Hexagon

Chapter 52: Cinderblaze by Dusk

Azra: this chapter…..is also ridiculously long. I apologize for the late upload, Tigercry and I simultaneously got writer's block. Kind of hard to get anything done when you both feel hella uninspired [[Tigercry: Yup… sorry about that guys XD]] Hopefully the next update will be on time, especially since the chapters are so long right now. Thank you to the following fabulous people for their reviews:

-Jayfeather's Friend

-DragonoftheStars1429

-HollyleafML

-Snowcrystal of ThunderClan

-Guest

-Shiiisu

-Ellabellu

-xbloodywhalex

-hello (x2)

Half Moon's POV:

Running. Tears tracked their salty trails down my cheeks, the cool moisture burning the corners of my eyes. How could she? Briarlight is my best friend, to the point that we're practically sisters. We shared everything from milkshake straws to our darkest secrets. I think it's a pretty safe bet to say Briarlight knows more about me than my parents.

She knew how I felt about Jayfeather. So why the hell would Briarlight, the person I had the most trust for, the person I confided everything in, do something like this to me?

Running. I heard Jayfeather and Briarlight's voices echoing through the hallway behind me and ran even harder. Of course, it was futile. I hate running. I'm lucky if I make a fifteen minute mile. Briarlight breezed past me in a fluid, cantering jog, slowly coming to a stop next to me. Jayfeather was only seconds behind. Neither of them had so much as broken a sweat. I, on the other hand, had a side stitch and labored breathing.

Somehow, this observation just angered me more. I leveled both of them with a glare. "Fuck off", I hissed, doubling over. I rested my hands on my knees, lowered my head, and fought for breath. I didn't miss the hurt that flashed across Briarlight's face. Nor did I miss the indignance that crossed over Jayfeather's. The blind medicine apprentice opened his mouth, preparing for a scathing reply when Briarlight cut him off.

"Half Moon….", her voice wavered, becoming choked up. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." I watched, eyes wide, as the proud brunette ducked her head, pulling up the collar of her athletic shirt to cover her face.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Briarlight was crying. Proud, headstrong, ever cheerful Briarlight was crying, her lithe form racked with sobs. Jayfeather had stiffened up at the sound of the sobs, and I watched (somewhat resentfully) as his arm came up to rest over her shoulders. It had the opposite of the desired effect. The crying escalated from mild sniffling to full on waterworks.

It happened before I could stop myself. I moved forward, and suddenly I was hugging Briarlight, letting her cry into my shoulder. "I'm sorry, too", I whispered. "Jayfeather….I owe you an apology. For not respecting your decision. Briarlight, stop crying, please." I felt her body heave a few more times as she sobbed, then she straightened up, rubbing the tears from her face. "I'm...sorry", she mumbled. "I shouldn't have lost control."

"Everyone needs to cry sometimes. It's good to let it out", Jayfeather remarked as he sat down on the hallway floor. We were quiet for a few moments as Briarlight got her bearings.

"Let's go together."

To my surprise, it was Jayfeather who had spoken. "I feel like it's the least I can do for you, Half Moon. Let's all go together. As friends." Briarlight nodded, smiling, as she rubbed her eyes.

"So it's settled."

...

Foxleap's POV:

Flashback:

I stepped back, my hands on my hips to admire my handiwork. Hazeltail's roommates Icecloud and Blossomfall were standing at the edges of the room, giggling. They had been the ones to let me in in the first place. I made a few slight adjustments to the mechanisms, then quickly ducked into Hazeltail's closet.

Icecloud grasped my arm. "Good luck, bro", she whispered, then followed Blossomfall out the door.

End Flashback

I paced around the tiny closet, checked my phone, stretched, did jumping jacks, all while straining my ears. The slightest creak of footsteps in the hall and I would go still, pressing my eye to the crack in the wood. Hazeltail hadn't come. I was starting to get worried. The dinner was coming up. What if she didn't come back to her dorm?

No, that didn't make sense. She had to. Surely, she had left her dress and makeup in here. But what if she had taken the dress with her…? Starting to get anxious, I pulled up the flashlight on my phone and beamed it around the closet.

No. There it was. The sleeveless yellow dress with the white designs, the high stockings, and the golden gladiator sandals. Relieved, I slumped back against the wall. Just then, I heard the telltale humming of the door sliding open as it was unlocked.

I steeled myself.

There was a terrific crack and a whooshing flurry. I heard Hazeltail swear and grinned. Success. I stepped out of the closet, and immediately swept into a low bow. I caught a glimpse of Hazeltail. Her upper body was coated in a fine layer of glitter and confetti. She picked a long streamer out of her hair and gave me a look like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Do you know", she began, spitting out a mouthful of confetti. "How hard it is to get rid of glitter?" I snickered. "Also. Unlike you to steal prank ideas. Fallen Leaves glitter bombed Hollyleaf this morning."

I grimaced. "Awwwwwww, he beat me to it? That is seriously lame. That asshole." She blinked, then asked drily, "What happened?"

"We had a contest to see who could get our decor set up first. And the loser has to buy the winner a new phone. Ugh. And I really needed mine replaced."

Hazeltail snickered under her breath, and dunked her hands into the pile of glitter, pulling out banner that read, "Be My Valentine?". She tossed it over her shoulder, and strolled out the door. Feeling panicked, I called, "Wait, where are you going?" She turned around, grinning. "I have a dinner to get ready for, don't I?"

-4 hours earlier-

Cinderheart's POV:

"Enjoying yourself up there?", Lionblaze asked, his lips twitching upward in a smirk. I buried my face in a nearby sequin covered pillow, trying to hide the way my face burned. He did not just insinuate what I thought he had. I peeled my face away from the fabric just enough to see him grinning teasingly at me. "Oh my StarClan, you suck", I groaned, trying to remove the mental images from my brain, while silently praying he hadn't guessed what I was thinking.

I looked up again. He was practically grinning from ear to ear. My face, in turn, instantly went red. I hastened to remove the pillow and push myself into sitting up, my face growing warmer by the second. "I'm sorry!" I rambled, trying to force my face to go back to normal while also trying to avoid his rather arrogant half smirk. "I wasn't watching where I was going and Holly was chasing me, and-"

"Cinderheart?"

I paused in my rambling just long enough to look at him. His jovial expression had somewhat dimmed. He seemed to have noticed that I was getting more and more flustered, and seemed somewhat apologetic for pushing the situation.

"Calm down. Breath. I was totally kidding." Lionblaze smirked as he continued, "Besides, you're blabbering again." I bashed him over the head with the pillow before setting down on the confetti covered couch next to him. "Jerk," I remarked, grinning as I reached over and flicked him in the nose. Having done that, I stretched and rolled off the couch and onto the floor. The second I hit the ground, I yelped in pain. I had landed in small mountain of plastic hearts, the sharp ends stabbing through my leggings into my thigh. Lionblaze didn't get up from the couch, but his gaze did turn a little concerned as I cursed under my breath and stood up, brushing the sequins off my pants and rubbing the spot where the heart one stabbed me.

"We should probably clean this shit up before it gets tracked everywhere", I remarked, deciding to act my age for once. It wasn't like I liked the idea, technically it was Fallen Leaves' mess. But I had tipped over the couch, which made me partly responsible for the state of disaster the common room was currently in. Lionblaze, however, was much less on board with the idea. "C'mon Cinder", he groaned, burying his face in an upturned couch cushion. "It's Fallen Leaves' mess. Let him do i-"

I leveled him with a glare. He sat up, rubbing a hand through his already messy hair. "C'mon, there are better things to do!"

"Oh yeah? Like what?" I rolled my eyes and moved to fetch a broom from the small closet tucked into the corner of the common room.

"Well. I could watch you from here. Yeah, that sounds pretty good, I think I'll do that." I felt my face flame up.

"You're about this close" I raised my hand, thumb and index finger a millimeter apart, "to getting my cleats thrown at your head."

"You're cute when you're red," Lionblaze told me offhandedly. I felt my foot catch under a streamer as my stride faltered. And just like that, I pitched face forward into the ground for the second time that day.

"Cinderheart, are you okay?" I heard Lionblaze's hurried footsteps and fought the black spots in my vision. Did I fall on something hard? I felt the ground underneath me, I didn't think so. What I did feel however, was the handle of the broom wedged between the floor and my body, the plastic digging into my ribs.

I'm for the most part healed up. The bruises, scratches, black eye and split lip are gone. In contrast, my ribs were still tender, and hurt at even light touches. I often dragged myself back to the dorm after training, my chest sore and aching. I saw Lionblaze's hand reaching down to grasp my own, and I took the moment to look at it. The whip wound, once an angry, bloody gash had faded to a pale lick of pink. His hand in mine, I could feel the raised scar tissue against my palms.

"Fucking... Heathertail..." I hissed as he pulled me upright. "Dammit, Ashfur's gonna be so pissed if I'm hurt again." Lionblaze raised his eyebrows at me, surprise written across his features. We haven't talked about Heathertail. As a matter of fact, we've been ignoring the topic completely.

"Let's not talk about her right now." I nodded in agreement, gasping, pressing my hands to my sore ribs. "Dammit….", I rasped. Lionblaze cursed under his breath, "Shit, your ribs right?" I shuddered, dragging in a long, wheezing breath, feeling one of his hands rest on my back. The strawberry blond's cursing grew louder. "Where's Jayfeather when you need him", he snapped, voice tight. "JAYFEATHER!"

"Calm down", I muttered. "Give me a sec." With me free hand, I took hold of the couch and started trying to pull myself up. What had initially only been dull throbs of pain flared up into sharp, searing bursts. I hastily sat back down. "Here, let me help." Lionblaze's other hand took hold of mine. "Ready?" I nodded. "In three, two, one.." With an abrupt pull, I felt my body part ways with the ground. My ribs were on fire. I felt myself toppling, teetering, falling...

As quickly as the feeling of unbalance came, it went. The realization hit me like a bus. I was being carried. My butt came down on the still glittery couch. "It is kinda my fault you fell again. It's the least I can do. Also, Fallen Leaves seriously owes me one."

Lionblaze's POV:

Closing the small closet door, I gave a satisfied sigh and stretched my arms above my head. Finally, after the better part of half an hour, the Thunder common room was clean. Well mostly clean anyway, all Fallen Leaves would have to do is throw trash bag away and vacuum the couches.

He seriously owes me.

I rubbed a smattering of glitter of my face and turned to face the couch. "You still conscious over there?", I teased. "Somewhat", came the reply. "When is practice anyway?" I sat down next to her on the blissfully glitter free couch, letting her use me as a headrest. "That", I mused. "Is a good question." I unlocked my phone and scrolled through my emails. One in particular stood out to me.

Ashfur (2)

"I wonder what this is about." I tapped on it, opening the email. There having replaced the last message from Ashfur, was a new, rather short mail.

No practice tonight. Go enjoy the dinner. Also be responsible.

-Ashfur

Cinderheart, who had leaned over my shoulder to read the mail, snorted. "Typical."

"Hey, I'm not complaining. Gives us more time. 4 o'clock, don't forget your towel." She grinned. "As if."

I exited out of my emails and pulled up the messenger app.

Lionblaze: common rm is clean

Lionblaze: ur welcome

Fallen Leaves: oppppppssss

Fallen Leaves: sorry

Lionblaze: its fine. u owe me tho. and do it yourself next time

Fallen Leaves: ya k

Putting my phone down, I leaned back in the couch. Night couldn't come fast enough.

Cinderheart POV:

"Spill."

I paused, having been busy packing my pool bag. Hollyleaf leaned forward, dark hair falling into her eyes, grinning.

"What?"

"You know what. What's my brother doing for Valentine's Day?"

I resumed my packing, shoving a pair of flip flops and a change of clothes into my pool bag. "Oh. I have no idea. He just gave me a list and a time, that's it."

"Whatever it is, I bet it's huge and extravagant," Hollyleaf pointed out, "That is Lionblaze's style."

"Yeah…" If I was honest with myself I didn't want some big fancy thing like Hollyleaf's scavenger hunt from Fallen Leaves. Not this year anyway. Normally I would be all for it, curious to see what kind of crazy stunt my drama king jock of a boyfriend would pull off, but not this year. This year I was tired, stressed, and very tired of unexpected events like Heathertail for example.

Heathertail.

I bit my bottom lip and slung the bag over my shoulder. StarClan, how I despised her. I'm not petty enough to get this worked up over something as trivial as boyfriend drama. But this girl….she had made attempts on my LIFE. She's put me and everyone I care about through hell, and I hated her for it.

Heathertail was the topic of a conversation that we had both been very deliberately avoiding. The Festival. How much of what she had said was true? Lionblaze was hesitant to talk about it. I could understand, the whole thing probably embarrassed him greatly. He had given me hints, small bits of information that lead me to draw my own conclusions, but at this point, it wasn't enough. I needed answers.

Straight, direct, to the point answers.

My mind flitted back to earlier that day. He had called me by my birth name, Cinder. Being called that was special to me, without the suffix and certainly without the derogatory 'paw' that Heathertail seemed to enjoy using. "Heatherpaw," I muttered under my breath, testing the sound of it and finding it more fitting than Heathertail's full name. Next time I saw her that's what I would call her. After all, childish behavior deserves a childish response.

"Cinderheart? Are you there?"

I blinked, turning my head to see Hollyleaf crouched on the dorm bed next to me. "Huh? Sorry. Zoned out. What were you saying?"

Hollyleaf strode over to my closet and reached into it, pulling out a pair of my running shorts. It was by far my shortest pair, in a gauzy, somewhat transparent shade of white with a blue stripe running down the side. I felt my face redden.

"I was saying that Briarlight challenged Jayfeather to a race," Hollyleaf explained simply before a mischievous smirk crossed her features, "and I'm going to have him wear these shorts."

Did I hear her right? She was going to convince Jayfeather to wear those shorts? "Are you serious? He's going to turn that down no questions asked. That's my skankiest pair, I never even wear those."

"He'll agree, after all it's for five novels."

"We'll see," I said, still doubtful Jayfeather of all people would agree to wearing them. "Either way I'll meet you at the track then," I scanned down Lionblaze's list, "I think I'm still missing a few things."

"You're not going to want to miss this," Hollyleaf warned, "If Jayfeather wears these it's going to be hilarious, mark my words Cinderheart!" With that she disappeared, and I breathed a heavy sigh.

I could use a ridiculous looking Jayfeather to bring up my spirits, although I couldn't help but wonder how Lionblaze would react if did ever work up the courage to wear those shorts outside.

I snorted, he'd probably have a heart attack and ask me to change to prevent anyone else from seeing me. If how he reacted to me in the pool situation in the beginning of the year it would be priceless… Maybe I should try the theory out, though not with shorts anywhere near as short as Jayfeather's. Yeah… I'll bring shorts of my own to whatever Lionblaze is planning, just to watch him turn red and get all embarrassed… It'll be worth it.

The hallway was quiet, save for the soft pit-pat of flip flops on carpet. We were in the dorm section of the Thunder sector, and aside from occasional snippets of conversation that drifted out of some of the rooms, we didn't really hear anything. I pushed open the heavy smoke doors and stepped into the Thunder connective, putting my hand before my eyes. The sunlight pouring in through the floor length windows was a far cry from the relatively dim Thunder hall.

We strolled through the Central sector, past the hospital wing, gym, library, office, and Dining Hall. Finally, we approached a door at the end of the corridor, the plaque on the side reading Pool. I was about to push open the doors when I noticed that a laminated sheet of paper had been tacked to the door. It read: Attention. The pool has been closed temporarily, to be reopened 2/15/64. Thank you.

I tossed my pool bag over my shoulder, feeling disappointed. "Awww", I grumbled. "And today of all days. Let's go back." I turned to see Lionblaze shooting me the biggest, widest, cheshire cat grin I had ever seen in my life. I took a step back. "Woah", I remarked. "What's got you so cheerful? C'mon, there's no point standing around, it's clearly closed."

Cue widening of said grin. Then, making sure I saw exactly what he was doing, he pressed his hand against the lock screen next to the door, the underside of his hand glowed blue as the computer scanned his palm. I raised an eyebrow. A mechanical female voice intoned, "Access granted", and with that, the door slid open.

He lead the way in, me on his heels. "Somehow I get the feeling Firestar was involved in this", I remarked.

Smirk. "Maybe."

The pool was exactly as I remembered it, a spacious room with wide windows. I slipped off my flip flops, letting the heated tiles warm my soles as I made my way to one of the poolside recliners. I set my bag down on the recliner, and shimmied out of my clothes, draping shirt and jacket over the armrest. I was dressed in a dark blue triangle top with thick straps, the fabric held together in the center by a white ring. The shorts I left on. The very same shorts, gauzy white with the blue stripe down the sides, which Jayfeather had handed back to me after the race, his face bright red.

I ran a hand through my hair to somewhat tame it, and threw it up into a high messy bun. My classic white headband I left on, the thin strip of fabric keeping my hair out of my face.

As I waited for Lionblaze, I dipped my feet into the steaming jacuzzi, letting the hot water work its wonders. Training the other day had left me a sore wreck, and the soothing heat was more than welcome. I laid back like that, my legs in the foaming, churning water, my back resting on the hot tiles.

By then Lionblaze had finished. He was dressed in dark red swimming trunks, dual black stripes wrapping around each leg opening. I tilted my head to the side to look at him. He was tan. Tan to the point where he was practically bronze. How he did it, I have no idea, seeing as no one in the school gets much actual sun exposure and Bluestar crushed the idea of a tanning salon without so much as batting an eyelash. He was lean and broad shouldered, muscular, but not excessively so. But what caught my eye were the scars.

So many scars. His collection had impressively grown since my first pool visit.

Some looked like the standard laceration, others looked like the results of blunt force, yet others looked more unusual. The pattern of one of them seemed to almost feather out, where another looked suspiciously like a lash from a whip. One in particular was uneven and jagged. It looked like someone had tried to claw him. Something I noticed was that all the stranger, harder to explain injuries seemed to be located in places that were generally easier to hide, like the back or upper thighs.

Was that intentional?

Lionblaze's POV:

I averted my eyes, staring at the floor as Cinderheart looked me over. She didn't say anything, but I knew what she was thinking.

The scars.

I felt myself burn in shame. She knew very well where these injuries were from. I waited for the scathing remarks I was sure were coming, the disgust, or the fear...but she did none of it. Instead, she patted the spot next to her on the jacuzzi's edge.

"Sit down, the water's great!"

I walked, feeling numb, and wordlessly slid into the jacuzzi next to her. I dangled my calves in front of one of the hot water jets, letting it massage the sore muscle.

In that moment, I glanced over at Cinderheart, who was doing the same. She was dressed in a dark blue two piece bathing suit, and had her hair thrown up in a high messy bun, her standard headband keeping her bangs out of her face.

I found that her swimsuit suited her rather well. It was a simple, athletic looking triangle top, each piece fastened to a white ring at the center of her chest. The shorts...dear StarClan.

They were the same shorts Jayfeather had worn earlier that day, in all their flashy, revealing glory. She caught me looking and shot me the biggest shit-eating grin possible, to which I promptly reacted by flushing a rather alarming shade of dark red.

I found myself fully empathizing with Briarlight as I attempted not to stare at Cinderheart and her long, toned legs.

A snickering giggle broke me out of my stupor. Cinderheart had a hand before her mouth and looked like she was trying very hard to suppress her laughter. I took the moment to explain myself.

"I know that the last few months have been pretty stressful for you, so I might have talked Firestar into reserving the pool for us, so we can just chill out without the others being obnoxious." She grinned knowingly.

"Train cab incident?"

"That, among other things. So…..success? And surprise?"

She intertwined our fingers, smiling. "A few hours of peace sounds amazing right about now."

I rubbed a wet hand through my hair. "I have something else planned for later tonight, but I think I'll keep that to myself for now." She rolled her eyes. "Fine, keep your secrets", she said teasingly.

"Okay, okay. Let's compromise. Ask me anything, and I'll answer it."

Cinderheart's lips quirked into a smile and she scooted closer, moving around the edge of the jacuzzi toward me, "When's your birthday?"

"April 24th. What about you?"

"December 26th. What's your favorite movie?"

"You're a winter baby? That's not what I was expecting at all! My favorite's the first Avengers movie." I laughed at Cinderheart's roll of her eyes, "I know it's really old by now but hey, it's the perfect action movie classic."

Cinderheart giggled a little, "Sure Mr. Superhero, least favorite school subject?"

"Math," I said flatly. "I can't stand trig."

"Me either admittedly," Cinderheart admitted, "Although my least favorite is clan history with Mousefur." She shuddered and mock widened her eyes with horror, "That class is comparable to inhaling chloroform. Actually, I bet it could put a chronic insomniac to sleep."

I laughed, knowing exactly what she was talking about it."True, but at least you can sleep in Mousefur's class without getting beat up. She just kinda glares at you." I spoke from experience. Mousefur generally let you sleep (unless your name was Foxleap) but made you regret later by asking you questions about the material you missed in front of everyone. Sandstorm, on the other hand, took it upon herself to make sure her students stayed awake. Through any means necessary. I found out early in the year that she had a particular fondness for rolled up workbooks and especially white board erasers.

Cinderheart giggled, "True, Sandstorm smacks you over the head at least once every class."

"Only because I have math class right before it so my brain's toast by the time I get there." I shot back indignantly, "And Hollyleaf's always elbowing you in biology because you're practically half asleep."

Cinderheart's cheeks were flushed, both from being called out on her habit of dozing in Cinderpelt's class, and from the heat of the jacuzzi. "I try to stay awake, but I have Mousefur's class before bio so staying awake is practically impossible."

I grinned, "It can't be worse than Foxleap taking a nap during Yellowfang's lecture and getting woken up by an airhorn."

Cinderheart burst into laughter, giggling, "That's what the airhorn noise was?"

After a while, the conversation shifted from our classes to our soccer coach. "Ashfur really didn't have any mercy the other day", Cinderheart remarked, letting the water jet massage her legs as she did. I felt somewhat bad, since she was: a) not back up to full strength and b) probably unused to Ashfur's notoriously difficult workouts. "He hasn't made us use the resistance bands in a long time. What color did he assign you?", I asked.

"Only red, since I'm still technically injured. You?"

I grimaced. "Black band."

She snickered. "I bet you had a fun time."

Lionblaze groaned. "My legs are killing me now. Not to mention that I was waddling all over the place. I felt like a goddamn penguin."**

By now, she was howling in laughter. "I remember that! You could barely walk, Toadstep practically carried you off the field!" "Hey!", I sputtered indignantly, "Cut me some slack, my legs were practically dead by the time we finished!"

But she just kept laughing, bending over, clutching her stomach. I rose. "That's it", I declared, and pulled her right out of the jacuzzi and into the air. Her hysterical laughter increased tenfold, until she realized what I was planning.

I had carried her to edge of the freezing cold pool.

"Oh my Stars, you jerk, don't you dare!", she howled, still laughing, her arms flailing in every which direction. "LIONBLAZE!" I stopped right on the edge, extending her over the water. I could practically feel the chill from here.

"Whoops."

With that, I dropped her, However, I hadn't been expecting her to seize my wrist and yank me down into the pool with her. There was a terrific splash as we both plunged into the water, the icy chill momentarily stealing my breath. I felt myself drifting to the bottom of the pool, and then pushed off the bottom, Cinderheart only a little ahead of me. When I broke the surface and whipped my head to one side to get my hair out of my face, only to get a mouthful of chlorinated water from a full in the face splash by my girlfriend.

"Hey!" I complained, coughing and dispelling the water from my lungs while also fixing her with a revenge promising glare.

She immediately caught the drift and dove underwater, headed for the nearest pool edge. She scrambled out.

"Get back here, you cheater!" I forced myself to focus on my revenge despite how Cinderheart's swimsuit and shorts were clinging to her body with water, and hastened after her. "It's only fair!"

"No it's not!" Cinderheart raced around the pool room, dodging my attempts of grabbing her, "You're the one who dumped me in there!"

"And you pulled me with you!" I shot back and put on a burst of speed, catching her around the waist and walking backward toward the pool. "It's my turn to splash you, so get in the water Cinder!" With those words and a playfully struggling Cinderheart in my arms, I leapt backward into the water, taking her with me.

Cinderheart's POV:

We dragged ourselves out of the water, worn out and soaked the bone. I silently thanked StarClan that the pool room was warm, or I would have been freezing right about now. I towelled my hair, then rubbed the moisture off the rest of my body. I was tired. My muscles ached. At this point, all I wanted was to unwind and relax. I voiced these thoughts to Lionblaze, who was attempting to rub the chlorine out of his eyes.

"The pool has an adjoining sauna", he informed me. "We could go use that. Plus it's empty right now, which is a bonus. Usually it's full of weirdos."

That was all it took to convince me. I grabbed a water bottle out of my pool bag, pulled on my flip flops, and followed Lionblaze.

He led me through an arched door nestled between the locker rooms, and down a short hall. The room we ended up in was windowless but well lit, as well as large and spacious, with heated wooden flooring and white walls. One side of the room was covered in lockers for personal items, where the other side led off to a pair of bathrooms. There was a long marble counter along the walls with a large mirror and two sinks. A pair of wooden benches stood back to back in the center of the room.

The sauna was located at the far side of the room, and was sealed off through a sliding glass door. Just outside of it stood a pail and ladle.

I deposited my phone, water, and flip flops on the counter outside the sauna, then stepped up to the glass doors. The wall next to the sauna was plastered with signs. One listed the potential dangers of overexposure, where others held information on how to use it, such as how to set the temperature, ect. One poster reading "All users are required to wear coverage in appropriate areas, thank you" caused me to giggle slightly.

"You think it's funny", Lionblaze said solemnly. "But we've had the occasional person try to come in here naked. I mean, I know that's how you traditionally use a sauna, but this is a unisex school, soooooooo…."

Still grinning, I slid open the door and was immediately hit with a blast of heat. Lionblaze slid the door shut behind us. The air inside was hot and dry, not to mention rather stuffy. In the dim light, I looked at my surroundings. The chamber's walls were paneled with planks of wood, and tiered wooden benches rose from the floor to near the low ceiling. A heater, the top covered in rocks, stood in the corner.

The entire room smelled strongly of heated wood, not a necessarily unpleasant smell. I reclined on one of the benches, and let the heat do it's work.

We had been sitting in the sauna for a while, exchanging light banter, and chances are the heat started getting to us. I felt loose and relaxed, having practically melted into a puddle on my bench. I had gotten up to get water twice.

The conversation came out of nowhere.

"Lionblaze?"

"Hm?"

"How….how did you get those scars?"

The strawberry blond had a towel hanging around his neck, which he used to wipe drips of sweat from his face. His voice was quiet and low, and his hand rose to rest on the claw mark scar on his upper back. "I...I got this scar when I first joined. My siblings, especially Hollyleaf, kind of had a bit of a goody-two-shoes reputation, not to mention that I'm Firestar's grandson. The Dark Forest elites, especially Mapleshade, didn't trust me."

He took a deep breath. "So Brokenstar proposed a solution. In order to prove my loyalty, I would have to undergo a test. Either take the wounds, or get kicked out. I was an idiot freshman who really wanted to join. Obviously, I chose the test." He trailed a finger down one of the gashes, running over the tough, raised tissue. "Mapleshade cut my shoulder open. She said it looked like the claw marks from a tiger. Said I looked like a 'proper Dark Forest member now'." He laughed bitterly. The sound, malicious and angry, wasn't one I'd ever heard from Lionblaze before. It wasn't one I'd ever want to hear from him again.

"How do you hide all these scars?", I asked, disbelieving. "Some of these…..just wow." He ran a hand through his sweaty bangs, looking at me. "Jayfeather. There are several skin medications and ointments he gave me to keep them covered up. I don't even want to think about what Firestar and Hollyleaf would say if they knew."

"I'm glad you trust me enough to show me these", I said quietly. "Thank you."

I asked questions about the scars, especially the stranger, more painful looking ones that initially caught my attention. Each one had a story. And each story, it seemed, was more gruesome than the next.

I had one final question, though. "Lionblaze….why did you join the Dark Forest?"

He grimaced.

"Because I was jealous." I looked confused, and he threw up his hands. "It sounds stupid, I know. I was jealous of Holly and Jay. They're just so….smart, you know? Hollyleaf's on top of her class in everything, and Jayfeather even got put into the special medic course. They actually have a future after this! Being the soccer captain doesn't mean jack squat outside of high school. I'm just the dumb, muscle-headed sibling. No brains, all brawn." I leaned against him, trying to wordlessly offer all the comfort I could muster.

What he was saying, it hurt, because I'm well aware it's not true. Yeah, he might not be in all honors like Hollyleaf, but he's easily passing everything, unlike some of the other players on the team.

"So I joined up. I thought that if I could fight, if others could learn to be afraid of me, that I would finally have something they didn't. It's stupid. I regret it every time I go to a meeting."

"What about Heathertail? We're safe now, right?"

"Not in the slightest. Actually, chances are we're worse off than before. Now that she's in direct contact with Brokenstar….who knows what she's capable of."

He turned his back to me, the skin glistening with sweat. "There are whip scars on my lower back. Heathertail gave me those. She thought they were hot."

I felt anger at Heathertail bubbling up under my skin, but shook it off and instead leaned against him, choosing to ask a different question. "Nobody's inherently mean, what was she like before the Dark Forest?"

"Before she turned crazy and the fame of being Queen Bee went to her head?" Lionblaze sighed and I looked at him. "She was normal I guess, rather quiet believe it or not. But she's not you," he looked over at me and smiled, "and she will never be you either."

I smiled a little as well at the compliment and took a deep breath of the dry, wood-scented air in the sauna, relaxing a little more.

Thank you for doing this," I murmured quietly, swinging my legs in the warm water of the Jacuzzi. After leaving the sauna we had both changed back into our normal clothes, sitting around a little till we eventually decided to leave. Which wasn't just yet.

"I needed it, the peace and quiet."

Lionblaze was sitting next to me, his own legs in the water of the jacuzzi. "I know," he said with a grin, "And now we both feel better. You look considerably less stressed and I no longer feel like a waddling penguin. Although…" He tugged his bag toward him and pulled out a box. "I do have a gift for you, you know, since it's Valentine's Day and all."

I blinked in surprise before hastening to tell him he didn't have to and that I was happy with just being here with him, but as per usual he didn't listen.

"Cinder?"

I blinked and looked at him, "Yeah?" That was the third time he called me by my birth name in three hours.

"Shut up and take the gift," Lionblaze chuckled and I obediently pulled the bow on the box. Neatly folded inside the box was a black sports jacket made of dri-fit athletic material. It wasn't until I examined it closer that I fully recognized it. It was one of the Hexagon soccer team jackets, black with the Hexagon logo in azure blue. Since I joined the team late, I hadn't gotten one of them, something I had been rather disappointed over. I turned it over. Written on the back in azure blue was Cinder and my number, 38.

After a good bit of fangirling and trying the jacket on, I withdrew my own gift from my bag. It was a glossy white box tied with red ribbons. "I know this kind of pales in comparison, but I got you a gift too." Waving my apology away, he unwrapped it, revealing a row of teardrop shaped chocolates. "I wasn't really sure what you liked, so I got a few kinds. Those are caramel, those are strawberry, those right there are hazelnut creme, those are mint, and the two right there are chili pepper because I was feeling creative." I pointed to each of the kinds as I said them.

The strawberry blond picked up a chili pepper chocolate, placed it on his tongue, and chewed thoughtfully. He swallowed the chocolate, "It's really good though, you should try one." He told me to look away, then carefully selected a chocolate. I rolled my eyes at his attitude and put one into my mouth, only for my eyes to widen at the taste that washed over my tongue. Mint chocolate, how did he know?

Lionblaze's smirk widened, "Hollyleaf mentioned your favorite chocolate is mint chocolate. Can't say I'm surprised since you like mint so much." He ticked stuff off on his fingers. "Mint tea, mint shampoo, mint essential oils, the list goes on."

"Okay, I get it", I said exasperatedly. "So I might be a little obsessed with mint, sue me."

"There's something else I wanted to do though."

"Whaa…" I trailed off as Lionblaze lifted his hands and placed them on both sides of my face. "What...are..you doing?" I asked as he leaned toward me and instinctively leaned closer.

"Taking my gift," the blonde replied cheekily. "I figure since I gave you two gifts I get two as well."

"But… what gift…" It clicked in my head and I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach.

He was going to kiss me.

I let him tilt my chin up slightly, my stomach fluttering nervously. He'd kissed me before, once or twice after the whole train incident, but I still felt I sucked at it. Not to mention every time I got nervous and inwardly freaked out beforehand. Knowing that he probably didn't enjoy how inexperienced I was didn't help my nerves.

"Relax," his voice was soft and sent shivers down my spine at the close proximity. Hs breath smelled of strawberry chocolate, and I could feel the warm air brushing over my skin.

I wanted to reply, say something, anything really to help my nerves, but couldn't move. Turns out, I didn't need to as Lionblaze leaned closer and closed the gap between us.

It was just as calming and at the same time heart racing as the first time. In contrast though to the first time, I knew vaguely what I was doing. So I clumsily tried to match his movements through the melted puddle that was my brain at the current moment.

Even with my inexperience compared to Lionblaze's, it was perfect. Warm and soft, sending little fuzzy tingles through my fingers and toes. My skin hummed where Lionblaze's hands rested on both sides of my face, gently guiding me through the still strange and abnormal motions, and I couldn't be happier.

It felt like it lasted forever, but eventually Lionblaze moved back a little, far enough back for me to be able to focus on his face. Able to focus on his soft smile while I felt a little dizzy as I opened my eyes, my lips tingling slightly from his touch.

I felt the sparks again as Lionblaze briefly kissed me again, lingering there for only a few seconds before moving back. Where there was companionable silence between us for a few moments.

"Sorry," I couldn't help but giggle softly, studying his amber eyes while feeling a sheepish smile spreading on my face. "About my lack of skill anyway, I totally suck at this."

"It's cute. If it makes you feel better, you definitely better than I was when I was a freshman. Besides, like everything else, all it really takes is practice." He gestured to himself, and it became pretty clear what he was getting at.

I opened my mouth to speak, only to have nothing come out at my indignance, so instead I huffed, feeling my face burn and pushed him into the hot water of the jacuzzi. Lionblaze being Lionblaze, he obviously couldn't just take it, so before I knew it, I was being dragged into the steaming water with him.

I resurfaced, my hair a mess and drenched all over again, feeling lighter than I had for months.

End Chapter 52

I feel like Heathertail and her DF besties ruin literally all remotely fluffy moments.

[[Tigercry: So much fluff! My drive to see my OTP is fulfilled! I hope you guys enjoyed the Cinderblaze chapter, we've been working on it together for a little while (even through writers block) and we've only got one Valentines chapter left! Admittedly I'm sad to see it being brought to a close :(]]

**Lionblaze's penguin comment. Resistance bands (at least where I train at) vary in difficulty. From least difficult to most difficult, the order is yellow, green, red, blue, black. The higher up you go, the tighter and stiffer the bands get, and if you're doing a leg workout like the Hexagon soccer team, the more they restrict your movement and make it difficult to walk. And well, if you've ever seen a penguin walk…..well, you get it.

My romance writing skills leave a lot to be desired, so you can imagine my relief when Tigercry took the reins on the more fluffy cute scenes this chapter ::bows:: Thankyouthankyouthankyou so much Tigercry!

ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW LONG THIS CHAPTER IS? My usual length is around 7-9 pages (1.5k-2.5k words). This. THIS WAS 30 (7.5k words).

Reviews? :3

Azra out!