I walked down the road My boot sank deep into the snow.

A car horn honked distantly.

Winter is okay.

But I was kinda shaken today. Nervous was more like the word. Nervous for some unknown reason.

But yes, now I know. It was that battle yesterday, driving me round the bend.

I shook my head and continued walking.

I came a path. A snowy path leading to the woods.

Good, I needed some time to myself.

I had been on my way to Cassie's, but I decided to take another way. To let myself unwind. Let my tensions fly away. But I knew they never would.

Ah, to have the life of a super hero. It's a good life, all right.

Yeah, right is more better wording.

I turned around a corner and brushed past a limb.

That jittery nervous feeling didn't go away. You know how you get scared by something, and even though it's gone, your still scared. I felt like that. Shaky, scared.

Maybe it was the cold.

Maybe it was me.

Maybe it was nothing. No, nothing wasn't the word.

The path itself was large, but I felt enclosed. The only escape was through the trees and into the gray sky.

No where to turn.

Then I felt like something was watching me. Maybe the feeling was too abrupt, but I felt it.

My breath came out faster and my heart pounded.

My head began to dart, left right, behind me, straight ahead.

Maybe it was the cold. I was cold. So I zipped up my jacket so it wouldn't flap and I began to jog. I knew this road. I remember during the summer, we all found it. We worn it down. It led to the field and then to the barn.

I would be there soon.

I broke into a run, funning fast.

Yo, Rachel, what's the rush?> A voice called from way over head.

The voice startled me. I leapt a foot in the air.

Rachel, heard of the word sleep?> I saw a hawk shimmering in and out of the tree branches.

"Hi Tobias." I said, finally calming down. But only a little.

He fluttered down to the snow. A human body merged from the hawk one. Tobias was morphing into human.

"So what are you doing all here by yourself? I thought maybe you'd, I don't know, take another way."

" I like the long way." I glanced at him. "Were you following me?"

Tobias shuffled his feet in the snow. "Maybe."

"Why? I can take care of myself." I said, fingering my zipper on my jacket.

"It's not that. It's just…" I could tell Tobias was having a hard time finding his words. We all do that sometimes.

"Rachel, I was…afraid. I thought I might lose you, again." I felt a cold feeling.

We had a battle yesterday. Not a very big one, but nerve racking…yes. It freaked us all because we barely made it alive. Sounds like a big one, huh? Nope. No Visser Three, Taxxons, Ellimist, whatever. Just us, couple of human Controllers and Hork-Bajir.

The whole point I guess was to rescue some Chee who had been captured by Visser Three and all. It brings back not so warm memories when I think of it.

But it was kinda gory and bloody…and I almost died.

"That's okay." I said and leaned over.

I still don't know why I did it.

All I know is I did.

I leaned over, he leaned over and we kissed. As simple as that. But it didn't feel simple. It felt carefully planned out, rehearsed, but with spurts of honesty.

And during that kiss, I didn't feel cold anymore.

I'm not even sure what I felt, but all I know is, it wasn't cold. No, I felt...this growing feeling inside me. Growing with every second. Like a small burning fire, growing higher and higher as it reaches the sky.

I pulled away slowly and looked into his face. Then I noticed something.

It was softly snowing.

"I gotta go." He said quickly and began to morph. Back to the hawk, the morph he was stuck in. I touched my cheek in a thoughtfull way and titled my head back. I heard a hawk screech.

I looked up and watched Tobias disappear up into the trees and into the snowy sky.