"Dinner is served!"

There is to be no visitors on academy grounds after 21:00 Mondays through Fridays. Failure to abide by this rule will result in disciplinary measures, up to and including expulsion.

"Mmhm."

Each student is required to bring her own sewing supplies. The academy will provide one set of writing instruments and two notebooks per student; any additional supplies should be brought by the student.

"What do you want to drink?"

Winter Break will be an extended four-day weekend (Friday through Monday) from Winter 20-23. Students will need to notify staff no less than one week prior if they intend on staying at the academy during this time.

"Okay..."

Before Candace could read about the mandatory weekly check-ins with teachers (which didn't much matter, since she had the book memorized), the itinerary that Ms. Desrosiers had mailed her was ripped away from her hands, a fork shoved into its place.

"Candace, you've read over that thing fifty billion times." Kasey was grinning at her, but his tone hinted at disappointment.

He wasn't far off – it hadn't left her possession since she'd received it Tuesday, and now it was Friday night. The night before the Moon Festival, and the night before she departed to the city. But it had been the only way to keep herself from getting too focused on the fact that she was leaving Castanet – it was much easier to think of it as she was arriving somewhere new, instead.

"S-Sorry...I just don't want to miss anything...I'm just so worried." She glanced down in front of her, at the coffee table, to see a plate full of homemade spaghetti and sauce. She was too nervous to really have much of an appetite, but this was the final night she'd see Kasey in over seven weeks; the least she could do was be polite and eat the dinner he'd made for her.

"You'll be fine." Kasey handed her the plate of spaghetti and scooched closer to her on the couch, the marathon of Sprite Rangers on his TV chattering in the background. "I bet all the other girls going are nervous too, it'd be weird if they weren't, even a little bit. I was kind of nervous before I came here, and it's turned out okay, right?"

To most people, his whole week of nothing but sweet remarks and affectionate gestures would have signaled that Kasey wasn't taking this hard at all. That he was accepting and even excited for Candace to go out and pursue her dream. And he was, never the sort who was so selfish to whine that she stay on Castanet and skip out on this opportunity, just because he would miss her.

But Candace knew him better than that, could see his smile fading into a weak version of itself whenever addressing her imminent departure. How he'd been more withdrawn and spending most of the time that he wasn't at Sonata Tailors alone on his farm (he claimed he was just really concerned about his first rice harvest), and when he was at the tailors, he was far less antagonistic with Luna – cooperative, even, as the three of them worked together a couple days ago to pack Candace's suitcases.

They ate in silence for a short time, the only noise being quiet chuckles from Kasey as the Sprites faced off against Space Devil Hamil, but it was long enough that Candace's mind began to wander, with no itinerary to distract her.

"K-Kasey? What are you doing tomorrow, for the Moon Festival...?" She didn't want to dwell on how this would have been their first Festival together as a couple, but she was curious; she knew it was one of his favorite festivals and wanted to make sure that he had something planned. Something that didn't involve him being alone.

Kasey swiped spaghetti sauce from his mouth before answering. "I'll probably just fifth wheel it with Luke and Selena, and Owen and Kathy." He didn't sound very down about that prospect at all. In fact, there was a mischievous spark in his eyes. "I'd rather go with you, but...here, lemme show you." He motioned towards the kitchen.

After setting her half-eaten spaghetti aside, Candace followed Kasey to the kitchen. The stove held a giant steel pot that Candace deduced must be a canner, for all the jars on the counter beside it. In front of the sink were a cluster of transparent knee-high jugs filled with a cloudy golden-tan liquid, all corked shut, some of the with large syringes sticking out of the corks. Empty mason jars and their lids were scattered on the nearby shelf, amid random action figures and a model spacecraft.

It was a confusing mess to Candace, but Kasey beamed proudly.

"Apple cider." He stepped aside to open the refrigerator door, wherein sat several smaller Mason jars, all filled. "I'm gonna bottle up as much as I can , use one of Cain's wagons to wheel it out to Moon Hill for everyone to drink at the festival."

Candace suspected that by "everyone", Kasey was talking mostly about himself and his four friends guzzling it down like water, even though he would be willing to share his supply with all the townspeople.

"Here, this is just plain ol' apple cider. I wanted to make sure I could do that, 'fore I added alcohol to the mix." He retrieved one of the Mason jars, unscrewed the lid and handed it to Candace, and the crisp, tart aroma of apples wafted around her.

She took a small sip, and then a longer one. It was quite delicious; she could understand why he was looking forward to sharing it with the Festival attendees. "It's r-really good...I was worried when you..." She sighed, hoping it wouldn't be too critical of her to point it out. "Y-You weren't around town, much, besides when you'd visit me. People were a-asking about you, where you were, but I didn't know what to s-say, I didn't want to tell them the wrong thing."

Kasey leaned against the kitchen counter, now holding his own jar of cider. "Well, I wasn't planning on making all of this, not the alcoholic kind, anyway. But...it's kind of taken my mind off...things. And the actual making part has been fun. Not so much sitting around filling it up in a zillion jars, but... y'know, since I've never done it before, it's sort of like a little...science project. Just much more tasty, with alcohol and fruit instead of molecules and whatever."

Candace nodded, happy to know that Kasey's alone time had been something productive and not a prolonged episode of wallowing in misery. "I...I like that you...do that."

"Do what?"

"Things y-you've never done before. I don't know if...I would have done..any of this, if it weren't for you." Candace dropped her gaze to her shoes, crossing her arms over her middle and hugging her jar of cider. Despite meaning to sound complimentary, she couldn't keep the sadness out of her voice.

There was the small clink of Kasey putting down his cider, and then his hand found her arm, absently rubbing up and down. "You'll be okay, Candace. Really."

"I did think about backing out...calling the school and telling them I'm not ready. Maybe I'm not, if most of the girls have more people skills, like Luna..."

Last night had been her only hiccup. Julius had treated her to dinner at the Ocarina Inn, and it consisted mostly of him relaying advice and quizzing her about hypothetical situations that may present themselves, both at school and in life in the city at large. He obviously thought it was the prudent thing to do, to ensure she was aware of what she was getting into, but instead of leaving the inn satisfied and more prepared, Candace was terrified of how disappointed he would be if she didn't measure up to the other girls.

She told Kasey all this, and, upon seeing he was itching to interrupt her, quickly added what her ultimate decision had been.

"But ... I don't think I could stand to face you, or Luna or Julius, or...anyone, myself especially, if I didn't try." It was true. She couldn't hide forever, like a child, just to prevent bad things from happening; it would prevent anything good from happening, too.

"Good. And hey, even if things don't work out at this school..." Kasey pressed a soft kiss atop her head. "At least you'll have your smelly farmer boyfriend to return to, stuck with for all eternity. "

Her lips curved into a smile as she took another sip of cider, and her heart leapt at Kasey's oh-so-casual hint at forever. "A-As long as you promise to w-wear all my failed designs."

"Every single one."

Candace laughed to herself and finished off her cider, picturing Kasey in some of the outfits she'd drawn, that were obviously meant for a female, and didn't think for a second that he'd be against wearing them if it meant making her laugh. It was still new for her, accepting his compliments, but becoming easier each time.

Kasey retrieved a second glass for himself and offered another to Candace.

"Oh, no thank you. You should save it for tomorrow."

"Yeah, if I get it all done by then. I mean, I'm kind of busy, between...the morning, and my ranch and who knows how long it'll take me to actually load it all up." With a sigh, he slid the rejected cider back into the fridge.

"Why don't I help you! You helped me pack, it's the least I could do." It was odd to hear her own voice so full of excitement, but inside she didn't feel the least bit strange about expressing it, because she really did want to help.

"Candace, you don't want to spend your last night on Castanet filling bottles of apple cider. It'll be so boring, seriously."

"It won't be! Not together...and you could tell me how you made it. Please? I'd...I'd rather do that than just sit around watching Sprite Rangers."

"What's wrong with Sprite Rangers?!" It was probably the most honestly offended Candace had ever heard Kasey.

"It's...not really my type of show," she confessed. It hadn't ever captivated her the way it had the boys her age, which she supposed was because of its lack of romance.

"I think maybe you're just a secret agent of Space Devil Hamil." Kasey swooped a hand in to try to tickle her, but she dodged him, giggling. "But all right, you're officially on assistant apple cider brewer duty."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As Kasey had warned, it wasn't terribly exciting. All that had to be done was bottling the ready cider, siphoning it from the jug to the tap-bucket and then to the tall growlers that would be brought to the festival, and while a simple process, the heady aroma of the alcohol was tough to stomach for Candace. Thankfully, the bright grin on Kasey's face, the fervor in his eyes as he explained how the mashed and pureed apples went from fruit to fizzy liquid form was a potent enough remedy.

Several times he paused, worrying that the talk of pH measurement and temperature regulation was either too boring or way over Candace's head – or was he being way too dorky for her? No, she assured him. Even though she didn't quite comprehend every detail of it, she couldn't help but wonder to herself: was this attraction she felt for the passion he had the same that he felt when she had shared about her love for sewing and design?

Just as Candace was about to close yet another swing-top cap, her hand instead went to her mouth, covering a yawn.

"I think that's plenty for tonight." Kasey set his hand where hers had been, popping the swing-top shut.

"Hm?" Half out of curiosity and half from fighting to keep her eyes open, she blinked up at Kasey.

"We made a good dent, that's over half in bottles now." He waved vaguely towards the filled growlers that were lined along the floor beside the fridge. "I should get you home, though. I'm surprised Luna hasn't hunted you down and dragged you out of my er...I think she used the term 'den of inequity', once."

"She..." Candace hesitated just long enough to feel the weight of the words in her mouth, before she said them. "She knows I'm staying over here tonight."

"You..." It was as if someone had pressed a pause button on Kasey, the way his mouth froze half-open, his eyes wide and unblinking.

"If that's okay with you. I just w-want to...spend time with you." Moving in against him without a second thought, she circled her arms around him, knowing she wasn't giving him much of a choice. Despite being warm already herself, the warmth he exuded was comforting, as was the apple-y scent that clung to his thermal top. Beside the pulse of his heartbeat, she could feel the solid lump under his shirt that was his necklace.

His fingers lazily combed through her hair. "Spending time is always good. I just don't want you to miss your boat or...Luna to murder me in my sleep. She could, you know."

"She won't, she's okay with me staying."

When Candace had decided she would not waver from this decision, would not let Luna boss her around and ban her from staying over at Kasey's, she had expected more of an objection from her sister.

Instead, Luna had rolled her eyes. "Um, duh, you're staying over. It's your last night here and he's your -" She took a deep, calming breath. "-boyfriend. It'd be pretty weird if you didn't want to be around him. Besides, I have the next seven weeks, without you here, to instill the fear of the Harvest King in him. I can deal with you staying over there tonight. Just keep it PG!"

So Candace promised Luna she would. Except, right now, she couldn't understand why she had. Another seven weeks before she saw Kasey again, before he held her and touched her hair like he was now, always deliberate yet gentle. Before his smile that wove its way into her every thought like a tapestry and his hugs that made her feel no danger would ever come her way.

Pressing onto her toes, letting her hands fan across Kasey's back, she kissed him. There again was that floatiness inside her, that she still hadn't gotten used to (and probably never would) as their bodies brushed, as he kissed her back and she was left feeling somehow helpless and invincible at the same time.

In a matter of seconds, they had moved from the kitchen to Kasey's bed, him sitting down and pulling her onto his lap. The cool Autumn air swept over her shoulders as her cardigan was peeled off, dropped to the floor.

Luna would expect an apology from the both of them if she found out Candace had broken her promise.

If she finds out. Her knees bent on either side of Kasey's lap and her hands traveled to find the tail of his shirt. She'd spent so much of her life being sorry about everything that it'd almost defeated her. It was quite nice to think and feel and do so unapologetically for once.