guy's arms off and stabbed him with them repeatedly. The guy deserved it for sure, but anyway, what I'm trying to say is that Kinzie is…afraid of you.
"She's scared to tell you that she had mostly moved on and gotten over your death. She's scared to tell you about her barely new budding relationship. After seeing what you did to the one guy, she doesn't know what you'll do to her new boyfriend. Heck, even Lara was mad at Kinzie for going on a date with someone else, but I was happy. I saw my great granddaughter truly smile again for the first time in over a decade.
"Your return complicates things and I'm sure her emotions are in turmoil. I love you kid, but I think we both know what would be best for Kinzie." Rowen finished speaking as tears dripped down his eyes. He wasn't happy about what he said, but it had to be said none-the-less.
"Rowen…I understand your feelings," Kayn's head hung a bit lower as he spoke. "I actually came here for two reasons. First and foremost, to see you guys and talk with Kinzie, but I also need to buy some materials from you."
Rowen's eyebrow raised at the last part of Kayn's sentence, "What could you possibly need from me that you don't already have?"
Kayn reached into his pocket and pulled out a list before handing it over to Rowen. "I need the things on that list, I have the main material, but I need the sub-materials and some tools, I figured that you would be the one to ask about them."
Indeed, Kayn had accumulated more wealth, rare, and unique items than he would probably ever have a need for after killing so many top experts and liches. The liches in particular had some fascinating items that Kayn still had no idea what they were. However, the main material being used in Lara's necklace was a gemstone that was both filled with mana and beautiful and even the core stone he was going to use for the inscription process was from an extremely rare SSS-class rune beast.
Rowen looked at the list and nodded, "I have most of these I think, but I'll have to search around the back room a bit. In the meantime, Kinzie is upstairs locked in her room, second door on the left."
Rowen then walked off after pointing Kayn in the direction of the stairs. Despite all of the challenges and life-or-death battles he had been through until this point, Kayn was more nervous about going up those steps than anything.
Firming his resolve, he walked up the steps to the second bedroom on the left. He stood before it silently for a moment before gently knocking on it. "Kinzie, it's me Kayn. Can we talk?"
"…" Silence came from the other side of the door, but Kayn's perceptive hearing heard someone nervously shuffling towards the door. He shut down his Mana Sense and even lowered his normal senses back to what a regular human would feel as he didn't want to have any advantage over Kinzie in this talk.
He wanted to appear as non-threatening as possible. Being vulnerable after all he had been through in the last 15 plus years was extremely discomforting, but he knew that was what the situation called for. Knowing it was Kinzie helped to still his beating heart though. He knew he still had feelings for her, strong ones at that, but there was also the despair of knowing that it would never work.
These two forces were currently working to tear his mind and heart apart. He spent the last two months recovering, coming to terms with all of the killing he had done, and now he needed to proceed with the next step in his healing process no matter how it ended.
*Click*
Kayn heard the door unlock and it slowly opened to reveal Kinzie standing there before him. She looked distressed, sad, happy, and also malnourished. Her face was stained with tears and the shirt she was wearing showed evidence of being a snot rag for several days now.
"Kayn…" Kinzie just stared at Kayn for a few moments before she took a couple more steps forward and fell into his embrace, hugging him tightly as her head buried into his chest.
Kayn was startled as this was not the reaction that he was expecting from Kinzie, but he adapted quickly and pulled her deeper into his embrace, rubbing her back and combing out her messy hair with his other hand. He didn't say anything, as he truly didn't know what to say, so he only silently stood there and comforted her in the only way he could at this point.
After many minutes of Kinzie quietly sobbing into Kayn, she finally spoke, albeit very quietly. "I thought you were dead. I thought I'd never see you again. You promised to never leave suddenly and stop all communication like you did after Myrem, you broke your promise, only for me to discover you probably died."
Kinzie pulled away from Kayn and looked him in the eyes, tears still running down her face, "Do you have any idea how I felt Kayn? How broken I was? It took me until only recently to finally move on and look towards my future again, but out of nowhere you show up again. Only this time, you were stemming with hatred, anger, and cruelty. You tortured a man for so long that I couldn't keep watching and ran away in fear of you."
Kinzie paused while Kayn refused to say anything yet as he knew she still had more to say. Sometimes, it was just important to keep one's mouth shut as it was to speak your mind.
"You know, initially, I worked so hard to progress. I wanted to catch up to you. I wanted to be your support for when you came back, but I can never be that person. After being stuck at the peak of the 3rd stage for so long, I've realized that progressing any further isn't part of my fate and I've accepted that.
"But you…I obviously can't tell how strong you are, but if how you toyed with that man who overwhelmed Charlotte is any indication, you're so far out of my league it's not even funny. That also means that sooner or later you would be leaving me again. Even if you wanted to stay behind…to stunt your own growth just to watch me die, I wouldn't let you.
"I refuse to be what holds you back from your destiny. I refuse to resent you for never growing old as I die. I refuse to become the target or your resent for keeping you in one place. I love you, Kayn. I'm scared shitless of you if I'm honest, but I still love you.
"However, we both know we aren't compatible anymore. Our relationship just isn't meant to be. I'm sorry, I hope you won't hate me."
Kinzie hung her head in shame after quickly sputtering out all of those words. Kayn only released a large sigh and pulled her back into his embrace.
"It's okay Kinzie, I don't hate you nor am I mad at you. I've seen you as not just my love but also my best friend since before even that. I want you to be happy and have a fulfilling life with a man who you can grow old with. It hurts, but I've also been preparing myself for this day as I too thought about how things could to turn out."
After a few moments of silence, Kinzie mumbled something out, "So you won't go beat up or kill the guy I've gone on a few dates with?"
"I promise that I won't kill or beat him up. Though, I can't promise I won't stalk him from the shadows a bit to ensure he's worthy of you." Kayn spoke. Kinzie pulled her head away from Kayn's chest to rebuke him, only to see his signature mischievous smile.
"I really am glad that you're alive and made it back Kayn." Kinzie pulled herself back into his embrace. Both had sad smiles on their faces, but they were content. It was the end of a long and complicated relationship, but they would both be able to move on with full hearts now after knowing it was a mutual realization they had both come to.
With one last kiss to Kinzie's cheek, Kayn said his goodbyes and went back downstairs where he paid Rowen for the materials he asked for and left the Enchanter's Emporium.
Would he ever see these two again? Only time would tell.