The bonfire burned through the shadows of the night, shimmering faintly off of the undulating ocean. The sand was cool, dry, and a faint orange in the low light. Kalli held up her hands, barring her nails and hissing violently. "...and the foul creature leapt, taking a mighty swing at Dawn Lion Milan's unprotected shoulder with its ferocious claws..."

Mae looked transfixed, as if she'd never heard the story before. Devoting her entire self into the telling, Kalli took a swing with her stick, imitating the death blow the injured Milan gave the blood-thirsty monster.

The Dawn Dragon clapped as the story came to an end, delight in the contours of her face. She looked angelic in the firelight, her eyes dark in the firelight. Kalli bowed, her hair still dripping wet from her dive into the ocean.

"I never knew you were a storyteller, Kalli." Mae half-smiled at her, pushing her own drying hair back behind her ear.

'She only ever half-smiles,' Kalli thought, a sigh escaping her lips as she collapsed onto the sand. 'One day, I'll change that. I'll make her happy, someday. So happy I'll see a real smile, see happiness glowing from every pore on her body.'

"So this is what you do, when you're alone? Swim in the ocean at night? Take walks on the beach?"

The Phoenix nodded. "I don't like being caged in or followed. It does get a little lonely sometimes, but its better than staying locked up in my room alone." Dropping down into the sand, she turned her head back to look at the stars. They shimmered faintly in the midnight sky, looking like distant jewels, glowing in the wild cast of their fire. The world had fallen away, down to the two of them on the quiet beach. The surf seemed to roll in just for them, its soothing sounds brushing the edge of their conscious. It was so beautiful, Kalli never wanted it to end...

"We should be heading back, don't you think? We have several meetings tomorrow, and I, for one, am exhausted." The dream-like quality that had built up around the evening shattered at those words. The whole world came crashing back to her, and Kalli hated it. She didn't know it, but her features suddenly twisted in a scowl of disgust.

"Sure."

The Dragon blinked her wife stood to put out the fire. "Kalli? Did I say something wrong?"

Kalli went about putting the fire out, trying not explode in anger. 'Gods damn her. We've been having such a wonderful time, and she had to ruin it. Damn meetings. I never want to sit through another one of those again.'

"Kalli? Wait! Come on; what's wrong?" The Dragon followed her, a pleading look in her shadow eyes. Kalli made sure the fire was smothered, and covered in the cold, evening sand.

She tried to smile at her, tried to make it seem as if she were okay. "It's alright... I just... I had fun."

"What is your problem? If you wanted to stay we could have." The Dragon grabbed a hold of her hand as the Phoenix tried to walk away.

She shook her hand off. "Nothing's wrong! All right? Let's go." It came out a little more sarcastic, a little more biting than Kalli had intended. She watched as the Dragon's face flared up in anger.

"Damn you, Kalli! I'm sorry, okay! You know we have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Is that all you care about? Work? What in the Phoenix's name is wrong with you? We were... and I thought..." Stomping in childish anger, Kalli turned around and walked away. She knew Mae was following her; even through her rage she knew Maellyn wouldn't be able to find her way back alone. The palace was practically invisible in the night, and the moon had set hours ago. So she seethed silently, not turning back to see if her wife was following.

'Damn you, you heartless bitch.' They separated as they entered the front gates of the palace, Mae heading to her rooms on the other side of the building. 'Damn you. I thought I'd had her. Thought maybe things would be different tonight. Why do I have to married to an ice cube?'

Kalli ran all the way back to her room, bathing and dressing for bed, her anger slowly, slowly fading away, leaving lonely exhaustion in its wake. She collapsed into her bed, giving herself over to tears as night watch cried midnight into the darkness.

:sighs: Yeah, that's why they don't get along. They're pathetic aren't they? Mmm, but they're very much fun to write about. It's really hard to make them argue, cause I've never gotten in a fight with anyone but my family members (and those are always ridiculous, like "Gimme the TV remote!" "No way in hell!" or something similar). So I had to drawl on other people's fights I was present for or heared about. This one is a bit like the fights a good friend of mine has with the guy she lives with.

But other than that, I only have one more exam, and that's not until Monday night of next week, so I should have plenty of time to write and play Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, which I hope to beat soon. Cause I think I may be getting the second one, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, for my birthday in a couple of weeks.

I'll be 20::cries: No more teenager years. This sucks, everyone's getting older and moving away or getting married or both. And I'm still stuck here trying to pay my car off. :sighs: But I'll stop rambling on about my life now.

Mmm, if you haven't read the book The Muse Asylum, it's really really good. I give it three thumbs up. ROFL.

Mina