Deryn walked through the halls of the Leviathan, searching for Alek. She had looked everywhere else, and was now on her way to the young prince's room. She hoped he was there. She rounded the corner into the hallway where Alek and his Clanker friends rooms were.

As she neared his room, her friends voice echoed through the hall and she turned around just in time to have Alek crash into her, knocking her off her feet. "Ah, sorry Dylan!" Alek said, offering his hand. Deryn took it and stood up.

She rubbed her bum. "Barking spiders, Alek." she muttered.

"Sorry," Alek apologized again. "I just really need to talk to you."

Deryn raised an eyebrow. "You need to talk to me? I was on my way to talk to you!"

"Well, at least we found each other. Can we step inside my room? I don't want anyone else to hear."

Deryn followed him with a nod. She wondered what could be so important to tell her that it had to be spoken out of hearing range. Then again, she didn't want anyone else hearing what she had to say.

Deryn walked into Alek's very tidy room and the boy shut the door behind her. She turned to face him, took a deep breath, then said. "I haven't been completely honest with you," just as Alek blurted, "I'm a girl!"

Deryn blinked, wondering if she'd heard him right. A girl? "What did you say?"

Alek looked away. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but, I couldn't!" She said. "Volger ordered me not to!"

"But why on earth would you have to pretend to be a prince?" Deryn asked, bewildered. "Couldn't you just marry another Archduke or something?"

Alek opened her mouth to say something, then quickly shut it. She slid down to door and wrapped her arms around her knees.

Deryn frowned, feeling bad and knelt down next to her. "Well..." she trailed off, unsure of what to say. "If you're not Aleksander, then what's your real name?"

"Alison," She said, looking up. "Dylan, I really wanted to tell you sooner, but you're a daring, charming Airman. I didn't know how you would react to finding out I was a girl." Alison shook her head. "And the fact that I have a crush on you," she added more quietly, burying her face in her arms.

Deryn was silent. She was gobsmacked. Alek was a girl. Deryn had had a crush on Alek. Now Ale- No, Alison, had a crush on her. And still thought she was Dylan.

"Well, shit." Deryn muttered softly.

Alison looked up once more. "I'm sorry, that was too much-"

Deryn cut her off, holding up her hand. "No, no, that's not it. It's just... Bloody hell, Alison, I'm a girl too!"

"Oh my God," Alison breathed, her jaw dropping. "You are?"

Deryn nodded. "And it's Deryn, not Dylan."

The two stared at each other for the longest time, to stunned to speak. Then they both broke out in laughter. They laughed for the longest time until their lungs burned and their sides hurt.

Alison wiped some tears from her eyes, still chuckling lightly. "What are we going to do? We just found out both of our crushes were just each other."

Deryn shook her head. She smiled. "And here I thought our friendship would end because you wouldn't want to be friends with a girl."

Alison rolled her eyes. "Not anymore, you Dummkopf!"

Deryn stood up and offered her hand. As she helped Alison up, she ran a hand through her short hair. That had gone better than she expected. Even if it was not how she planned. She left Alison's room with a wave and made her way back to her cabin. "Hopefully, there are no more secrets."

XXX

Author's Notes: And there ya have it. A once-shot story of Alek and Deryn. And yes, I know this would be impossible because it's been proven that Alek is a guy, and even if he was girl he wouldn't pretend to be a boy. But just use your imagination and think of some scenario where Alison would have to pretend to be a guy. Anyhow, this was just for laughs. And a random idea that popped into my head. Also I'm positive I spelled dummkopf wrong. (And I just spelled it wrong again.)