(Disclaimer: Anybody think there's some way I could convince Pittacus Lore to give me the rights to the Lorien Legacies series or any of these characters? No? Didn't think so…)

6

Four

I lay in my bed, sunlight silently streaming in through my window. It was amazing last night, finally being able to sleep in my own bed, not on the cold, hard floor of a cave, for the first time in a week. Not that I slept a wink.

All I could do last night was smile and stare up at the ceiling, replaying every single moment of the kiss. It was easily the most amazing thing that had happened to me, the best sixty seconds of my life. I was scared that if I fell asleep I'd just wake up and realize it was all just a dream. So here I am, wide awake and staring at the roof at seven in the morning.

My thoughts are broken up by my grandfather hollering up at me from downstairs, calling that breakfast's ready, and I throw off the sheets and swing out of bed. I move sluggishly, and pull on a shirt and pair of pants from my dresser. Then I turn and sit back down on my bed, staring out at the city of London slowly awakening in the early morning light. My mind continues to race, and I can't keep my thoughts away from Six. I ponder our relationship, stretching all the way back to before we were even born. Unconsciously, mind constructs a timeline of sorts around us.

Our history stretches a long way back, before we even breathed the fresh air of Lorien. My parents, Lara and Liren, had known Six's since they were first put into the same Graduate class. My father had known Six's mom, Lyn, even before that. My father and Six's dad, Arun, became fast friends, getting into all sorts of trouble together, while my mom and Lyn had joined the same group of chattering, excited girls. It took them a little longer to become as close friends as my father and Arun were, but by the time they'd graduated they were inseparable. It was long before our parents started falling for each other, and soon enough they were mated. My parents were actually mated first, but I was born about eight months after Six.

As our parents were inseparable friends, the same was with Six and I. Since before we could even walk we were taken with our parents whenever they visited the other's house, which was pretty much every week. And it only helped that were both proclaimed as members of the Ten destined to save our race. Of course, after a year of being raised by our parents, we were given to our grandparents, but that only strengthened our bond. We were now only a block away from each other, and I'm pretty sure I saw her every day. Our parents used to joke that we'd always end up together, and now, looking at what happened last night and my growing feelings for Six, they might just have been right.

Six and I were placed in the same General class, along with Seven, Two, and Nine. We took the class until we reached the age of fourteen, learning about our planet's history, arts, language, discoveries, and science. Then the Ten were placed in a special separate class for Graduate School, where we learned to develop our Legacies. And we've been there ever since.

I smile as my mind races, zooming in on particular memories that stand out to me from my experiences with Six.

I can remember when I was very young, maybe eight or so, and we'd playing a board game. It was a simple one, where you simply had to make it to the end of the race. It had been almost over, with Six two steps ahead of me, when I drew a card that let my jump forward three steps ahead, winning the game. Six had accused me of cheating, and I'd accused her of just being jealous. I'm pretty sure I called her a dummy at one point. The point is, within a few minutes we were screaming at each other and calling out all kinds of names. My grandparents had come over, and eventually Six had headed home. I had felt bad afterward, so I'd drawn a crude picture of us holding hands on a card, and had put 'I'm sorry.' On the inside. When I'd shown up to General class the next day I gave it to her, only to find out she'd had the exact same idea. By the end of the day we'd both completely forgotten all about it and I had her over again. We played the same game, but she won this time. I'm pretty sure I still have that card somewhere.

Another memory surfaces, this one not too long ago, when I was around twelve. It had been during the Festival of the Twin Moons, and we'd decorated candles at school. It was usually like this for the Festival of Twin Moons, celebrating with something around the idea of fire. The Festival of Twin Suns, which only lasts three days as opposed to the Festival of Twin Moons, usually has something to do with water. They're polar opposites, and represent the balance achieved on Lorien, the needs of the Loric and the needs of Lorien itself. We'd placed them around the stage in the back of our classroom, and our teacher had decided to have some fun. We'd set up a spelling bee, and of course by the end it was just Six and me left. It had been some stupid word, I think gray, which could be spelled in two different ways. I had spelled it with an a, and Six had used an e. Our teacher, a Cêpan named Julia, couldn't decide which of us was right, so she'd called it a tie.

Six and I had argued with each other of course, just because it was us, and had started pushing each other around. At one point she'd pushed me back, and I got so mad I shoved her to the ground. She had looked up at me in shock, and I had instantly felt bad. Then I'd realized she wasn't staring at me, but was staring at my sock, which had apparently caught on fire when she'd pushed me and I'd flipped over a candle. I'd just stared at it like an idiot, but luckily Julia had been thinking straight and had hurriedly sprayed a fire extinguisher all over me. Six and I had apologized to each other afterwards, both honestly sorry. A part of me now wonders if my Lumen could have been active then, since I didn't even feel the flames, but I'm pretty sure I was just in shock. Nine still laughs about the fire incident today.

My mind reaches out to a more recent memory, about a year ago. It was just around that time I was starting to…'appreciate' Six more than I had in the past. We were out in the backyard of my house with my grandfather, while my grandmother was inside baking cookies. I love my grandfather, and not just in that sappy way. With his hilarious attitude and constant jokes, he's always a blast to be around. And when he gives out advice it's not patronizing like some of the other adults. He's totally cool, and I know Six and most of the other kids think the same. He's also the perfect trainer for Six and me, having most of our collective Legacies. He's shown me all sort of tricks with his Lumen, and he even has invisibility, just like Six. He's shown her how to move silently, so she's impossible to see and hear. And of course he helps us with our telekinesis, which all Garde have. Later, in private when Six was gone, he'd even teach me this one amazing trick with his telekinesis. I think I have the hang of it now, almost a year after he started teaching it, and if I'm right I think it'll come in handy during the Games.

But at one point he was training me and Six in the backyard, and it sure wasn't easy. He had me covered in fire, struggling to keep the flames from eating up three wooden branches I had to levitate around me. It was incredibly hard to control the fire, to reel it back in from its hunger. Meanwhile he had Six sneaking through the backyard, invisible. Her goal was to simply get past him without being seen or heard, but he called out her exact location every time. I don't think she's even managed it to the date. Regardless, my grandmother had come out with a full platter of cookies and milk, a popular trend picked up from Earth. While humans might be dumb about some things, they sure knew how to cook and their styles of clothing were super comfy. Especially jeans. I love jeans. The point is, Six and I had wanted to stop to take a break, while my grandfather wanted to keep it going. We had needled him and called out all kinds of funny names, ranging from a fat human to a clunky Chimæra. Eventually he had given in and watched us ruefully from the back porch.

"You two are quite a pair, aren't you?" he'd asked us.

Six had smirked while I laughed, and then at the same time we said, "You got that right."

We'd stared at each other for a second, then I'd laughed even louder while Six called out some human expression, like jinx or something. She claimed I owed her a soda, but I never got her one. She still needles me about it sometimes.

And then, finally, the night before Nine and I had left, we'd been sitting in a tree a little ways from my backyard. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and her feet swung in the air as she leaned against me. We'd been silent for a while, but gradually started a small conversation.

"So what are you going to do out there for a full week?"

"I don't know," I had shrugged, "Maybe think. Sleep. Write a book or maybe some poetry."

She'd laughed and gently pushed me, and I made a big show of swinging my arms around as I exaggerated recovering my balance.

I glared at her mockingly, "You could have made me fall!"

She smiled just as she sends a strong wind, blowing me off the tree to the forest floor, "That was the point."

"Well then." I say, and yank her down to me with my telekinesis. She yelps and flattens down her skirt as she falls, laughing. I catch her and hold her in my arms like one of those actors from those cheesy human romance movies Six sometimes makes me watch at her house.

I smirk at her, "I think you're supposed to say, 'my hero.'"

She rolls her eyes and shoves me away, and I let her down, "Not even for a whole vault of Loralite."

I'd laughed, and we'd slowly started walking back to the house. When she'd said her goodbyes to my grandparents and I'd let her out the door, she turned to me.

"I'm gonna miss you. This is going to be one boring week."

My heart skipped a beat when she said that, though I'm sure she was just being a good friend. I managed to smile, "I'll be back before you know it."

She stepped forward and hugged me, "I'll be waiting."

She'd turned and left then. By the time she woke up the next morning I was gone, dropped in the middle of the wilderness of Lorien with Nine. I smiled as I walk down the stairs into the kitchen where my grandfather sat reading his newspaper. Hadley walks over and curls up at my feet in the form of a cat, mewing good morning. My grandmother flips more pancakes in a pan, while my grandfather puts down the paper and looks over at me as I sat down and poured myself some orange juice.

"What?" he asked, peering over at me from the rim of his glasses.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're smiling like a Chimæra that found its lost bone. What's up?"

I smile even wider, "Everything's perfect. Perfect and even better."

A/N As always, please review! I totally makes my day. Somewhat. A little bit. Just review, kay?