He climbed out of bed and groomed himself for the day. Then, stepping outside into the courtyard, he walked across it straight into the Hall of Countenance. He then climbed up the staircase to the second floor and found Colette in her room. Walking up to her doorway, he said to her, "Colette, may I speak with you?"

Colette looked up from the book she was reading and smiled when she saw him. "Of course, Onmund! Come on in. Have a seat."

Onmund obeyed and took the chair across from her. He began to feel nervous, but he knew that this was important. He started, "So, I, uh, just wanted to talk to you." He then hesitated, wondering how he should go about this. He then finally finished, "I no longer wish to pursue Restoration as a secondary focus of study."

Giving him a puzzled look, Colette asked, "So…do you wish to pursue it as your primary, then?"

She's going to make this difficult for me, isn't she? "No," he answered levelly. "I wish to drop it altogether."

At this, Colette's face fell and she replied in a surprised tone, "You do? But…but why? You are doing so well!"

"I…I just don't have the time," he responded. "I think I need to just focus on one school of magic. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed learning about Restoration magic. I think it's very useful. I just…need to get my priorities back in line."

He saw Colette's expression sadden, and then she sighed and slowly nodded. "Very well," she said. "I understand. You are very ambitious. That's what I like about you. But only you can decide what is best for yourself. If you just want to focus on one school of magic, then that's fine. I'm glad you told me this now, though. I was just about to come find you today to let you know that Bridgette and I are going back to Solitude again."

"You are?" he asked.

"Yes," she responded. "We still have much work to do over there to train those novice healers. I was going to ask you to accompany us out there and gain some hands-on experience, but…I'm glad that you came to me now, and told me." With a sad smile, she then added, "I'm rather disappointed that you won't be continuing to learn from me. But I know that you will go on to make a fine mage. Keep up the hard work!"

"Thanks," he replied humbly. "And thank you for all you've done to teach me up until this point. I've learned a great deal." He then stood up and got ready to leave, but then remembered something. "Oh, and uh, could you tell Bridgette for me, too? I don't know where she is, so I don't know if I'll get a chance to tell her mys-"

"She's right in the training hall," Colette interrupted. "Why don't you go talk to her? I think she'd like to hear it from you."

Colette's tone was free from resentment, but somehow Onmund didn't think it was a good idea to protest, nonetheless. He was just going to have to go talk to Bridgette himself. With an inward sigh, he bid her farewell and then left her to go back outside. He then went into the training hall, where he found Bridgette practicing her spells.

As Onmund approached her, he noticed that she was practicing Sparks, one of the Destruction spells that he had taught her. With a feeling of guilt, he walked up to her and she lifted her head up and saw him. Her face lit up into a smile and she said cheerfully, "Hi, Onmund!"

"Hi, Bridgette," he replied.

She stopped casting and stood before him. "How did training with the Arch-Mage go?"

"Oh, it went well," he lied. Bridgette didn't need to know that their "training" was rather a complete disappointment. He quickly changed the subject. "Bridgette, I have some news for you."

"What is it?" she asked.

"I am no longer going to be a Restoration student," he declared.

At this, a look of shock washed over her face and she uttered, "Oh? Why not?"

"I need to focus on my primary study- namely Destruction. It's just that I don't think it would be good for my College career to try to learn two schools of magic at the same time."

"I see," she said with sort of a frown. "Well, you were a great member of our team. And…a great friend."

Onmund mustered a smile. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

"I'll miss you," she admitted. "You were…the nicest anyone has ever been to me. I won't ever forget that."

With a warm smile, he replied, "Thanks. Again. I won't forget you and Colette either and all that I have learned from the both of you." Making like he was about to leave, he added, "Oh…and good luck in Solitude. Colette told me that you're both going back."

"Yes, we are," she confirmed. "She was actually going to ask you to come with us but…I knew you were going to say no."

"I appreciate the thought," he offered. "Well, I'd better get going. Keep practicing those Destruction spells I taught you."

"Of course," she replied. She then piped up, "Hey, Onmund?"

Onmund stopped and waited for her to continue.

"Is it…true that you are in love with Arch-Mage Sweeting?"

Very surprised by her question, he could now feel his face begin to grow hot.

"I don't mean to embarrass you," she continued in a gentle manner. "It's just that I've heard it from several people already. I think it's very sweet. She seems like a wonderful person and she's also very pretty. And I heard that you two know each other very well. She was the one who gave you that stone, wasn't she?"

With nothing to hide now, the embarrassment that he had felt initially began to subside as he replied, "Yeah. It was her."

"Why don't you tell her how you feel?" she asked.

"I can't," he replied.

"Why not?"

"Because she's the Arch-Mage."

"So?"

"So…me being a student I can't just…well, you know. It would be inappropriate!"

"You're just scared, aren't you? Afraid that she won't feel the same way?"

He sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I am." He couldn't believe that he was having this conversation with Bridgette, but he was even more amazed at the fact that he no longer felt ashamed of the subject. It was…liberating.

"You weren't scared to face that dragon," she pointed out.

"Yeah…but this is different," he said.

"How is it different?" she questioned. "Are you saying the Arch-Mage is worse than a dragon?"

He chuckled a little, and answered, "No. Not at all."

"Hmmm, well the other day I did see her yelling at a visitor from the Thalmor," she commented. "That was a little scary…I actually felt sorry for the elf."

Onmund didn't say anything and then Bridgette continued, "Sorry. That doesn't help, does it?"

He shook his head. "No, no, it doesn't." He then sighed. "But you're probably right. I oughtta be brave about this."

"See? There you go," she declared. "Women like men who are fearless. I think Danielle would appreciate it if you were just upfront with her."

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded.

At this, he began to feel a little better. Bridgette's words were starting to take root in him, and he realized that she was absolutely right. He should just…tell Danielle point blank how he felt about her. Their friendship was already at a tipping point- he figured that there was not much to lose if he went ahead with this. He finally said to Bridgette, "Okay. I'll talk to her and tell her."

"All right!" Bridgette cheered. "Go get her, stallion! I would say to let me know how it goes, but by the time you do it I'll probably already be gone. We won't be back for another few months or so."

He gave her a smile and said, "Thank you, Bridgette. You're a great friend."

"Anytime," she replied with a smile.

He then left her, and she went back to practicing her spells. He went back to his room and tried to read, but anxiety started to take over and he couldn't concentrate, so he went into the Arcaneum and took his books with him there. However, after a short while, he lost his concentration there, too, and finally just put his books away back in his room again. He began pacing back and forth within his room. He knew what he was feeling anxious about, and that was over the matter of talking to Danielle. He had already planned to have a talk with her after taking care of business with Colette and Bridgette, but now that he had a new mission, he was extremely nervous about executing it and kept putting it off. But this isn't doing me any good, he knew. I need to just get it over with. Gathering up as much courage as he could muster, he went out of his room and headed out towards the Hall of Elements.

Once inside, he walked up to the door of the Arch-Mage's Quarters and stood in front of it. I can't believe I'm doing this, he thought. He then lifted his hand and placed it on the handle, hesitating. No, wait. I can't just barge in. What if someone like Tolfdir or Arniel is in there with her? He took his hand off of the handle and instead gave the door three firm knocks.

It took a long time before he heard any sound indicating that she was inside. He began hearing rapid steps down the staircase from her room and then she finally called out, "Who is it?"

"It's Onmund," he nervously replied back.

He listened as the steps down the staircase stopped, and he nearly lost his courage as he thought that she would surely ignore him and turn back up, but the steps continued on down after that brief pause and the door opened. He saw her face, and on it was a slightly wary expression as she looked up at him. "May I…come in?" he asked her.

Without a word, she opened the door wide open for him and stepped aside. He stepped over the threshold and she closed the door behind them. She waited for him to get his business over with, whatever it was, but Onmund didn't like standing so close to the doorway in the dimly-lighted stairwell. "I wanted to talk to you," he said, hoping that she would invite him in and they could sit down or something.

He got his wish when she responded, "Then, come in," and then led him up the stairs into the main chamber of her room.

Onmund had never been in the Arch-Mage's Quarters before, so when he first saw it, he could hardly believe it. The word "wow" involuntarily escaped his lips as he gazed around the spacious chamber. The chamber was about as large as the training hall itself but it had many more furnishings and even a garden in the middle.

"It's actually interesting that you showed up just now," Danielle spoke, interrupting his visual tour of the room.

"Huh? Really?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied. "I've been trying to translate some ancient Nordic scrolls for Arniel, and I am having the toughest time with them." She then led him over to a small table in the inner chamber, and on it was a pile of scrolls and open books.

"Ancient Nordic scrolls?" he questioned. "Let me see them."

She then pointed to one of the scrolls for him. "This one has a word that I can't seem to translate. This one right here." She put her finger on one of the words and Onmund looked closely. The letters were a little faded and smudged but it looked like the letters for the word "horvutah," which meant "trap." It was right next to the word, "sil," which meant "soul," so that made him all the more confident that he had the right guess because "Soul Trap" was the name of a common Conjuration spell. He related all of this to her and she seemed pleasantly surprised. "I appreciate your help," she said. "So…what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

Looking her in the eyes, he took a deep breath and said, "I just wanted to say…that I'm sorry…about what I said to you the other day."

Again looking surprised, she broke his gaze and looked away. "You don't need to apologize," she said quietly.

"No. I do," he insisted. "I said some pretty hurtful things, and I regret them."

He then saw her expression soften as his words seemed to sink in. She then spoke, "Well…I'm sorry for the hurtful things I said, too."

"Also, I…I dropped out of Colette's class," he said.

Her expression transforming into surprise, she asked, "You did? Why?"

Gazing at her, he said, "Because you were right. I need to just focus on one school of study for now."

"Onmund…" she started, gazing back at him thoughtfully. She was standing mere inches in front of him, and as she uttered her next words, "I didn't think you'd do that," he suddenly grabbed the sides of her face and forced his lips upon hers, cutting her off midsentence. He felt her body stiffen as she reacted to his sudden kiss and then he pulled away from her just as quickly. And the expression that he saw on her face- her eyes opened wide and her mouth open in a little "O" caused the realization of what he had done to hit him like a rock.

"Oh…oh, gods…that wasn't supposed to happen…I'm…I'm sorry!" he immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry! I-I don't know what came over me." His mind began to spin as he backed away from her, feeling utterly mortified at what he had done.

She continued to just stare speechlessly at him as he faltered in his composure, finally sputtering, "I…I'll just be leaving now." He then turned on his heel and hightailed it out of there, bounding down the stairs and busting through the doors back into his private quarters, where he finally stood, facing his bed, and feeling like he wanted to just die right then and there. Wringing his hands like a madman, his thoughts came rushing forth, What have I done? Oh, what have I done!? I can't believe I just did that! He was supposed to have a plan. After his apology, he was supposed to ease into the subject of telling her how he felt about her. But as his nerves got the better of him, his mind had begun racing and all of his rational thoughts became jumbled up in an incoherent mess. So, he just kissed her. He just grabbed and kissed her without warning. Oh, by Kyne, I've royally screwed up now! If there was any chance left of redeeming himself in her eyes, it was now all gone, vanishing the moment he had made an utter fool out of himself by throwing himself upon her like that.

He wandered aimlessly about in his small room, wishing that the floor below him would open and swallow him up or that someone could cast a spell on him that would make him disappear forever. Soon, though, humiliation was replaced with despair and by bedtime, he had sunken into a deep depression.

Danielle hates me now, he knew. I'll bet she just abhors me. I'm never going to be able to face her again. But wish as he might, that night no hole swallowed him up and no sudden ailment took away his life, and the next morning came uninvited and with it, a strong sense of dread and foreboding.

I must say again that I'm so happy to have so many followers and people really getting into this story! Thank you for taking the time to write reviews on each chapter! Yes, friends do indeed fight. And Onmund needs to learn that hard truth and get past it. So I made Tolfdir the Destruction professor because I really like writing about his character and I wanted him to play an important part in the story- namely a mentor/almost-father figure to Onmund. That was really the main reason why I switched it up that way. One thing I wonder though is what race Tolfdir is supposed to be. I want to say he looks Nordic but then that would mess with the whole "Onmund being the only Nord mage" thing. So maybe he is Imperial? Breton?