"O'er here!" Rahne called before morphing into her wolf form and catching the frisbee Roberto threw to her. She landed, and tossed it to Jamie, who caught
it and banged into a tree, knocking out some leaves, and leaving a horde of confused Jamies. Rahne bark-laughed. Roberto sighed as he soaked up the sunlight, literally.
Normally, he was happy when the sun was shining on a random February day like this, but he was feeling down for a different reason altogether. He was in
love with Rahne, and couldn't find a way to tell her.
But he decided to confess tomorrow, on Valentine's day. It would be perfect. But he was worried. What if she didn't like him back the same way? What if she
laughed in his face and told all her friends? What if she liked someone else? He was too caught up in his worries that he didn't notice the frisbee flying his way until it crashed into the side of his head. Rahne rushed to his side in human form.
"Ahm so sorrae, boyo, i dinnae notice ye were payin' nae attention. Did i 'urt ye?" She placed a gentle hand on his head. Roberto was thankful then
and there that his skin was so dark she couldn't see his blush.
"Nah, I'm fine."
"Are ye sure? I thought I 'eard a bone crack." Her ears twitched.
"I'm fine. No bumps, see? I never get hurt." She gave him one last look before running back up the hill. Roberto missed the warmth that Rahne's hand had
left. It was comforting and felt nice, like the warmth of the sun. But bone cracking? He felt along his skull, just to make sure.
Rahne walked along the institute hallways to the kitchen. She sat down at the table with a glass of milk and a tuna sandwich. As she chewed, she thought
about someone. Or more specifically, Roberto. She had the hugest crush on him. In love, actually. Even if he tended to brag a wee bit too much. How to tell him? It would be embarrassing. And Valentine's day was tomorrow. All the girls except for her had a special someone. Jean had Scott, Kitty had Lance, Rouge had Remy, Jubilee had Bobby, Amara had St. John, and Tabitha had Sam. She had no one. Except for her growing feelings. And he probably thought she was clumsy after hitting him with the frisbee. But he hadn't seemed to mind.
She decided to tell him tomorrow. After all, the worst he could say was no, right? And if he did, well, she could always run to her room and cry and eat
junk food until she was dragged to the mall. With this in mind, she purposefully strolled out of the room to find one of the other girls. She didn't notice the other figure until she bumped into it hard.
"Ow!" Rahne glanced up to see Roberto sitting on the floor in front of her, rubbing his head. He stood up.
"Sorry Rahne! I didn't see you there. Let me help you up." He held out a brown hand to her. She felt her cheeks blaze up to a heat that would rival Magma's
flames anyday. She cautiously placed her hand in his and was pulled up. It managed to disappear though, before he could see it.
"Well, thank ye very much. I dinnae see ye either." Neither one of them noticed that they were still grasping each other's hand.
"Hey Rahne, could you meet me at noon tomorrow on the hill outside? I have something I want to tell you." She nodded slowly.
"Aye." She could tell him how she felt then. It all worked in well. Then they realised they were still holding hands, and quickly snatched their hands back. "See
ya tomorrow." Roberto said. She smiled slightly, and headed off to find Jubilee, or someone.
" Roberto?" Rahne walked up the hill. Roberto was lying down on the hilltop, looking at the sky. His eyes were closed until he felt a shadow cross his sunlight.
His eyes shot open.
"Hey, Rahne." He sat up. Rahne sat beside him.
"This had better be good. I skipped lunch for this." The truth was, she hadn't eaten all day, she was so nervous. And she hadn't meant to be rude, she just
wanted to get it done with.
"I'm sorry. I brought food." He produced a picnic basket with a couple of sandwiches inside. She gratefully took one.
"I ahm sorrae. I dinnae mean t' be so short with ye, but I ahm a wee bit nervous." She took a bite. Roberto cleared his throat.
"Uh, well, I-I..." He got very red in the face.
Rahne raised an eyebrow. "The infamous Roberto DaCosta is stuttering? Now I know somthin' is nae righ'."
"I love you." Rahne blinked. "Wha?"
"I-I love you, and I was wondering how you felt about me." There was a moment of silence. Then...
Rahne leaned over and kissed him on the lips. "Does tha' answer your question?" Both teens were blushing madly now. "Yeah. But I didn't really get the feel of
it. Could you...?" Rahne giggled and kissed him again.
They spent the whole afternoon with each other, and Roberto ended up taking Rahne to a nice restaurant, then buying her a dozen red roses afterwards.
Rahne had never felt happier in her life.
All the institute girls were sitting in a circle in the game room in their PJs, holding bowls of popcorn, talking and laughing.
"So Jean, truth or dare?"
"Um, dare."
"I dare you to...dress up like an old granny and sing the selected songs to the next 5 people that walk down the hall!"
"Jubilee!"
"Come on! Are you chicken?"
"Alright, fine." The girls put their heads together and came up with a list of song for Jean to sing. Then they watched laughingly as Jean put on a long floral
print dress, a grey mop on her head, and some plastic glasses frames. She grabbed a pool stick for a cane and walked outside the room with the door open. The first person who walked by was Logan. Jean cursed under her breath.
"I love you, you love me, we're one happy family..." Logan gave her a strange look and muttered something about kids these days, getting dropped on their
heads left and right. The other girls burst out laughing. Next came Scott.
"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause, Pokémon..." Scott hurried by fast, trying not to
laugh. Ororo walked gracefully past.
"HAMTARO, when we work together it's much better, MY BEST FRIEND, we like sunflower seeds krrmp, krrmp, krrmp..." More laughter as Ororo quickly
turned around and headed the way she came. Kurt bamfed in front of the doorway. "Rouge, I vas vondering-." Jean cut him off.
"We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine..." Kurt looked over her shoulder. "Never mind, I'll ask you later." He ported away.
Finally, one last person walked by. Or should I say, wheeled. "Oh vay." Jean smacked her forehead. The Professor stopped. "Hmm? Let's hear what it is."
"It's raining men, hallelujah, it's raining men..." The professor sat until she was done. "Very nice, Jean." He wheeled away. Jean walked in amid fits of
uncontrollable laughter. Shedding the costume, she resumed her place.
"So Rahne, truth or dare."
"Truth."
"Where were you all afternoon?"
"Well, I went to go meet Roberto about something, and he said he loved me, and I did too, so we went out for a Valentine date. Then he bought me roses."
Rahne blushed the same shade as her hair. All the girls gathered around her, bombarding her with questions and opinions.
"What? Really? You love him?"
"Wow. That is so sweet!"
"And that was today? You need to be more prominent with gossip!"
"That is like, totally awesome!"
"Ah have ta say ya didn't do too bad."
"How romantic!" Choruses of sighs were heard. Then everyone began exchanging Valentine stories.
"Scott took me to the park, then to that fancy French restaurant called Chez Poisson. Afterwards, we went back to the park, and he lasered a heart with our initials in it on a tree with his eyes."
"Lance like, didn't have much stuff, but he like, totally tried hard. He gave me daises he like, picked himself without stealing, and had enough money to buy me a box of chocolates. It was totally sweet of him to like, try and all."
"The swamp rat was OK. Gave me roses and candy and the-."
"Queen of Hearts." Everyone cut in.
"He said ah was th' queen of his."
"John took me out to a new place in town, and took me to the carnival. We went on the love boat, and he made me some roses out of fire."
"I blew a heart in the ground with my little cherry bombs. We had a picnic in there."
"Bobby gave me an ice heart, and then we went to the cliff edge. He made ice sculptures for me, then we snuck into the drive-in and sat on a truck. He held my hand the whole time."
By the time all the gossiping, scary stories, and pillow fights were done, it was near 2:00 in the morning. Everyone crawled into their sleeping bags, Jean
telepathically turned off the lights, and everyone drifted off into slumber. Rahne was about to drift off as well when she heard a small tap at the door. Carefully stepping over the bodies, she opened the door to find Roberto standing there.
"Hey." He greeted her. "Couldn't sleep without a goodnight kiss." Rahne smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Thanks." He slipped off. Rahne returned to her
sleeping bag, feeling wonderfully whole and happy. The last thing she saw when she drifted off was Roberto's smiling face.
End.
A/N: So how did you like it? Review!