Attraction
Pain. That's what Katt felt as she struggled, along with Ryu, Nina, and Sten, to get out of the well. They had just fought a huge monster and saved a bunch of citizens from Capitan. Katt found it a hard struggle just to put one foot in front of the other.
"Ohhh…" she finally said, "I can't go on…"
"Here." Ryu said, and he lifted her up and carried her.
"What are you doing?" she asked, surprised.
"You'll never make it out alive if I don't carry you." Ryu told her.
"Hmmph.." Nina said, crossing her arms.
Katt finally conceded and held on to him as they made their way over to where Ray was waiting.
"Have you saved the villagers?" Ray asked.
"Yup." Ryu answered.
"Good. I will now remove this barrier. Please run!"
They didn't have to be told twice. Katt held Ryu tighter as the group bolted for the exit. Before they knew what happened, they found themselves smacked dead on by a torrent of water, and then they were out of the well. Ryu had landed flat on his butt, and Katt was sitting on his lap, still holding on.
"You okay?" he asked as she brushed her hair from her eyes.
"Yeah…" she said quietly. "Thanks a lot." She found herself staring into his eyes.
"You look really cute when you're all wet like that." He said, staring back.
She blushed. "You think so? Well, I also…"
"AHEM!!" Coughed Nina, and they turned to find Nina, Sten, and Ray glaring at them. "Can't you handle this later?"
Katt immediately regained her normal attitude. "There's nothing to handle." She said with a sniff, standing up and brushing herself off. She helped Ryu to his feet and smiled.
"At any rate," Ray said, "I'd appreciate it if you would take me to your hideout, so that I may thank you with St. Eva's blessings."
"Okay, come with us." Ryu said.
And so it came to be that the group made their way back over the mountains to their hideout.
"Wow!" Katt said, looking up at the tall house as they approached, "It looks like Bow and Rand have been really working their tails off!"
"Please don't use that expression." Said Bow, coming out of a smaller door to the right. "What do you think, guys? Isn't it awesome?"
"Great job, there, buddy." Ryu said. "Mind if we take a look?"
"Go right ahead! After all, this is our new home!"
After Ray had blessed them with St. Eva's providence, the group started to explore the huge house. Up on the third floor, Ryu was astounded to find that Bow and Rand had built over nine rooms for all of them to use!
A door opened behind him and Katt came out. "Ryu! Come look at this!"
Ryu followed her into the room.
"Look, Ryu! They made each of us our very own room! One for each of us!" She threw herself on the bed in delight. "And since there's only a few of us, we can use different rooms on different days, or we can…"
"Or we can share rooms…" Ryu interrupted. This startled her.
"What do you mean?"
Ryu shrugged. "I'm just saying, if any of us wanted to share a room with anybody else…" He cast a mischievous eye in her direction.
She sat up on the bed. "Ryu, come over here a second." He obeyed, and sat down beside her. "Are you saying you'd want to share a room with me?" She asked.
"Now, did I say that?" he asked indignantly.
"No… but I think I know what's going on."
Ryu played dumb. "Really? What's going on?"
Now it was Katt's turn to shrug. "I dunno… I just think you're becoming attracted to me, that's all."
Ryu's heart skipped. "Is that what you think?"
"I think so."
"Well, that could only mean that you've been looking for proof. And we all know what that means…"
Katt's eyes narrowed. "Alright, you… taking what I say and twist it around? Grr…" She pounced on him and held him down, growling at him.
Ryu didn't resist, but stared into her eyes. He knew she was trying to avoid his gaze, but she couldn't help but return it. Her whole expression changed, and she put her arms around his neck, and went to kiss him…
"Hey you guys!" called Nina's shrill voice from below, jolting Katt 3 feet in the air, "Come on it's time to go!"
Katt quickly got off the bed. "Umm, we should go…"
"I agree." Ryu said, scratching his head. "We should kinda keep this under wraps, though."
"Yeah." She agreed. "But that was cool, wasn't it?"
"What do you think it means?" Ryu asked as he stood up.
"I dunno…" she teased. "Maybe it means that we might do this again in the future. Now come on."
"Wait, hold up a second." Ryu took out his Dragon's Tear and held it up. "This is the Dragon's Tear. It show's a person's feelings towards you." He slowly approached her and pressed it against her palm, and they both watched it come to life. Ryu smiled. It was flashing all the colors of the rainbow.
"I guess this says something about us?" he said casually.
"What am I gonna do with you?" she asked playfully.
"How about this…" he kissed her, holding her close.
"Hey, I said COME ON!" Nina called again.
Ryu reluctantly pulled back. "Come on, we should go."
"Right."
And so it came to be that Ryu and Katt realized they felt for each other, and now journeyed out again with a huge secret being kept from the others.
