Crystal Folly

Exchanged Confession

A few minutes of silence flying passed before either of them spoke. "So, Stella, there's been something I've wanted to tell you for a while now," Ender began, "but I'm not sure where to start. Can you help me with this?" He was hoping Stella would catch on.

"You mean you're into me?" Stella bluntly asked, which surprised Ender so much that he nearly scratched her arms. "Sorry, sorry, guess you're new to this. Just wait until we land, I have a surprise for you. It'd be too much fur to get through, plus I'm flying so I need to keep my eyes peeled for anything else coming our way, so sit tight and watch the clouds with me," she told him, clearly hinting at something Ender's patience would have to hold steady for. After about two more minutes, she landed in a heavily wooded area where she was certain nobody would see them. "Enzy, you should probably leave the ears this time, we'll need them to pick up nearby sounds," Stella commanded. He followed her orders and stared questioningly at her, confused about what she planned. "Close your eyes, Ender. No peeking, or you won't get the surprise," she told him in a very airy voice. Again, he followed the orders, only this time, he could hear her getting closer, inch by inch, her breath nearly at his face by the time his left ear twitched at the sound of a cracking twig.

"What was that?" Ender asked, knowing that she heard it too and that she moved towards it, ready to freeze whatever - or whoever - it was that done it. After double checking that nothing was there, she returned to being mere inches from his face.

"Tell me when you're ready, Enzy," Stella whispered to him. "Don't take this out of context, but I'm ready for you to make a move."

"Can I at least open my eyes? The lids are kinda stinging from keeping them shut this tight for so long," Ender complained quietly. He got a sigh and "sure" for an answer, and was happy to see that neither of them were covered in pine needles or leaves. This is it, the big moment I've waited a year and a half for, he thought happily. He leaned forward to meet in the middle so that she wasn't doing all of the work for the kiss. He was so caught up with the fact that they were kissing for the first time that he didn't hear the other three coming into the clearing.

"Whoa. Sorry guys, guess we should've knocked," Arthur shouted, who was just about dying of laughter. Stella and Ender immediately stopped while Johann and Taylor started laughing at them too.

"Well I'll be. Ender's finally admitted that they were dating," Johann joked. He managed to dodge the first icy bolt but couldn't move fast enough for the second one hitting his leg.

"Let's keep this a secret until we get back, at least. Don't you dare call Luna and tell her this!" Ender was saying before Stella grabbed his hand, his cue to stop. Now that the moment was over, they began to travel on foot together with Johann trailing behind due to his leg still being frozen.

I forgot to do something, didn't I? Arthur asked himself before remembering that Johann had a frozen leg that needed to be freed. "Sorry, Johann, it really slipped my mind! I'll get it," he told him, preparing a small flame that would be just enough to melt the ice and nothing more. It proved too effective, as it melted the ice and left a small burn on Johann's upper thigh, causing him to shout in pain. "I didn't think it was that thin!" Arthur replied after Johann asked how he managed that.

"I'm very much considering becoming a cat right now just so I can move ahead quicker. We only have a few hours of daylight left and I want this burn to cool off faster," Johann said with a clear tone of annoyance. He then proceeded to fan the burn with his tail, appearing from his partial transformation.

"No wonder Ender knows how to do that. When did you teach him, Johann?" Arthur asked, intrigued by the way he managed to do it so quietly that he hadn't even heard it. After getting no response after thirty seconds, he said, slightly hurt, "I was only asking a question, man."

After about two minutes of walking, Johann responded, "I didn't really need to teach him anything about it. It comes more natural to him than it does to me." After explaining this, he fully transformed into his cat form and continued walking at the same pace he was beforehand. Ender and Stella were leading the group when they began to see buildings through the trees. As they walked forward together, more buildings came into view.

"Guys, come on, we're near the end of the forest!" Ender shouted, both quietly and excitedly, hoping that at least Arthur would run ahead to help them through the streets they'd soon be walking through.

"Hang on, I'm coming," Arthur yelled back before running up to them. He almost ran into Ender in his rush to get up front. "Yep, this is it. Paradise, my hometown." As he said it, Stella and Ender stared in awe of the beauty of what winter brought with it to the city. Thousands of icicles were glistening in the sunlight of the setting sun, and when the water dropped down from one, they could see its full journey.

"Ender, mark a date in your calendar for my birthday next year. I want to come back here for that while it's still snowing," Stella told him, hoping that he wouldn't forget by the time they got back to the train station.

"Alright, Stella, just let me write it down somewhere so I don't forget. Kinda heard it in your voice that you don't want me to forget about that," Ender answered, "not that I would anyways. Thought you knew me better than that," he playfully teased.

"I do, Enzy, I'm just kinda forgetful after all that's happened in these past few minutes between us. You went from being a good friend to possibly being my boyfriend in that clearing," Stella admitted, blushing lightly as she did.

Arthur cleared his throat to let them know that everyone was listening in on this entire conversation, with Taylor and him hearing the most between the lines. "Well we should probably hurry up if we want to make it back on time, it's about five hours away from 10:15, so if you wanna get back to Luna, Johann, we should definitely go now."

"Alright then, Arthur, lead the way," Johann replied. "I'm sure these two will follow us a bit behind in the air, I can already see it in her face," he commented, clearly talking about Ender and Stella.

"Let's go then. Just watch us from the clouds, you two, and we'll meet you there," Arthur told the couple. Stella prepared her wings for flight as Ender transformed into his cat form. "See you two in a bit," he managed to say before they flew above the clouds. "Let's get to walking."