For what felt like the hundredth time that week, Xander restrained himself from shaking some sense into his stubborn bunkmate. He was normally a chill kind of guy and not much got to him, but he had had enough of Ravi and Lou's drama. Neither of them would tell him what had happened on their first date last week. But they both avoided each other at all costs, much to Xander's annoyance. It was difficult being friends with two people who refused to be around each other and it made it more difficult that they wouldn't tell him or Emma why.
Finally, that Friday night, Xander and his girlfriend had decided to put an end to their friends' nonsense. It was the monthly movie night and they were going to force their friends to sit together through the movie. Hopefully, being around each other for more than five minutes would persuade the two of them to finally talk about whatever had happened.
"And you're sure she won't be there?" Ravi asked Xander.
Part of Xander and Emma's plan was to keep Ravi away from the Great Lawn while Lou helped Emma with setting up for movie night. For the past hour, he and Ravi had been on a long walk on the nature trail. Now they were walking out of the woods and could see the cabins from the path.
"Huh?" Xander fumbled his words. "I mean… so what... if she is?"
Ravi studied Xander's guilty look. He shook his head and changed direction to head toward Grizzly cabin. He said flatly, "I'm not going."
Xander sped up his pace to keep up with Ravi. "Dude, she won't be there," he lied.
"I can tell when you're lying," Ravi replied as he stepped up to their porch.
"Why would I lie?" Xander asked as he forced his tone to sound calm. He figured he would do better asking a question than saying anything else. He relaxed against the porch railing to make his posture more casual, hoping he looked more believable.
The theme of that Friday's movie night was Christmas in July. Gladys had planned it that way so she could sneak as many holiday romantic comedies in as possible. Because of the mushy lineup of movies, most campers had opted out and some of the counselors had happily volunteered to watch over them as they played board games in the mess hall or hung out until lights out in the cabins.
Emma had made sure Lou was busy with setup. They spread out blankets and lawn chairs on the Great Lawn. They made a ton of popcorn and baked Christmas cookies for the viewers to snack on during the event. Once everything was mostly done, Lou disappeared into Woodchuck cabin while Emma arranged candy canes on the snack table.
Emma walked into the cabin to find Lou sulking and wrapped up in a blanket.
"Lou, he won't be there," Emma said, hoping Lou didn't notice the way her voice went up an octave during the lie.
"Great, then we both won't be there," Lou huffed as she rolled over to face the wall.
Emma sighed. Her best friend hadn't been her usual cheery self for the past week. It had been so bad that Tiffany and Zuri had threatened to move out of the cabin if Emma didn't fix her friend.
"But you love movie nights," Emma reasoned.
Ravi glanced over at the Great Lawn. People were already starting to gather on the blankets and lawn chairs. He could smell the popcorn from his place on the porch. He shook his head and said, "Why am I even kidding myself? Lou loves movie nights. Of course she's going to be there." He pushed open the door of their cabin and declared, "I'm not going."
Xander followed his friend inside and lightly kicked the door shut behind them. He sighed in frustration. Ravi had been a lot to deal with over the past week. He was normally quirky and interesting to hang out with, but now he was brooding all the time and it bummed the Grizzlies out. Griff and Jorge had threatened to kick Ravi out of the cabin if Xander didn't fix him.
"I don't get what the big deal is," Xander said without thinking. He regretted his words immediately.
"The big deal!" Ravi cried dramatically. He flopped down on his bed and wrapped a blanket around himself.
Xander facepalmed and hoped his girlfriend was having better luck than he was having right now. "I didn't mean it like that," Xander said.
"I made a complete fool of myself!" Ravi declared from his blanket cocoon.
Emma sat on the edge of Lou's bed and kindly patted her on the shoulder. She said, "Come on, you can't miss movie night. Especially tonight when all the movies are about love and Christmas. You love Christmas!"
Lou shrugged Emma's hand away and continued to sulk. She clutched her pillow and glared at the wall. She grumbled, "All those dang movies are cow poo."
"You don't mean that. And, uh, there's popcorn! You love popcorn!"
Lou wouldn't budge from her blanket. She said sternly, "I'm not going."
Emma frowned. Her patience for the entire situation had become thin. With Lou and Ravi both refusing to talk to her about what had happened and them both refusing to talk to each other at all, she didn't know what else to do. And the stress was giving her a pimple. She hated pimples.
"Ugh," Emma rolled her eyes. "It was one bad date, Lou! You've got to move on."
Lou sprang up from her curled position to sit up on the bed, flinging the blanket off of her head. She stared at Emma with wide, watery eyes. Her chin trembled as she stammered, "Move on? He's moving on!"
"Oops, wrong choice of words," Emma muttered as she gave Lou a confused look. She had thought her best friend was furious with Ravi, so that reaction wasn't expected.
Xander crossed his ankles and leaned against a dresser. He watched his friend sulk in the fetal position. He had known Ravi for almost three years and this was the most dramatic he had seen him.
"Dude, we all make mistakes," Xander said. "But you have to move on."
"Move on!" Ravi exclaimed as he clutched his blanket tighter around his chin. "Oh no! I've ruined my chance, haven't I? She's moving on!"
"No, that's not what I…" Xander tried to explain but Ravi had already crawled over to the pillows and buried his face.
Emma twirled a candy cane on her finger as she waited for the movie to start. She glanced around at the small crowd and noticed how it was mostly couples. Some people were wearing Santa hats or reindeer antlers to go with the Christmas in July theme. She saw her boyfriend holding a bag of popcorn and looking around the lawn for her. She waved him over.
"No luck?" Emma asked as Xander sat beside her on the blanket.
"Nope," Xander replied as he offered her some of the popcorn.
"Me either," she said as she grabbed a handful. She frowned. "I really wanted this to work. If they don't talk about what happened…"
"Then they're going to drive us all crazy."
Emma gave him a slight nod. She picked up a kernel and then dropped it back down to the others in her palm. She said, "I'm worried about them. I think Lou really, really likes him."
"And Ravi is a mess," Xander said between munches of popcorn. "But how can we help them if they won't let us?"
Emma asked in a disheartened tone, "So, we should just give up?"
Xander scooched closer to her and put his arm around her shoulder. He said, "Maybe we should talk about something else." He pointed at Gladys grabbing snacks from the snack table. She was dressed like Mrs. Claus. "You think if Santa ever delivered presents to her house she'd let him escape?"
"Not a chance," Emma laughed. She smiled at him. "What's your favorite thing about Christmas?"
"Easy, all the awesome music," he replied with ease. "What about you?"
Emma thought for a moment as she leaned into his arms. She looked up at him and said, "Every year my parents take all of us to see The Nutcracker. I've always loved it. Ballet is so beautiful."
"Cool," Xander smiled. "Is it like that musical, uh, Elf?"
Emma giggled and snuggled into him. Xander rested his chin in her hair as he inhaled the night air. They were both exhausted from dealing with their friends.
"Quiet! The movie's starting," Hazel shouted from her spot near the projector.
The crowd settled down and the movie began to play. Emma yawned as her eyes fluttered shut.
"Ah!"
Emma startled awake at the sound of her youngest brother screaming. She lifted her head off the hard floor and frantically looked around in the dark for him. She scrambled to her feet and was shocked to find that the ground beneath her was not grass but hardwood flooring. She spun around in the darkness. The Great Lawn was gone. The campers were gone. The starry night sky was gone.
"Ah!"
She heard the sound of screaming again and jumped slightly. Suddenly, she saw giant rats running toward her. She screamed and ran in the opposite direction. Her slippers made a pattering sound against the flooring. Her heartbeat sped up when she heard the sound of someone catching up to her.
"Ah!"
Emma winced in pain from the closeness of the scream. She turned to the person running beside her and her eyes widened at the sight of Ravi. He had a terrified look on his face. He was dressed like a prince in white and gold.
"Ravi?"
"Help me!" he shouted as he sped up and ran into the darkness.
Emma looked over her shoulder and saw the human-sized rats not far behind. She sped up until she saw a giant green ball from the corner of her eye. She turned left and ran towards it. As she got closer, she realized it was a giant Christmas bulb that was the size of a car. She hid behind the ornament in time as the rats slowed to a stop. She peeked around the bulb to see them sniffing around.
"Weasels?" she soundlessly mouthed.
Now that the rats were in sight, she could see that they were the girls from Weasel cabin. They were all dressed in loose, grey bodysuits with long tails and headbands with large ears. She watched them sniff around and then run into the darkness. Emma sighed in relief. She tilted her head up to where the sky should be, but instead of night sky she saw the faint twinkling of Christmas lights high above her on what appeared to be gigantic Christmas tree branches. They didn't offer much light.
"Psst!"
Emma looked to her left and saw another giant Christmas ornament. Xander was hiding behind it and waving her over. She looked around to make sure the girls were gone before sprinting over to him.
"Do you think they're gone?" Xander asked.
Emma glanced around the dark space. All she could see was darkness and the occasional giant tree decoration. "I think we're good," she answered.
"What's going on? Why are we dressed like this?" Xander questioned.
For the first time, Emma looked down at her outfit. She was no longer wearing shorts and a Woodchuck cabin hoodie. Now she was wearing a dress that reminded her of airy, pink cotton candy. She felt her hair and found that it was tied in a pink ribbon. Xander was dressed in white pants and a red coat that looked like a toy soldier's uniform. He also had a sword at his side.
Emma gasped, "You're the Nutcracker soldier!" She did a spin in her dress. "And I'm Clara!"
"Who?"
"It's The Nutcracker. We're having the same dream," Emma explained. "At least, I think it's a dream."
"Mmph," Xander said with a shrug. He added, "Cool."
"Ah!"
Emma and Xander saw Ravi running toward them. He still looked terrified. Behind him were the rat girls chasing after him. From behind one of the largest ornaments, stepped out a rat with a crown and a sword.
"That's Lydia," Emma shouted as she pointed toward the commotion. "She's the Rat King!"
Ravi finally reached his sister and Xander. He cowered behind them as the rats waited at a distance for their king to come closer.
"Please help me," Ravi begged.
"Don't worry, dude," Xander said as he held out his sword. "I've seen a bunch of pirate movies, so I'm probably great in a dream sword fight."
Emma and Ravi watched as Xander charged forward. Lydia the Rat King held her sword high and ran past her rat crew. The clang of metal echoed in the darkness. Emma saw that the rat crew was approaching.
She said, "We better get out of here!"
Ravi grabbed her hand and they took off running. He led her around giant bulbs and strings of beads that looked like they could crush the two of them. They were blocked by a mountain of tinsel when the crew cornered them.
"Take the girl!" Ravi cried as he pushed Emma toward the rats.
"Nice to see that you're still brave," Emma said sarcastically. She glared at the rats and spread her arms to block Ravi behind her. "Back off, rat girls!"
One of the girls picked up her rat tail and swung it at Emma. It knocked her out of the way and sent her sliding across the floor.
"Ow! I didn't think dreams were supposed to hurt," she said in a strained voice as she held her side. She watched the rats pick Ravi up from the ground and carry him away screaming.
"Emma," Xander gasped as he ran up behind his girlfriend. He crouched down beside her and gave her a worried look. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, but the rats took Ravi," she answered.
"The Rat King got away too," he said. He looked around in the darkness. "What do we do now?"
Emma was about to respond when a faint sound caught her attention. She furrowed her brow and listened. "Do you hear that?" she whispered.
Xander listened for a moment. He gave her a confused look. "It sounds kinda like...crying?"
They stood up and took each other's hand. The cry was barely noticeable but there. Emma and Xander cautiously walked forward into the darkness. The hardwood floor beneath their ballet slippers became decreasingly solid until they were walking in snow. They both had to squint as their surroundings became increasingly brighter until they were in a forest.
"Listen," Emma said as she held tighter to Xander's hand. "The crying is louder now."
Her boyfriend nodded as he looked over her shoulder. His eyes widened and he pointed behind her. "We've got company."
Emma turned to see Zuri and Tiffany doing sissonne jumps in the snow. Both of the young girls were dressed like purple flowers. Zuri waved the counselors forward before twirling off in the direction of the crying.
"I think she wants us to follow?" Emma said to Xander, unsure.
Tiffany waved and twirled off in the direction that Zuri had gone. Emma took a step forward and lifted her hand to catch snowflakes in her palm. She frowned and let go of Xander's hand. She crouched down and grabbed two handfuls of snow.
"Are we going to throw snow at Zuri and Tiffany?" Xander asked.
"No," Emma said as she dropped the snow and stood back up. "It's just...the snow should be cold, right?" She pointed up at the sky as snowflakes drifted down. "We should be cold, too...but I'm not."
"Hmm, must be weird dream stuff," Xander reasoned with a shrug. He grabbed her hand and said, "Come on, we better catch up with the girls."
They followed the path that Zuri and Tiffany had danced through the snow until they found the girls sitting by a river. Tiffany was playing her violin, but the sound of crying was clearer than before. Both girls looked disheartened as they sat gracefully by the river.
"Zuri, why do you look so sad?" Emma frowned as she approached her sister.
"These are her tears," Zuri said as she scooped water from the river and let the drops drip to the snow.
Tiffany stopped playing her violin to point across the river. She told Xander, "Take the boat to the Land of Sweets."
Emma's eyes brightened. She smiled at Xander, "Right! In the ballet, Clara and the Nutcracker soldier visit the Land of Sweets."
She carefully stepped into the river and waded across. The water was clear and she could see straight to the bottom of the river. There was a shine to it too, like crystal. She noticed that even though there was snow all around that the water wasn't cold. She climbed into the boat. Xander climbed in after her.
"Do you think Ravi's okay?" Emma asked as the boat drifted down the river.
"It's a dream, right? So, he should be good," Xander said and then added with less confidence, "I hope."
"Me too. Even though he's been a pain this week. I hate seeing that terrified look on his face."
"Yeah, I haven't seen him look that scared since the time Jorge went after him with those hedge clippers. Which might happen again if we can't get him to stop moping around."
Emma nodded as she continued to listen to the cry. It now sounded more like sobbing. She glanced down and gasped. She saw campers in the water and they were all dressed like snowflakes as they looked up at the sky. They all had frowns as they floated by.
"This dream's getting creepy," Xander muttered. He squinted at the water and asked, "And are those strawberries and candy canes floating in the water with the campers?"
Suddenly the boat bumped into the snowy shore. They both slowly stepped out of the boat. Now the crying sounded like wailing. Emma pointed at a thin stream of water that flowed into the river.
"This whole river is just from this stream," she said. Her eyes traced it to a forest of shortbread cookies that were shaped like Christmas trees. "Let's follow it."
Xander nodded in agreement as they held hands and followed the stream into the forest. The air had a sweet aroma and all of the flowers and rocks looked like cupcakes. Finally, they stopped where the stream ended and found Lou sobbing on the snowy floor of the forest.
"Lou?" the couple asked simultaneously.
Lou looked up from her hands. Tears glistened in the corners of her wide, watery eyes. They had the same shine as the water in the stream and river. She was dressed like a princess in white and gold. Emma noticed that Lou's outfit matched Ravi's.
"That no-good Rat King stole my partner," Lou sniffled.
Emma and Xander watched as two kids dressed like candy canes came to help Lou up from the ground. She dramatically leaned on both of them as they guided her through the forest.
"We could've stayed awake for more of her acting like this," Xander leaned over and muttered to Emma.
She swatted his chest with the back of her hand. She said, "Shush. And I know she's been a lot, but look…" She pointed at the stream leading to the river. "She cried this entire river…"
Xander frowned at the stream. He gave a sympathetic look in the direction that Lou had gone and said, "We should talk to her."
They followed the candy cane kids until they were at a picnic table in the forest. There were fancy cups and plates on the table along with a beautiful and delicious-looking arrangement of sweets. Lou sat at the table and sighed. Up close, now Emma could see that the two people dressed as candy canes were Jorge and Griff.
"I get it now," Emma smiled with pride. "Lou's the Sugar Plum Fairy! She was always my favorite in the ballet. And that's why she's in the Land of Sweets!"
"Cool. But why's everyone all bummed out," Xander asked as the frowns of the snowflake children flashed in his mind. He looked at the candy cane dudes and they looked upset too.
"He's gone forever!" Lou wailed before slamming her face into a strawberry shortcake. Whipped cream and strawberries splashed all over the table as she cried into the cake.
"That's why," Griff grumbled.
"She keeps ruining perfectly good cakes!" Jorge added angrily.
Emma snapped her fingers and nodded. "That's why Ravi was dressed like that. Look, their costume designs match. He's the Nutcracker Cavalier."
"He's the what?" Xander asked in confusion.
"The Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker Cavalier have a big dance number near the end of the ballet," Emma explained. "He's her dance partner."
"Oh," Xander drawled. "So, we have to get him back from Rat King Lydia so they can do their dance or whatever."
"No!" Lou shouted as she lifted her head from the cake. She used both hands to wipe the dessert from her eyes. "You can't! Ravi doesn't want to see me ever again!"
"Oy, even here," Emma said as she sat down beside her friend. "Lou, you're in a dream where you are an actual fairy and the leader of all things sweet. What could've possibly gone wrong with you two here?"
"And this time, actually talk to us," Xander said as he sat on the other side of Lou. "We're your best friends and we love you. Tell us what happened."
"So, we can help you," Emma added with a small, encouraging smile.
Lou picked up a silk handkerchief from beside a plate of chocolates. She roughly wiped the cake off her face and then sighed. She looked from one friend to the other and then nodded.
"Our dance spread sweetness and joy throughout the land for years. So, we reasoned that if friendship could bring about such brightness then a relationship would shine even more! We were set to go on a romantic walk through the enchanted forest," Lou explained as she pointed toward the river.
"That must've been where the flowers and violin music was," Xander said.
"But he was like a starless night that led me to slumber," Lou continued with a frown. "But that slumber was broken by the Rat King and her army, who caused me to chase them through the gumdrop fields."
"Mmm, gumdrops," Jorge hummed happily as he pulled a candy cane from his hair and began to snack on it.
"On my return, my Nutcracker Cavalier had reappeared. We plotted a different course for our journey to avoid the Rat King and that led us to the delightful sea of hot chocolate." Lou scrunched her nose in annoyance. "Though it's not delightful when lost in its murky depths. And I said as much and the quarreling began." She got a faraway look in her eyes as she quietly finished her explanation, "And his voice rang out like a bell ending our dance."
Emma opened her arms for a hug and Lou gladly accepted the embrace. Xander raised his eyebrows at Emma, but she gave him a look that said she had no idea what Lou was talking about either.
"They have no clue what you said," Griff said loudly. "You were talking in fairy!"
"I don't even know what she's talking about," Jorge said. "And I speak candy cane."
"How's candy cane like fairy?" Griff asked in a skeptical tone.
"It's not," Jorge shrugged.
Lou quickly released Emma. She stood from the table as tears ran down her face. She cried, "So you can't help me?"
Jorge grabbed Xander's arm and begged, "Please help her! If she starts crying then the river will flood again!'
"It's all my fault," Lou cried as she lowered herself to the ground, making the skirts of her white and gold dress spiral around her on the snowy ground.
"Help her," Jorge begged again, shaking Xander's arm. "She's harshing my mellow!"
"And taste the food," Griff said frantically. "It's bland! Everything looks awesome but the taste sucks! And dude, feel the snow. It's not even cold!"
"I knew it should've been cold!" Emma exclaimed.
Xander took a bite out of a red velvet cupcake. He grimaced and spit it out. "Gross! It does taste bad!"
"See! Without the pas de deux everything is off balance," Jorge explained over Lou's loud crying.
"Like at camp," Emma said to Xander. She gave him a determined look. "I asked you if we should give up on Lou and Ravi if they don't let us help them. But the answer, Xander, is no. We can't give up."
Xander nodded, "You're right." He turned to Jorge and asked, "Do you know where the Rat King took Ravi?"
Jorge swiped a gumball from a jar on the table. He chewed and chewed and then he blew a bubble the size of a hot air balloon.
"Whoa!" Xander exclaimed as he smiled at the massive bubblegum bubble.
"Just hold on to this and it'll take you to him," Jorge said as he held it out for Xander to take.
"And please," Griff said, pointing back at Lou as she gave forlorn sobs, "fix this."
Emma wrapped her arms around Xander as he took hold of the bubblegum balloon. Their feet slowly lifted off the ground. Xander held tighter to the bubblegum and Emma held tighter to Xander.
"Oh no," Xander squeaked as he shut his eyes tight. "I'm afraid of heights!"
Emma giggled as they floated above the Land of Sweets. She saw the snowflake campers drifting in the river. She saw Zuri and Tiffany's colorful dresses twirling in the enchanted forest. She saw the Rat King pointing her sword at Ravi as he balanced on the edge of a giant Christmas present box.
"There they are!" Emma shouted.
Her voice alerted the rat crew. The girls ran forward with their rat tails in hand, ready to attack once the couple landed. Emma glanced up at Xander, but his eyes were still closed because they were still descending. She gritted her teeth and took his sword. She glared down at the rats and held the sharp point forward.
The bubblegum balloon lowered Emma and Xander onto the glittery paper of the box. Emma held up the sword and gave a battle cry as the rats charged toward them. Xander finally opened his eyes and let go of the bubblegum balloon that he had been holding for dear life. It lazily floated away from them until POP. An explosion of sticky residue landed onto top of the rat crew. Emma lowered the sword and chuckled as they watched the girls try and fail to unstick themselves from the bubble gum.
"Help!" Ravi shouted from the edge of the present.
"Jump, geek! Into the void," Lydia demanded as she jabbed her sword in his direction.
Ravi avoided being pierced by the sword but nearly lost his balance. He wobbled on the edge as he gave Emma and Xander a desperate look.
"Hey! Rat King!" Xander called out as he took his sword from Emma. "Rematch? Me and you!"
Lydia turned menacingly toward Xander. She glared at him and said through her teeth, "Bring it. I've waited a long time to defeat the Nutcracker Soldier."
Ravi took that as his cue to frantically run toward Emma. He linked his arm with hers and watched the battle in front of them. Lydia moved swiftly and methodically as Xander blocked her advances with chaotic movements. She chased him up the giant bow that was tied at the center of the Christmas present box. Emma and Ravi watched as the battle intensified on top of the ribbon that towered above them.
"Oh no!" Ravi said in a frightened tone. "He is no match for her! She will surely send him tumbling from that great height."
Emma nodded and frowned. "It doesn't help that he keeps closing his eyes. Heights are just not his strong suit," she said. Remembering the ballet, she shrugged Ravi from her arm and then balanced herself to remove her ballet slipper. "Please work," she hoped. She ran forward and chucked the shoe as high and as far as she could.
The slipper hit the Rat King right in the head. Lydia dropped her sword and fell off the ribbon. She crashed onto the surface of the glitter box, shattering into pieces of shiny, grey glitter. Xander fainted on top of the ribbon.
"Yay!" Emma cheered. She bowed as Ravi applauded her. "Thank you! Oh, we better go get him. I don't want him to wake up and then faint again."
Ravi nodded and followed Emma to climb the ribbon. At the top, she retrieved her shoe and placed it back on her foot. Then she and her brother each wrapped one of Xander's arms around their shoulders and carefully began to drag him down from the ribbon.
"Thank you so much for saving me," Ravi said in a strained tone as they dragged Xander.
"No prob," Emma said as she carefully watched her steps. "We've got to get you back to Lou for your dance."
Ravi stopped walking, which caused Emma to stop. He said, "I cannot go back to the Sugar Plum Fairy. She hates me!"
"Here we go again," Emma said. She continued walking, which made Ravi continue walking so that he wouldn't cause Xander to fall. "Ravi, she doesn't hate you! Stop being a baby and go talk to her about what happened."
"You don't get it," Ravi pouted as he readjusted Xander's arm around his shoulders. "I ruined what should've been the most magical day ever."
"Tell us what happened," Xander murmured in a drowsy tone. "But in like a regular way. As plain as you can make it."
"Plain?" Ravi asked.
"We don't speak fairy," Emma said. She quickly added, "Or candy cane."
"Uh… okay," Ravi said. "Let's see…" He thought for a moment. He sighed, "To put it plainly, I embarrassed myself so much that I took my frustration out on her."
"You got in an argument?" Emma asked as they all took the final step from the ribbon. They stepped around the grey glitter on the flat surface of the box.
He looked at his friends with sorrowful eyes. "No, not the argument. I yelled at her," Ravi sadly confessed. "I'm so sorry. She'll never forgive me."
Xander gave him a sympathetic look. He patted his friend on the shoulder and said, "Avoiding her isn't going to make things better. Especially when she thinks it's her fault."
"She does?" Ravi asked in shock. "That's terrible! The fault is entirely mine. How could she think that?"
"How is she supposed to know that if you won't talk to her," Emma said gently.
Ravi nodded as he stared off into the distance. "We must go to her immediately," he said determinedly. "She must not blame herself for something that's my fault."
"But the bubble popped," Xander said. "How are we supposed to get back?"
Ravi jogged over to the grey glitter. He scooped some into his hands and then rejoined his friends. The couple made faces at the sparkly dust. He said, "The ashes of the Rat King will transport us to wherever our heart desires."
"Ew," Emma and Xander said simultaneously.
Ravi rolled his eyes and threw the dust into the air above them. Emma blinked and suddenly she, Xander, and Ravi were standing in the Land of Sweets. Lou stood up from the ground and gazed at Ravi.
"You're here," she hiccupped.
"I should've never left," he said as he ran toward her with his arms wide.
Lou mirrored his posture and ran toward him as well. They hugged, smiling and laughing merrily.
"It was all my fault," Ravi said as he held her hands and gazed lovingly into her eyes.
"No, it was my fault," Lou said, giving him the same lovesick look.
"Not at all," Ravi said as he gave her another hug. He leaned away slightly and asked, "Shall we dance?"
"We shall," Lou agreed with a grin.
Emma squealed. She squeezed Xander's arm as she gazed happily at her friends. Snowflakes fell and landed delicately on her arms. She shivered. "O.M.G!" she exclaimed. "Xander, the snow! It's cold again!"
"We did it," Xander cheered as he picked Emma up in a hug and twirled her around.
Emma awoke to the sounds of Gladys shouting at the projector about never finding love. Her eyes fluttered open to the sight of campers and counselors lounging on the Great Lawn as a holiday movie played out on the screen. She slowly lifted her head from Xander's shoulder.
"Hey, sleepy head," Xander said good-naturedly as he smiled at his girlfriend. "Enjoy your nap?"
Emma blinked and asked, "Did you not have the same dream?"
Xander shook his head. "No… I tried to fall asleep," he gave her a sheepish look, "But you were snoring too loud."
Emma gasped, "I don't snore!" She was about to argue some more but then she remembered her dream. "I know what to do about Lou and Ravi!"
"Our plan didn't really work out earlier," Xander replied.
"Trust me," Emma said as she stood up from the blanket. "Bring Ravi to my cabin. And don't take no for an answer."
"Sit down and shut up!" Hazel shouted at Emma.
Emma rolled her eyes and hurried to Woodchuck cabin. When she walked into the room, she saw Lou staring out the window to see the movie screen.
"I knew you wanted to watch the movie," Emma said with a knowing look as she sat down beside Lou.
Her friend didn't respond. She just turned away from the window and hugged her stuffed woodchuck. Emma waited for Xander to show up, which didn't take long. He walked into the cabin with Ravi tossed over his shoulder, kicking and shouting.
"Whoa!" Lou said as she stood up and looked at Xander and Ravi like they were crazy. "What in the ranch dressing is going on?"
Xander placed Ravi on the ground and exhaled. He said to Emma, "You said don't take no for an answer."
Ravi straightened his sweater and glared at Xander. He fussed, "I didn't enjoy being manhandled by someone I thought was my pal." He moved toward the door.
"I am your pal," Xander said as he blocked the exit.
"Look," Emma said, "I know this is hard. But you two have to talk." She turned to her brother and asked, "Ravi, did you yell at Lou?"
The room was silent. Ravi's eyes turned sorrowful as he looked from Emma to Lou. He dropped his chin and his shoulders sagged. Lou watched his posture change and it made her loosen her grip on her stuffed woodchuck. Xander leaned against the door.
"Yes…" Ravi confessed. "And I'm so sorry."
"Wait, this whole thing is about an argument?" Xander asked. "Dude, Emma yells at me all the time."
"Do not!" Emma yelled. She cleared her throat and said in a calmer tone, "Do not."
"See," Xander said good-naturedly.
"But I shouldn't have yelled at you," Ravi said, mostly ignoring what Xander had said as he stepped closer to Lou. "I ruined our first date."
Lou tossed Mr. Woodchuck aside and stepped closer to Ravi. "No, it's my fault. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things," Lou apologized. "I don't think you're a 'no-good, dang fool.'"
"Harsh language," Emma gasped with a hand to her chest.
"I said a bunch of other stuff too," Lou said with her eyes downcast. "I was just so annoyed."
"And you had every right to be!" Ravi spoke up as he held his hands out to her. "First, I showed up to our date so late."
Lou held his hands and pouted as she looked into his eyes, "Yeah, where were you?"
"Jorge locked me in the bathroom because I made him finish his chores," Ravi answered.
"I knew he seemed too giggly that day," Xander said as he thought back to the incident. "I just thought he'd heard someone fart."
"How long did you wait for him?" Emma asked as she propped Mr. Woodchuck back on the nightstand.
"An hour," Lou muttered shyly.
"An hour! I'd never wait that long for a guy," Emma said. "Especially Ravi. I had to pick him up from the museum one time but he took so long that I just left him there."
"I was only late five minutes that day and it was pouring rain," Ravi said to his sister in an annoyed tone. He shifted his attention back to Lou and said, "When I finally escaped the bathroom and made it to the trail and didn't see you, I was so worried."
"Aw, you were," Lou cooed as she squeezed his hands. She scrunched her nose and said, "Those dang Weasels stole my picnic basket. See, while I was waiting, I dozed off. I woke up when they yanked the basket from my hands."
"I didn't know you had prepared a picnic," Ravi said. "When I found you walking along the path you demanded hot chocolate and barely spoke to me."
"I was just embarrassed because I messed up our picnic. Well, the Weasels messed up our picnic. But if I wouldn't have fallen asleep, they wouldn't have stolen the basket."
"You wouldn't have fallen asleep if I hadn't been late," Ravi said.
"So, it was all a misunderstanding," Emma said brightly.
Ravi gave them all a sheepish look as he said, "Not everything. I mean, I still spilled hot chocolate all over her at the coffee shop."
"Which burned like heck," Lou added.
"And I accidentally pushed her into the lake…"
"That explains why she had all the lake gunk in her hair," Emma said as she grimaced.
"Which took all week to get out," Lou said as she sniffed her hair. "Almost a week. And that's why we keep the campers from that side of the lake."
"Not to mention the argument we got in on the way back," Ravi said. He gently let go of Lou's hands and took a step back. "That day...all I could think about was that I was ruining the one chance I had to impress you. I was so afraid of you changing your mind about going out with me that I kept making things worse. And then I panicked and yelled at you." He sighed as he looked at her with sad eyes. "And then I panicked again. All week. I avoided you because I was too afraid to hear you say that you never wanted to go out with me again."
Lou whispered, "Me too."
"You were?" he asked her with a shocked expression.
"I really like you, Ravi," she said.
"I really, really like you, Lou," he replied.
"Aww!" Emma squealed as she smiled at her friends. "This is too cute! See you both like each other! You're made to be partners! Like the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker Cavalier."
"I don't know what that means," Lou said with a smile as she gazed at Ravi.
"Me either," Xander said. He opened the door and motioned for Emma to walk over. "But I think you two can finish talking without us."
"But they're so sweet and we worked really hard to get them to talk," Emma said as Xander walked over to take her by the hand.
"And we appreciate it," Ravi said with a smile as he kept his eyes on Lou's. "Thanks, Emma."
"Yeah, thanks, bestie," Lou said in a dream-like tone.
Xander had moved Emma closer to the door, but she snatched her hand away. She huffed, "See, they want me to stay."
"No, he's right. Get out," Ravi said over his shoulder.
"Rude," Emma huffed as Xander pulled her out of the cabin and back to movie night.