Ella and B.E.N., the next morning, before it was light, made their way to the cave. B.E.N., saying he was the man and had to protect her and that he was responsible for her, went first. Ella followed him, her expression almost describable as dull or numb, or even angsty. She walked behind B.E.N., looking around. The moment they walked into the cave her expression changed immediately to awe.

Colored lights danced across her face where sunlight hit the crystals that resided in the walls. They came in every shade of every color of the rainbow: deep maroon and crimson, pale and deep orange, butter yellow and deep gold, mint and forest green, azure and cerulean blue, and royal and lilac purple. Ella beamed, laughing like a child and running forward, running her hand along the wall.

"Oh, B.E.N.! Isn't this just wonderful?!" she giggled, twirling. "It's like from a faerie tale!"

B.E.N. grinned. "It certainly is magnificent."

"Faerie, faerie in this wall," Ella whispered, her fingers splayed across a deep cobalt-colored crystal, "Grant my greatest wish of all... Pixie, pixie, hear my plea, have my knight come rescue me..." She gazed into the cloudy depths of the crystal as if expecting it to answer to her daydream rhymes or her light touch.

"What'd you say, Ellie?"

"Oh, just little poems I made up when I was a little girl."

"Tell me about them."

"They're all quite rediculous," Ella said, blushing, "About faeries and princes and knights... B.E.N., do you think happily ever after exists?" Her eyes were distant as she sat down indian style in the middle of the small room with crystal walls.

"That depends, Ellie."

"Depends... On what?"

"Who the happily ever after is with, and the situations n'stuff."

"...How about... with a pirate and a silly little girl who lives off her daydreams?"

"Oh, Ellie...." sighed B.E.N. worriedly. "I don't want you getting your hopes up."

"B.E.N., you don't understand! He makes me feel.... different. Like no one else ever has. I think that I might even.... love him." she smiled dreamilly.
"It's been a week, Ellie! A week!"

"The best week of my life."

"A week spent with a pirate who kidnapped you."

"A week with a charming, gallant, cavalier young man in whom I put my trust," Ella smiled, standing up and picking a beautiful blue stone. "I'll cleave it in half, and give half to Nate and keep the other. It'll be my token of appreciation."

She sighed happily, dancing around the cave with the stone clutched tight in her hand. There was a loud crack, and everything went black.

Flint heard a sound like a gunshot and jumped, startled. He had been following Ella and B.E.N., concerned for their safety, and was at that very moment standing in the shadow of a large plant outside the cave, waiting. It dawned on him that the sound was quite obviously not a good sign, and he rushed forward. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Rocks tumbled down, the cave collapsing. Flint panicked and ran forward. B.E.N. and Ella were somewhere in the rubble!

He yelled their names, digging through the rocks, searching frantically for them. After what felt like an eternity searching, a pale hand protruded up through the ruins of the cave. He cursed and started to hurriedly remove rocks. Ella was stretched out and bleeding, her eyes closed, covered in dust from the crumbling rocks. He pulled her onto his lap. B.E.N. would be alright. He was a machine. Built to handle anything. Ella wasn't, and she was the center of his attention at that moment.

"Ella..." he gently shook her shoulders, "Ella, wake up..."

She didn't respond, and he closed his eyes, trying not to panic. He had grown quite fond of the girl and he didn't realize what he felt right away. But Ella had been the one to say it: Love. He had heard her speaking from outside the cave. He thought over what she said. ' I think that I might even.... love him'. Yes. Those were her exact words.

He had not intended on falling in love with her. That complicated things quite a bit. He shook his head. Loving her wasn't part of the plan. This wouldn't do at all. He'd just have to fall out of love with her. But the most important matter at the moment was to see if she was even alive. He bent cautiously over her, his face inches from hers.

"Come on, you can make it... You're a tough lady, you can do this..."

Ella's eyes openned a little. ".......Nate.....?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm here!" he let out a sigh of relief.

Ella smiled weakly, and shifted her left hand slightly, her long tapered fingers unclenching what she was holding. "...I kept a hold of it... I got this for you.... Nate.... I wanted to have half... and you to have half... it was your birthday present.... but now it's spoiled....I'm sorry..." her words were drawn out, the simple effort of speaking causing her to flinch in pain.

Nate took off his trenchcoat and laid it under her. "No, it's not spoiled, Ella. I'm just glad you're alright. Keep talking. I'm going to look for B.E.N."

"....B.E.N.... " She sounded worried now.

"Yes." Flint nodded, digging around.

It wasn't long until he found B.E.N., who seemed to be in almost perfect condition except that his arm was slightly bent. B.E.N. and Flint hurried back over to Ella. B.E.N., when he saw the state she was in, freaked out. Flint just shook his head and gently picked Ella up, carrying the now unconcious girl out of the remains of the cave.

"...When did she decide to get me a... A birthday present?" asked Flint, his face showing how much this disturbed him.

"About five minutes before we went and asked you to explore. Wait.... why were you there? How did you know what happened and how did you get there so fast?"

"...I was following you. I was worried," Flint said, feeling a little guilty, "But I'm glad I did. Ella was almost dead when I found her and she's still not in.... how do I say this..."

"She's not in spiffy condition?"

"Yes. She's not in... wait... spiffy?"

"Yeah! Y'know, spiff-y. SPIFFY. As in good, cool, awesome, nifty... yeah!"

Flint shook his head. "Yes then, Ella isn't in 'spiffy' condition."

B.E.N. found it hard to supress his laughter. "Eh... hehe... ahem..." he coughed to cover his snicker.

"What is it?" Flint looked over at B.E.N.

"It's just hearing a pirate saying spiffy... especially you..." cackeld B.E.N.

They talked about various things --mainly Ella-- all the way back.