The moon shining down on Lazy Town was waxing just past one quarter full. It was of little help brightening the dark town. It was even darker inside the houses.

Pixel had come home and immediately began playing a new video game he had picked up at the exhibition that day. When the lights went out, he had one level left to play to win the game. He howled in frustration and went directly to bed figuring there was nothing else to do.

Stingy had finally stopped trembling, but had a horrendous headache. As he changed into his pajamas covered in dollar signs, he noticed that he had ripped his pants. He had gone to bed with his Piggy, and a cool washrag on his forehead. When the lights went out, he was already out like a light.

Ziggy's left eye was still twitching now and then. When he got home, he went to his room and hid in his closet. There, he sat going over the day in every detail. Then, he went over it again. By the time he was playing it through in his mind a third time, tears were streaming down his face. The whites of his blue eyes were red and occasionally he hiccupped. He sat on the floor in the dark staring at nothing, but seeing Stephanie about to get hit, and the look of contempt and controlled rage on Sportacus' face. He had no idea when the lights went out.

Robbie was still congratulating himself as he climbed back inside the hatch to return home. Unfortunately, Robbie had forgotten that when he pulled the switch, the power to his own home would also be cut. Robbie sat on his floor in the blackness clutching his flashlight. He decided it was at least quiet, and lay down. The corners of his mouth inched upward into a smile as he thought about everyone in their houses, in the dark, with nothing to do, but sleep.

With one hand Sportacus fumbled to turn off the water in the shower, with the other he grabbed the towel he had just put his hand on. With no window in the bathroom, the dark was cave-like. As he climbed out of the shower, Sportacus scrubbed at his soapy eyes with the towel, while trying to picture where the door was. He could hear Stephanie still screaming.

"I'm coming, Stephanie!" Sportacus yelled as loud as he could, but he doubted she could hear him. "After the day we've had, and now, this," Sportacus mumbled to himself as he wrapped the towel around his waist. The door was closer than he remembered and ran into it. He stubbed his toe and felt a stab of pain as the doorknob connected with his hipbone. He grabbed the doorknob turning it violently, and threw the door open with such force, the hinges came loose. "Stephanie!" Sportacus yelled, again. The house was quiet. Stephanie had run out of breath to scream.

"Sportacus!" Stephanie gasped out. Her voice was quivery and hoarse. He could hear the fear and tension. He pictured her face as she told him about the dinosaur dreams and as the car was about to hit her. All Sportacus knew at that moment, was he had to get to Stephanie, to save her from her fear.

Her voice had come from the living room. He barrelled down the hall, water droplets flying off his skin and hair, as he tucked the towel tighter around his waist.

Stephanie could hear him coming, though for her it still wasn't fast enough. She knew he was there and he couldn't help but hear her. She tried to calm down, though the darkness made her feel like what it must be like to drown. She stood listening for him.

He reached the doorway and immediately slipped on several of the CD cases Stephanie had dropped when the lights went out. Stephanie heard him slip and realized what had happened.

She reached out toward the sound thinking to grab hold of an arm or hand and pull Sportacus back to safety. But, while trying to regain his balance, Sportacus twisted. Instead, what her left hand encountered was the sculpted curve of a waist. Her right hand landed smack in the center of a well defined pectoral muscle. As her warm hands met his cool skin, he involuntarily shivered. Stephanie's eyes grew wide as she felt his reaction. As she felt his skin under her fingertips turn from smooth to covered in goosebumps, her breath caught, and her belly filled with swarms of butterflies.

Sportacus grabbed at Stephanie to right himself. He flung one arm over her shoulder, while flailing with the other trying to find the wall. Not able to find the wall for support, in desperation Sportacus threw his other arm around Stephanie's tiny waist. At the same time, Stephanie slid her hand from his waist to his back, and the other from his chest to his back, and pulled with all her might. He slammed into her knocking her a step backward. She stepped on a case, lost her footing, and fell back taking him with her. Sportacus neatly pulled Stephanie into him, then flipped horizontally so he would take the brunt of the landing. As they were falling, Stephanie instinctively dug her elbows into Sportacus' waist and rested her arms flat, along his sides, so her arms wouldn't be caught under him. As they landed, they heard what sounded like ice breaking, but it was only the CD's scattered on the floor, shattering.

There they lay on the floor in the dark. With the splintered remains of several CD cases pinching Sportacus' back, they gasped for air, and slowly let their eyes adjust. Sportacus lay flat and stretched his legs out, slowly relaxing his tight and tired muscles. Stephanie's head was resting at the base of Sportacus' breastbone. The pounding of his hearbeat transfixed her as it slowed.

Without realizing it, Stephanie's fingers lightly traced over his ribs. At first, Sportacus didn't realize what her fingers were doing, either. He was concentrating on catching his breath. When the motion did make it through to his conciousness, he lost his breath, again. He released Stephanie from his arms, and she slid to his side. Her night clothes had absorbed the water still on his skin from the shower, and now bunched around her, twisting. Never did her hand break contact with his body. She simply slid her hand over his belly, pushing herself in tight agianst his side. Sportacus threw his hands above his head. Never had his superhero image been tested as it had today, and it was wearing him down.

Stephanie's warm fingers followed the path over the high definition muscles in his torso. One two, three four, five six. The butterflies in her belly were spreading out to the rest of her body, making her nerves tingle. She placed a hand splayed flat against him. Her thumb resting below his belly button, her pinky finger pressed against the edge of the towel. Stephanie could begin to feel his muscles quiver throughout his body. She could feel his thigh muscles flex against her stomach. She slid her arm across to his other side counted down the muscles there. One, two. Long and lean. She could feel muscles ripple under her arm.

"Stephanie." Sportacus whispered her name, gave a strangled sigh, and bolted to his feet. They could now see outlines in the dark. What had taken only a few moments, seemed like a lifetime. Though neither one could admit to it, they both felt it was not long enough. Stephanie got to her feet as well. The stood staring at each other. Stephanie, gripping her arms across her chest, feeling the goosebumps on her own body emerge, and Sportacus clutching his towel, bunching it into a knot in front of him. Stephanie made the absurd observation while standing there, that Sportacus' mustache was still pencil point perfect.

In the sudden stillness, Stephanie's stomach growled, breaking the spell they seemed to have been under. She rolled her eyes and dropped her head in embarrassment. Sportacus threw back his head and laughed.

"What do you want for supper, Stephanie?" Sportacus asked through his laughter.

"I fixed a plate of fruit and cheese and crackers earlier, while you were in the shower." Stephanie was glad for the darkness, as she could feel her face grow hot from memories of the last few moments, and thinking about Sportacus in the shower.

"I am going to go try to find the clothes I left in the bathroom. Do you know where a flashlight might be?"

"I'll look for one. I'll put supper on the table, too."

"Thank you, Stephanie. Be right back." Sportacus carefully felt his way across to the hallway and then down to the bathroom. It took a few minutes to locate the T-shirt and boxers, but he was finally clothed.

He rested his forehead on the doorframe of the bathroom for a moment. What had just happened? He had always liked Stephanie. She was a sweet little girl. But the way she had just touched him ... he hated to admit it, but it scared him. He didn't want to scare her, but for those few moments when her fingers were trailing on his skin, she was not a little girl. She was very much a big girl.

"I can handle this. I'm supposed to be a superhero. Superhero's have super self control. She obviously trusts me, and I won't let her down." He lifted his eyes toward the ceiling. "I just hope we don't trip on anything else." He headed back down the hall to the kitchen, where it was almost as dark as the bathroom.

"Ow," he bumped into the corner of the counter. Spinning around and backing up, he stepped on Stephanie.

"Ow," Stephanie protested. "Here." Stephanie held a square up in front of his face. "I coudn't find the flashlight, but I found some candles."

Sportacus took the square from Stephanie. "Matches, got it. Nothing beats candlelight for a supper date." He lit the candles outlined on the table. Sportacus blew out the match and gave Stephanie the sweetest smile he could. She looked across at him and smiled back.

They sat at the kitchen table, eating a candlelit picnic supper, talking like the best of friends they were, and not saying anything about what had occurred over the last two days. They grew quiet as they finished eating, not wanting the moment of peace to end.

Sportacus propped his head up on his fist and sat staring off into space. Stephanie popped the last grape into her mouth, then got up to clear the table. On the way back, she stopped behind Sportacus' chair.

"I wondered what color your hair was," Stephanie said. She ran her fingers through Sportacus' dark, blond hair. It was trimmed short and his bangs had dried spikey. Then she leaned in close to his face. "And you have Icelandic blue eyes."

"And you have eyes the color of dark chocolate." Stephanie didn't look very pleased with his description. "What's wrong?"

"Dark chocolate is bitter," Stephanie replied.

"Not you. Your dark chocolate eyes are very sweet." Sportacus pursed his lips in consideration.

Without warning, Stephanie grasped Sportacus around the neck, leaned in, and pressed her lips to his. His own blue eyes shot open and he tried to pull back, but Stephanie kept a surprisingly strong hold on him. Sportacus was getting light headed and his arms had inched up slowly through the air. They hovered around Stephanie's waist, then reached around and pulled her close. Stephanie finally pulled away from Sportacus' lips. His mustache tickled her ever so slightly. Nose to nose, she had never seen eyes so blue. She imagined that was what the Arctic sky looked like on a clear day. She stepped back and he released her immediately, then she moved to her own side of the table. She leaned on the table looking at him. He still looked stunned.

Stephanie gave a shrug of her shoulders and looked at Sportacus with an expression of disappointment. "Darn."

"What?"

"I told you dark chocolate isn't sweet."

Sportacus was confused. He didn't get it.

Stephanie grinned at him. "Well, you haven't melted down yet, so I must not be sweet."

Sportacus looked at her in disbelief. He wasn't sure if she was joking. And if she was joking, which joke was it? The kiss itself, or seeing if he would have a meltdown? Sportacus sat very still and tried to make his breathing and facial expression return to normal. A meltdown. He certainly did not want to let Stephanie know she wasn't far off from accomplishing that! And he had been worried about tripping on something else?

Stephanie tried to cover a huge yawn, but it didn't work. She glanced at Sportacus to see if he noticed. He had. With clarity, he realized she was scared and didn't want to go to bed. He was concerned about what else she might do to avoid sleep.

He shook his head as he considered the girl before him. She was going to be a gorgeous lady some day, both inside and out. She would end up breaking a lot of hearts. He felt a little sorry for the boys. He couldn't decide if it was a good or bad thing that she had decided to experiment on him. He frowned at the next thought. Just like the boys, today. All kids grow up and there is no way to stop them. He just hoped he could help them grow up in one piece.

She trusted him to do the right thing. He had to trust her to do the same. If they made mistakes, they had to trust each other to forgive, forget, and move on to tomorrow. And trust that tomorrow will be better than today. Trust was all Stephanie and Sportacus really had.

Stephanie had laid her head on the table and her eyes were flickering shut. Sportacus got the sofa ready for the night. He locked the doors and blew out the candles on the table. He eased Stephanie back off the table against his shoulder and picked her up. He carefully carried her to the sofa and stretched her out. He laid down beside her and she snuggled close to him, tucking her head under his chin, and wrapping both her arms around his massive upper arm.

Sportacus took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was NOT the weekend he thought he was going to have. Stingy would have to come get his car tomorrow. He was going to have to talk to Stingy and Ziggy about today. He wanted to meet the new kid, Stefan. The Mayor and Bessie would be back tomorrow. He would go back to airship. His quiet, peaceful, airship. Everything would be back to normal.

Stephanie. He hoped people could see their relationship for what it was. Two friends who cared greatly for each other on so many levels. Trusting each other, in a world where there doesn't seem to be room for trust. Yes, he was much older than she. But she would someday be older, too. He considered for a moment, the two of them old, and grey haired, leaning on their canes dancing to the Bing Bang song. Sportacus chuckled silently.

He turned to look at Stephanie, asleep. She must have been having a good dream tonight, by the look of that smile. He pulled his arm away from her, then wrapped her in his arms, gently running a hand up and down her back. He could feel her warm breath tickle the base of his neck, and soon her hand was resting in the V of his T-shirt. Sportacus leaned over and lightly grazed her lips with a gentle kiss. He heard her mumble something about, flower petals. She snuggled deeper into his chest and sighed contentedly.

In her dream, Stephanie felt the flower petal linger lightly on her lips. Then she was covered, floating in a river of flower petals, flowing through the door, into Sportacus' airship.

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Chiba Apey and MeowMix2 - "Fjandinn" is an icelandic curse word. I googled "Icelandic Translations" and used To everyone who wished a Long Island Tea for me, I humbly thank you! Remember the picture on my icebox? Talk about inspiration!