Title: Cooties!
Rating: G
Description: Challenge: It's the month of romance, and your favorite canon character is experiencing love for the very first time, but, alas, it was never meant to be. Write about this person's very first brush with love - puppy love, unrequited love, or doomed-from-the-start romance. Try to include a sweet, heart-rending kiss in there somewhere.

"Cooties!!" The munchkin-like cry could be heard all across the playground. Being the five-year-olds that they were, the battle cry immediately caused chaos. Every kindergardener at the Prestegeous Primary Academy of Aldera, Alderaan dropped what they were doing and ran. Princess Leia and Winter, who had been playing on the swings, sprinted toward the best hiding place of all; the maze.

Crawling through one of the many tunnels of the primary colored maze, Leia inquired of her friend, "Who's got cooties?"

"It's Alix!" Winter replied, giggling, then proceeded to crawl as fast as she could.

'Alix has cooties?' Leia thought, pausing for a moment. She had known Alix forever; their parents were good friends. She never remembered him having cooties. 'I wonder where he got it from.'

"Look out; here I come!" Alix hollered from somewhere close behind her.

Letting out a little squeal, Leia began to crawl again. She had to get to the slide quickly.

"I see you!" he called, gaining on her. "I'm gonna get ya!"

Finally reaching the slide, Leia bumped into Winter again. "What's the hold up?" Leia asked anxiously.

Winter shrugged. "Everyone's trying to get down the slide at once."

"But Alix is coming!" she exclaimed, immediately regretting it. The children all began to either laugh or scream--or a combination of the two--and tried even harder to be the first one out.

Loosing patience, Leia finally cried, "Be quiet!!!" Silence quickly ensued, and everyone turned to watch her. "One at a time, okay?" The children nodded, looking as if the thought had never occurred to them. One by one, the five-year-olds escaped Alix.

"I see you!" Alix cried again in a sing-song voice, getting even closer.

But at this point, only Winter and Leia were left. "Go ahead, Princess," Winter offered. "You go."

Leia shook her head. "No. You go, Winter. I can take care of myself."

Winter looked doubtful. "But, I'm supposed to protect you."

Leia smiled. "I won't tell if you won't."

Winter giggled. "Okay. Thank's Leia," she said, giving her friend a hug. "You're my best friend."

"You're my best friend, too."

"Aha! I've got you now!" Alix was right behind them.

"Go, Winter!" Leia cried, giggling. "Go now!" She gave her friend a push to safety.

At the bottom, Winter waved her on. "Hurry, Leia! Hurry!"

"Okay!" She braced herself and pushed off--but didn't go anywhere.

"I've got you!" Alix exclaimed, laughing, holding onto the princess from behind. "I've got you, I've got you!!! Now I'm gonna kiss you!"

"That's what you think!" Leia said, wriggling free of his grasp long enough to push herself down the slide. At the bottom, she started to run, but tripped and landed face first in the sand. She heard Alix hit the bottom of the slide. 'Uh-oh,' she thought, struggling to get up.

"Leia!" Winter called from the safety of the swings. "Get up, hurry!"

Pushing herself to her knees, she felt Alix grab hold of her again. "You okay, shorty?"

Leia made a face at him. She had always been small for her age, and leave it to Alix to constantly point that out. "I'll beat you up," she warned, raising a tiny fist.

Alix gulped, looking scared for the first time. He knew she could beat him up. In fact, she had done so before. On the other hand, he'd never had cooties before. "Then I'll kiss you," he countered with a mischeovous grin.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Leia insisted, pushing him.

"Hey!" he cried. "Don't push me!" When she did it again, he took hold of her arms. "I warned you, shorty!" Then, he planted a wet, childish kiss right on her lips! The whole kindergarden class stared in shock. Leia, in shock as well, said nothing, staring at him with wide eyes.

"I warned you," Alix said again with a smile.

"Recess is over!" a teacher yelled suddenly. "Everyone back inside!" A chorus of groans insued, and everyone began shuffling back to the school.

Alix stood up and offered Leia his hand. "Come on," he said. "Math time." She nodded silently, took his hand and followed him back inside.

'Wow,' Leia thought. That kiss wasn't so bad. In fact, she kind of liked it. She looked over at Alix, this time in a new light, suddenly realizing she had a crush on him. Not that she was going to tell anybody. To ensure this secret wouldn't get out, she leaned over to Winter, who sat beside her, and whispered loudly, "Boys are icky!" and Winter giggled.

"Ahem," their teacher, Ms. Khoram intergected. "Is there a problem, Leia?"

Leia sat up straighter. "Umm, no, Ms. Khoram."

The teacher smiled. "Then maybe you could tell us what's one plus one?"

"Umm...two," Leia said. "One plus one is two." The teacher, now asured that she had Leia's full attention, turned back to the holo board. Relieved, Leia sat back and smiled. 'Me plus Alix equals me and Alix...."

End