Ritz has such pretty hair. It's a different kind of white than that of an old persons. It seems to be purer, like the freshly fallen snow in this town. I think she has a suspicion that she knows how I feel for her. I think she feels the same way back. Every now and then, I see her looking at me. She smiles but looks away when we make eye contact. I haven't talked to others about this feeling. I'm not sure if anyone understands these feelings at all. Plus, I am too embarrassed. I'm sure most people have noticed my behavior but asking for help would hurt my pride.

So long and beautiful her hair is. It's weird but it looks a lot better than when she was coloring it. I truly noticed how nice her hair was in the other world. Not that it was naturally pink, but it had this certain sheen to it that wasn't covered by the dye. Especially when it was moist like when the snow melted. And when it rained, her hair stuck to her face, giving her face a pretty pink frame. Heh that wasn't the only thing that got stuck. The way her clothes melted to her body. Yeah, I am a little perverted for noticing and making a mental note to remember that picture forever, but it was such a pretty picture.

Ah, something hit the back of my head. "Marche wake up. You've got that goofy grin on your face again." Mewt was leaning across the aisle grimacing at me. "You got to stop day dreaming, or you won't pass the class."

"I'm doing fine," I reply. "Besides, I've get good enough grades that I can relax a bit." Mewt groaned and looked back towards the teacher.

Man, that broke me out of my happy dream. I'm glad Ritz sits in front of me, so now I can stare at her hair during class. Hmm, I suppose I should pay a little attention as to not bomb the next test.

It's dark weather, like it's about to snow. Mewt and I are still going to wait for Ritz, though, for our daily chat and walk around the park. Mewt's scolding me for not paying attention in class.

"Gees, Marche when was the last time you paid attention to the whole class?" Mewt asks.

Leaning back on the bench and looking towards the cloudy sky, I answer, "Well now that I think about it, I have never paid full attention in a class. It's just too boring for my taste."

"You'll never make it when you grow up."

"Oh I will. I'll have too many people depending on me, my mother and Doned. I won't have a choice, but I don't have to worry about that yet."

Mewt slaps his forehead gently, "Well, whatever I need to go. I gotta help my dad with some stuff." He gave a nonchalant wave goodbye and started to walk away. Awkward, he's never skipped out before. I wonder what his dad really needs.

"Hey Marche." Holy crap. I jump onto the bench. Oh it was only Ritz, "Where's Mewt going?"

Trying to calm down, I answer, "He said his dad needed him. It's weird he waited all this time but knew today was your day to help out after school." We sat there mulling it over.

"Well no reason to not go right. Come on." She grabs my hand and starts pulling me away. Snow is starting to fall, and I can see it land on Ritz's hair.

"I don't think we should go for the walk." She turned to me in confusion,. "It's starting to snow, and we don't want to get sick. You can come over to my house, so we can talk in the warmth."

"A little snow never bothered you before?" Her arms are crossed, and I feel like she is looking through me.

Nervous, I look away from her eyes, "Well it doesn't look like it's going to be a little snow. I mean just look at the sky" Awkwardly laughing, I scratch my head and motion to the sky.

Shrugging she walks toward me, "Fine, but if you try anything…" I look to her to finish her sentence, but instead she jabs my arm. Groaning I grab my arm, and we begin to walk towards my house.

"Come on, do you really think I'd try anything?" I turn to look at her.

Surprisingly she grabs my arm and leans onto me, "Of course not." I look at her white hair confusingly. The snow is starting to fall faster, so I guess it's just to keep warm. Still though, I feel my face grow hot and my muscles tense. And I faintly hear, "It's a shame too." I look down at her and her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. Did I really hear that or was it my imagination? I don't think I have ever been this confused before.

Cross-eyed and straining my neck, I stick out my tongue trying to catch snowflakes. Ritz starts laughing. Bringing my tongue back in, I look at her, as she looks up at me. "What? I'm just trying to catch snowflakes with my tongue."

"I know, but it still looks funny." Letting go she sticks her tongue out and begins to catch a few snowflakes.

Laughing, I say, "You're right. It does look kind of funny." After watching her catch a few snowflakes, I continue, "Hey, you're pretty good at it."

"Well I grew up with snow. The trick is to relax and not go after one flake. You strain too much." She stops and looks back at me. "It's getting colder. Come on, we need to hurry." So we begin running to my house, which wasn't much further. The wind is picking up, and it begins to show signs of a snow storm. This is weird, no one said anything this morning.

Entering my house, we take off our shoes, and I head for the fire place. Discovering no one was home, I decided to get more comfortable. Starting the fire, I say, "I hope mom and Doned are ok." Ritz sat next to me and didn't say anything. After warming up for a bit we take off our coats. I say, "Well I'm sure they'll be fine, so do you want to roast marshmallows? We always have a bag. Doned and I aren't used to the cold quite as well, so we have the fire on a lot."

She appears to think about it for a bit, "Sure. It's been a long time since I've done it myself." She smiles, and I get up. I go to the kitchen to get the bag and grab two straightened clothes hangars. Just as I enter the living area, the power gets knocked out, and the only light is coming from the fire.

Right afterwards, the phone rings, and I answer it, "Marche!" It's my mom.

"Mom!"

"I'm so glad you got home safely. Doned and I got stuck in the storm, and Cid was kind enough to let us stay here, at his house, till the storm blows over."

"I'm glad you're not driving in this. Don't worry mom, I'll be fine. I know where everything is."

"Oh good, just stay inside and keep warm."

"Ok. I already started a fire. Don't worry, I'll be safe."

She takes a deep breathe, "Ok, just be careful around it."

"I promise."

"Good. I have to go, so don't do anything rash Marche."

Groaning, I answer, "Ok mom. Bye."

"Bye."

I give Ritz the bag of marshmallows and the pokers, "Here, I'm going to get some blankets for us. It's going to get cold really quickly." She nods. Looking at the covers, I notice a really large one. It could easily hold both of us in it. Quietly and hurriedly, I grab the others and stick them in my mom's closet and bring the one large one to the living area with me. "Looks like we are going to have to share this one. All the others are dirty."

Giving me a weird look, she says, "Lucky it's big enough for both of us."

With my face burning, I answer, "Yeah, what a coincidence." I set it down and sit next to Ritz. "It's not too cold yet so we can wait." We open the bag of marshmallows and begin to roast them. "You know what? It's been three years, and the only thing is that I still miss Montblanc."

"That one moogle you were always with?"

"Yeah. He was the first friend I had their. If it wasn't for him, I probably would have been sent to prison. I shudder to think what the bangaas would have done to me in there. I don't know why but just thought about him, and I miss him."

"I know what you mean. Shara, the viera Shara, helped me out too. She was the one who got me accustomed to the world and taught me to fight like a viera." There was a slight pause, "Are you glad you did it? I can't be mad because this is the real world. This is the way it should be."

"I wasn't sure when I did it, and I'm not sure now. All I know was that it was the right thing to do. That's what matters. The only thing I regret is about Doned." Staring at the fire, I bring in my second marshmallow. "I can't eat anymore."

Ritz nods, "Sorry shouldn't talk about regrets I suppose."

Shaking my head, "No, I like talking about that world. It gave us a goal." She questioningly looks at me. "We had everything, and now that it's gone we know what we want. I know what I want to strive for."

"What is that?"

Looking away I feel my heart beat quicken, "I think its starting to get colder. Come on." I pull the cover over me and open it for her to enter.

Covering ourselves in the blanket, she nudges me, "Don't change the subject. What's your goal here."

Stalling I tell her, "I'll tell you if you agree to tell me something you think the other world taught you that you wanted."

"Fine but not before you." Deciding what I should say to her, I begin to hesitate. "If you don't tell me soon then I won't tell you mine."

I blurted out, "I want to be strong. Strong enough to help others." I couldn't tell her about her. She gives a short laugh. "What? Something funny about that? I'm serious."

"You exist Marche. Just being yourself, you help others. You make a lot of people happy."

"That's something else too. I was so sure of myself back then. I would love to be that sure of myself again. It's hard to stand up, being so weak."

"Oh Marche." She hugs me from the side. Smiling, "You aren't weak. You help a lot of people, it's just there were more people to help in that world."

I grunt and say, "Maybe, but what about you?"

"Do I have to tell you two since you told me two?"

"Nah, go ahead and consider one free." Giggling she looks into the fire as she thinks about it. Shyly I stroke her hair a little bit. She only giggles more and hugs me tighter. Relieved I play with her hair a little more relaxed.

"Well one goal was to not see my mom sad in the morning anymore. When I told her I wanted to keep my hair white, she asked me why. Then I told her I'm glad my hair was white, and she smiled and gave me a hug. That was the last time she cried over my hair. They were tears of happiness." We let the moment of silence sit there, happily.

The moment passes, so I say, "That doesn't count because you reached the goal already." She pulls away from me.

"Hey that's not fair," She jabs me in my arm again, "But fine. I guess I can tell you another. I'll just tell myself it's cause you said two."

Laughing, I say, "Sure whatever." We sit there a little bit again. I toss another log into the fire.

"Oh I know, I realized I wanted to find someone strong, kind, and a strong sense of justice."

Snorting I say, "Good luck finding a guy like that."

Giggling, she says, "I think I'll be able to find at least one person." And she scooted closer to me. I grew hot, and so I stood up. "Where are you going?"

Thinking of something quickly, I say, "Checking the weather. Need to see if it looks like it's getting better." I walk over to the window and look out side to notice a layer of snow on the cars and the wind blowing fiercely. "Wow! It got worse." Shivering, I trot back to the blanket. "Looks like you're going to be here for a while."

She shrugged, "It's ok. I bet school will be cancelled tomorrow."

"I guess we don't have to worry about the homework then."

"We should do it to get out of the way." I start to whine, "Marche think about it. It will give us all of tomorrow off." That does sound like a good idea. Shrugging, I give in and get our book bags. And so for the next couple of hours we do that.

After four hours of problem solving and reading, I stretch and say, "Man, it's about time it's all done." I go check the window again. The street is completely covered with snow and it's still falling. Sighing, I make my way back to the fire. As I sit down, I toss another log into the fire. "Well, we can't do anything else." Ritz is laying down on the floor. "Want a pillow?" Nodding, she closes her eyes, and I rush to get the two from my bed. She thanks me as I throw it to her. Enjoying the moment, I got under the blanket next to her. It's nice being able to lie here next to her. It's probably better if I didn't say anything right now.

Looking at me, Ritz asks "Do you have anything to eat?" Now that I think about it, the last meal was at school.

"Let me check."

"I'll come with you. You shouldn't be in the cold for too long." We stood up together and walked to the kitchen.

"There is some canned tuna. I got a manual can opener." She made a face at tuna. "Here is some chips and pop tarts."

"Anything to drink?" Making our way to the fridge was awkward. The floor was cold, but we couldn't take big steps, but trying to go as fast as possible, we end up doing a weird waddle and finally make it to the fridge.

"There is some grape soda, that's your favorite right?"

"Yeah, go ahead and get me a can."

"Here you go, the last can." I give her the can and pull out an orange soda for me. Grape is my favorite too, but she doesn't need to know…yet. "Oh, here goes some frozen carrots."

"Get those." She taps my back.

"I already did. And some turkey. There is bread on the counter. Do you want a sandwich?"

"Sure." So I grab the turkey slices, and we waddle over to the bread. "Wait. Do you have mustard and mayonnaise?"

Sighing, I answer, "It's in the fridge." We waddle back to the fridge. "Anything else lettuce or tomatoes?"

"Are you going to use them?"

"Does it matter? I'm here."

"Oh fine then, get them." We go back to the sandwiches in the making and add the extra stuff.

"Hey I need to cut the tomato. Can you hold the blanket up around me?"

"Sure." She wraps her hands around my waist and grabs the blanket. Surprisingly it works, but now I'm tense. I can't rush or risk injury. I take a breathe, and I just try to enjoy it. Growing more comfortable with it, making the sandwiches became easier, so I slowed it down a bit. Enjoying the feeling of her soft body against mine, I have to snap myself back to reality. After finishing the sandwiches, I put the knife in the sink and return the condiments to the fridge. We get plates and two bags of chips and return to the fire. I tossed in another log, and we enjoy our little dinner. We set the plates aside and sit there a bit more.

I start to play with her hair again, and ask, "Do you know how to braid hair?"

Giving my a weird look she says, "Well sure I do. What kind of girl with long hair would I be if I didn't?"

"Can you teach me?"

Her voice sounds shocked, "Why?"

"I don't know. Well I've never seen you're hair braided."

"You don't like it like this?" She sounds a little hurt.

"No, I do. It's great. This just gives me a reason to play with your hair." I feel my face start burning again, so I look away.

Stammering she says, "Well sure I guess. Here, sit behind me." And she moved in front of me. "Grab three different sections as even as possible. Which hand has two sections?"

Looking at my hands, "Uh, the right."

"Okay. Take the most right and bring it over to the left. Than take the one that was the most left and put it over the first strand but under the last strand. Now bring the last strand over the second but under the first. Now repeat the second step by moving the first strand over then under. Got it?"

Awkwardly moving her hair and fumbling my hands around it was a little difficult at first. "I think so." As time goes by though it gets easier to do. "Ok I think I got it now. Mind if we start over now?"

"No, go ahead." Sitting there, I braid her hair as best I can, and she sits there patiently. Finally finished with my first real attempt, "Aha, done!"

"Do you have a hair band or something?"

"No, why?"

"I want to see how you did?"

I nervously chuckle, "Well it's not that good."

"That's not the point, it's your first time. I just want to see it."

"Well the lights aren't on, so you couldn't see it anyway."

"Humph. Fine then I'll just have you do it when the electricity is back."

"You know I bet it's getting kind of late. We should try to go to sleep. Do you want to sleep here, by the fire, or in my room on the bed?"

"If we sleep in your room, we should sleep in the same bed to keep warm."

"Agreed. I've done it plenty of times. Moogles are a great heat source."

"Vieras aren't that bad either."

"The only problem is that my bed is a twin."

"That's ok, we will just have to be close together." The fire, being so small, can be left behind.

On our way to the bed, I have to know for sure, "You mind if I ask what you think about me?"

"Not at all. I consider you to mostly have a strong sense of justice and you're one of the kindest people I know and that makes you strong to me."

Smirking to myself, I wrap my arms around her waist from behind, "Is that so?"

She grabbed my arms, "Yup."

She looked and Doned and my beds, "You know we could have used these two covers?"

"But then it would be more of a hassle to clean up. Now I just have to put this one blanket back." She lets the blanket drop, and we crawl into my bed. I struggle to get my socks off, and I take off my outer layers. I'm left in shorts and a t-shirt. She does the same thing, but is left in a short loose dress, and throws the other blanket on top of us. She faces away from me, and I rub her arm under the covers. "I'm glad you think so highly of me." She turned her hair with her eyes half open then turns back. I scoot my back up to the wall and pull her closer to me. She doesn't seem to care. I take a deep breathe and smell a faint scent of sakuras. I'll have to ask if that's her shampoo fragrant.

Notes: Heh, the next morning would be a funny scene eh. Especially is his mom came home. You can create your own sequel if you want to, because I probably won't. What did you think? I would like to know y'alls(you alls) opinion.