Spring Term 2007 Writing Workshop - Plot Development

Participants:

Hermione Pena, he101 "Nth Chance"
Ireth Halliwell, ir607 "Ular Tangga Land"
Jenna Hathaway, je712 "Finding True Love"
Sirena Seraphina, si608 "Something Sinful This Way Comes"
Tala Fey, ta636 "New Winds"
Skyler Winters, sk802 "The Deadly Game"
Venefica vom Lehn, ve019 "Out of the Closet"

"Something Sinful This Way Comes" by Sirena Seraphina

NB: This is actually the first chapter of a novel, the Professor for this class said it was fine that I write just the first chapter for the anthology project.
Something Sinful This Way Comes

PROLOGUE

It would be the year that everything changed. Everyone knew, you didn’t have to be a Seer to realise that things would be different. Professor Dumbledore was dead, the number of students attending Hogwarts this year had dropped to the lowest attendance in history, and most importantly – Harry, Ron and Hermione weren’t with her. Ginny remembered the reaction from her mum when Ron announced he was going to spend the next year helping Harry destroy Voldemort. Their mum didn’t take it too well, she screamed, she yelled – ‘While you’re living under our roof, Ronald Billius, I completely forbid you to,”
“Mum,” Ron said, his usual nervousness filling his voice, but he also sounded… strangely mature. Ginny had never seen him act this way, he seemed to age ten years in front of her. “Mum, I’m of age. Harry’s my best mate, I can’t turn my back on him.” He continued to slurp his soup, while Molly Weasley seemed to have been reeled speechless, she swallowed a few times. Then mentioned something about, ‘talking about this later,’ and continued eating. Ron continued eating his dinner, as if nothing had happened. Ginny glanced at her brother, who refused to look at her. ‘Should I ask to go with him?’ she thought, ‘or rather demand? Mum and Dad couldn’t really stop me’ but then she heard Harry’s voice inside her head. ‘It’s too dangerous Ginny, we can’t be together…’ She felt a sort of fury, fill inside her, and she wanted to go with him at that moment. She wanted to prove to him that she could take care of herself, to remind him that she had defeated several fully-grown Death Eaters the previous year. But then another voice broke into her thoughts. ‘If you truly love something, set it free. If it’s meant to be, it will return to you.’ Ginny knew then, that if Harry didn’t want her with him then, he probably didn’t want him with her now. She sighed to herself, she cared too much about Harry to tag along and potentially ruin his plans. She might just ruin everything, and would Harry hate her then? He probably wouldn’t, but she just didn’t know. After dinner, she spotted Ron flying on his broom outside in the front year. She turned around, her parent were washing dishes (with magic), they wouldn’t be able to hear her from here. She glanced up at Ron flying across the night sky, she called out.
“Ron! Ron, come down here for a minute!” Ron looked down at her and sighed,
“Why don’t you come up here?!” he hollered. Ginny sighed and made a small show of grumpily getting her broomstick from the broom cupboard, and kicking off the ground. The wind rushed at her body, her long skirt flapped in the wind, as did her hair. “Well, whadd’ya want then?” Ron asked.
“Are you serious about going with Harry?” Ron looked at her in surprise,
“Hell-yes I’m serious, Ginny.”
“Oh…” Ginny did a few large ovals in the night sky, thinking. Ron was the first to break the silence between them.
“I mean, would I really tell Mum if I wasn’t?” Ginny sighed,
“Guess you wouldn’t.” Ron waited a few moments,
“Anything else you wanted to say?”
“Well, I’ll miss you and all that. Just going to be me, Mum and Dad – Be pretty boring right?” Ron scoffed,
“Well, you have a nice boring time, while I fear for my life every day.” Ginny froze in mid air, she gave Ron a fearful look. Ron seemed taken aback, “Joke, Ginny. Joke. I’ll be right, with Harry and Hermione with me – I’ll be okay.” Ginny nodded, and slowly began to decelerate to the ground. “Wait a minute, Ginny!” Ginny turned around. Ron spoke slowly, “I’ll miss you too, okay?” Ginny nodded, and slid off her broom just as it was about to touch the ground.

CHAPTER ONE

It was almost dawn. A faint blue light covered the two newly of age wizards, and one newly-of-age witch as sunlight was about to break. Hermione had her head buried in a book, (‘The Most Powerful Curses of the 21st Century’ by Sirena Seraphina), she was determinedly patient. She had been pouring over the book for hours, trying to find the right curse. Unfortunately, Harry didn’t possess that virtue. A small bubble of frustration and boredom built up into his stomach, as he had to remind himself that he probably wouldn’t have a hope in hell of finding the right spell himself, and that this was a job for Hermione. But he could barely control his temper and frustration. He jumped off of the stone floor and dusted himself down, he snatched his wand out of his jean pocket and aimed it directly in the centre of the glass of the Mirror of Erised. Ron glanced up, Hermione gasped. She got herself off of the floor and ran to Harry, she grabbed his wrist.
“Harry, what on earth are you doing? How many times do I have to tell you? If the Mirror of Erised is a Horcrux, no simple charm will destroy it. I’ve done enough research over the last few months to know-”
“Hermione – I don’t care!” Harry snapped, instantly regretting the anger in his voice as he looked upon Hermione’s hurt face. But Hermione’s expression changed from upset, to defiant. She shrugged, “Fine.” She sat back on the cold stone floor and brought the textbook as close to her as possible. And she brought the book so close to her eyes that Harry knew she was giving him the cold shoulder rather than reading – but that didn’t concern him. His frustration was still pulsating through his blood, and he just didn’t care if Hermione’s pride was hurt. Hermione would forgive him, they were just all tired, bored and frustrated. He had been happy to have Ron and Hermione decide to join him on his quest to find the remaining Horcrux’s that would destroy Voldemort. But although they were all best friends, the journey had strained their friendship more strongly than before. They had all gone for days without sleep, emotions ran awry and if someone was outvoted by the three of them it seemed to matter ten times more than usual. ‘Probably because this time if someone’s wrong, it could set us back days or even result in our deaths,’ Harry thought. He was almost tempted to smile at his own black comedy – but it didn’t seem to be the right time for that. They had so far, found zero Horcrux’s. The latest theory was that the Mirror of Erised was one of them. Harry, at first, thought that this was crazy. What could the Mirror of Erised possibly have to do with Voldemort? But then Hermione explained to him that the Mirror of Erised had been created by Rowena Ravenclaw. A powerful, antique relic from one of the Four Founders would surely appear on Voldemort’s hit list. Besides, it was the best lead they had. So the three friends searched for the Mirror they hadn’t seen in six years, but finally found it in an old castle in Western Scotland. The late Professor Dumbledore had once remarked that the castle had ‘fantastic paintings.’
“So easy to talk to, you should visit some time Harry,” he had winked then. Harry smiled at the memory of his late Headmaster, he now wondered whether Dumbledore had meant this as a clue for him all along. There was only one way to find out of course, and that was to destroy the Mirror. Hermione insisted they should never attack a Horcrux head on, that was where the Horcrux held its strength. But after two days, Hermione hadn’t found a safe way to go around destroying the supposed ‘Horcrux.’ Harry was therefore, about to explode with frustration! This was why he had decided on trying to destroy the Mirror ‘head on’, without the approval of either of his friends. But, he still looked at Ron for support. But Ron only glanced up with mild interest. When he caught Harry’s eye, he shrugged with an expression of nonchalance.
“Do what you want,” Ron murmured. As Harry turned his back, he heard Ron mutter under his breath, “I’ll just sit hear, tag along – like always.” Harry rolled his eyes and was very tempted to turn to Ron and tell him exactly what he thought of people who muttered insults under their breath instead of having the guts to say it to his face. But Harry knew this was the frustration talking, and instead focused his energy on the Mirror. It glistened, perfect, fragile glass. Harry couldn’t see how it could be so powerful, but appearances meant nothing in the wizarding world. He came face to face with the Mirror, inspecting it. Of course, he still saw the smiling reflections of the family he had never known. A collection of cousins, grand-parents, aunts and uncles – and his parents. His mother looked fresh and young, as she waved at him and blew kisses. His father, who was next to her – was smiling happily at Harry, as he wrapped an arm around his wife. But Harry had learnt long ago, not to dwell on dreams. He raised his wand, focusing on the very centre of the mirror. As he muttered his curse, a blast of white light shot through his wand – the beam came into contact with his mother’s emerald green eye – and the glass shattered.

Hermione shielded her eyes, Ron’s body tensed and Harry’s mouth gaped open as the glass of the Mirror of Erised fell beneath his feet. The three of them were silent for a moment, neither knowing what to do. Harry heard Hermione run up behind him, she placed her hand upon his shoulder, shock creasing her face.
“Harry… I don’t,” but before Hermione could finish what she was going to say, the plain canvas that was now the Mirror of Erised, began to glow. Hermione’s grip on Harry’s shoulder tightened, Harry could now see orbs of colour forming in the canvas. The orbs swirled as they began to form, Harry gripped his wand tight – but the orbs did not appear menacing. The orbs almost had a hypnotic effect on the two of them, until an orb of sapphire light shot from the canvas into Hermione’s chest. The shock of the blast knocked Hermione off her feet, before Harry could speak, Ron was supporting Hermione with his body. Ron turned, his blue eyes widened and he pointed towards the mirror.
“Harry-” This time, an emerald green orb of light shot through the canvas and hit Ron with as much force as it had with Hermione. Ron fell back to the floor, momentarily stunned. Harry had no time to think now; he muttered ever curse and jinx he could think of to suspend the orbs. More were forming now, and then the inevitable happened. A scarlet red orb shot into Harry’s chest, the force of such a small amount of light shocked Harry, before he too fell to the ground. He soon realised, that although the orbs of light had shocked him, he wasn’t dead. He supported himself on his elbows, and watched mesmerised, as four more orbs of light formed in the canvas. One pink, yellow, violet and orange formed. Then, like clouds, the orbs floated out of the window.

"Out of the Closet" by Venefica von Lehn

The world outside of the more than slightly dirty bus-windows seemed to be rushing away, faster than her thoughts could keep up with.
Lani shook her head in a vain attempt to get some sort of order back into her brain. The thoughts came and went, and she could not really grasp any one of them. Half-thoughts, matching her half-feelings. She was worried how Tine would take it, and at the same time she knew and felt that if Tine had a problem with it, they might just as well say goodbye, and that’s that.
Why, o why did the world still have such a problem with anything other than heterosexuality? Why did it value the old man-woman-stereotypes so much and think that everything else was just absurd, if not obscene? It wasn’t – when it came down to it, it was just love, after all.
Thinking logically about it, Lani had to admit that there were, of course, also those people who had accepted it when she had told them about being together with her girlfriend. Some few, like her brother, had accepted it and taken it just as indifferently if she had told them about a boyfriend. And there was Sam, her best friend – he had been really happy for her, and he had even told her that he considered himself to be bisexual, too. He had asked her to tell him more about Katja, about what she felt for her, what it was like between them, about her hopes and fears. And he had also asked her about her coming-out, and had urged her to tell her family, so as not to lie to them because of what was, when it came down to it, just love, as Lani had told them when they wouldn’t even want to listen properly.
Her mother and sister had definitely not looked this shocked since she had brought home the small baby-rat as a pet three years ago, and even then their reaction had seemed friendlier. At first they had just stared at her in silence, but then they had tried to “talk her out of that nonsense”, had asked her to forget all about it and to never see “that girl” again… Lani’s hands clenched themselves around her bag. Nonsense – their reaction had been nonsense! She loved Katja and there was nothing those daft women could do to change that! Her mum had threatened her with being grounded and Rosalie had whined at the thought of “such lewdness” taking place in their shared bedroom. Pathetic!
So how would Tine react?
Lani and Tine had been friends for many years now, and even though Tine sometimes thought Lani to be “a bit too odd” they could still talk about everything that went on in their lives. But how would she take this? Would she just be, as a friend should be, happy about Lani’s happiness? Or would she, too, be shocked? Would that be enough for her to end the friendship, or would she try not to let her see it and pretend to be happy for her? Would she lecture her about the downside of it, society’s bad reactions? Would she hope that Lani’d sort of grow out of it? Or would she send her out of her house, out of her live, straight away? How open was Tine really? She always said she did not care about what others did as long as they did not harm anybody else, that was what freedom was all about, wasn’t it? But was that really true? Did that belief cover all areas of her life, or just those for whom she personally felt it fitting? Or…
The bus slowed down to a halt again and made Lani come out of her current preoccupation rather suddenly. She had to get off here. It was only a five minute walk from the bus stop to Tine’s house.

„Oh, hi. I thought you’d be coming later.” Tine had opened the front door and let Lani in.
“I had meant to, but then I was ready in time for the earlier bus, so I just took it. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Nah, not at all, that’s great. I was just tidying up my room a bit more, but, well, you’re used to it anyway, so it probably doesn’t matter”, Tine grinned, watching Lani take off her coat and shoes.

Upstairs in Tine’s room Lani went over to the bed and sat down on it, while Tine closed the door behind herself and made to sit on her chair, as was their usual habit. It’s those small things, Lani thought, that make you realise how long you’ve known each other. And yet there are times when you feel as if it was someone you’d never ever talked to…
“So, how are you?” Tine’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
“I… Well, I’m fine. Yeah, I’m fine.” Lani smiled, but could feel that the smile did not really reach her eyes. She didn’t know what to do, so she just babbled on about the first topic that came to her mind. “School’s okay at the moment, I guess. But my sister’s really annoying me. She was awful last week!”
“What did she do?”
“She ignored me, most of the time. Acted as if I wasn’t there, especially when I was talking to her. And if she wanted to tell me to do something, she never told me directly. Asked Frederik to tell me, or even wrote notes. And if she did talk to me, it was never more than she really had to. She made snide remarks about me to Mum. I mean, come on, she’s nineteen, and now she’s behaving as if she were five and I’d stolen her favourite toy or something!”
“So what did you do? It’s not like Rosalie to be like that, is it?”
Lani’s thoughts started to race again. It’s because I told them about Katja and me. It’s because they don’t want to accept it. It’s because they think I’m abnormal, because they don’t want me to be part of the family… Would Tine think I’m abnormal? What would she say if I told her? Would she be okay with it?
“Lani?” Her friend looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Eh, yeah? Oh, yes, you’re right. It really doesn’t seem like Rosalie. You’d think it’d be Frederik, doing that sort of stuff, wouldn’t you?” She tried a grin, but failed. But Frederik’s the one who’s nicest, so to say. He didn’t change his behaviour. He’s still an idiot most of the time, but that’s because of his puberty, not because of me, so that doesn’t count.
“So, erm, how are things going with you?” Another feeble attempt at a smile and the desperate search for another topic. Did she really want to tell Tine about it?
“With me? Yeah… Fine, too, I guess. Patrick’s been acting a bit strange, too, lately, to tell you the truth. He’s become rather possessive. Doesn’t want me to be even talking to any other guy and stuff like that… Just you be glad that you’ve got no boyfriend, they can be so annoying”, Tine winked.
Another one of those failing grins, but luckily Tine was already talking again, going on about how stupid her beloved guy was behaving.

Their conversation had gone on, topics changing every now and then. Patrick, school, family, that new film… They agreed, they disagreed, they laughed and teased each other. Just like always, Lani thought, just as if nothing had changed. Her stomach clenched again.
When she looked up again, Tine was looking at her with a puzzled and slightly worried expression. Automatically, the corners of Lani’s mouth went up for a split second and then she looked away again.
“Hey… What’s up?” Tine’s voice was soft.
How to say it?
“It’s… It’s nothing. Why?”
“Ah come on, you’re not really yourself today. What’s the matter?”
“It’s nothing, seriously.” She did not even think about it, the words just tumbled out of her mouth.
“It is. Something’s worrying you.” Tine sat back, her eyes fixed on Lani.
There was no way around it now, and Lani knew it. And – this was what she had come for, wasn’t it? She had wanted to tell Tine about it. Now was her chance.
She cleared her throat, searching for the best way to put it. “Well, it’s… You see, I’m, I’m… I’m no longer single”, she said lamely.
Tine’s eyes lit up. “Really? But that’s great!” One look at her friend’s miserable face made her stop. “I mean, it is, isn’t it? Or is he an asshole?”
“It’s not a he”, Lani said quietly. She bit her lip.
“Er… what?”
She looked up again. Taking one deep breath Lani decided to just go for it. There was no way back anyway.
“It’s not a he. It’s a she. It’s Katja, you know her. We’re together. She’s my girlfriend. I’m – I’m bisexual.”
Silence.
Tine blinked.
Everything seemed to have gone into slow-motion. Or did it really take so long for things to happen? Oh my, would it always be like this, every time she told somebody?
“Congratulations! I must admit, I’m… That’s not what I’ve had expected, but, I mean, Katja’s very nice and everything and… congratulations.” Tine smiled. She smiled, and part of Lani was wondering if Tine would have beamed if it had been a guy. Get off it she scolded herself, but it didn’t help.
“Thanks.”
“So, since when are you two together? And does your family… Oh, that’s why they’re so strange at the moment?” Things started falling into place in Tine’s thoughts.
“Yupp.” Lani sighed. “Frederik just ignores it, but he’s always like that at the moment. But Mom and Rosalie really freaked out when I told them about it.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“So, erm…”
“Oh, yes. Well, we got together nearly three weeks ago, actually. And, yeah…”
“Mhmm”, Tine nodded, then they were both silent again, unsure of what to say or ask.
Lani cleared her throat. “I really need to go to the loo… Be back in a sec!” She grinned at Tine, who smiled back at her, but her mind really was on something else. While her feet were finding their way to the bathroom automatically, she went over the conversation again in her head. It didn’t go too bad, did it? She didn’t freak out. She showed interest. She wasn’t appalled. She was just taken aback, that’s all. Yes, it really didn’t go too bad. Or at least that was what she was trying to tell herself.

"Finding True Love" by Jenna Hathaway

People say love comes knocking on your door when you least expect it. For Natalie West, this least expected moment happened at Christmas time, during her winter holiday. The music in the party was blaring, and everyone was dancing or drinking, and she leaned against the punch table, fiddling with the bottom part of her halter-top absent-mindedly.

“Come on, Natalie!” her best friend’s voice was carried out to her before she caught her slender figure squeezing through the throngs of people and heading toward her. “This is a party! Why are you not having fun?” Andrea demanded, her hands on her hips. She pushed Natalie toward the middle of the room, where other people were dancing to the music. Natalie tried to explain that she wasn’t in the mood to dance, but her attempt was futile, as Andrea kept pushing her to the crowd. “It’s Christmas Eve! Gosh! You don’t get more festive than tonight.”

“Ow! Sorry, sorry… Andrea, stop pushing me! I stomped on somebody’s foot!” Natalie looked up to see the person she’s accidentally stepped her foot on and saw that it was a guy. And he was quite good-looking. With hazel eyes, dark brown hair, the perfect smile—or was it a cringe of pain?—and a tall figure. She felt a weird tingling sensation throughout her body. “Are you okay?” she asked carefully, after finally finding her voice.

“Yeah, yeah… don’t worry,” he grinned at her reassuringly. “Hi. I’m Scott. Scott Williams.” Natalie shook his extended hand. “Natalie West. And this pushy friend of mine is Andrea.”

Natalie turned to Andrea and saw that her friend was gaping at Scott, so she nudged her. Andrea closed her mouth and smiled awkwardly. “Hi.”

Raising an eyebrow, Natalie turned back to Scott. “She’s usually not so mono-syllabic.”

“Scott! Andrea! Natalie! Ah, so you all have met, that’s great!” Another girl’s voice interrupted them, then Andrea’s sister, Megan, joined the group. “Scott’s my friend from ages ago,” Megan told them. “We took the same photography course and he’s just such a helpful guy, totally helped me out that first day. Scott, this is my little sister and her best friend. They’re practically a package, you don’t get one without the other.”

“Really?” Scott looked interested. “Does that I mean I get to date with both too?”

Megan laughed, while Natalie felt her cheeks became hotter. “Don’t you dare!” A rather loud crash sounded from the other side of the room, and Megan gasped. “Oh crap… someone just broke another vase! Great. Be right back, guys, you three have fun!” she left in a hurry, leaving Natalie and Andrea alone with Scott again.

“So… I assume we don’t go to the same school,” Scott turned to both girls.

“No, we go to H…” Natalie was about to tell Scott when Scott’s cell phone suddenly started ringing.

“Excuse me,” he said to them, and moved away a little bit to receive the call. “I’m sorry, girls,” Scott said to them after he was finished, “There’s a little emergency at home. I really wish I could stay, but…” he stared for a moment into Natalie’s eyes and she felt her heart jumped into her throat. “We should meet up again sometime! Looking forward to seeing you…” he tore his gaze away from Natalie and added quickly, “both, soon!” And before Natalie could say anything else, he’d disappeared.

She just stood there, seemingly nailed to the floor, unable to move at all. There was only one thought floating in Natalie’s mind.

I think I’ve fallen in love…

***

“Andrea, I’m falling head over heels for him! This is love at first sight!” Natalie told her best friend excitedly when both of them met up in her house the next day, snuggled up in Natalie’s bed.

Andrea just stayed silent, biting her lip. When she asked Megan about Scott yesterday, her sister had told her that he came from an all-Muggle family. Which meant he was too. And to make matters worse, she also liked him a lot. “Some guy he is, huh?” she finally commented.

“Are you kidding? Did you see those eyes? Gosh, Andrea, I’ve never felt this way before. It’s amazing! But I’m nervous at the same time.”

“That’s how it generally feels,” Andrea smiled, couldn’t help feeling empathic for her best friend. She figured she would keep her own feelings about Scott for herself for now. She couldn’t possibly ruin Natalie’s happiness. But the fact that he might not come from the same world as theirs, Andrea felt obligated to share.

“Here’s the thing, Natalie… not to crush your hope or anything, but… according to Megan, Scott is a Muggle.”

Natalie’s excitement died down instantly and she gaped at Andrea. “You’re kidding! But… why would… everyone in that party were wizards and witches, right?”

“No,” Andrea shook her head sadly. “Megan’s powers didn’t manifest until later than mine. So we thought she wasn’t a witch and she went to Muggle schools for a while. That’s why she got a lot of Muggle friends, including Scott. Not everyone in that party was magical…”

“Oh no… but… how will he ever understand about us?” Natalie felt like something had pulled her plummeting back to the ground from cloud nine. Before she had time to digest this new information, her cell phone rang and startled her. She grabbed it and flipped it open. “Hello?”

“Hey, Natalie,” said a familiar voice that made her heartbeat instantly faster. “It’s Scott. Remember? From the party last night?”

Of course I remember! With excitement, Natalie replied, “Oh, yeah! Scott! How are you?”

“I’m good, thanks. Megan gave me your number, I hope you don’t mind. Listen, I was thinking… uh, maybe we could go out this weekend? You, me, and Andrea? If you two don’t have plans, that is.”

“I’d love to!” Natalie blurted out before she realized she was being too eager. “I mean… no, we don’t have plans yet.” Andrea giggled beside her and she shushed her. Scott sounded happy to hear that and told her where they could meet. When she finally ended the conversation, Natalie’s heart was full with happiness, but her mind alerted her of a bigger problem.

“It sounds like he likes you too,” Andrea teased, although somewhat bummed that Scott didn’t call her.

“You’re invited too. But Andrea… how am I going to be with him if we came from different worlds?”

“I don’t know, Natalie…”

***

“Mom… how do you tell someone that you’re a witch?” Deciding that her mother was the best person to ask help from, Natalie had approached her that night. Deidre seemed surprised by her daughter’s question, but she smiled understandingly.

“Well… you have to explain it carefully, of course, in order not to give them a heart attack… not all people can understand the existence of our kind, you know.”

“I know… it’s just… I really like this guy, but I’m scared that he’ll leave me when I tell him who I really am. He’s a Muggle, you see… I really don’t think this will work out.”

“Natalie, why do you think that? If you really like him, and he really likes you, what’s the big deal? Who you really are shouldn’t matter, and if he does love you he would accept that. It’s not like being a witch is a bad thing.”

Natalie sighed. “It’s easier said than done. I’m scared he’ll think I’m some kind of freak and I’d ruin everything we have now.”

Deidre caressed her hair gently. “I know it’s a risky decision, sweetie, but you also know that you can’t build a relationship on lies. It’s better to tell him the truth and let him decide whether he can accept it or not than making him think you’re someone else.”

Natalie nodded glumly, understanding it all but still not convinced. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Anytime, honey. I trust you will make the right choice.”

***

Weeks had gone by and Andrea decided it was now or never. If Natalie was too scared to be upfront with Scott about her feelings, she was going to try her luck first. Frankly she was tired with the three of them going out together as friends, not getting anywhere. Right now she stood in front of Scott, in a park where she’d asked him to meet her, determined to find out which girl Scott really liked. After all, she had nothing to lose.

“I have to be honest with you,” she started. “I really like you, Scott. And in a more-than-friends way. I’m just wondering… if you feel the same way.”

Scott was surprised to hear this, but he regained his composure quickly. “Andrea… that is… really sweet. But I have to be honest with you as well… I… I really like Natalie. She’s the one I… love.”

Andrea had seen it coming, of course. But she still wanted to hear it straight from his mouth. With a defeated smile, she nodded. “I see. That’s okay. I appreciate you telling me the truth.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve felt this way since the first time I saw her in that party.”

So did she, Andrea thought bitterly. Now just how to make sure they end up together.

***

“Natalie, may I come in?” Andrea asked from behind the closed door.

“Yeah, it’s not locked,” Natalie’s muffled answer came from inside, and Andrea pushed the door open. Her best friend was curling up on her bed, looking defeated. Shouldn’t I be the one with that look? Andrea thought of the irony, given what she’d just discovered. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m not going to tell him,” Natalie said. “I’m just going to go back to Hogwarts and forget all about Scott.”

Andrea’s eyes widened. “What? Why? Are you crazy?”

“Don’t you get it? He’s a Muggle! He might not understand or accept me for who I am. And I can’t take that risk, Andrea. I’m scared. I don’t want my heart to be broken! At least this way, I can keep a sweet, untainted memory of him in my heart forever.”

Andrea grabbed her best friend’s arms and stared straight to her blue eyes. “Listen to me, Natalie. Life, and especially love, is about taking risks. It’s not about playing it safe. It never is. It gets you nowhere! Your happiness is out there, and all you have to do is reach for it. Even if he can’t accept you for who you are, at least you know you’ve tried, and you can make peace with yourself because you know you’ve done everything you could. If you didn’t try, you might regret it in the future. You will be stuck thinking of a thousand what-if-scenarios. You’ll never know what could’ve happened! What if he could accept you as a witch? Huh? You’re willing to risk that 50% chance and let it go for the rest of your life?”

Natalie’s eyes welled up in tears as she listened to Andrea, knowing her friend was right. Everything she said was true, but she just didn’t have the courage to take the chance and go for it. She was not strong enough.

“Look, I met Scott today,” Andrea confessed. “And he said he loves you.” Natalie’s head snapped up in surprise, a disbelieving look dancing in her eyes. “And I could see from his eyes that he’s telling the truth. Natalie, why don’t you believe in your love? He loves you, and you love him, and I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a pretty damn strong love to conquer just about anything.”

Natalie wiped the tears from her cheek with the back of her hand. “I wish it’s as easy as in fairy tales.”

“Well, maybe it is! Fairy tales aren’t always that impossible to happen.”

Natalie thought about it for a moment. Andrea’s newest confession did give her a confidence boost. She trusted her best friend and knew she wouldn't say that just to comfort her. Scott did really love her. The thought itself already made her feel so warm inside. And I’m going to let this feeling go? Suddenly she felt a painful tug in her heart just thinking of that. Maybe Andrea was right. Maybe the only way to solve this was to take the risk.

Seeing the sparkling optimism in Andrea’s eyes, Natalie sighed. “Someday I will thank you for this, won’t I?” she looked up at her best friend with the faintest hint of a smile. At the sight of that, Andrea smiled back with genuine happiness and hugged her tightly, relief washing over her. This time she was sure she had done the right thing.

“Of course, Natalie.”

***

“Scott, there’s something I have to tell you,” Natalie said after taking a deep breath. They were sitting together in a restaurant tonight, just the two of them. And Natalie felt this was the right time. Scott looked at her questioningly. “This might be hard to believe… but, I’m… I’m not who you think you are. I’m not… normal. I’m actually a witch. And I go to a special school for… people like me, it’s called Hogwarts.”

After a few moments of silence, Scott burst out laughing. “Yeah, and I’m a secret agent working undercover… to steal your heart.” With a smile, he reached for Natalie’s hand, but Natalie pulled away.

“Please believe me,” she said in a desperate voice. “It’s not easy for me to tell you this. There is a world out there that you never knew of, Scott, and I’m a part of it. I have special talents. I even have a wand. But I can’t use it out of school.”

Scott’s face began to show concern, and then, as he stared into Natalie’s eyes, he realized she wasn’t kidding. “You can’t be serious, Natalie. There is no such thing. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“I’m serious, Scott. Andrea is, too. And her sister Megan. You can ask them. Look, we’re not dangerous or anything. We’re just like you… with magical powers.” Scott stared at her in silence. “Scott. Say something,” she pleaded, feeling all her fears starting to consume her. Why did she decide to do this? Everything would be so much easier if she didn’t.

Scott took a deep breath. “If what you’re saying is true…” he paused, looking confused. “I… I can’t do this right now. I need time to digest this, Natalie. This isn’t insignificant information.” He stood up abruptly. “I think it’s best that I take you home now.”

“What? But we haven’t even ordered yet.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t do this tonight. I need to go home and… think about all this.”

All the way home none of them spoke up, and Natalie had to suppress her emotions and fight back tears from welling up in her eyes. She couldn’t break down now, not in front of Scott. Every once in a while she would steal a glance his way, but he was focusing on the road, his face looked hard and he was extremely silent. Natalie didn’t dare to say anything until they arrived in front of her house. It wasn’t until then that Scott said, without turning to look at her, “Well. Good night then.”

Swallowing her tears, Natalie opened the door and murmured, “Good night.”

***

This was it. Andrea couldn’t stand seeing that crushed face any longer. She pounded on Scott’s front door and waited for him to appear. When he finally opened the door, he looked at her as if he didn’t recognize her and was about to close the door when Andrea slipped one foot inside. “Scott! Damn it, listen to me. Why are you doing this? What’s wrong with Natalie? She didn’t choose to be a witch. It’s who she is!” she blurted out angrily, causing Scott to take a step back in surprise. But he remained there, waiting for what Andrea wanted to say next.

“She’s a good girl, and she really loves you. Don’t you get it? This doesn’t change anything. She’s still the sweet Natalie you knew! Just forget about her not being the same as you for a moment and think about how much she loves you, how much you love her. Shouldn’t that be enough, Scott?”

Being bombarded like that, Scott found himself unable to defend himself, because he knew all Andrea was saying was right. Andrea sighed and looked up at him. “You should be ashamed of yourself if you so much as thought about ending this before it even begins just because Natalie comes from a different world. She’s still a human being with a heart, Scott, remember that. She’s not that different from you.” And with that, Andrea turned around and left. She’d given it her all and just wished Scott would make the right choice in the end.

***

“You’ve done everything you could, and if he can’t accept that, it’s his loss,” Andrea assured her best friend, as both of them stood in King’s Cross station, just about ready to step into platform 9 ¾. Natalie was looking outside the station, hanging onto the last pieces of hope she had left.

“I guess it’s just not meant to be,” she turned around, now facing the platform. “And I still thank you for encouraging me to do it anyway. At least now I won’t blame myself for not ever trying.” She encircled her arms around Andrea. “You’re still the best.”

“I’m so sorry it didn’t work out. But you’re maybe better off with a wizard anyway,” Andrea said jokingly. Both of them laughed.

“Well, we’ll have to go now if we don’t want to miss the train. Are you ready?” Natalie gestured at the platform.

Andrea nodded, and both of them prepared to go through the barrier, when someone’s voice called out from the distance, “Natalie! Wait!” and made Natalie’s head whip around in surprise. It couldn’t be… could it?

“Scott?” she gaped at the figure running towards them. Scott slowed down and finally stopped when he arrived in front of Natalie. For a moment he just stood there, staring at her and collecting his breath. “What are you doing here?”

“Megan told me this is where I’d find you. I… I can’t lose you, Natalie. I can’t let you go without knowing that I love you… no matter who, or what you are. I just realized this, and… and I was being stupid and I was so afraid you’re already gone and I would never be able to tell and…”

Natalie beamed with happiness as she heard this and shushed him by locking her lips with his. For a minute the two of them were engaged in a kiss so passionate that it seemed like the world stopped turning.

“I know. I love you too…” Natalie hugged him tight, as if afraid she might lose him again. “Thank you for believing in us.”

“I’m sorry for being stupid for a while, but your friend there really knocked some sense into me,” Scott gestured at Andrea, and Natalie smiled gratefully at her best friend.

“Hate to break the scene, but the train’s going to go,” Andrea reminded, smiling back at them.

“I’ll see you on summer,” Natalie gave Scott one last kiss and Scott nodded with a smile, hugging her tight before letting her proceed into the barrier.

“I’ll miss you,” he called out as her figure disappeared through the barrier. It was then that Scott realized that he just witnessed magic for the first time, both physically and emotionally. Love was, after all, also magical.

"Ular Tangga Land" by Ireth Halliwell

There was a far away land where your wildest imagination could come true called the Ular Tangga Land. It wasn't the era of fairies or dragons, but some fairies and dragons still lived there.

The fairies lived secretly somewhere in the middle of the forest and they were very tiny. You could not find or see them, unless you were invited by the fairies. They liked to dance together around a pond, a very special pond during the fullmoon. Sometimes magic happened if you watch them dance, but it was a very rare opportunity. And then there were the dragons, which only two left in the land. Unlike the other dragons whose usually feared, these dragons in Ular Tangga Land were pretty generous, although their kindness only occur several countable times in a year. The dragons liked to help the people and creatures in Ular Tangga Land to cross the land through the skies. Ages ago, they used to travel people and creatures freely and even flew many times in a day. But now they were getting older, they needed some rest and they would not fly you until they were given a very special token, which was very rare.

Fairies, dragons, they were only a little part of the land. There were even more, such as the Polkadot Village where the whole villagers were polkadot-patterned, or there was also the Mud-Mask tribe who never absently cover their body parts with mud, and there was even also the adventuring cat with his sidekick.

But the most important thing from this land, lied inside a kingdom named Mula-Mula. It was the Golden Jewel, the very special jewel that holds the energy of Ular Tangga Land and must always stay in its dome or if it ever turned to a wrong hand, it would lose its gold color and whatever disastrous events could happen.

Ironically, today in the main city of Mula-Mula, an advertisement was put. Everyone gathered around it and read it with helpless reaction. The announcement was none other than about the missing Golden Jewel from its dome. Soon after the poster sticked on the wall, every human and every creature talked about it and wondering how it could be gone. But nobody dared to talk about how to to earn the jewel back. Because noone was brave enough to walk through the wild forests or cross the wide rivers to search it. They were too short-minded about hearing what the forests or rivers could do to you.

Then, a not-so-tall figure walked through the crowds. He shoved everyone gently until he could read the announcement himself. It was written like this on the poster:

QUOTE
MISSING

The Golden Jewel of Ular Tangga Land

(Picture of the Golden Jewel)

For the sake of our Kingdom, our Country, our Land, this jewel must be found. If anyone managed to obtain this jewel back and return it safely to its dome, he or she shall be rewarded with deserved prize.

Signed,
Ruler of Mula-Mula Kingdom of Ular Tangga Land, King Hajime.

Pitak---the stranger's name---read it inquisitively. He was particularly interested in finding the jewel.

"This could be one of those unforgettable adventures," mumble Pitak. He looked at the image of the jewel once more and left. He walked to one of the bars and decided to collect some energy before leaving for the jewel.

"Give me food and drink, please," said Pitak to the bar servant after setting a seat for himself. The bar servant nodded and then out of sight.

"What do you think, Blang? That jewel needed to be founded. But I suppose noone dares to try to find it," a polkadot creature who sat near Pitak talked to his friend whom he called Blang.

"It's ironic, Bon. The jewel is very precious but none of the creatures in this land could do it. Moreover, the King offered some prizes. So anyone should be interested!" said Blang.

"But the prize wasn't mentioned. If what's written is five hundred thousands golds, I think people would race for it," said Bontenk.

"Hey, I know one person who might be willing to take this chance," said Blang.

"Who?"

"Prince Prrrfek. The one and only prince who loves perfection and wealth." Bontenk made and expression with opening his mouth widely.

Pitak listened to them and talked to himself silently, "So there was somebody else who finally interested too. Well, I guess it's alright if I have a companion."

As his food coming, Pitak started to plan on his journey. He was thinking where he should start tracking the Jewel or where he should find a trusted source who might know the Jewel’s whereabout.

But before Pitak got his mind into it, the voice of the two polkadots creatures made him turned his sight outside.

“Look! We just talked about him!” said Bontenk.

“Prince Prrrfek…” said Blang.

Prince Prrrfek was on his black gallant horse, with several guards on horses too, passing the Main city of Mula-Mula. From afar, Pitak could see the group stopped for a second on the announcement board, and then they moved again. This time they were heading to the bar where Pitak is now. Soon enough, the people and creatures in the bar rushed themselves to move away, except for Pitak.

When the bar’s empty already and only left with Pitak and the bar servant, Prince Prrrfek entered the place. He was wearing all black for his suit and he also was wearing a black hat with a black feather on the corner.

Then Pitak started wondering inside, “Why would a prince let himself coming to such place like this?” But Pitak’s question was soon answered when the Prince finally said something.

“Bartender!” shout the Prince, “Give me and my men drink! We’ll need some celebration before we go and get the precious Jewel. Nobody will ever manage to retrieve it anyway.” The Prince said arrogantly, and then laughed.

“Don’t be so sure,” said Pitak. In a second, Prince Prrrfek and his men looked at him straight and fiercely.

Pitak said as he continued, “Maybe you are not the only person in this Land to find the Jewel. Maybe it is not you who will get the Jewel.”

Prince Prrrfek stood in anger, followed by his men. “How dare you saying such thing to me! You are nothing but mere creature who wanders endlessly and you don’t know anything about saving this Land’s precious item.”

“What if I make a bet between you and me? If I find it first, I win. And that’ll enough to prove that you are wrong.”

“You dare challenging a Prince!” shrieked Prince Prrrfek, his guards’ hands were already gripping their swords.

“It’s not a big deal. Besides, I only ask you to race with me for finding the Jewel. Well, it’s up to you then,” Pitak finished his drink and stood up. “I hope we meet again.”

“There will be punishment when you’re losing! What a disgrace!” shouted Prince Prrrfek. But Pitak was already leaving and moved away.

**

Pitak followed the path on the ground happily. He was at least excited he could do something adventurous now, and how it would change his life either for better or worse. He almost stepped over a small shape of body on the ground if he didn’t stop to admire a beautiful wild flower growing near the river. Pitak squatted and saw closer for the lying creature. It was a frog and it was dying with its tongue half outside the mouth.

Pitak touched gently on the frog’s stomach. It was still alive and breathing, but why was it dying there. Pitak lifted the frog closer to the river and tried to drop some water on it.

One drop…
No reaction.
Two drops...
It’s not moving yet.
Six drops…
The frog’s tongue returned inside its mouth.
Nine drops…
The frog shook his body.
Twelve drops…
Pitak was out of patience. He took a handful of water and splashed it to the frog’s face to make it awake. Well, it worked.

“Heeeeeeeelp!” suddenly the frog awoke and squeaked, it made Pitak jumped off. “Help! Help! Help!”

Pitak hurrily tried to stop the frog screaming by hushing it. “Shhh… calm down! You are already helped, anyway.”

The frog stopped immediately, but then he continued, “Am I? Did you do it? Wow, thanks! You know, what happened to me was really bad. I think it was the most unlucky moment in my life.” Pitak watched him with a suspicious look.

“I only wanted to have some lunch, but they were too close to the river and I got slipped and I drowned to the water,” the frog pointed at some wild berries near the river next to him. “The next thing happened was, I blacked out. You know, I can’t swim and I hate water and I didn’t know how I got up here. Must be the fishes,” it grinned widely.

Pitak was filled with puzzled, weirded look. This was once in his life that he found a frog who couldn’t swim and hate water. Unbelievable.

“So, I guess you’re all right now. Here, I got some berries I brought from town. They’re for you,” Pitak reached his pocket and held out some red berries and gave them to the frog. “I better go now. See you!”

Pitak was already standing again, when the frog stopped him. “Wait! What’s your name? Mine is Kogi.”

“I am Pitak. Nice to meet you,” Pitak smiled and walked away. But Kogi followed him, he seemed to have another intentions on Pitak.

After a few steps, Pitak held his steps. He turned and said, “Why are you following me? I thought I’ve rescued you? Now would you mind to stop coming and let me go alone…Kogi.”

“I can’t. Actually, er, I ran away from my village and I got lost. When you saved my life just now, I felt that I owed you and I wanted to come with you if I could be a handy,” replied Kogi.

“But, I don’t know you and I don’t know whether you could be a trouble or a help later. I never had anyone going away with me,” said Pitak.

Kogi grinned more widely, “I promise if I ever cause you trouble, you could leave me behind!”

Pitak sighed. He didn’t want anyone to come with him. But this frog seemed to need a help. He sighed one more time before he finally said, “Fine. You can come with me, but you have to promise to fulfill your promise if you trouble me. Okay?”

“Okay!” Kogi jumped happily and followed Pitak on his journey.

**

“By the way, how long are we going to arrive to the place we’re going?” asked Kogi, he was sitting on Pitak’s shoulder.

“We are there now,” replied Pitak. Both of them now were standing in front of the Woods of Dryads. What lies inside the Woods, was the one they have to face.

“Isn’t this the scary Woods of Dryads?” said Kogi. “There’s no way we could get away from this place once we get in.”

“I know. But the Dryads are powerful. They know every happenings and events in this land. So our only way to find the Jewel’s whereabout is to get some clues from the creatures from this Woods,” explain Pitak.

The Woods of Dryads was not the scariest place in Ular Tangga land, but it can confuse you and it can make you panic when you can’t get out of it. And it’s never easy to get out from the Woods. The only way to make through is only to meet the Queen of Dryads, Yurasia, in the deepest of the Woods. Nevertheless, you will also going to have a small task from Queen Yurasia to pass.

“Come on,” said Pitak as he moved his feet toward the Woods. Kogi on his shoulder looked nervous, he never went anywhere near the Woods. He never even hadn’t gone too far from his home, not until the day he sunk to the river and met Pitak. Pitak was the opposite of Kogi. He had been lonely since he was young. He never knew his parents, because both were dead of plague in that age. Lucky for Pitak, he was saved by the other villagers and brought to a mountain. At the beginning of his maturity, Pitak decided to live life on his own and wanted to see how the world is, until this moment.

“Tell me. How do we find the Queen?” asked Kogi after a long, tiring walk. Of course, he didn’t feel that tired because Pitak did all the walking.

“I don’t know. But I think I heard that there’s a star in the middle of the Woods that symbolizes the Queen. And if we can find it, we can summon the Queen,” said Pitak.

“A star? What about that shining thing over there?” Kogi pointed the source of light in afar with his tongue.

“I think that’s the star. Let’s go there.” Pitak and Kogi went closer to the light, and once they were there, it was floating star-shaped gem surrounded by silvery light right in front of assumedly the biggest tree in the Woods.

“Now I know why it’s called the star. But, it’s, beautiful…” whispered Kogi, admiring the gem.

Pitak suddenly reached his pocket and let out a small folded piece of parchment. He read it and enchanted the words on it. They were ancient language, but Pitak got the incantation from a nice dragon from his previous journey.

“What were you spelling?” said Kogi.

“You will see it.”

Not very long after, the gem started to shake, making vibration around it and reached the tree behind it. And then the light became larger, surrounding the huge tree, and a voice came out.

“Who is waking me up?” called the voice. It sounded soft, calm, yet elegant and graceful. It was the voice of Queen Yurasia, who had just been awoken from its sleep in the tree.

“Greetings, Queen Yurasia. I am Pitak, with my friend Kogi. We need to know something very important from Your Highness,” said Pitak.

There was a long pause. But Queen Yurasia answered, “You… must be very special. The person who gave you my password must have really trusted you. Very well, what is it you want to know?”

“We need to know how to find the Golden Jewel of Ular Tangga Land. It’s gone, and it needs to be returned before it goes to the wrong hand,” replied Pitak.

“I understand. Now I will throw you a question that will make you able to pass one of my thousand doors. But this time I will not ask you to choose the door; I will give you the right door. Only you have to answer a puzzle,” said Queen Yurasia.

Kogi whispered to Pitak’s ear, “And how is that suppose to give us information?” Pitak hushed Kogi for a reply.

“I will answer the puzzle the best I can,” said Pitak.

“Remember, you only have one more attempt if your first answer was wrong. Please be careful in answering,” the light where Queen Yurasia’s voice came suddenly started to fade and became a beautiful figure covered in the most gorgeous flowers and leaves ever. It was Queen Yurasia herself who finally showed up. She didn’t move a single step at all, but her hand was waving in the air creating small sparkles. She sent the sparkles to her tree and there appeared a wooden door.

“Now, the question. What comes the best when you least realize it? If you answer wrong, the door will take you back here and you will have to answer again. But if you still answer wrong, you will need ages to get out of here. Because my thousand doors only appears every ten normal years.”

Pitak and Kogi gulped, especially Kogi, because he was never that good in puzzles. Come to think of it, Kogi had never been good in anything, yet.

After some times thinking, Pitak made up his mind and answered, “Luck.”

“If that is your final answer, go proceed to the door,” said Queen Yurasia.

“Good luck, us,” commented Kogi. He closed his eyes and Pitak reached to open the door. There was a shiny golden ray when it was opened. But the ray slowly fading and started to show images that they recognized very well. It was the Woods.

“You answered wrong!” screamed Kogi. He started to panic.

“Please, Kogi. I’ve tried. At least I’m using my brain right here,” said Pitak.

“A little suggestion for you, young adventurer. Try to use both your heart and your brain to answer every question in your life. Now, your final chance,” Queen Yurasia began to shift into a light again.

“Pitak, you just have to use your intuition to answer this. If we ever got stuck in this Woods, I don’t know how our life would be. Spending ten years in this creepy Woods? Oh, please, I don’t want it to happen to me!” Kogi babbled.

“Wait, that’s it! That’s the answer! It’s intuition!” Pitak reached the door once he heard Kogi saying the word. When Pitak opened the door, he could hear Queen Yurasia’s soft voice said, “Be aware in your journey, young adventurer.”

And in a second, Pitak and Kogi had arrived in somewhere different. And it was dark and full moon was shining brightly in the sky. They were in another part of Ular Tangga land where the time zone was not the same.

“Where are we?” asked Kogi. His eyes wandered around.

“I don’t know. But there is only one thing related to night sky and full moon. Fairies,” answered Pitak.

“How do you know so much about everything? I really don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to understand,” Pitak smiled. He walked with his intuition going. Not long after, both of them heard melodic tunes from behind trees. Pitak and Kogi hurried to see what was going on.

“I was right. It’s the fairies. Tonight’s full moon; and full moon is the only time when they’re having fun. I think they are our next clue to the Jewel.”

“I can see that you are right, Pitak. Now, if we approach them, aren’t we going to scare them away?” asked Kogi.

“No. Since we are not humans, they wouldn’t mind us joining their little party. But if we are humans, they will vanish, because they are not supposed to be seen by humans in their sacred day.”

“I won’t ask where you knew about it all,” Kogi said. Pitak just smiled. “Come on.”

Pitak stepped over some bushes and met the fairies. They were dancing and singing around a pool, beamed by the full moon’s light. There were five fairies, each identified by their own colors: red, blue, white, green, yellow.

“A cat and a frog!” said the blue one after spotting Pitak and Kogi, her name was Sapphire.

“Come and dance with us!” called Pearl, the white fairy.

Kogi was already jumping happily when he listened to the fairies singing wonderfully, but Pitak clearly showed his true intention.

“We are here with a lead from Queen Yurasia, Queen of the Dryads. We were in a journey to find the Golden Jewel of Ular Tangga Land. We need your help to get us somewhere very close to the Jewel’s place,” said Pitak. The fairies didn’t stop dancing. But Ruby, the red fairy and the oldest of all, came to Pitak.

“We can help. We can even send you right away to the Jewel. But of course, that will lessen your effort to get the Jewel, won’t it? The only thing you have to do is to dance and sing with us. Just one dance and we will send you there.”

“I like to dance!” claimed Kogi. Pitak couldn’t decline; he just had to do it. The fairies then dragged Pitak and Kogi to dance around the Pond of Moonlight.

“Both of you will have to stand in the middle of the Pond. Don’t worry of drowning, our magical abilities will keep you two floating,” said Ruby. “And keep dancing!”

So Pitak and Kogi danced along. For almost fifteen minutes, they started to feel different. The fairies spun fast around the Pond, they sang and danced faster. And then there were beams coming from the sides of the Pond.

“I think they’re trying to teleport us!” Kogi said.

A very good luck for the frog and cat,
because they are blessed.
Beautiful moonlight,
send them away to the swamp, allright.

Pitak and Kogi heard the fairies singing, and in a second everything around them became blurry.

**

“We’re on the swamps now. What should we do?” Kogi whined as they entered the area where you could only find water and mud and moss and frightening creatures.

“We find the crocodile couples as said,” replied Pitak. He walked through the low river with Kogi on his shoulder.

“Do you think the fairies told the true thing? Are you sure? I mean, they could’ve been wrong. Besides, who would’ve put a precious Jewel in such place?”

“I do believe what the fairies saw in their pool. And please don’t ask questions no more. It gives me headache.”

“Well, sorry…” Kogi said. On the shoulder of a cat, he looked back from where they came. When they started, there was not anything there. But now there was some kind of barrier made of leaves covering the way. “Er… Pitak?”

“Please, Kogi. Save your questions for later,” said Pitak.

“This time I’m not asking questions! Would you please look back from where we came?” Kogi said.

Pitak turned his body and he saw what exactly Kogi had said. He stared at the barrier for a moment, and then he turned and walked forward again.

“We need to get out of this water soon. I think it’s the crocodile couples doing. Let’s go,” Pitak said. But before he and Kogi could go faster, a couple of cunning crocodiles came up from their opposite direction.

“Well, well… If this is not the idiot cat and frog who try to save the Jewel… You should go back, kids. Before my husband and I eat you two,” Bu Aya welcomed Pitak and Kogi.

“And letting us go with those leave barrier there? Are you tricking me or something?” Pitak said. His hand was holding his dagger on the hip.

Bu Aya laughed, “You’re not as idiot as he told us.”

“Who’s he?” asked Kogi. Pitak hushed him, but he already asked the question.

“Oh, he’s Prince Prrrfek,” Pak Aya said.

“Prince Prrrfek!” Kogi squeaked.

“Shut up, Pak! You’re not supposed to reveal our master’s identity,” Bu Aya nudged her husband. “Nevermind him. But since you both already knew about Prince Prrrfek, we’ll have to banish you.”

“You hide the Jewel here somewhere, don’t you?” Pitak demanded.

“Of course… But you can search it all over in this area if you want. It’ll take you ages to have it. And before you found it, our master is already becoming the ruler of Ular Tangga Land,” Bu Aya said.

“Wait? So, Prince Prrrfek really stole the Jewel? It’s true?” Kogi said.

“Yeah, the Jewel is right here on my stomach. I can throw up to make it out,” Pak Aya said.

“Pak! What are you saying! You kept telling them off our secrets!” Bu Aya screamed at Pak Aya. “There’s no other way, now you two will have to feel my dangerous bite!”

As soon as the fact that the Jewel was hidden right in front of their nose, Pitak and Kogi counter attacked Bu Aya (Pak Aya was a little bit insane, so he stood still and watched his wife fighting with a cat and a frog). Kogi jumped to Bu Aya’s face and covered her eye so she was one eye blinded. Pitak punched and smashed and smacked Bu Aya all over her body. Bu Aya wasn’t a strong opponent either, that was why Pitak and Kogi finally won easily.

“You two will have to pay for this!” Bu Aya said, with her body strangled by spiral leaves. Pitak ignored her and now he reached Pak Aya and made him to get out the Jewel.

“Can you give me the Jewel?” asked Pitak nicely.

Pak Aya didn’t answer. But in a second, he was already pale faced and ready to throw something up from his inside. There you go, the precious Jewel of Ular Tangga Land, all in digested food.

“Whatever that is, I don’t really care. Keep it. Bu, I’m tired, I’m going home and I’m going to sleep,” Pak Aya turned and left Pitak and Kogi and Bu Aya---who was shocked and fainted because of her husband’s foolishness.

“A little bit shape up and cleaning, it’ll be as good as new,” Kogi said, staring at the Jewel.

Pitak smiled at his friend, “Sure. Let’s go back.”

But their journey back wasn’t as smooth as they had expected. Pitak and Kogi encountered Prince Prrrfek and his guards.

“Filthy cat!” shouted Prince Prrrfek. He shouted even more when he saw the Golden Jewel in Pitak’s hand. “Get the Jewel back! And have them killed!”

The Knights of Prince Prrrfek moved and chased Pitak with Kogi on his shoulder. Pitak ran as fast as he could.

“Pitak! How are we going to escape them!” screamed Kogi.

“Don’t worry. All we need is a clearing, and we will be saved,” said Pitak. He took his necklace with a wing-carved stone. He rubbed the stone and spelled, “Bang Naga”.

“How faaaar… is the… cleariiiing?” Kogi’s voice vibrated as Pitak ran faster.

“Not so faaaar…!” replied Pitak. True, soon enough they have met a wide clearing. Pitak ran to the centre when he saw two figures in the sky.

The figures came closer to the ground and created hard wind effect. They were the dragon brothers, Bang Naga Merah and Bang Naga Hijau. Bang Naga Hijau chased the Knights and tried to scare them away. Meanwhile, Pitak and Kogi had already jumped onto Bang Naga Merah and fled with him, separating them from the chase.

“That was close!” said Kogi.

“Yes, indeed. Thanks to these brothers,” Pitak rubbed the back of Bang Naga Merah. “Next destination, Mula-Mula Kingdom.”

**

When Pitak and Kogi arrived at Mula-Mula Kingdom, the news of the Jewel was saved had already spread. So they were welcomed gratefully in the Kingdom. Every human and creature stood in lines to see the heroes brought back the Land’s precious.

“Aren’t you proud of this, Pitak?” asked Kogi. “Because I am very proud. You are a great hero, and the great hero has his sidekick always standing on his shoulder.”

Pitak smiled. “You’ve been an inspiration for me, Kogi. I’m glad you were always there for me.”

“Well, you should’ve been grateful because you met me!” Both of them laughed.

The front area of the Palace was very crowded, but Pitak and Kogi were let through the crowd. They could see the King and the Princess standing, waiting for the Jewel to be back to its belonging.

“The Heroes of Ular Tangga Land! Come forward!” King Hajime greeted Pitak and Kogi nicely. “I am sure that both of you have been trying really hard to get this Jewel back. Therefore, I am going to award you two by making you two as the Hebatz, the highest rank of Knight in this Kingdom. I trust the peace in your hands.” The people and creatures cheered and clapped their hands.

“Your Majesty, for you to know, the Jewel was meant to be stolen. It was Prince Prrrfek from Hitam Kingdom whom done it,” said Pitak. But a sudden clap of wings distracted him and the King.

“Hm, is that Naga Hijau?” mumbled King Hajime. Bang Naga Hijau came with something on his paw.

“It’s Prince Prrrfek on his paw!” shouted Kogi.

“My, you are right! Guards! Quickly get that damned Prince and lock him up!” ordered King Hajime to his guards.

“Your Majesty, with all respect, but, you decided very quickly on Prince Prrrfek,” said Pitak.

“Pitak, I have known about everything since I’ve heard there was a brave cat with a frog trying to make through the Woods of Dryads just to find the Golden Jewel. Ever since, I kept updating about you and Prince Prrrfek. Because Prince Prrrfek is the only person in this Land who would chase such Jewel. So, no worry if I suddenly decided what to do on Prince Prrrfek.

Now, the people have known you and Kogi as the heroes. Give them an honor once, and come in with me,” said King Hajime.

Pitak and Kogi honored the people and creature of Ular Tangga Land, and then they followed King Hajime inside the Palace.

And so it was about our heroes; Pitak and Kogi. They have saved what had been the guardian of Ular Tangga Land and they have brought happiness back in the Land.

THE END

"The Deadly Game" by Skyler Winters

Melissa Richards was your average fifteen year old girl. Outgoing, fun, pretty, and popular. She has three best friends Amy Carr, Sarah Matthews, and Alexa Preston. Three people who had nothing in common except for one thing their friendship with Melissa. Tonight was the end of the year party and Melissa was planning on enjoying it with her three best friends. None of them could wait! It seemed as if the only thing that could bring this night down was Alexa and Sarah's consistent arguing. But none of them could see that what was about to come was going to be the hardest game they have ever played in their lives.

Melissa walked around the party with Amy, people occasionly saying hi to them as they past. The whole freshmen class was their with a few upper classmen that had decided to join them. Everything seemed completely normal. No one saw the person waching from the tree's, no one noticed the how the piercing blue eyes burned into Melissa's skin. All he had to do was wait then he could strike, he could start his game.

"Hey Melissa!" Joseph Walker greeted with a goofy smile, his greens eyes sparkling with joy the minute his girlfriend turned around to face him.

"Hey Joey, I was wondering where you where!" she replied pulling into a soft kiss. They just stood there staring at each other, happy to be in each others arms.

"Do you guys want me to leave?" Amy asked feeling uncomfortable just standing here.

"Oh Amy, I'm so sorry I forgot you where there. I feel so bad." she said embarished that she had forgotten her best friends presence.

"Hey don't worry about it, love does crazy things to people." she said jokingly with a goofy smile, that made both Melissa and Joey laugh.

"Look I got to talk to someone, I'll be back in a few minutes. You two just talk and not about me. GOT IT!" Melissa said the last part in a mock threatening tone, as both Amy and Joey laughed and waved her off. Neither knowing this was the last time they were going to see their friend that night.

****

"Hey Alexa have you seen Melissa?" Joey asked approaching her with Amy. Alexa shook her head, seeming confused by the question.

"No, I thought she was with you two."

"She was, she went to go talk to someone and said she would be right back. But that was over an hour ago." Amy explained sounding nervous.

"Okay Amy just calm down I'm sure she's fine." But she was wrong as they found out later that night, as when the party died down there was no sign of Melissa Richards anywhere. Except her red sweater that was found lying right outside the outskirts of the forest.

Amy, Alexa and Sarah all gathered in Melissa's room. They could do nothing for their missing friend but sit around and wait. They had already given their statements to the police and now they where waiting around like helpless puppies. Sarah couldn't sit still, she kept pacing the around the room. Making the other two even more nervous.

"We can't just sit around here and do nothing!" Sarah screamed for the tenth time in the pass hour. Amy sat quietly in the courner. She knew Melissa better then any of the two, but she remained silent she didn't want to upset anyone anymore then they already where. Though most of her was telling her to scream and destroy everything that came into her path. She just wanted her friend back.

"We have to, theres nothing we can do. Melissa was kidnapped by who knows who and theres no way we can help." Alexa shouted becoming annoyed with Sarah once again. A deathly silence hung over them as no one dared to speak another word. Amy eyes darted around the room trying to find anything she could use to give them a clue. Her eyes fell on Melissa's closet. Remembering what she kept in there on the topself in the shoe box on the far right. Without speaking she got up and headed over the the slightly opened closet. Grabbing a chair and standing on it she reach for the small box. Alexa and Sarah watched her as if she was crazy.

"What on earth are you doing?" Sarah asked as she watched the shorter girl bring the shoe box bed and dumping out onto the bed. A small red diary fell out with the key attacht to it. The other two girls looked at it questionaly.

"I didn't know Melissa kept a diary!" Alexa stated as Amy stumbled to open the lock with the key.

"She only told me." she said simply as the lock clicked open. All three gathered around the bed reading the contents of their friends inner most thoughts. They were surprised at what they read. In her diary she mentioned a boy that reappeared in her diary several times. His name wasn't mentioned once but they were all pretty sure none of them had ever met or heard of this boy before now.

****
They told Melissa's parents what they had read and the police emitally took the diary away for evidence. Amy walked outside her house the next morning and found a yellow notebook with only the number seven written in it with the morning newspaper. It took her a few minutes to realize that Melissa owned a yellow notebook. She knew it was probably just a cowindence but she had to make sure, if someone was trying to give them clues about where her best friend was. She was going to at least try to figure it out.

She brought it to Alexa and Sarah, though she wasn't sure that was really good idea considering how much the two hated each other. But she had no choice with Joey under investgation for the kidnapping, even though he was with her most of the night she had no one else to turn to. Plus these's two were almost as close to Melissa as she is.

Once again they had met in Melissa's room. It's the only place they would all agree on meeting together. They stared at the notebook trying to figure out what it could possibly mean. What did the number written in it have to do with anything. Alexa knew the number wasn't just there for no reason it had to mean something and she had a feeling she should know this even better then Amy and Sarah. After a few more minutes of silently consitrating she got it.

"Mellisa's locker!" she said so suddenly that it made the other two girls jump.

"What are you talking about, dumb bat." Sarah snared as if it was the most stupid thing she had ever heard anyone say.

"The notebook indicates the school and Melissa's locker is nuber seven, I should know mine is right next to hers." Sarah looked shock as Amy smiled. They were all soon out the door and heading towards the school.

When they got there the lock had already been open and inside the cramped space was a blurred black and white photo and a letter adressed to them.

I see you understood my little message Amy, yes I know your name. I know all your names. Alexa, Sarah! The rules to the game are rather simple you see, just follow the clues, and it will lead you to Melissa. The only rule I will enforce is that there is no cops, you bring cops into this and Melissa's dead. You got until sundown to find. Be smart and think quick Melissa's waiting!

The three stood there for a second shock filling there bodies. As it began to were off Sarah looked at the picture and pieced the information together.

"The old photo booth at the arcade!" was all she said before the three took off again.

*****
They made it to the arcade in record time, and quickly found there way to the old photo booth that no one ever uses because of how blurry the pictures come out. Inside they found a little plastic tree. All three emitlly knew where it was leading them to the forest behind Melissa's house.

They stood outside the forest looking in. Amy remember playing hide and seek with Melissa in these woods when they were younger. She couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"What are you smiling about?" Sarah asked harshly, making Amy look down ashamed and embarissed.

"Hey leave her alone! She hasn't done anything to you." Alexa said jumping to Amy's defence. Of course they all knew it was really just an excuse to get into another fight with Sarah.

The fighting continued the tension building in the air. Tension so thick that Amy could have sworn you could have cut it with an knife. She looked at the tree an noticed something. It looked like a small doll hanging from the branch. She began to climb up, ready to take claim of wait she believed was the next clue. She didn't even notice that the fighting below her had come to a screeching halt until she was back down on the ground. Alexa took the doll from the smaller girl and read the note attached to it out loud.

"From here it wont be as easy!" and with that they headed silently into the forest.

*****

Amy, Sarah and Alexa continued to walk deeper into the forest behind Melissa’s house. Amy held the last clue in her hand. How did a rag doll fit into any of this? How did it connected with the other three clues.

“Maybe we should stop for a while.” Complained Sarah sitting on a log and taking a sip of her water.

“Melissa may not have that long!” spat Alexa coming very close to Sarah’s face. She just stared in the blue eyes of the girl standing in front of her not willing to give into her, no one told her what to do.

“Well we’re not going to be much help to her if we die from exhaustion.” Amy stood quietly as they fought. She agreed with Alexa they had to keep moving but was too scared to voice her opinion.
A movement in the bushes caught her eye as she gasped and stood stiff. The noise of snapping branches fill her ears as the figure moved closer and closer.

“Alexa, Sarah!” She whispered trying to get the two girls attention. But it didn’t work her soft voice couldn’t be heard of their arguing. Fear griped her over beating heart as she saw eyes peeking out from the bushes.

“ALEXA, SARAH!” She said louder then before gaining to girls attention.

“What is it Amy?” Alexa asked sensing the red heads fear. Amy pointed to the bushes where the figure quickly tried to hide itself. Sarah and Alexa froze not knowing what to do. Could it possibly be the kidnapper?

Alexa slowly creeps behind the bush trying not to make to much noise. Without warning she dives behind the bush dragging the intruder out by the ear.

“You can relax guys I don’t think it’s the kidnapper.” She announces appearing with a young girl with brown curly locks.

“Melinda? What are you doing here?” Amy asked surprised to see the small thirteen year old in front of her.

“Melissa’s my sister, I wasn’t going to sit around and do nothing.” She spoke in her defense. She wasn’t going to just sit around while some maniac had her sister. She had been following them since the very beginning, ever since Alexa found the first clue in Melissa’s dresser.

“Let me see the clues!” The three looked at each other before finally nodding and piling the three clues onto the ground. She looked at each of them carefully. The yellow notebook with nothing but the number seven written in it, the blurred black and white photo, the plastic tree, and the old rag doll. The tree she knew is what brought them into the woods.

“I don’t understand the other three.” She said pointing to the notebook, the photo and the rag doll.

“The notebook has the number of her locker at school, the blurred photo came from the photo booth at the arcade, and we don’t understand the rag doll either.” Melinda listened as Sarah explained. Silence fell between them as minutes passed by. Melinda tried to think hard of what it could mean. She tried to remember when she and Melissa were younger and what they use to do in these woods. She smiled at the memory of them climbing every tree they came across. Then it hit here the old cabin by the river, they it their club house and they always use to play dolls in there together. She told the other as a gleam of hope glimmered in their eyes.

“Thanks Melinda, but we have to this alone now. Something tells me this game was only meant for us.” Sarah explained as Melinda narrowed her eyes towards her. She looked at Amy who nodded in return. She gave in and let them go off alone she knew Amy wouldn’t let anything happen to her big sister.

****

"STOP ACTING LIKE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING, WHEN YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Amy listened as the two fought non-stop. She looked at the last clue, a necklace shaped like a heart. She knew she seen it before but couldn't place where, and the two arguing behind her wasn't helping. Her head was spinning and her eyes where getting heavy from exhaustion. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her self down out Alexa's shreiks filled the air.

"I KNOW NOTHING? I THINK YOU HAVE THAT BACKWARDS HONEY," she screamed as Amy sighed and placed her hands over her ears in a attempted to block them out but it was working very well.

"For one don't call me honey, and two I got it perfectly right the first time," Sarah snared back placing her hand upon her hips, letting Alexa know she wasn't intimated by her at all. Amy ran her hands through her hair, she think like this and if one of them didn't figure this out soon then Melissa's dead. She felt her anger build up as they continued to argue. How could they argue when their friend was in danger? How could they forget that they only had until six o'clock tonight? Which was only an hour from now! She couldn't take it anymore her anger took control.

"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP, AND LET ME THINK!" she screamed as loud as she could surprising both of them. Leaving them completely at a lost for word, which made Amy very happy. She looked over the clue again, closed her eyes and began to think. That's then she remembered, she saw Melissa wearing it the night of the party. She also remembered reading something about it in Melissa's diary.

Dear Diary,
He gave me a necklace today, the boy I met over at the park by the werehouse. He's so sweet, and no I'm not cheating on Joey. He said it's a friendship necklace nothing more. It really pretty it has a gold chain and the pedant is a heart. He said it mean's whatever happens we'll always be friends and love each other as friends forever. Well I got to go mom's calling!
Love Always,
Melissa

"I know where she is!" Amy exclaimed with a giant smile on her face, to the still shocked Alexa and Sarah. She had to laugh at the site of the two, she could swear that their mouths had dropped to the floor.

"Where?" Sarah was the first to speak as always, and Amy smiled and motioned for them to follow her was she explained what she figured out only moments before.

"Shouldn't we call the cops?" Alexa asked worried about what would happen if they went alone.

"The rules said no cops."

"Yeah but they didn't say we couldn't call Melinda," Amy said smiling "...and how would we know if she called the cops?" the other two nodded in victory as Amy pulled out her cell home to call her Melinda. To let her know they found her big sister!

****
The three ran through the forest, not stopping until the reach the park. They were all gasping for breath. They carefully made their way through the park, to the abandoned warehouse. They stood outside it knowing full well that Melinda had probably called the cops and they were probably on their way by now.

Against there better judgement they enter the warehouse, clinging to each other looking carefully around. A sudden noise made the jumped as a figure stepped in front of them. It turned on the light revealing himself to the three scared girls. He was a middle aged man about in his mid forties, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Behind him was Melissa Richard tied to a chair mouth duct taped shut.

"Why hello my girls, I'm very impressed with how quickly you all figured it out. It's only 3:37 pm and I gave you until sundown. Yes I have to say I'm very impressed indeed." He taunted them taking a step foreward, making the three step backwards into a walls. They were cornered.

"Wh... who are you?" Alexa managed to choke out the question and the man smiled and evil smirk letting his yellow teeth show.

"Why, I'm Jackson Raven's, you see Melissa here met my son Jeremy, and he told me all about you guys. Mind you he had no idea what I was planning." He smiled again pulling out a knife and advancing foreward. Melissa's eyes went wide as she saw her friends fear, this was all happening because of her.

"I had to play my game, I promise you it will all be over soon." He advanced foreward again raising the knife up above Amy, and just as he was about to plunge the knife down.

BOOM the police barge in and take the man down with little effort. The girls untie Melissa and hold onto each other with death grips as they watched Jackson Raven's being taken out by handcuffs.

****

Melissa sat safely in the benches of the court house with her three best friends and family. Jackson Ravens was on trial for the kidnapping of Melissa Richards and attempted murders as Melissa Richards, Amy Carr, Alexa Preston, and Sarah Matthews and also the murder of three other girls who died three years earlier. She watched as each of her friends where called to testafy on what happened. She testafied also, keeping her eyes locked with her kidnapper the whole time, showing no fear, no regret.

The jury came back in, each knowing the fate of the man that sat before him. They handed the white envolope to the guard, who handed it to the judge. He looked at it and nodded towards them.

"We the jury find the defendant..." She felt her boyfriend's arms around giving her the support she needed as the verdict was read.

"...guilty on all charges!" Every person in the courtroom cheered, besides Jackson and his lawyer. He looked over at them his evil eyes burning through them. He had played his final game and he had lost.

Melissa felt a hand on her should and she jumped at the infamilar touch. She spun around only to be surprised by who she found.

"Jeremy?!" Standing there was none other then Jeremy Ravens, the boy she had met only weeks ago, the one who gave her the heartshaped necklace.

"I just wanted to say I'm really sorry about what my father did to you. I had no idea he was like that I swear." he said as he lowered his head in shame.

"It's alright I believe you. Your father taunted me with the fact that you had no idea you were leading me into a trap." Jeremy smiled and gave the girl in front of him a hug. The girl he had unknowingly hurt so much.

"Look I'm going back to Russia to live with my mother, I just wanted to say bye and that I'm sorry." he said through his russian accent as he began to walk away.

"WAIT!" She called out as she held out his hand and placed a heart shaped necklace in his hand. "It's idenical to the one you gave me, now we'll never be apart and remain friends forever." he smiled and nodded walking away from the four friends that had grown so much over the past month. Nothing could brake the bond they had formed, nothing!

"New Winds" by Tala Fey

The cold wind whipped almost angrily through the vacant camp. Only two voices competed with the wind, carefully sheltered within the camp’s largest hold settled in the middle.
“It’s a good night, eh my boy?” The rough voice of the bandit leader carried a tint of laughter.
“For what father?” Phoenix’s voice seemed weary and tired compared to his fathers.
“You know for what, eh?” The big bear of a man gave his son a friendly elbow to the ribs.
“It’s always a good night for robbing people.” Pheo growled as he shifted himself away from his father’s playful arm.
“Naw, not always.” The flash of teeth as Kedar grinned made him eave more animalistic. “But you knew that, you’re going to rule this place when I’ve gone, right my boy?”
Phoenix glanced back at his father. “Da, we’ve talked about this many a time. I didn’t choose this life, you did. This is not who I want to be.”
Kedar grew serious for a moment and then broke into loud guffaws. “Are you pulling my leg again boy? It must be your mother’s blood. She always told me bad jokes too.” Kedar clapped his hand to his boys back. “Course,” he was once again serious, “It appears she wasn’t joking very much when she told me you were mine, and only mine.”
Pheo ducked out from his father’s arms. “Father I’m serious. Why would I want to rob and murder people?”
“It’s fun” Kedar said with a shrug.
“Fun? Maybe for you, but your ruining peoples lives and their lively hood, I don’t want be responsible for that.”
Kedar’s eyes narrowed, it wasn’t hard to imagine the big happy man as a bandit when he did that. The look itself was dangerous. “Why should we care, Pheo? Not like they would give us a chance now anyways. You’re a marked man, maybe you haven’t done much, that’s true, but once they learn who you are there’s no hope of decent work. For many of us there never was.”
“I know.” Pheo sighed. “I’ve been told the story too many times to count.”
“Good, no need to tell you again then.” Kedar was grinning again. “It will all be yours one day. Enjoy being bandit king.” There was another flash of teeth.
Pheo sighed. “Right. I’m going to take in some fresh air, okay?”
Kedar offered him a grin. “You do that my boy, keep a look out for anything good.”
Pheo didn’t answer as he stepped out into the chill.
Pheonix didn’t get very far when Cadwaladr came rushing towards the tent. “Kedar!” He bellowed “We’ve got a good looking piece of prey.”
No sooner had he spoken as Kedar came rushing out, fully equipped with swords and daggers. Pheo scowled even as Kedar tossed his son his bow with a smirk, there was no need for a blade, like his father, Pheo never went anywhere with out one. It was true what his father said, no matter what he did, he had a mark on his head.
The bandits all scurried to the preordained destination and readied themselves. Every single one was dead silent and still when the caravan came rolling in.
Pheo felt a wave of uneasiness wash over him even as the first arrows flew from bows to topple drivers and guards. Without warning his father and the ground fighters surrounded the caravan.
The first few moments were the bloodbath it usually was, and then the hiss of arrows filled the air.
“Watch out! Guards behind” Bellowed Cadwaladr as several bandits were struck by the arrows.
There was no more hiding. As arrows flew Pheo did what he knew he had too. Slipping amongst the shadows he darted until he could see their attackers. Silent as death itself Pheo took the first one down, not a breath slid from his lips after Pheo dealt with him. One after another Pheo picked them off with utter ruthlessness that his father would have enjoyed. Then a yell amongst the bandits behind him. “Kedar!” Cadwaladr’s voice rang clear.
Pheo felt his blood go cold. He turned to face where the bandits had been dealing with the footmen, his father was down, and there was no doubt he was getting back up. The bandits were still fighting, but it was obvious they were loosing the skirmish. With a shrill whistle Pheo called for the retreat, taking himself back into the shadows. The men, knowing the signal well enough fell back into their element once again.
They separated leaving trails that mislead and disappeared until they all returned to the camp.
Bandits don’t waste any time. Pheo thought as Cadwaladr called for a new leader. Names were shouted in a very un-orderly fashion. Suddenly a voice rose. “Pick Phoenix, he is Kedar’s son, and he led us away.”
There was dead silence as faces turned towards him. Pheo had known he wasn’t well liked, but the looks on some of the faces chilled him to the bone. Images of his assassination flashed across his eyes. Pheo offered a grin he knew was his fathers. “No need for that, I’m not ready to lead. Let Cadwaladr do it, he has been here the longest and was my Father’s right hand.” A soft murmur of agreement followed. Those slowly evolved into cheers as Cadwaladr found himself the leader of the bandit gang known as the Birds of Prey. Cadwaladr allowed himself a faint look of joy before issuing orders; the camp fell silent as men disappeared into the shadows to keep watch.
Pheo made his way to his tent. With his father gone there was no longer a reason to stay in camp. Gathering his few possessions Pheo slipped into the darkness and away, hoping that no one would ever recognize him for who he was, son of a bandit lord.
Dawn broke over the land. Phoenix felt hunger well deep within him. He had traveled as swiftly as he dared, taking care to cover his tracks at the same time. Birds of Prey did not look well upon those who left their ranks, regardless of whether they had wanted to be there or not.
Phoenix lifted his head wearily at the sound of the clang of metal and the snort of horses. Not too far ahead was a camp of men. Guards. Pheo realized recognizing the colors they wore were the same as the guards who had ambushed their ambush. Pheo debated for a moment whether to continue on or enter in search of a nights sleep and food. Hunger eventually won out.
As Pheo approached he heard laughter and loud voices coming from one of the largest buildings, knowing he would find someone inside who might be able to help him Pheo approached, albeit wearily.
Slipping in the smell of food caught his nose immediately, when Pheo opened his eyes he noticed that he was inside a mess hall.
“Can I help you?” One of the guards asked.
“I was wondering if you had food and bed to spare.” Pheo spoke suddenly nervous.
The guard looked around the room and at some unseen command let him pass, but as Pheo walked towards the food voices dropped low and quiet. Just as Pheo reached the food a man of short stature blocked his path. “Why are you here?” He growled softly his dark eyes had a threatening look about them.
“Just food.” Pheo murmured getting slightly annoyed at being asked twice when he had already given his answer.
“Is that so?” The man asked with the raise of a brow.
“Yes.” Pheo spoke, this time it was louder, his irritation showing through.
“Beggar boy.” The voice came from his left. Pheo swung around to see who spoke but impassive eyes glared back at him
“Has to steal our food, where’s he from anyways?”
“Look he has a sword, he can’t be that hungry.”
“Jarvas why don’t you just send him back where he came, let him catch his own food for once.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Pheo yelled angrily. “How am I supposed to find food around this retched place, all the animals are frightened away by your noise.”
“Go eat some plants then.” One suggested.
“Maybe you could chew on yourself till you find a more suitable place.”
Pheo’s hand reached for his sword. “One more comment and I’ll slice the nearest man to ribbons.”
“You could try.” Laughter filled the hall again.
Pheo figured he looked travel worn, but from their words he guessed he looked worse than that. That didn’t stop him from drawing his steal in a nice easy motion that suggested weapon work since he could first hold a blade.
“Easy now.” The man who had blocked his way spoke, he reached out a hand, but Pheo swung first. The short man slipped easily back. “Drawing steel in here is a death sentence boy.” The man’s mouth was a hard line. “There is no way of allowing this ignorance, a part of the group or not, you will stand trial.”
“What trial?” Pheo growled, he knew he was about to go over the edge.
“There is only one trial for a group of mercenaries, boy. Trial by blade.”
Pheo stared at the man, and then nodded agreement, at the very least it would end this infernal wandering.
They met again outside in a training arena. The man beside him rested easily on the balls of his feet, the piece of steel in his hand finely wrought, a sign of a good mercenary who had seen many battles.
Pheo gritted his teeth but held his sword steady. At least they should be evenly matched, Pheo hoped.
He came in quick with no warning; it was merely by instinct that Phoenix got his blade up in time to keep the mercenary from scoring the first hit. A deathly silence settled on the audience and Pheo realized that most upstarts didn’t get past the first lunge.
They began to circle, Pheo watched his opponent, trying to judge how he fought by his footwork and the way he held himself.
The man came in again, this time it was a series of blows, the sword in his hand was like lightning. As Pheo brought his sword to block one blow, it seemed that the man’s blade was already somewhere else. Never the less Pheo kept most of the blows from landing, which in itself caught the interest of the swordsman.
Then an opening. Pheo took it, the swordsman noticed a hair too late to stop the blow completely but Pheo still scored a nice red line across the mans arm.
The small victory was short lived however, for the one opening quickly spiraled into Pheo’s defeat and before he knew it the other man’s sword was on his throat. “Any last words?” The man spoke with cool conviction.
An arrow sliced nicely through the air, right below the man’s sword arm. “Jarvas, Fagan wishes to see the newcomer.” The voice rang clear. The fighter looked up and Pheo followed his gaze to a young woman, the bow held expertly in her fingers her green eyes piercing into Pheo’s own hazel ones.
Jarvas leaned in. “You get off easy boy.” He hissed, and then withdrew. The girl motioned for Phoenix to follow and her did, no questions asked.
They arrived at a large tent. The girl turned towards him. “I’m Elena, and in there is Fagan. He will learn shortly of your bout with Jarvas.” At the tight pull on Pheo’s lips she offered a small grin. “No worries yeah? Would you like something to do? I’m sure when I tell him what I witnessed he will sign you on with out a question asked. There will be repercussions from the other men, they’ll want to see how strong you are, but in the end I’m sure you’ll be welcomed.” Then she led him inside.
The man who looked up looked every inch a commander, the air seemed to swirl around him. “Ah Elena, who is this?” Elena glanced at him with the arch of a brow.
“I’m Phoenix” Pheo spoke.
“Ah, and why is he here?” Fagan asked to the huntress.
“He stood against Jarvas, longer than anyone besides yourself would have.” Elena began, and then she launched into the telling of the tale. The look on Fagan’s face marked him as interested.
“Ah, I wonder where you learned those skills, no need to tell me.” He looked at Elena and back to Pheo. “Would you like to be a mercenary?”
Pheo paused a moment, and then silently nodded.

The first few days were the worst. As Elena said there were many duels and distrusting looks, but reprieve came in the form of protection missions where Pheo was assigned with the other men.
The first few skirmishes with bandits while protecting caravans quickly allowed Phoenix to prove himself with the other men. When they sat down for food at night, no one openly offered him a place to sit, but neither did they deny him, which was better than how the treated him when Phoenix first joined. After a few more skirmishes men started to offer their battle hardened smiles, for Pheo was a quick thinker on his feet, and had saved the men from loosing some of their own with his ideas. His sword work was admired too. While Pheo had never been properly trained neither had most of the men he was surrounded by. Pheo’s swordsmanship far outstripped several older than him and though Pheo had lost to Jarvas he no longer worried about it, for Jarvas was seen as second in command to Fagan, it just happened to be Pheo’s bad luck that he had challenged Jarvas to a duel that day, almost anyone else save Jarvas or Fagan himself, and the young swordsman would have won.
Pheo was just stretching out after a relatively calm day of guarding caravans and their prized possessions when a soft whistle sounded through camp, the sign of coming outriders. Instantly Pheo was on his feet as he headed towards the edge of camp from whence the call came. From there Pheo saw a line of riders. At first Pheo wasn’t worried because their appeared to be so few of them compared to the rest of the mercenary camp, but then, when Pheo recognized the faces a knot in his stomach hardened.
How foolish it was of him to believe they would let him get away freely. Maybe if he was not who he was, maybe if his father had not been Kedar, maybe then they would have left him alone. But not now, Pheo knew too much about how life was, he knew too much about the Birds of Prey.
The riders slowed and called a mocking greeting out to the sentry. “Why good sir,” answered Cadwaladr at the sentry’s question for why they approached. “We’re here to take back one of our own.”
Then Cadwaladr’s eyes caught Pheo, for he was hard to miss with his hair dyed the flaming red of his namesake. “Ah, Phoenix, my good boy, it seems you left in a rather unnecessary fashion.”
Pheo was about to answer him when Jarvas appeared beside him. Jarvas’s mouth turned hard as he gazed down at Cadwaladr’s band. “Do you know them?” He growled angrily at Pheo.
“Aye, so what if I do.” Pheonix bristled at the sound in Jarvas’s voice.
Jarvas turned to stare at Pheo, but brought his attention back to Cadwaladr when the bandit lord spoke.
“Ah, so I see he didn’t tell ya did he. Well that is good enough to know. We still can’t let him go though, his being a Bird of Prey and all.”
Eyes turned to stare. Pheo felt his skin become ice. Now, after fighting to be something else Pheo was being pulled back in. “I won’t go back, that’s not the life I choose.”
“Perhaps not, but it was the life you were born too. Ah” Cadwaladr grinned as he saw the looks in the other men’s eyes. “But of course, going to hunt bandits, who knows better than a bandit himself. Unfortunately you never know when they’ll stab you in the back.”
The men beside him bristled and backed up, what acceptance Phoenix had hoped for had vanished.
“He said he is not going back, and so he isn’t.” Pheo turned to see Fagan sword drawn stalking up to Cadwaladr and his gang. “The boy does not want that life anymore. He said so himself. Now leave, or I will make sure you return, and it will be in pieces.”
Cadwaladr gave Fagan a malicious grin. “Will you now. Seems to me your out numbered, and if your men fight for you they will only resent you saving the whelps life. He is mine to control not yours.”
An arrow whizzed swiftly by Cadwaladr’s face, narrowly missing him and his mount.
Fagan offered a grim smile. “That is my huntress, sir, you will leave now or be skewered with arrows before you raise your sword.”
Cadwaladr’s eyes turned to where the arrow came, but after finding no one offered an angry smile. “Fine you may have the whelp, lot of good he’ll do you anyways.”
Pheo watched the horses as they moved away. Pheo turned around to face once again untrusting faces, but as he turned to leave, a small pang of relief coiled itself within him. As long as he rode amongst Fagan and his mercenaries, he was free.

Nth Chance by Hermione Pena

He’d always hated this town. When he first stepped off the bus at age 17, six years ago, he vowed to himself that as soon as he could he’d get away and never look back.

To say the least, things didn’t quite go as planned. He did leave, but then he came back, before he left again… Though he’d tell anyone who would stand to listen how much he despised Stars Hollow, he couldn’t help but admit the fact that he had a lot of important memories there. Maybe those memories were now part of the reason he hated it.

Figuring there was no point in delaying the inevitable, he make the short trek from the bus stop to Luke’s Diner, cutting through the Town Square on the way. From what he could tell the town hadn’t changed much in the last four years – he passed two ceramic unicorn stores on the way, and a large banner hanging over the gazebo was advertising the upcoming annual 24 Hour Dance Marathon.

Looking in the large windows as he neared the diner’s door, he spotted Luke in a very animated conversation with Kirk. Close by was Lorelai, drinking what he assumed to be coffee, and looking very amused.

The bell above the door jingled as he entered, but the few occupants of the diner were too interested in Luke and Kirk to pay him any attention.

“For the last time, Kirk, you will not be the minister at our wedding!”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to reconsider? I assure you I can give you a better deal than whoever you currently have lined up for the job.”

“Are you even ordained?”

“I did it online. Mother found the website.”

“Trust me, I’m not changing my mind on this.”

Luke left Kirk to attend to other customers and Jess took a few steps forward, making his presence known.

“Hey Luke.”

Luke turned in surprise, and set down the coffee pot to move towards Jess.

“Hey! I wasn’t sure if you’d make it today.”

“Well I did,” Jess said with a shrug.

“Still got that monosyllabic thing going on, I see,” Lorelai said with a smile, refilling her coffee cup from Luke’s abandoned pot.

“Hello to you too.” He had never felt very comfortable around Lorelai, and that hadn’t changed with the passage of time. If anything, it was worse now, as he had no idea of her current perception of him, or what – if anything – Rory had told her of their last encounters.

But no. He wasn’t going to think about Rory. At least, not right now. Of course, that was hard to do when he could picture her so clearly sitting at any one of those tables, coffee cup in hand.

“You’re, uh, staying in the apartment,” Luke said to Jess, motioning towards the curtain behind the counter.

“Is it unlocked?” Jess asked, already starting to walk across the diner. The sooner he was up there, the better.

“Yeah.”

“Great, I’m going to unpack. See you later.”

Jess entered the small apartment and looked around in surprise. It was more… colorful than he remembered it being. Had Lorelai gotten Luke to redecorate? He wouldn’t be surprised if she had, Luke would probably do anything for her.

Besides that change, the apartment was still very similar to how he remembered it. He automatically walked towards his old bed, knowing he’d much rather sleep in it than Luke’s. Dropping his few bags of luggage, he immediately began to unpack, trying to focus his attention on the task at hand. Just being back in Stars Hollow was hard enough, but being back in this apartment brought back the memories even stronger.

He remembered many afternoons spent together there, laughing once they figured out the timing of Luke’s consistent interruptions. It was where they’d almost had their first kiss. Well, their first kiss as a couple. But that had been interrupted by Luke as well, albeit not intentionally.

Just as he realized he wasn’t doing a very good job of keeping his mind off Rory, the door to the apartment opened. He didn’t bother to look up, already knowing it would be Luke.

“Hey. I thought I’d just check to see that you’re settling in alright.”

Jess shrugged as he turned to face his uncle.

“I’ve barely had a chance to settle, but no problems yet. What’s with the redecoration, by the way? Lorelai twist your arm into it?”

Luke frowned for a second before realizing what Jess was referring to.

“Oh! Oh, no, it was April. Back when she first started really spending time with me, after me and Lorelai were, well… Anyway, April insisted we go to some store called Target, and then she dragged me down all the aisles. She pretty much picked it all out.”

Jess gave a small, rare smile. It was nice to see Luke doing so well with April.

“Is Lorelai still down there?” he asked. “I’m fine here on my own.”

“Nah, she left. She got a call from Rory, I guess she just pulled in.”

He tried to not sound too interested. “Where’s she live now, anyway?”

“Nowhere. I mean, not that she’s out on the streets. She’s following around Obama with his presidential campaign, traveling the country. Traveling in a bus, living in hotels, that kind of thing.”

“That sounds like Rory.” He paused slightly before asking his next question, knowing if anything, it would be the one to cause the most suspicion. “Whatever happened to that guy she was with?”

“Logan? They broke it off about a year ago. Why?”

Jess tried to blow it off.

“Hey, we used to be friends, right? I’m just curious.”

“You also used to date,” Luke said pointedly.

“So that means I’ll forever be romantically interested in her?”

“No, but it’s still a possibility.”

Jess shook his head, and returned to unpacking.

“Forget it. Even if I was interested, she’s made it perfectly clear I’m not the one she wants.”

“What? You left her and ran off to California. Of course she was going to see other guys after that.”

“Look, you don’t understand, and I’m sure not going to explain it all to you. I’ll just say she had a choice, and she didn’t choose me. Multiple times. So why would I want to bother trying again?”

Luke stayed silent, and Jess hoped that the conversation was over.

“Lorelai chose Chris over me,” Luke finally said slowly, and Jess could tell it was still causing him pain to remember those months. “People make mistakes, or they change. There were many times I could have given up on her, a few times I actually did, but when it came down to it she was the one I knew I wanted. Love isn’t easy, if it was it wouldn’t be as special.”

Jess sat in silence, taking in his uncle’s words. Luke turned to go back down to the diner, but not before leaving Jess with one last thing to think about.

“But remember – if you hurt her again, Lorelai will hurt you, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Jess struggled with the tie, trying to both perfect the knot and prevent it from feeling too much like a noose at the same time. Normally he wouldn’t really care how good the tie was. In any other situation, he’d probably ditch the tie altogether, considering this was just the rehearsal. But Rory was going to be there, and that made this different.

He hated that he still cared what she thought of him. He hadn’t seen her for over two years. They hadn’t been a couple for more than five years. He wished more than everything he could just put it all behind him, but something always happened.

Though he’d deny it if Luke ever asked, Jess had thought about what Luke said. He’d decided it wasn’t worth trying. Luke and Lorelai were lucky to get their happy ending, it didn’t always work out that way. He knew from experience.

Twenty minutes later he was at the Dragonfly, right on time for the wedding rehearsal. It always seemed crazy to him that people needed to rehearse weddings, what was so hard about walking down the aisle? He walked around back to where it would be held outside and spotted a small group standing around a chuppah.

The first thing Jess noticed about her was how she held herself differently. She looked more self-assured, more confident. But at the same time, simply by the grin on her face as she talked with Lorelai, he could tell she’d hardly changed at all.

He took a deep breath joining the group. In addition to Lorelai and Rory, Luke, April, and Michel were there, as well as an older man Jess didn’t recognize and assumed was the priest.

Rory was the first to notice him. She glimpsed him from the corner of her eyes, glanced briefly to see who was approaching, then did a double-take when she realized it was him. For a split second Jess saw her defenses fall, saw her seventeen year-old self again, but then the confidence was back.

“Jess, hi.” She gave a small smile, and he wondered how she could do that. Act so casual after how they’d left things. Then again, things between them were always left so messed up, maybe she’d just gotten used to it.

“Hey.”

“Now that everyone’s here, we can get started,” Michel said, checking the time as he spoke. “I have to be home by eight to check on Paw Paw. He gets lonely all alone.”

“Well, Michel, if I’d known that I could have sent over Paul Anka!” Lorelai said cheerfully. “They could have kept each other company.”

“Paw Paw does not need to socialize with your crazy dog. This conversation is cutting into the rehearsal, and I will demand to be paid extra if I must stay any longer than originally planned. Now get to your places before I decide to quit.”

“Places, people!” Lorelai exclaimed. Jess looked around as everyone else walked to their spots, spots he assumed had been assigned before he arrived. He followed Rory and April down to the end of the aisle, figuring he’d be with them.

“So how are things going in Nevada?” Rory asked April.

“Same old, same old. Visiting Dad always makes me wish I could move back here. Not just to be with him, though that would be great, but just to live in Stars Hollow. There’s always something going on here, you know?”

“I know what you mean. I loved growing up here, living in the insanity. I’m always looking forward to my next visit home, not just to see Mom, but for the whole experience.”

Jess shook his head.

“You guys are both crazy. But I guess that fits, seeing as it’s a town of lunatics.”

April gave him a questioning look. Having only met him once before, she wasn’t quite sure how to take his words.

“Didn’t you live here for a while?”

“Unfortunately.”

“He got out of here as soon as he could, though,” Rory added, looking at him with a small smile.

Jess opened his mouth to respond, but for once found himself at a loss. What could he say? He and Rory had never really talked about his leaving. Sure, she ranted to him on the phone about it, but he’d never explained himself. Now certainly wasn’t the time.

“Was it really that bad?” April asked.

“It wasn’t what I was used to,” Jess said with a shrug. “Not to mention I’d been shipped off against my will to live with an uncle I hardly knew. Then when things got tough, I ran. Maybe I’m crazy too, but with hindsight being 20/20, I wish I’d stayed.”

He kept his gaze looking ahead, only glancing briefly at Rory from the corner of his eyes, but he clearly saw the surprise on her face, before it was masked once again.

“No ring bearer?” Jess asked, eager to get to a more comfortable conversation topic.

Rory laughed.

“Mom actually wanted Paul Anka to be the ring bearer, but he was afraid of the harness they made to hold the rings when they tried to put it on him. So you’ll be holding the rings instead.”

“Luke was okay with a dog in the wedding?” Jess asked in surprise. He knew Luke would do nearly anything for Lorelai, but a dog in the wedding?

“Mom got Paul Anka, Luke got you.”

Jess was about to protest, before he realized, knowing Lorelai, Rory was probably telling the truth.

When they reached the end of the aisle Rory and Jess stood next to each other and in front of April, who would be the flower girl. Luke had earlier confided in Jess that though April was older than the typical flower girl, he still wanted to include her in the wedding. If she was Lorelai’s second bridesmaid, Luke would need a second groomsman, and he was not about to ask T.J. to step in. Flower girl it was.

From there on out there was little opportunity for talking, which suited Jess just fine. Though part of him was eager for a chance to talk to Rory, his other half was dreading the topics that might arise, and angry at the former half for being eager.

Luke was a wreck on the morning of the wedding. He put each shoe on the wrong foot, couldn’t find his tie, and then couldn’t tie it himself. Jess was amused at seeing Luke so out of it, and idly wondered how things were going over at the Gilmore household. Luke had spent the night before the wedding in his old apartment, so as to not see his bride before the wedding.

He’d initially argued against it, claiming he’d seen Lorelai in her wedding gown already, to which she pointed out how downhill things had gone not too long after. Though Luke still found the practice unnecessary, he did it anyway or Lorelai. He’d do anything for her.

Jess managed to get Luke to the Inn on time, where he was surprised to find a large number of people already gathered and waiting. Seeing as the wedding was in Stars Hollow, Jess had assumed it would be small. It was still on the smaller side as far as weddings go, but definitely larger than he’d assumed.

He mulled around near the back, checking his watch occasionally. At the five minute point, he looked up to suddenly see Rory walking towards him. He worked hard to keep any reaction from crossing his face, but he swore his heart skipped a beat. She was wearing a light blue spaghetti strap dress that showed off her figure and eyes beautifully.

“Ready to be cousins?” she asked with a grin.

Cousins. He had been thinking of her in such a non-cousin way only seconds before, but those thoughts now disappeared. She clearly was not thinking along the same track.

He settled for a simple smirk that she could choose to interpret however she wanted, and saved himself the trouble of answering. April joined them soon after, wearing a similar dress to Rory’s, and before Jess knew it music was playing and they were starting.

Jess held his arm to Rory, who gingerly threaded her own through his. They began to walk to the music, and Jess hoped the wedding would less amusing than Liz’s; it’d be harder to hide his grin while standing in front of the whole crowd.

“Come on now, give me a real smile. There pictures are going to last forever, make them good.”

Jess groaned inwardly. The wedding was over, but the pictures of the wedding party were still going strong. First were the group pictures of all five, then Luke and Lorelai, Luke and Jess, Lorelai and Rory, Luke and Jess… Jess was glad it was a small group, he couldn’t imagine how long it would take if they had more people.

The current combination was Jess and Rory.

He stood behind her and slightly to her left, his right arm wrapped stiffly around her waist. Standing so close to her for so long was making him uncomfortable. He could smell her shampoo, feel her warmth right next to him. It was causing feelings to rise that he had hoped to keep locked away. Add that to the fact he was never one for smiling, and he knew the pictures weren’t coming out great.

“At least act like you like each other,” the photographer insisted. “The sooner we get these pictures taken, the sooner you can step away from each other.”

Jess didn’t dare look at Rory after those words, but he felt her shift slightly next to him. Was she as uncomfortable as he was? Or was she uncomfortable for different reasons?

A few clicks later and the roll of film was done. Jess and Rory took a couple steps apart to wait as the photographer changed the film in his camera.

“Are you okay?”

Jess quickly turned to face Rory, who was looking at him with a slightly concerned face.

“I’m fine.”

“You just seem a little out of it.”

“Well I’m not.” He knew he was being rude. He was reverting to his defense mechanism. Don’t let people close, don’t get hurt.

“Fine then. Forget I asked.” She turned back away and looked towards the back of the Inn, where the post-wedding festivities were already getting started.

Oh yes, this would do wonders for the wedding pictures.

“Rory…” he started with a sigh, before realizing he didn’t know what to follow up with. She didn’t turn to face him, but he knew she was waiting for him to continue. “I’m sorry,” he offered, giving her the only thing he could think of.

“Sorry for what?” She still wasn’t looking at him, her tone was guarded.

Well that was a loaded question if he’d ever heard one. For running away, twice. For being a jerk. For showing up at Yale.

“Everything.”

She finally turned back around to face him. Her eyes bored into his, judging the sincerity of his statement. Finally her gaze dropped, and she looked down at her hands, twisting them together. Jess remembered it as a habit she’d had back in high school.

“I’m sorry too.”

He didn’t have to ask what about. He knew.

“Okay, film’s ready to go! Back to your positions, hurry it up.”

The small moment they had was shattered, and they narrowed the gap between them to once again pose for the camera. Only this time, Jess though as he wrapped his arm around Rory, it wasn’t so bad.

The reception party was huge. The Stars Hollow citizens were in their element as they celebrated what many of them had seen coming for over a decade.

Jess got away from it as soon as he could. He stuck around for the food, eating his meal quickly, watched Luke and Lorelai’s first dance, then snuck off to sit on the back porch of the Inn – close enough that Luke couldn’t really get mad at him for leaving (though he was sure Luke had more important things on his mind), but far enough away that he’d have some peace and quiet.

He slipped a thin book out of his back pocket, and had just started to read when he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. Though the figure was still too far away for Jess to make out the features, he could tell it was Rory. He turned back to his book and tried to read, but found he couldn’t concentrate.

“Not a party person, huh?” Rory asked once she was closer.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” he asked sarcastically.

“You left before the cake.”

“And cake equals party?”

“In the Gilmore household, a party is never complete without a cake.” Rory paused. “Well, the Gilmore-Danes household now, I guess.” She took a seat next to Jess on the porch.

Jess closed his book and slipped it back into his pocket. He wouldn’t be getting any reading done for a while.

“So what’s a party person like you doing sitting with me?” he asked, trying to keep his tone light, but at the same time honestly wondering.

“We haven’t really gotten to visit,” Rory said, looking at her hands. “I just thought we could talk, unless you don’t want me here, in which case I’ll just leave now – ”

“No, talking’s fine.” He didn’t know what she wanted to talk about, but it’d be nice to have some company for a while. Company that didn’t make him want to rip out his hair. Company that went by the name of Rory.

“Are you still at Truncheon?” she asked.

“Yeah. Nothing new really, just keeping the place going. Luke told me you’re following Obama’s campaign trail. How’s that going?”

Rory grinned.

“It’s amazing and terrifying at the same time. I’ve already learned so much, just being with the other reporters. It just sucks that I’m away from home for so long.”

“Glad to see you finally fixed everything.” He’d chosen his words very deliberately, and could tell by Rory’s reaction she knew what he was referring to. Her eyes widened in recognition, and she nodded.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“I thought that was my line,” Jess said with a smirk.

“Well I’m stealing it.”

“You would have done fine without me,” Jess insisted. “You just got a little lost for a while.”

There was silence for a while, and Jess was surprised at how comfortable it felt.

“Did you mean what you mean the other day?” Rory asked suddenly. “What you said about wishing you’d stayed, all those years ago?”

“Of course.” He was surprised she was asking, anyone could tell it had been a stupid move on his part. “I was an idiot for leaving. I was an idiot for everything.”

“Not everything,” Rory insisted. She paused before continuing. “If you’d stayed, do you think – do you think we would have stayed together?”

Jess sighed. This was getting into dangerous territory, especially as he still didn’t really know what was going on in Rory’s head.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I still had a lot of growing up to do, back then.”

“So did I,” Rory said. “Maybe we could have grown up together. Maybe things would have worked out.”

They fell silent again, though it was slightly more awkward this time. Jess wished he knew what Rory was thinking, but she wasn’t talking, and he wasn’t about to ask.

“Did I ever tell you my great-grandmother married her second cousin?” she asked suddenly.

Bingo. Major clue. Maybe things could work out after all.