Winter Hearts

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Leo had sensed that something was on Siana's mind, and he had taken his opportunity as soon as he saw her face become sombre all of a sudden.

Now, as he held her tight and nuzzled his face against her neck, he felt the elation of having scored a fantastic goal, the result of a process of maneouvres which together with insight and timing, had lead him to success.

Who am I kidding? I did what my heart told me instead of stopping myself with my own thoughts and doubts, he thought to himself.

He could see what N had been nagging him about all this time. He made a promise to himself to listen to his first instinct first before letting his thoughts take over.

Recognising what he truly wanted was probably the hardest part of the process, and he had never struggled this hard with his own doubts. He supposed when it came to matters of the heart, there was no denying what the heart wanted, and his willingness to trust his instincts had served him well in the end.

He could sense the earlier jittery vibes Siana had were dissipating, and she was becoming relaxed.

She reminded him of a young foal, skittish, energetic, always knowing what she wanted, but maybe not quite sure how to go about getting it. He could see she was not someone to just follow, and that he had miscalculated his approach towards her somehow, which had made her hesitate to accept him fully.

He would be mistaken to think that she would be grateful to be his just because of who he was - and this was a sobering thought for him - for he could not use his celebrity status to his advantage. It had only provided her foreknowledge of him before they ever met. He could see she was analysing their behaviour, and may have been a little bewildered or put off by what she saw.

Although they hadn't spoken since their moment outside the cave, he could feel that there was something different, a softness, an acquiescence, that he didn't get from her before.

Perhaps she had decided that he was right, and that she wanted to see how far they could go. Perhaps she had simply felt sorry about how things had went - not that he was expecting her to be. But there was something different, and he wanted to hear what it was from her lips, not to make any presumptions about her thoughts and feelings as he had done earlier.

He was prepared now to wait a little longer till they had a more private moment together to really talk things through.

Despite the exciting prospect of his upcoming fight across the valley below, he couldn't wait for it to be over so that he could spend time with her.

Siana shifted slightly, taking her weight off him. He looked up to find that N was ready for take-off and that Hongbin was already strapped in with his instructor, awaiting his turn.

Siana let go of his hand as another instructor came forward to prepare Leo for the hang glider. She stepped back, admiring his lean form as he slipped into his harness and listened and watched with a blank expression on his face. She knew he was listening because he would nod cursorily every once in a while.

She found it funny that a person who made a living based on his expressions and singing and dancing, could be completely unaware of his own disinterested expressions in real life.

Min Seok and Joon, who were alternately capturing video of the others as they sailed away and of the ones still on land getting prepped, were now hovering around Hongbin and Leo.

Hongbin did a series of dimply expressions and peace signs for Min Seok's camera, while Joon just filmed Leo being instructed on what to do. As Hongbin ran off the cliff with his instructor, Min Seok walked slowly back towards them, preparing his camera to give to Leo to take down with him.