Chapter Four – Just Tired

Snorri waited patiently outside the boathouse. It was twilight now. She had to wait until he was done. It was, after all, a matter of respect; he was working.

The door opened. The owner was leaving when he recognized Snorri.

"Thee must be seeking for the Apprentice."

"Yes, indeed." The way of talking in that Time was fun to interpret.

"He is still in there, but thee may come in," he said politely.

She insisted on giving the man his money – after all, Marcellus had given her a proper meal - and entered, looking for Nicko immediately. She found him laid down under a suspended boat, probably trying to fix it.

"Nicko?" she called. At the sound of his name, he tried to get up so abruptly, that he hit his head on the boat.

"Ouch," he mumbled, then slided through the floor and got up. "Hey, Snorri," he smiled a little embarrassed at Snorri's worried face.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Well, yes," he stated, "I think I'll live."

Snorri half-smiled. He had to be so endearingly funny? It made it hard for her to ignore him when he invaded her thoughts – which, much to her concern, was becoming very frequent.

"I found Marcellus Pye," she said breaking the few-seconds silence which was starting to get awkward.

"You did?" he frowned at her.

"Yes, well, it wasn't easy, but I could not let you down, since you believed in me so much." Then she continued, talking faster so Nicko couldn't have time to interrupt her, "Even if you are skeptical at the notice that I actually did it."

Before he could protest, she told him about Marcellus' offer.

"But that's wonderful!" he shouted, suddenly hugging and spinning her around the room. They both started laughing, enjoying the moment for once; after all, it had been the roughest day in a while now.

When he stopped spinning her – but did not let her go -, they stared deep into each other's eyes. All Nicko could think of was, kiss her! Now, you idiot! Wait, no… Now! It has to be now!

Snorri was wishing it too, smiling wide, but then she remembered something that had been bothering her all afternoon and her smile was gone.

She unwrapped herself off of Nicko's arms and said, "We should be going now."

"Snorri? What's wrong? I'm sorry if I-" He thought of what to say next. Almost kissed you seemed like a nice one, but there were two problems: one, he didn't know if that was what it felt like for her. Two, he was sorry for hesitating – not for trying.

"Well, I'm sorry if I… if that… offended you," he stuttered. "But I didn't mean it to."

She could see he was not sorry – for Nicko was an open book, easy to read – but she did not say anything. She remembered the feeling she had just a minute ago, that was destroyed by the words of Pye in her head… "Oh, I see it is a shock to thee".

A shock, indeed. The question was, why did he hide it? Her theory seemed more than plausible: he didn't want her to get the wrong idea. He was probably still there at Jenna's request, or he was doing it for his new friend. Friend. Just a friend. It was all she was.

They were now halfway through the Wizard Way, and they remained silent. Nicko could see she was tense, and he did not know why. It was maddening. He wanted to help her. Badly.

"Snorri?" he tested, wondering whether she'd answer or not. She did.

"Yes?"

"What… happened?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just really, really, tired."

"Tell you what," he said, trying to cheer her up – also glad that he wasn't ignored – "I can come to the Castle for lunch."

"Why would you do that?" she asked, frowning in curiosity.

"Well…" he said, trying to explain what no one could, "Because I don't want to leave you."

She blinked, as if processing what he had just said.

"You know, leave you… with Marcellus Pye. During lunch. So I can come and make you company."

Maybe being friends with him will not be that bad, after all, she thought. I'd better get used to it. It is all I am ever going to get.

"I would love that," she said with a genuine smile.

After dining, each one headed off to their respective bedrooms.

Both Snorri and Nicko had a hard time trying to figure out how to not spend all of their free time thinking about each other.

When she woke up, after bathing and putting on some fancy clothes Marcellus had lent her – they belonged to the Princess, Emerald -, she could not wait to show Nicko how much she regret.

Last night's before-the-actual-sleeping thoughts were very useful, she had finally decided to lean on destiny – oh, how that sounded old-fashioned now – and just see where it all went. She was going to be what he wanted her to be: his friend. And maybe later – yes, the maybe part was hard – it could turn into something else.

However, the poor girl did not find him. Pye informed her Nicko had to leave to work, otherwise he'd get late. But, and here comes the cheerful part, he had left her some flowers he carefully collected from the Castle's Gardens earlier in the morning.

For the rest of the morning, she felt like something was right. She wandered around in the Castle, missing him more than she'd like herself to admit. She then ran into Marcellus, who requested her help.

She did not see Nicko until lunchtime.