A/N: Hey guys, again I am sorry for the long wait for one update. I was on a vacation and I did not have a computer or a laptop with me. Also I want to apologize for last chapter because I did not put Leona's and Galron's thoughts in italics I totally forgot. Hopefully this chapter will be okay. Remember . . . REVIEW!

Eragon loosened his grip on Leona so that he could see her face. Nothing had changed. She had the same gorgeous look that Eragon loved. Leona smiled and buried her face in his chest again. Eragon chuckled as he rested his chin on the top of her head. Then he felt her getting pulled away from his grasp. Gelmir had pulled her away and replaced Eragon's empty arms with himself and said in a girly tone,

"Did you miss me, Eragon?" Eragon laughed and pulled Gelmir away from him and replied with a yes and then said,

"I have bad news, though. I lost your sword in Helgrind and I am sorry for that." Gelmir looked appalled as he said,

"God dammit, Eragon!" Eragon felt bad and he was about to say something but saw a smile on Gelmir and listened to what he had to say,

"Nah, I'm joking. I don't care it was old and weak, it needed to be lost. anyway your shield is ruined so let's just call this . . ."

"My shield? Who ruined my shield?" Eragon said. He did not really care but was afraid that someone here did not like him and wondered if anyone else terrorized his things while he was gone. Then a powerful voice that he was not used to came into his mind,

I did, Eragon. Eragon looked around to see where the mysterious voice was.

Who said that? Eragon called out in his mind to the voice.

Down here. Eragon looked down and saw Galron. He had gotten much bigger and was a little higher than his knee. He had the same gorgeous scales and eyes, but his legs and wings were different. They were larger and filled with muscle and his talons and teeth were much sharper. Eragon bent down with a faint smile on his face to level his eyes with his.

You ruined my shield? Galron looked down and nodded slowly. Eragon heard him whimper and he knew that he can't be mad at this poor dragon. He roughly patted him on the head and said,

Don't you worry about it. I don't really even use my shield. Galron looked up at him with twinkling eyes and smiled. He growled playfully and trotted to Leona's side. There was a bit of a long silence until a man that Eragon was not familiar with came up to him. He had blonde hair an was tall and thin and a low voice when he said,

"Eragon Shadeslayer. It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Luthien." Eragon smiled and said,

"Nice to meet you too, are you a friend of Leona?" Luthien made a confused look and said,

"Well not the kind you are talking about; I am her boyfriend." Eragon felt his heart drop. This was one of the things that Eragon was worried about, but then he heard Leona yell out,

"No he's not! He is just joking!" Eragon felt a rush of relief come through him and heard Luthien laugh as he said,

"Alright, I was just joking so don't worry, Eragon, she's all yours." Eragon was shocked but happy to hear this, but he said with a bit of a smile,

"What did you say?" Gelmir went up to Luthien and whispered something in his ear. Eragon saw Leona looking at Luthien with a bit of anger and Eragon couldn't help but to let out a little laugh, but then he was interrupted by Luthien saying,

"Roran looked troubled with Katrina so we are just going to help him." Eragon remembered about Roran and how worried he was with Katrina so he said,

"Oh I should come. He really . . ."

"No!" Gelmir and Luthien said at the same time. Gelmir chuckled a bit and said,

"You have done so much already to help him. Just relax here with Leona." Eragon saw the two boys chug through the snow and he couldn't help but here them laugh a bit. He turned to Leona and found her sitting in the snow, throwing some snow at Galron who tried to catch it in his mouth. Eragon chuckled and was about to say something but then just walked off in the cold snow toward the woods. He then heard Leona's voice say,

"Where are you going?" Eragon smiled at her concern and tuned around with a straight face.

"Taking a walk." Eragon said naturally. Leona got up and said,

"Well I am coming too." Eragon saw her brush snow off of her dress and saw that she was shivering and he was concerned.

"No, not without something warm to wear." Eragon said as he went to Saphira and tore a blanket off of her back. Then he realized that he would be abandoning her again due to Leona.

Is it alright if I go with Leona? Saphira slowly nodded her head and said,

As long if the little one stays with me, I need some company. Eragon smiled and said,

He's all yours. Then he went to Leona and found Galron to her side and he said to her,

"Is it alright if Galron stays here with Saphira?" Eragon saw Leona look down to her green dragon digging in the snow. She chuckled and then raised her head to him and said,

"Yes, I trust Saphira enough. Just make sure that he does not leave her sight." Eragon laughed and said,

"You don't have to worry about that, she will treat him like he is her own hatchling." Eragon started to walk as Leona followed him and Galron did as well. Then Saphira came behind Galron and bit his tail and tugged him toward her. Galron was startled and he roared and snapped his jaws at Saphira. When he was released out of her grip he faced her with fury but it slowly faded to fear as he saw her breathing heavily down on him with her piercing sapphire eyes. Then she let out a loud roar to him showing him who the boss is. Galron just sat there with wide eyes and then slowly walked over to her as if Saphira told him to, which she probably did. Eragon and Leona laughed as Eragon said,

"See? She is already telling him to obey. He's in good hands, don't worry." Leona nodded and then she started walking again, leading Eragon into the snowy forest. Eragon was amazed with the beautiful sights that were held before him. The trees were all white as if they were painted that color. Eragon then realized that he was not familiar with the area he was in. He thought that she was leading him to the waterfall, but apparently not.

"Leona, where are you leading us?" Leona stopped walking for a moment and looked at her surroundings and said,

"I'm not really leading us anywhere. I'm just walking." Eragon asked no further questions. He knew that they were not lost since he knew that Leona knew her way around the forest. They walked as Eragon told his story of Roran and him saving Katrina. And when Eragon ran out of words to say Leona had found and open wide space. It had fewer trees and a steep hill that led to a little cave. Leona looked up and her eyes grew big as she said,

"Oh, let's go up there!" Eragon stopped her and said,

"Leona that is probably a bear's den." Leon ignored him and started to climb the hill as she said,

"Well there is only one way to find out." Eragon ran behind her an climbed the steep hill after her. When they finally reached to the top and entered the cave the both gasped at the sight in front of them. The cave was filled with beautiful icicles that glimmered in the light. As the cave got deeper the icicles' color grew into a deeper blue. Eragon was hypnotized by the sight and the way that the colors reflected off of Leona made him weak. Her skin was clear as usual but her eyes twinkled and her smile. That smile that he could not resist. She then sat down at the edge of the cave with that sweet smile still on her face. Eragon sat with her never taking his eyes off of her. She looked to the horizon and said,

"Now what? What happens?" Eragon wasn't sure what she was talking about so he asked,

"What are talking about?" She looked to him and her smile had weakened a bit as she said,

"What will happen with our unclaimed freedom? When is the next battle? I don't like to think about it, but being a dragon rider now I have to fight the battles and I don't know if I am ready yet." Eragon smiled and said,

"Leona, that will be a while from now. Galron is not even big enough to ride yet. We certainly wont go into a battle with you unprepared. You are amazing at your swords play so you don't have to worry about that, it is just the flying and magic you have to worry about." She shook her head and said,

"Just flying." Eragon was confused and said,

"You have already mastered magic? How long have I been gone?" Leona chuckled and said,

"Eragon, you do forget that I have been an elf all my life. I had magic since I could remember. Even though I looked like a human I always had my abilities of an elf. I couldn't let anybody see me use my magic but it was there the whole time." Eragon smiled as did she. Eragon thought that she was just amazing but he saw her shivering.

"Where is that blanket I gave you?" She pointed near the back of the cave and Eragon looked to where she was pointing. He got up and quickly picked it up and gently placed it over her. He kept his hands on her shoulders and gently rubbed his hands back and forth keeping her even warmer. When he felt her shivering stopped he sat back down next to her. He looked back to the horizon and saw that the clouds were clearing up revealing a beautiful sunset. Eragon looked to Leona again and saw her smiling at the sunset. Eragon could not hold in his feelings anymore for her.

Should I tell her? What if . . . no, Gelmir said she had feelings for me. But why would anyone trust Gelmir? . . . He was serious when he said that though so . . . Just tell her you fool! Eragon had a little fight with himself but he had finally mad up his decision.

"Leona?" She turned to him and smiled showing him that she was listening. Eragon did not know what to say next so he just though of something nice to say,

"You look very beautiful today." Leona smiled gracefully at him and said thanks to him.

You idiot! Just tell her! Eragon thought he felt his conscience kick him in the head since he got a brief headache. He listened to his conscience, though, and went for the kill.

"Leona, you must know that the past months I have known you have brightened up my life. When Arya crushed my heart I did not think I would ever have love for a woman again. But then you came and I learned that I can love again . . . I love you, Leona." Eragon felt his heart pounding out of his chest as though he ran across all of Alagaesia. He now waited from a response from Leona. He saw her turn to him with a huge smile on her face. The sunlight reflected such a relaxing bright tone on her instead of the cool blue reflection of the icicles. She then finally spoke out some words and they were,

"I love you too." Eragon smiled along with her but then he heard and odd sound coming from the top of the cave. The icicles were cracking and were falling fast behind them. Then he saw two large icicles above them drop. Eragon quickly grabbed Leona and he jumped off from the cave edge. Luckily, The snow filled hill was there softening the impact of their fall. When the touched ground they automatically rolled down the hill. When they stopped, Eragon landed next to Leona and checked to see if she was alright. To Eragon's surprise she was laughing. Eragon laughed too and looked down at her to find her smiling at him. Eragon felt an urge kick in him and he could not stop it. He closed his eyes and aimed his lips for hers. When he finally met her lips he waited for a reaction from her before he dared to do anything else. Then he felt her kiss him back as she moved her arms to hug him. Eragon then broke the kiss getting up for air. When he was about to kiss her again he felt her push him to the snowy ground and she was on top of him this time as they kissed. When she broke the kiss she got off of him and sat in the snow and said quietly,

"Sorry." Eragon did not know why she would be apologizing for anything.

"Don't apologize. There is no reason to." Eragon sat up along with her and rubbed her back. Then he felt her lift up his scarred hand that one of the Ra'zac stabbed. She held it softly and said,

"What happened?" Eragon looked at it and said one word,

"Ra'zac." Leona nodded and placed both of her hands on Eragon's hand keeping it warm. Eragon the remembered when he saw a woman in Helgrind that looked just like her.

"You know, when I was at Helgrind I swear there was someone there that looked just like you. In fact I must ask; where you at Helgrind at that time?" Eragon laughed after he said that showing that he was joking, but he was a little serious. Leona smiled and said,

"No, I was not there. Must have been someone else."

"Exactly, I was thinking . . . never mind." Eragon said thinking that what he was about to say was foolish.

"No, tell me. I want to know." Eragon looked at her and said,

"Well maybe it is your mother." Leona looked at him and he did not find a smile on her face instead her eyes were glassy but she said,

"No, Eragon it cant be. I saw her die, she . . . she's dead." Eragon saw the tears fall from her eyes and Eragon hated to see her like that. He put his arm around her and held her as she buried her face in his shoulder as Eragon said softly,

"Your right. I'm sorry, I just had a foolish thought, that's all."