Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thank you for reading my very first fanfiction! I don't want to make a big show about introducing myself or anything, however I did want to give any fans of the story a little information. This is my last semester of college and so I'm incredibly busy writing papers and projects and whatnot. I began writing this fanfic as a creative outlet to relieve some of the stress of normal coursework and have had a lot of fun developing the story. That being said I cannot promise multiple updates a week, but at the very least I promise an update once a month. I know it isn't much, I hope to do better than that, but for now that is my best offer! I hope you all enjoy my little side project here! Thank you! -Chasie

"Good morning princess," there is a gentler tone than usual and I can almost feel pity oozing from Vishnal's gaze as he looks down at the gauze wrapping my forehead.
The bandages were only a precaution Dr. Jones had said. I collapsed attempting to fight the animated mushrooms and "we can't rule out a concussion just yet," Nancy had tutted alongside her husband. At some point I had mustered the strength to walk back to my private quarters in the castle. It's not like I'm afraid of the clinic, heck I've woken up there more times than I can count. But something about laying in that cot overnight. I had seen too many new friends laying beneath those same bleached bed sheets. These new friends that had transformed from monsters and suffered amnesia for a time before receiving their memories from Venti. I know it's silly... but sometimes I'm afraid that if I stay the night in that cot I'll wake up with amnesia. Except unlike with them there is no one left to give me back my memories...

"Do you need five more minutes?" Vishnal asks quickly. I suppose I'm holding quite the forlorn expression and perhaps its being perceived as pain.

To ease his worry I unravel the bandages to show that there is not a single scratch beneath them. He looks surprised at the lack of injury and I can only imagine the story Dylas had told the town during all of his nervous fretting after my little being poisoned incident.
"On the contrary," I say with a stretch, "I wish you had woken me sooner! There is a competition today and I'm sure Dylas is already out catching a variety of fishes!" wailing I exaggerate my actions with extra excitement to steer the butler in training away from being a worry wart. He is getting to be quite the little bundle of nerves always checking my forehead for colds and handing me his signature pickle mix to ensure I'm eating enough.
I run out of the room before Vishnal even has a chance to finish turning over the covers, and he is quite fast at this too; I need an early start to right yet another blunder. Last night as I walked home from the doc's, ears still hot from Leon's close proximity and taunting, I foolishly but purposefully dumped all of the sour drops I crafted into the river behind the clinic in an attempt to rid myself of that man. At the time I may have been still feeling the affects of the poison or maybe the medication had my thoughts all jumbled. What if everyone in town sees all of those sour drops!? Nobody could explicitly prove they were mine... though I was hounding Blossom for oranges the day before. And Clorica had commented on the number of grilled seafood dishes that had begun appearing in all of the refrigerators in the castle. Plus Lin Fa started questioning my suddenly more frequent visits to the hotel. It wouldn't take Leon long to put the pieces together and realize that I obsessively crafted sour drops so that I could prepare him his favorite dish from the spoils of the festival and then impulsively threw all the ingredients in the stream! He'll know that I'm madly in love with him! Okay wait my sleep deprived little mind, we are not madly in love with him. Slightly infatuated maybe? My thoughts are now entirely consumed by the prospect of all of the citizens reeling in sour drops at the festival instead of fish. Shirking my duties yet again I begin sprinting towards the river.
Thankfully I have time on my side. I should move Vishnal higher up on my list of men that are far more suitable than Leon because the dear, dear, butler has woken me up much earlier than usual at my sudden request. I may or may not have lay wide eyed in bed all night thinking about the high level ingredients floating down stream. Okay so I did scribble a hasty note and shoved it under the door to Vishnal's room last night begging him to wake me up an hour and a half sooner. The fact that he carried out this demand without question makes me feel so much more grateful to have such good friends.

I hop down the cobblestone steps in a feverish attempt to get a closer look at the river banks. If I'm lucky all of the sachets of sour mix will have either washed up on the shore or become so heavily saturated that they sunk to the bottom of the stream. I quickly approach the river as the stone walkway forms a small wall protecting strolling citizens from the steep incline of the river basin. I climb over the short barrier in seconds, thankfully this time of the year the weeds are tame and it isn't a chore to avoid the prickly ones since they stand out in the withering grass. The slope is rather steep and so most people are encouraged to fish at the Selphia Dragon Lake, however, I've seen Dylas fishing here a time or two. Nobody will question me being down here if they see me; there is a fishing competition going on today after all. Just to be safe though I head for the underside of the bridge since it'd be in my best interest to just go unnoticed today. The morning light is dim with the sun still so low and since the bridge is close to the water the area underneath is still very dark. I'm not afraid of the dark, but the fact that I'll have to crouch down and practically crawl to be beneath the bridge is unsettling. I feel like I'm committing a crime sneaking around like this. With a sigh I duck down squinting my eyes to the darkness. Scuffling a few feet further for cover and -WHACK!
My whole face collides with something rigid yet fuzzy. As if my vision wasn't bad enough on account of the darkness but now tears make my sight go blurry. This doesn't affect my reaction time though, a year of dungeon crawling has my blade unsheathed in seconds. I reflexively jump back a step but kind of jump more up than back and hit my head on the stone belly of the bridge. I wildly swing my blade to compensate for the misstep and take a defensive stance to allow my eyes a moment to adjust.
"Crazy woman!" something shouts, a voice echoing off of the water. Suddenly there is a burst of light which throws off my vision yet again as my eyes dilate to match the blinding illumination.

"What are you doing here!?" We shout at the same time. My brain can only process but so much and the fact that Leon is here is enough to send my whole mind off tracks. Instead of the multiple questions I should be asking my heart speeds up and my palms get sweaty. I'd probably be blushing too if my body could respond fast enough. I'm still in shock and my head is reverberating from hitting the rock overhead seconds ago.
"Don't you ever look where you're going?" Leon says attempting to rub the middle of his back where my head bashed into. "Besides, there are much better ways that our bodies could be colliding," clearly he has regained his composure much faster than I. Though my body is catching up, a blush makes it's way full force to my cheeks. Luckily the fire spell that Leon cast is dimming and I can only hope that having a wolf tail and ears doesn't give him better vision in the dark too. I stand there- er crouch there rather awkwardly. His comment about colliding bodies has me so undone that I can't think of a single thing to say and even if I could think clearly I'm sure I don't have the strength to muster a full sentence right now.

"Palm-cat got your tongue?" he teases, shifting himself to block the light from the other side of the tunnel.

Infuriating man! Instead of falling for the bait I take a minute to sheath and strap the long sword I dropped. I deliberately take my time snapping it back into place on my rucksack. I have to think of a clever reason for my being down here because like I mentioned, occasionally some people fish along the river, but it is really uncommon to find anyone by the shore let alone slinking beneath the bridge. Do I tell him the truth? Bah, and mention the plethora of sour drops that I not only crafted but disposed of, as if! I could always lie and say I dropped something? My fingers are shaking on the last snap as it occurs to me that Leon must have a reason for being here too.
"What are you doing here?" I ask again ignoring all of his teasing and inappropriate remarks.

I guess he was expecting me to say something else because he is silent for far longer than normal. He dawns a serious expression and his eyes lose their mischievous sparkle. The sudden shift in attitude has me scared that something is wrong and a seed of worry begins taking root in my stomach.

"Did something happen?!" I ask quickly. I reach back to touch the handle of my sword, mostly for comfort, but partly to let the steel ease my worry. I step to the side to swiftly access the situation.
"Wait what are you doing?" he parrots, side stepping to shield my view yet again. The serious expression he had earlier is cracking, and I'm starting to realize his change in mood was a ruse to upset my emotions. He's hiding something.

"What are you up to down here Leon?" I try to push past him but I guess I kind of underestimate how much taller the guy is. He's a lot stronger too and he doesn't budge as I try to move around him. I struggle to see beyond him at whatever it is that he's hiding and we dance both hunched over beneath the frame of the bridge, squinting in the dim light, and is that a smile? I'm smiling as I try to get by and even though he's adamantly trying to convince me not to, he's chuckling at how puny my attempts are.
"Why are you so nosy you numbskull?" he laughs grabbing hold of my forearm. I twist away and find the perfect opportunity to get to the other side. It's a long shot but there is a wide opening between his legs as he anticipates my next move. I let my backpack fall off of my shoulders and dive headfirst through his legs like a baseball player sliding to the safety of home plate. Except I wasn't really preparing for what I'd find on the other side and for the second time today my face makes contact with something unexpected. Unable to stop my body's motion I slide face first into the biggest pile of fish I've ever seen. Slick fish bodies stick to the side of my cheeks as the dive carries me forward. The smell of fresh fish is nauseating at this level and scales slough off onto my bare arms leaving slimy trails crisscrossing everywhere along exposed skin and hair.

From my perspective the situation is pretty grim. I can't even begin to question why there is a huge pile of fish because I am so mad that I rammed my face right through them. My anger is not misguided when I direct it at Leon who is laughing as loud as I think I've ever heard. (Though some of the volume is due to the echo effect I suspect.) I sit up and watch in horror as a sardine slides through my peripheral vision down the side of my cheek and lands with a wet thunk onto my breast plate. The fish is matted in the ruffles of my collar and my whole "ensemble" is littered with fish scales that have flaked off. All the while Leon is laughing and you know the craziest part? I begin to laugh too. The moment is so absurd and I can't decide if I'm more upset or still confused, or happy? Seeing him laugh so unrestricted, and really laugh not that usual chuckle he does when he's teasing. Its like catching a glimpse of something spectacular that is normally hidden behind a vault. Right now he isn't hiding a single emotion, or burying it beneath his little teasing act; and the fact that I'm here to witness kind of just evaporates most of my anger away.
"What are you doing down here and why is there an enormous pile of fish?!" I finally manage to exclaim fighting off the infectious laughter. I did say that most of my anger evaporated, not all of it.

Apparently Leon has fully given up trying to hide this from me although right now I can't grasp why he'd want to keep a fishing hobby a secret... and then it comes to me.

"Are you trying to cheat in the festival?" I say gasping.

"I'm still catching them aren't I?" He says crossing his arms.

"As opposed to what...?" I begin.

"Buying them." He finishes.
"Leon!" I'm upset that he would undermine the hard work of all our friends in town, and for what? Winning a festival? Taking something that is supposed to be for fun and twisting it into a competition. Ugh!

"You're so cute when you're angry." He says patting my head in the most demeaning of ways. Unconcerned with his own unethical behavior Leon begins sorting through the fish and picking one of each type, carefully wrapping them in a cheap cloth and putting the fish on an ice pack that is nestled in his own backpack. I can only sit and watch, hoping that some sort of guilt will stir inside him and make him at least hesitate as he counts how many different varieties he caught. Man this guy really is a piece of work. I begin sorting out the lecture I'm about to unleash on him in my head but then he catches me off guard with a question.

"So what are you doing here anyway miss?" with everything packed away he leisurely sits down tossing some of the duplicate fish back into the water. His stance may seem un-guarded but I can tell from his gaze that he'll be dissecting every word I say.

"I dropped something and it rolled between the railing on the bridge." I try to say as matter-of-factually as possible.
"Come now Frey," it only takes him two steps and he's kneeling right beside me, "are you really trying to tell a tale to the master? I quite literally could have wrote the book on deceit." He has leaned in so close that I can see every intricate detail of the tattoos on his face. I turn away quickly, looking at him this close makes my nerves go crazy. I want to trace the patterns on his face and the mere admission of this to myself makes me blush..

"How about we make a deal?" Leon asks. I don't like the implications but at least he isn't mentioning the red that is coloring the apples of my cheeks. "You keep quiet about what you saw here and I won't question why you're here. Deal?" He doesn't give me any time to answer but instead pats me on the head again beaming about having a "little accomplice."

"You are just too cute when you're mad." he repeats laughing and ducking away with his cheating bag of fish.

x.x.x.

The 17:00 hour fast approaches and today's festivities are about to dwindle down as everyone makes their way back to the courtyard to announce winners. I gave up trying to net out the remaining sour drop packets long before the contest began since most of what I was netting out of the water was waterlogged and nearly unidentifiable.
"Hey there!" A familiar red head calls clapping my back as he approaches. He is grinning from ear to ear, the competitive nature of these contests really fires him up. But from the imprint of leaves and twigs on one side of his face I suspect he's been dozing off today taking full advantage of the festival as a day off from work.
"You catch much of anything?" I tease pointing out the faint red impressions on his cheek. He blushes just a bit when I touch his skin and then pinches my cheek to "compensate".
"Nah. Fishing is soooo boring. Though I do really like salmon onigiri. You didn't happen to catch any salmon did you?" He looks at me expectantly. Since I had been fishing a lot lately I didn't want to seem obvious and bring home rainbow trout exclusively. It's kind of embarrassing to admit but I've been catching a lot of salmon and using Doug as a test dummy to boost my cooking skill. I think the sudden showering of gifts has made this little elf ungrateful though. Blatantly asking for salmon onigiri like that, Blossom really needs to nail a set of manners into this boy!

"No I didn't do much fishing today," I admit, which is partly true. Fishing for things other than fish isn't called fishing now is it? "Oh look it's Dylas!" I say changing the subject. I know the mere mention of Dylas will goad Doug into approaching and allow me to escape. I really don't want to be around for the results of this competition. I passed by Leon again today who shared a knowing smile and put one finger to his lips in the most intimidating wordless exchange I have ever witnessed. I just can't watch Dylas lose to a cheater who got a six hour head start.
I reach the center of the pavilion and head straight through the main doors of the castle. I stop at the empty circle letting the sunlight that filters through the open roof cast my shadow against the cold stone. This chamber of the castle is always so comforting to me. Maybe because its the first glimpse I had of the town, falling through the ceiling into Selphia. Or maybe its because this is Venti's room, a place I would go whenever I was troubled and in need of a friend. Thinking back on friendship snaps my mind back to the present. Dylas is my best friend in town and right now I am torn between being a good friend to him and ratting on Leon. I owe Leon nothing! He is nothing to me. So why is it that I find his name at the edge of all my sentences ?

Frustrated I stomp all the way through to the back doors that lead to my neglected fields. For two days they have been without water and my poor monsters who I did manage to feed this morning at least, have been cooped up in the barns without any attention. I guess this is my answer then. If my confused little mind cannot make a decision between the two boys then my work hardened little body will get something done. I set my backpack on the ground and rummage through it, carefully picking out the next set of seeds I plan on planting, a few formulas to enrich the soil, and of course my essential tools that I've somehow managed to tuck away into the folds of my bag. I've got a lot of work to catch up on and maybe this is a good thing for me, not obsessing over anything just letting the routine I've known for the past year carry my mind into a quiet lull.