Nadia was still holding Jean on her hands, this time directly beneath her face, staring at him with a warm and caring smile, and with a few tears in her eyes. She almost looked like a mother, caring about her tiny, helpless baby. Of course, she seemed like the perfect mother, and funnily, though, from the moment Jean met Nadia, he thought that she would be a great mother one day. And a wonderful wife...From this thought on, everything went into mere speculation...as well as dreams and hope. The hope that he would live his life together with this girl. This girl that seemed like an angel, sent from the heavens just to him.
Of course, Jean was not a helpless baby. By no means. What he went through could have been enough to drive any other 14 year old crazy. It might have been enough to kill a person, in fact. But Jean survived. His will and his feelings for Nadia brought him literally back from the depths of his organic hell and back into the heavens, under the protection of an angel. His guardian angel...
From time to time, Nadia was carefully touching Jean with the tip of her pointer finger, and although the boy was barely conscious, he noticed the impact of Nadia´s soft skin on his body with a faint smile, whispering her name.
"Oh Jean..."
Grandis watched the cute couple, enjoying their reunion. The pain inside her throat, caused by the gagging, was slowly disappearing. Although she did not want to interrupt the two, she thought that Jean needed something to eat and treatment.
"Nadia."
"Huh?"
It seemed as if Nadia was in a dream world, with only herself and Jean being in it, but Grandis´ voice brought her back to reality. She looked up in surprise from Jean and at her arch enemy...or former archenemy. She had to admit that what Grandis did for her was great. She let go of her arrogance and her goals, and she showed that she actually cared about others. More than Nadia would have thought. She wasn´t sure, but she somehow even liked this woman, for showing that she had a good heart. Not a pure heart, but still a good person.
"I think your friend should eat something. He lost all his energy inside me, I guess."
"You´re right. Hm..."
She looked at Jean again, and at his hurt body. He looked so frail, lying there on her palm. It made her realize that she really had to take good care of him. The experience of him being inside two girls´ bellies was the perfect example of how dangerous the world can be for a merely insect-sized boy, and that he needed the protection of a normal sized, loving and caring person. And this person happened to be Nadia. She was glad that it was her who would watch over Jean. It wasn´t an annoying chore to her, and she didn´t do it out of pity for the helpless boy. She did it on her own free will. Her will to protect Jean, the love of her life, for she knew he would do the same for her.
She realized again how much his body had suffered from the recent events, so she thought about a way to give him treatment he needed. It surely was not easy. First of all, she had no experience regarding the treatment of wounded persons whatsoever, but that was not the main problem here. How would she be able to treat a frail 1/2 inch boy? If she attempted to treat him, she had to take great care, that was clear.
But something to eat for Jean would be the best idea right now. As far as Nadia was concerned, Jean hadn´t eaten anything for quite some time, and together with all the things he had to go through, it was no surprise that his body was aching for new energy. Looking at Grandis again, her former enemy smiled, confusing Nadia a bit.
"Don´t worry, Nadia. Look over there, on that table. See the basket? There´s some bread in it. You can give Jean a bread crumb if you want. I guess it will be more than enough for him."
"Thank you, Grandis."
"Never mind that. It´s the least thing I could do for you."
"Grandis...I´m sorry about the way I was talking to you earlier. I was being arrogant and..."
"...and you were right. Nadia, I understand how you felt. You wanted to save Jean, that´s completely understandable. And I saw that you would do anything for him. That´s just normal when you´re in love with someone."
"I guess you´re right...but still, I feel bad about threatening you. It was..."
"Nah, I deserved it. It was some kind of kick in my butt. It helped me realize something again. I should be thankful, I´d say."
"Made you realize...what?"
"Uh, that doesn´t matter now. If you´ll excuse me, I think I better leave you and Jean alone for a while. I should look after my two good-for-nothing helpers. You certainly left a mark when you met them..."
"Oh! I´m...I´m sorry about that! If they come to themselves again, please tell them that I didn´t mean to hurt them badly."
"Don´t worry about these two. It was just a piece of cake compared to what I do to them...from time to time. Hehehe!"
That childish laughter, accompanied by that devious smile made Nadia feel a bit uneasy, seeing the Grandis she knew from the Eiffel Tower, the almost jester-like, mischievous woman. But it seemed rather likable at that moment, especially since there was no immediate thread from Grandis, unlike before.
"Anyway, I´m gonna look after them. See ya."
"..."
"Don´t worry, I´m not leading you into some kind of trap. I...I don´t want the Blue Water anymore."
With these words, Grandis took a look at Jean, lying on Nadia´s hand, half awake and half asleep. She had mixed feelings when she saw this cute little boy. Of course, she was glad that he was alive after his extremely dangerous inside her, but there was also this feeling of guilt nagging at her soul, telling her that she could have done something earlier so she could have prevented his terrible condition now.
"And when he wakes up...tell him that I´m sorry. Later."
And so Grandis left the room, with Nadia and Jean abiding alone in there. She thought that now the time was right to get him something to eat, so she walked toward the table Grandis had pointed at earlier. There was also a jug of wine, as well as a plate with a half-eaten steak. Nadia knew immediately that this must have also been a part of Jean´s torture inside Grandis, and she shuddered at that thought. She also felt quite uncomfortable as she looked at steak on the plate. Nadia never ate flesh before, and she would never attempt to. she was a vegetarian, for she thought that it was not right to kill animals and to eat them. Yet it was one more reason for her to be proud of Jean. If Nadia would have been inside Grandis´ stomach, exposed to the sight of a chewed steak being digested, she would have gone nuts. It would have been too much for her to bear. But Jean was obviously able to stand that horrific spectacle.
Nadia sat down on the chair in front of the table and looked at Jean first, then at the basket with some bread in it.
"Jean...?"
She carefully pushed him with her pointer finger, trying to wake him up from his well earned (half) sleep.
"Yes...?" his weak voice uttered.
"It´s time for you to eat something. We have some bread here; I hope you´ll like it."
"Oh...don´t worry...I´m not...hungry..."
"I don´t care whether you say that you are hungry or not, you´re going to eat something now!"
"Huh?"
"You lost a lot of energy inside Grandis´ belly, and it´s essential for you to make up for that now. Please, Jean. Don´t be stubborn, eat something."
"Nadia...I´m sure you´ll be a good mother one day..." Jean said, smiling faintly. Of course Nadia´s face was getting red like a tomato, being embarrassed about Jean´s cute yet unexpected comment. She smiled back at him with a shy expression.
"Uhm...I...thank you..."
Even in his pain, Jean was able to show Nadia why exactly she loved him so dearly. There was no way that an even cuter boy than Jean could have existed. Nadia would never give him away. From a selfish point of view, he was all hers. Of course she didn´t look at him as an object; Nadia would have never thought like that. He was just HER boy, HER boyfriend. Any other girl would have been envious of her for having such a kind, polite and lovable friend. And even now, she could hardly believe how lucky she was. Of course Jean wasn´t as muscular as the typical man women desire. His physical appearance was even rather weak. But Nadia did not belong to those girls who judge males by their looks. The mere thought of a muscular no-brainer as a possible friend sent her shivers down her back. Despite herself being a beautiful girl, looks didn´t matter to her. Jean, on the other hand, was the ideal boyfriend, just like she always imagined him.
With Jean remaining on her right hand, Nadia reached for a loaf of bread in the basket. Putting it onto the table, she peeled a small crumb out of the dough. Then she placed it onto her right hand, next to Jean.
"Bon appétit, Jean!"
"Thank you..."
Fortunately, Jean was able to stand up and walk a few inches over the soft surface of Nadia´s palm, toward the crumb. It was about his size, and he was positive that it would provide him with new energy.