I open my eyes groggily, blinking and disoriented. I'm in a tree, and I fell asleep, and she's in my arms.

"Wh-what?"

"How did you sleep? Any nightmares?"

"N-no, I didn't. But how?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I'm magical?" I grin, in my mind's eye, gossamer pixie wings sprout from her shoulder-blades, and she waves her fingers, making my nightmares poof.

I grin at the mental image, "Definitely."

"Well, I try. At least you got to sleep." She leans towards me, and my eyes flash to those perfect lips, so soft and pink. I lean forward a little too, waiting to see if it's going to be okay to kiss her.

"Me too." My voice is barely above a whisper. She leans forward, and our lips touch. She is so uncertain, she stops when they do. I lean into the kiss, smiling.

She pulls back just enough to speak, "I've made my decision." I smile so broadly it feels like my mouth might hop off my face.

"I love you." I bend towards her and kiss her again. She returns the kiss with a fierceness I never thought I'd see in her. I pull her closer to me, wrapping my arms around her. We kiss for what feels like ages, and when we finally break apart, we're both smiling profusely. We go our separate ways, but I can't get her out of my head, the feel of her on top of me, the touch of her lips, the way she smelled, everything.

later

I see her talking to Aria again, and I dash up because she looks really upset.

"What's going on?"

She pushes me out of the way, "I don't need him to defend me unlike you who is only living for Shimmer. Just face it aria you're whipped." Her voice is near a growl, and it startles me a little.

"I'm not living just for shimmer. I'm my own person too!"

"You two need to stop. There'll be time enough for fighting when the games begin!" I can't believe I'm being the peacemaker.

"Really now, your own person? Look who's in denial? You didn't hate me until shimmer told you too. What afraid if you don't listen he'll leave you?"

I touch her shoulder, "Arella, please calm down. You don't need to do this. She's not worth it. " I glare at the little traitor.

She takes a deep breath, her whole form shaking with rage, and turns away. I wrap an arm around her, "Forget about her."

"Well at least I actually listen to my boyfriend instead of kissing some other guy in front of his room! And I am not in denial. I am my own person. I can handle myself... It doesn't look like shimmers with me now does it?"

Over my shoulder, I yell back at her, "Walk away, Aria, it's over."

"Well Donevin it's hard to forget about the girl who is going to be your first kill." She pushes my arm off and shoves Aria to the ground. I silently cheer for her.

"I bet you wish your perfect boyfriend was here now to help you! I bet you listen to everything he says! I bet you're afraid to go against him because he'll leave you! I bet it isn't even love!"

Realizing it's a lost cause, I step back, letting her fight it out. God, she looks sexy when she yells.

"You know what? I do listen to everything he says! And it is love because we both have mutual respect and feelings for each other! I can't go against him because I love him! And I bet that you don't even love Donevin! You're probably just using him to advance yourself in the games!"

Reyana calls over some trainers, who grab them, pulling them apart. "Girls, no fighting please!" I shudder at her high-pitched voice.

"I love him you b*tch! At least I know that for a fact he loves me back! The only reason you keep saying shimmer loves you is because you're trying to prove it to yourself!" She's fighting and kicking at that trainer.

"I proved to myself that I love him the minute I kissed him! So don't act like I'm faking it!"

"Love isn't kissing someone! Love is wanting to make that other person happy and safe! Love is when I got Donevin to sleep today for the first time in forever! Love is every night I have a nightmare and find Donevin there to help me! Love isn't just saying you love someone!" She wrenches her arms from the trainer's grasp and spits at him. "Watch your back in the arena... There might be an arrow in it." She storms out of the training room to the roof.

I'm struck by her emotion, and instead of following her, I find a little alcove somewhere and think. She really does love me. I actually manage to fall asleep in that little alcove, my dreams of Arella, instead of the other haunting this usually there.

I sleep the whole night, and when I wake up, I head to the roof to find her soaking wet.

"Why are you all wet?"

She attempts to lie, attempt being the operative word. "I spilled some water on me."

"I don't believe you. What really happened?"

"Am I really that bad of a liar?"

"Sometimes. Now, what happened that you don't want to tell me about?"

"Shimmer dumped water on my head so I threw a cup at his and he called me a b*tch..." I shake with anger and she wraps her arms around me, calming me instantly with her touch.

"He what?"

"Nothing you need to get upset about."

"I'm going to kill him."

"As long as you leave me Aria." I look at her strangely. A few days ago, she puked at the thought of killing, and now she's calmly divvying up kills. They must have really upset her.

"But I get Xavier." I lean down so our noses are touching. An eskimo kiss, that's what my mother used to call it. She quickly kisses me, grinning.

"Just make sure I'm not watching."

"Okay." Fair enough. But it's gonna be pretty hard to kill Aria while not looking. That means I'll get to help. I kiss her again, more deeply, letting the touch linger for a moment longer, not wanting it to end. But it does, and she backs up and leans against the railing.

"How do you do it? Kill and not care?"

"It's how I was brought up." I pause, considering telling her, "If I tell you something, will you promise not to think badly of me?"

"I can promise to try not to."

"I was in training to be a peacekeeper. From age 9 to 15. And from 7 to 9, and 15 to 18, I was trained vigorously by me dear old papa. If I couldn't leave him as a peacekeeper, I had to go win the games."

"It's alright, I understand."

"Good." I am so relieved. I thought she'd freak, "I know how much you all hate them."

"Since when was I like all of them?"

I pull her into my lap, because she's shivering. "Never."

"I try." She buries her head against my chest.

"I can tell." I kiss her forehead, and she tilts her head up and kisses me back on the lips. I of course kiss her back, pouring my passion into her chaste little kiss. She pushes me onto my back, and I willingly oblige. She smiles into the kiss, and I brush her cheek with my hand, loving the softness of her lips, her hands, her arms, and her cheek.

"You told me you loved me and I never got to answer... I love you too."

"I know." I grin into the kiss and she giggles, that sound so perfectly adorable. We break apart, both smiling widely.

"You make it too d*mn easy to love you." She closes her eyes and her little head falls on my chest.

"Wanna tell me why?"

"Why? Because you are the most beautiful woman in all the world. Because you are the kindest person to walk this earth. Because you are the smartest creature to have ever lived. Because you are not afraid to stand up and fight. And most of all, because you are mine."

She smiles and leans down to kiss me again, holding that moment for ages. A thought flashes to mind. My god, if Aria walks in and ruins the moment, she will not live another day. But she doesn't, and we hold each other for what feels like it will never end.

I kiss her again, and she sits on her heels, this blissful smile on her face. "We should do something…fun."

An idea comes to mind, one that's slightly evil, but totally deserved. "I've got an idea."

"What is it?" I pull her along, into my room and sit her on the bed, and rummage through my drawer to find a few handfuls.

"Somewhere...in here."

I find them and pull them out, holding some in each hand. "Okay..."

She looks at me like I'm nuts. Which may be. "Can I have a hint?"

I pull my hands out from behind my back and show her the bright berries in each hand.

"Am I gonna die if I eat the wrong ones?"

"Noo...But Xavier, Aria and Shimmer are asleep right now...And these make very fun permanent face paint."

I crush the berries as we walk out, and happen to find Aria first. We both run at her, smearing paint all over her face.

"Water dries off, paint does not!"

Aria yells after us as we tear down to Shimmer's room, smearing paint all over them without waking them up. "What was that for?"

We run back past Aria, and I answer her question. "For being a god*mn, f-ing b*tch!"

"Inappropriate language!" Arella can barely speak clearly.

I let loose a huge string of curses, flip Aria off and run to Xavier's room, covering her face in paint. Arella stays with Aria, laughing so hard it makes me laugh.

I grab her hand, pulling her away before Xavier and Shimmer wake up. "Come on, we have to go!" I grab her hand, the blue and the red on mine staining both our hands purple.

We run to my room, and she grabs my shirt and starts kissing me again, smearing paint all over both of us. We're both laughing so hard that the kisses are short as we take breaths, but neither of us seems to be able to get enough.

"Mon amour." She puts her hands on my face, getting more paint on me but I don't care.

"Oui?" I kiss her again and again, holding her closer than I should. This time, I let it linger, letting the passion grow between us as we touch.

"Je t'aime plusque la luneaimeles marées, plus queles starsaiment êtredans le ciel dela nuit,plus que le soleilaime la lumièreet la terreaimele que toute autrepersonne dans le monde entierne pourrait jamaisaimer un autre, c'est ainsi queJe t'aime,mon amour."

"Moi aussi, je t'aime." She gently pulls me to the bed, and we kiss again…

A/N: No, I am not going graphic, this is not smut. But you can pry guess what happens next.

Translation of his little speech: I love you more than the moon love the tides, more than the stars love to be in the sky at night, more than the sun loves light and the earth loves the sun. More than any one person in all the world could ever love another, that is how I love you, my love.

Yeah…

-MS