A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in ages!!! I'm still at the Junior Cert, so I haven't had much time to write… But I only have two more exams left! Yay :D Anyhoo, thanks to my reviewers:

RandomShadows: Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it :) I'm glad that you liked the penguin as well- penguins are so cool! :D And the Inspiration Penguin shall return... Just not in this fic :D

GreatWolf Fanatic (aka DustyG): Lol, the genre isn't suspense for nothing! :D Glad that it had the intended effect :)

Angelmail: Thank you! I've taken a little detour from the ending, but it will return in Chapter 26 as a bigger focus-point :)

Sparkleglitz01: Ahee :) I liked that line too :D Poor old Shirley, we all love to torture her :D

Air Gemini Star: Lol, there's some more Connie/Col fluff in this chapter because you liked the last one :)

365 Pages of Awesomeness: Sorry if it was a bit confusing! I put it in for a bit of comic relief :D

Almost forgot! This chapter is dedicated to GreatWolf Fanatic because of a little misunderstanding on the forums, lol! Hope you've forgiven us :D

Empathy

Thinking over what Omar had said to him, Col left the barn. Skylark was idly munching the hay from a stray hay bale, but his ears pricked up as he saw his companion approach him. Col leapt expertly onto Skylark's back, and a connection was instantly forged. Skylark resolved as always to give a passing glance to Col's thoughts, but began to focus more intently on them when he came across the remembered conversation with Omar.

"What happened?" he asked, concerned. Col looked sceptically at the pegasus; although Skylark could not see his expression, Col knew that he would sense it.

"I could say the same for you. Why aren't you talking to Cloudwings?" Skylark gave a snort of derision and replayed the scene in his thoughts for Col's benefit. Col felt his companion's embarrassment as the female pegasus rudely rejected his company, tossing her ebony mane as she cantered after her companion, who was striding confidently towards the fields. The memory ended abruptly.

"She wasn't very nice after all," Skylark muttered. Col sent a wave of sympathy towards the pegasus.

"I thought as much. Like human, like companion, I suppose." Col showed him what had happened.

Skylark turned his head to look at Col, surprise evident in his eyes.

"Are you going to tell Connie about it?" he asked.

"Of course. I told her that we would meet her at the plantation. We'd better hurry, we're already late." he told Skylark. He was anxious not to let Connie down. Skylark thankfully ignored the opportunity of teasing Col about his relationship with Connie as he was apt to do, and galloped into a take-off, immediately twisting into a Sycrusian Spiral to gain altitude.

"Show-off," Col laughed, giving his shoulder a slap jokingly.

"I should report you to the RSPCA for animal abuse!" Skylark whinnied, feigning hurt.

"I'm sure they'd take it very well if a flying horse turned up on their doorstep." Col retorted. Without warning, Skylark tumbled into a Thessalonian Roll. Col clung on for dear life as Skylark hesitated while they were still upside down. As they began to drop from the sky, Skylark started to fly again with a beat of his wings.

"You know, I quite like flying like this," Skylark stated conversationally as they flew over the pine-trees of the plantation. The blood was starting to rush to Col's head.

"Skylark!" he growled warningly.

"Fine…" The pegasus sighed dramatically and completed the rotation to resume flying normally. Spotting Connie and Argand, Col pointed downwards and Skylark swooped down to meet them, landing on the ground in a clatter of hooves and sending a shower of dust all over the four of them. Argand blinked, comically surprised, and with a ruffle of her wings restored the dust to Skylark and Col. Connie laughed at Col's shell-shocked expression, having received two undeserved showers of dust. He

hurriedly dismounted to avoid a third attack, and brushed the dirt from his clothes, albeit not making much of an impact. Connie helpfully transformed into a sylph and blew the dust away. Col clambered onto Skylark's back once again and offered Connie his hand, which she declined.

"I'm riding on Argand instead- we haven't had a flight together in ages." She threw her arms around Argand's neck and swung onto her back, comfortably settling between her companion's wings. At a silent signal, both Skylark and Argand took off.

Connie yelled in delight- although she loved flying on her own, it did not compare to the sense of companionship she felt when she was not the one with wings. It took no effort to lose herself in the air, and Col watched proudly, still not quite believing that the Society's saviour loved him.

Wait, loved? The thought had passed through his mind without question. He knew how he felt about Connie, but did she feel as strongly as he did?

"Well, ask her, you dolt!" Col looked at Skylark, astonished. He was grateful that Connie was completely engrossed in her single encounter- this was a conversation he was not sure that he wanted her to hear.

"What are you on about, Skylark?" he asked silently. He did not think that Skylark had been listening in on his thoughts. It was reminiscent of what he had experienced as a fifteen-year-old, unsure of what he had felt for his best friend.

"I was right then, so isn't it likely that I'm right this time as well? Now is the perfect time to tell her- I know you love her, and I'm pretty sure she loves you too." Col shook his head sadly.

"A hunch isn't good enough. I need a guarantee." Skylark did not press the matter, sensing that his companion would own up to his feelings when he was ready- but what would the wake-up call be this time?

Col frowned, ignoring Skylark's musings. Abandoning their conversation, he turned to Connie.

"So, what was that prank about, anyway? Not that I'm not grateful- maybe now Shirley will leave me alone!" His words were inaudible; immediately whipped away by the wind.

"What?" Connie called. "I can't hear you!" Argand almost halted in midair, reminiscent of Skylark. Reading Col's mind, Skylark tilted slightly to the side, but was stopped by a warning glare from two pairs of mismatched eyes.

"So, do you think that you'll be repeating Skylark's variation on the Thessalonian Roll in the World Championships?" Connie asked Col teasingly.

"You didn't think it was so funny the first time we did a Thessalonian Roll with you on board! Does 'Stop it, you're going to get us killed' mean anything to you?" Connie rolled her eyes.

"You're worse than Rat. Anyway, what did you say?" she asked.

"I was just wondering how you pulled that prank off. You could have warned me beforehand!"

"The whole point was that you didn't know about it- that way, you'd blow up at Shirley and she'd finally leave you alone." Col was amazed that Connie could read him so well, and had known how he would react to something before he did.

"You played your part brilliantly, then. I never knew that you could act like that!" She smiled sadly and met Col's gaze, an element of seriousness emerging from the depths of her eyes.

"That's the thing, Col; I wasn't acting. I really am worried about it. How am I supposed to defeat him this time- you saw what happened when I even tried to get close to him. If I try to defeat him, Kullervo might escape. What can I do?"

"You can't do anything." Connie opened her mouth to interrupt, but Col continued. "Maybe you're not supposed to defeat him this time. You've already done more than enough by defeating Kullervo- Kulevro doesn't even know how you did it. You shouldn't feel like you have to defeat him this time just because you were able to get rid of the one before." Connie reached over the air to give Col a swift, one-armed hug.

"Thanks, Col. That really did help." But once she let go of Col, her face paled. "Argand, could we land, please?" Concerned for her companion, Argand immediately obeyed, rocketing towards the ground at a speed that rivalled the Athenian Dive. Skylark landed a split second after her, and Connie fell from the dragon's sloped back into Col's arms.

"Connie, what's wrong?" he asked urgently. She opened her eyes with a great deal of effort, and looked at Col. She whispered one broken word before losing consciousness.

"Kulevro."

Another A/N: Don't you just love cliffies! :D Review and make me happier than if I get 11 A's in the JC!