Austin gasped as he grabbed another tree branch. He was climbing a tree that stretched out beside Uniqua's house. It was considerably hard to climb, and Austin had already scraped his knee on its hard bark.

Boy, this tree is tall, huffed Austin, heaving himself over another branch, But it'll be worth it. I'm finally gonna tell Uniqua how I feel about her. he thought to himself.

Finally, he reached the tree limb he was aiming for: a strong, sturdy one that was conveniently right next to Uniqua's bedroom window.

As he climbed onto the sturdy limb, he looked towards the sky. It was very early in the mourning, and the sun was just rising, making the sky a bright orange.

He turned his gaze back towards the window, positioned himself (somewhat) comfortably on the tree limb and tapped the glass very lightly. No one answered.

Austin's heart sank. He was starting to feel shy about the whole idea. What if she doesn't love me back? What if she thinks I'm clumsy? Austin was tempted to just climb back down the tree and give up. But no. He was on a quest, a mission, he had to do this.

Austin got up the courage and tapped the window again. Suddenly, there was an answer. Uniqua appeared and opened the window.

"Austin?" she asked, surprised.

"Hi." waved Austin, shyly.

"Hello." replied Uniqua cheerfully, "Austin, how did you get up here?"

"I climbed up." He replied simply.

"Why?" asked Uniqua, with genuine curiosity.

"Uh…" Austin was running out of ideas. What could he say?

"Um…Er..Um..." Just three little words, that's all it takes. thought Austin.

"Er..Um..Er.."

Uniqua suddenly interrupted him. "Knock, knock."

"Huh?"

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Senior"

"Senior who?" asked Austin.

"See'n your so nosey, I'm not going to tell you!"

Austin started laughing hysterically at the joke.

Uniqua giggled. "See? I knew you were going to laugh. You always laugh at my jokes!"

Austin stopped laughing. "Huh?"

"Whenever I tell a joke to the others, I have to explain it to them before they get it. But youalways laugh at my jokes right away!" said Uniqua, smiling.

Austin looked at her, embarrassed. Was she complimenting him?"Uh...Thanks Uniqua." he said. rubbing the back of his neck, and looking away. What was he doing? he thought, What was he supposed to say to her anyway? Was he supposed to just say that he loved her out of the blue? That wouldn't work.

Austin felt defeated. He was just too shy to tell her. He lifted his leg up to climb back down the tree.

"Austin, wait." said Uniqua.

Austin turned back to face her, sitting back down on the tree limb. "Yeah?" he asked.

"You never told me why you climbed up here in the first place."

"Oh," said Austin, awkwardly, "I, um, just forgot to thank you for helping me find my puppy, Boy, when he ran away." he lied, in a hurt voice.

Austin was not looking at Uniqua when he said this, he was looking at his feet, which dangled below the tree limb.

Suddenly, Austin felt something soft kiss him on the cheek. His eyes widened. He turned slowly towards Uniqua, who was smiling. They were so close to each other that their noses were gently pressed against each other.

Austin liked this feeling and shared a short moment with Uniqua until he quickly pulled his nose away, thinking that Uniqua might have been offended by all of this. But she wasn't, she was still smiling. Austin smiled back.

Uniqua leaned closer to Austin and whispered in his ear. "You're welcome, Austin. It was fun searching for Boy with you."some hidden love vibrated in Uniqua's voice.

As Austin heard this, he suddenly felt lighter than air with a dreamy dazed look in his eyes. When he snapped out of it, shaking his head slightly, Austin was filled with a new confidence.

He suddenly remembered who he was: Austin was the kangaroo who rescued Uniqua from quicksand in the heart of the jungle. It was Austin who secretly saved Uniqua from a twister and a waterfall when she was searching for the secret of snow. Austin was a swashbuckling pirate, a superhero, a gold medal around-the-world racer. He was the Mystery Lifeguard, the Guardian of Tiki Beach. Austin was all this and more.

Uniqua held her hand out Austin, showing that she wanted him to climb into her room through the window. He accepted Uniqua's hand and climbed through the window, Uniqua helping him balance by holding his hand. Austin looked around Uniqua's room. It was painted pink and had a lot of toys and books neatly placed on shelves.

Austin looked back at Uniqua, who was still holding his hand. He put his free hand on top of Uniqua's and looked into her eyes.

"Uniqua..." he began slowly, "W-Wh-Will you be my girlfriend?"

Uniqua looked at him, surprised at first, but then smiled. "Yes... If you will be my boyfriend."

Austin felt like he could dance on the spot , but controlled himself. He nodded vigorously, trying to hide his wide smile.

Uniqua then noticed the scrape on Austin's knee. "Austin, you've hurt yourself! Don't worry, I have a bandage I can give you." she quickly rummaged through her reading desk, pulled out a bandage and plastered it on Austin's knee.

"Thanks Uniqua." said Austin.

"You're welcome." said Uniqua.

"Um...Uniqua." asked Austin, "What do you think the others would say?"

"They don't have to know, it can be our little secret." said Uniqua, putting a finger to her lips.

"I'd like that." said Austin, quietly.

Austin looked at Uniqua, he knew what he wanted to do next.

Do it, Austin, he demanded himself, Do it now or you're going regret it for the rest of your life!

Austin began leaning slowly forward towards Uniqua. Then, Austin wrapped his arms around Uniqua, making a hug, and then gave her a kiss on the lips.

"I love you, Uniqua." he whispered.

Austin's tail wagged lightly in happiness. After a few short seconds he pulled away. They looked at each other shyly for a moment.

There was a short pause between them.

Austin broke the silence first. "Uh...Do you want to come over to my house? We have applesauce."

"Sure. I love applesauce." said Uniqua.

They both went the long way through Uniqua's house, instead of climbing the tree, to get to the backyard.

And as they walked, holding hands, Austin thanked himself for saying his three little words: I love you.

I hope you liked it. :) Please review!