Although it was slowly getting dark, everyone pretty much enjoyed the walk through the forest, despite the light fading away more and more. Jean, for example decided that he at least wanted to get a small glimpse at what Nadia´s ear might look like from the inside; and of course a more comfortable place during the remaining journey. And could there have been a better place than Nadia´s ear? Probably not, at least not from Jean´s point of view. Having been on her head again, he quickly walked to the edge of her head and from there, he quickly climbed down onto Nadia´s right outer ear. Of course Nadia felt this, but she didn´t really mind. In fact, she would have allowed Jean to go everywhere on her body - almost everywhere, of course, since she didn´t want her intimacy to be offended. Even though she and Jean have been grown so close to each other in such a short time, and although she loved him so dearly, there were still some "lines" Jean could not cross yet. Nadia thought that they both were still too young for a very intimate relationship yet. Close friends, yes. Very close friends indeed. But she wanted to wait a few years until she and Jean could develop a true romance. But until the time was right, until she felt that she was mature enough to take the responsibilities that such a relationship provides a couple with, she would not let go of Jean. Especially in case they would not find a way to make him grow back to his original size. She promised to stay with him. No matter whether he was a normal sized young boy or a 1/2 inch "insect" boy.
So Nadia paid no heed as Jean finally crawled into the opening into her ear, yet only a few inches (inches for him). He did not want to go to deep in there, although the thought of sitting next to her eardrum was scarily fascinating. But he did not want to upset Nadia that much, so he just stayed inside her ear, directly next to the opening, having both a wonderful view into the outside world as well as look into the depths of her ear canal.
"What are you doing there?" Nadia then asked, feeling slightly uneasy because of Jean´s descent into her ear.
"I just thought that sitting in there might be comfortable."
"Well, is it?"
"Yeah! It´s so warm and cozy...I could actually fall asleep in there."
"Oh you...you better don´t go too deep in there. It could be dangerous for you...and maybe even me as well."
"Nothing to worry about. I´ll stay at the opening. I don´t really want to roll down deep into your head anyway. Although...I admit that it sounds exciting. Maybe..."
"Oh...that´s enough!"
"Huh?"
"Enough talk about my body. Let´s change the subject."
"All right, all right."
As he leaned against the walls of this endlessly seeming tube of her auditory canal, Nadia giggled slightly.
"Huh? What´s wrong?"
"I...*giggle*...think you hit one of those small hairs."
"Oh! Sorry bout that. I´ll try to avoid tickling you."
"I hope so. For your sake!" Nadia said, with an all too obvious ironic expression.
Grandis, Hanson and Sanson couldn´t help but being surprised by Nadia´s and Jean´s behaviour. Hanson and Sanson because they never had any deep relationship with a woman before (how could they anyway, having to work under Grandis´ command...), and Grandis because seeing Nadia and Jean once again having fun together seemed far more powerful than what she experienced with her lover...and far more honest. Jean didn´t actually seem to be the kind of man who would betray a woman for minor reasons. He was a loyal friend to Nadia, and Grandis knew that this was really the case. And she still felt a little envious, seeing that Nadia is so happy with her tiny inventor-geek friend. And yet, she did not grudge Nadia her luck. She was still thankful for Nadia being so kind to her, despite her mean attempts to steal Blue Water and her torturing Jean by swallowing him. Why in the world should she be envious of her "small sister"? Especially after she had decided to watch over her during their journey.
During their travel through the forest, Hanson, who was also an inventor, was talking to Jean about his inventions, especially his shrink-ray gun. Jean hoped that maybe Hanson would be able to help him grow back to his normal size. As he could not exactly show him his gun (it was just too small), he described to him how that thing works.
"I see. That´s simply incredible, Jean."
"Uhm...thank you."
"Honestly, I would have never expected a geeky boy to develop something no famous scientist in this world could possibly have."
"Geeky? Well, if I were you, I wouldn´t call others geeky..."
"Why, you small...!" Hanson shouted, looking at Nadia´s ear, although he was not able to see Jean in it. Nadia surely was a bit surprised and even afraid. But Grandis solved the situation in her magnificent way.
"SHUT UP, HANSON!" Grandis´ powerful voice interrupted Hanson´s small emotional reaction.
"Yes, ma´am!"
"You shall call me boss, you nincompoop! And don´t you even dare to look at my sister´s ear!"
"Sister? Why...?"
"Don´t talk back to me!"
"All right, boss!"
"Geez! You´ll never learn, will you? Now be nice to Jean and Nadia, or else...well, you can imagine."
"YES, BOSS!"
So Hanson tried to talk to Jean again, staying calm this time.
"So...where did we stop? Oh, yes, I was praising your device."
"Have you any idea how to regain the energy it needs in order to operate?"
"No. Really, I have no idea. I mean, how could anyone charge a gun of THAT size?"
"Yeah...you´re right. That´s nearly impossible. Damn it! Why didn´t I think of it earlier?"
"Looks like even geniuses like you fail to see possible mistakes. Unlike me, that is."
"Hm...I guess the only way of growing me back is to build a new shrink ray gun. I still have the plans at home, and I know most of it by heart. Uhm...could you help me build it, Hanson?"
"Maybe. Let´s get this journey over, first."
"Yeah, I guess you´re right."
This time, Jean had to admit that Hanson was right. Finding out the truth about Nadia´s past and facing dubious enemies they didn´t even know about at that time would surely be difficult enough. And Jean accepted that his attempts to return to his normal size would have to wait. It really wasn´t all bad, though. Ever since he had shrunken down to this size, he kinda enjoyed being as small as bug, but that was mostly due to the fact that he could stay with Nadia most of the time. Being together with the person he adored was great enough, but Nadia being a true giantess made his situation even more...interesting. And so romantic as well. It might sound strange for a man to say that, but Jean felt save with Nadia being his gigantic protector. Jean wasn´t exactly the strongest man alive, he even seemed to be feeble (yet he certainly did well inside Nadia´s and Grandis´ stomach). And Nadia was just such a strong and kind hearted woman. The thought of protection wasn´t the most important aspect of his admiration, though. It was the simple fact that he felt attracted to this wonderful girl. Because of her beauty. Her kindness. Her innocence. Her strength. Everything. Nadia was perfect in his eyes. An angel like girl, undefiled by impurities. And his feelings for this perfect being made it an even more incredible experience for him. He actually would have never thought that he would love a girl that much, or that he would ever love a girl. Before he met Nadia, he always considered girls to be weird and annoying; actually his attitude towards them was more like that of an 8 year old boy instead of a 14 year old. But once he saw Nadia in the streets of Paris, everything had changed from one moment to another. Suddenly, his heart was aching, having been confronted with feelings he never had before. And he was thankful for that moment. Loving Nadia, and her sharing this feeling is probably the most wonderful situation Jean could have thought of.
After a while, the group finally reached the exit of the forest, and they were provided with a view on a really small town, with mountains being barely visible in the distance. In any case it was absolutely nothing compared to Paris. Yet the town and the nearby fields looked incredibly beautiful in the sunset, which reminded Grandis of something.
"I think we should rest at an inn. Continuing now would be futile."
"You´re right." Nadia simply said.
In fact, she was deadly tired from the long walk, and they could easily get to the said meeting point next day.
Suddenly, she felt Jean´s almost insignificant yet tickling footsteps inside her ear, almost causing her to giggle. According to his movements, Jean seemed to be standing up.
"Uhm, Nadia? May I stay inside you ear during the night?"
"Sure. But why do you want to stay in there?"
"It´s just...well, it just feels so great being in your ear. It´s so comfortable!"
"All right, all right. But be careful in there, and don´t move around too much. I wanna sleep, after all, so..."
"I know, I know. I won´t annoy you, okay?"
Nadia smiled at his almost ridiculous admiration for her ear. She was getting used to Jean loving everything about her, and she actually liked it very much. She felt the same way towards him, so she was pleased to notice once again that he shared this thought.
And so the group walked into the village, looking for an inn and for rest.