Hehehe… ;P

A fluffy-ish story! XD

I'm sorry if it's too darn mushy XO

Hope you guys are enjoying these stories… They aren't much, but at least they're something. :P

Read and Review… Please? Ty!

))((o))((

Grey Gets Help in the Kitchen

Grey Wilde and Nicole Solaris cheerfully walked towards the kitchen. It was Grey's turn for kitchen duty, and he was glad that his best friend was going to help him out. Nicole was a wonderful cook. "Okay, Grey. We're gonna be making Cream of Asparagus soup, Veggie Pasta, and Strawberry Gelatin." She put on an apron and started gathering the ingredients. Grey made a face.

"Asparagus! Vegetables! That's rabbit food, man!" Nicole shrugged.

"Well, it's healthy…" He sat on a stool and laid his head on his arms. He looked at her as she bustled around the kitchen. Suddenly, he was struck by a bright idea.

"Let's put laxatives in the mother superior's soup!" He grinned evilly, remembering all the times that she foiled his acts of mischief. Nicole rolled her eyes and shot him a withering look.

"Oh please, Grey. We're not kids anymore." Grey sunk lower in his seat, thoroughly chastised.

"It was just an idea…" He grumbled. 'Geez... Why's she so uptight? I wish that we could go back to the good old days… back when we first met…' He smiled absentmindedly as his thoughts traveled back… back… it was about 10 years ago.

6-year old Grey Wilde grumbled quietly to himself as his mother pulled his arm. "Come on, Greyikins! We're just going to our neighbor's house to pay a friendly visit. There's a little girl there about your age. Anyway, I have to get Edna's recipe for pumpkin pie." Grey scowled. He hated girls. And he hated pumpkin pie. But he was powerless to resist his mother's urgent pulls. They stopped in front of a house with blue flowers growing in pots near the door. His mother rang the doorbell. After a few moments, a pleasant-faced, dark-haired woman opened the door. When she saw them, her face broke into a smile.

"Gina! And your little boy, too! Come in, come in. I'll serve some tea." Gina and Grey Wilde entered the cozy home graciously, but even though his mother's face was cheery, Grey's was stormy and petulant.

The door shut behind them and Grey was surrounded by the pleasant smell of cinnamon. Edna walked over to the stairs and shouted up, "Nicole! Get down here!" Rapid footsteps sounded upstairs as someone ran towards them.

"What ma! Can I have some cin-" Her half-shout was stopped abruptly when she saw that they had company. She went down the rest of the stairs quietly, sneaking glances at both Grey and his mother. After going down the stairs, she hid behind her mother. Gina pushed her son gently from behind.

"Go on Grey, say hi." Grey sighed and greeted her sullenly. Edna sighed and did the same with her daughter. Nicole emitted a barely audible

"Hi". The two mothers clucked their tongues and exchanged a glance. Nicole's mother patted her daughter's back. "Go on now. Both of you play in Nicole's room. Your mom and I will be right down here, drinking teas and chatting." The two sighed and trudged up the stairs.

After a few minutes of shy silence, Grey cleared his throat. "Do you have any Hero action figures? Like maybe Chaos with his wild red hair! Or maybe cool Loki the assassin!" Nicole nervously fingered her tresses.

"Uhm… I'm sorry. I don't have them. But I do have Iris the priestess! And Barnaby the purple Peco-Peco too!" She wiggled the two toys she was holding in her hands. One was a shapely doll with long brown hair, the other was a purple bird.

"What the! Dolls? I don't wanna play with those stupid girly toys!" Nicole put down the toys, her eyes downcast. Her lips quivered.

"So you duwanna play with me?" Grey waved his hands frantically.

"Don't cry! My mother will get mad at me!" Nicole looked at him, her blue eyes wide. Her lips trembled even faster. The boy raised his hands in defeat,

"Alright! Alright! I'll play!" The girl immediately smiled, and her eyes lost any sign of sadness.

"Yey!" She handed him a knight-doll wearing pink boots. "Here, you can be Sergeant Patty!" Then she took a blonde mage and sort of wiggled it in front of Grey's doll. She made her voice higher, "Hello, Sergeant Patty! How's your baby?" Grey looked at her, his eyes wide. Then he sighed and shook his head. How could he have sunk so low? He wiggled the doll he was holding in the same way as Nicole had.

"Oh, my baby's just fine. Sleeping like, well, a baby! How about your dog?" Nicole giggled and smiled widely at him. And Grey smiled back.

16-year old Grey Wilde laughed quietly to himself. Nicole Solaris turned towards him, a curious look on her face. "What's up, Grey?" He looked at her, smiling and remembering the good old days. She looked at him through squinted eyes. "You're totally freaking me out, Grey!" The boy shook his head and leaned back in his chair.

"Sorry. Nothing's up. I just spaced out there." Nicole grinned and leaned over the counter.

"Really? Any particular reason why?" He was about to answer when the oven started dinging. "Oh dang… Hold that thought, Grey. I have to fix this." Grey nodded absentmindedly as he rested his head in his hands. His mind drifted back to the past again. 'We'd always get into fights of course, those really stupid fights that kids get into, but we always managed to make up.'

"Chaos is way better than Loki!" Grey declared, his hands rested firmly on his hips.

"Nu-Uh!" Nicole defiantly declared, flipping her long, blonde hair. "Loki's definitely the best! He's fast, he's cool, and he's really smart! And cute too!" She gushed, making Grey sigh in disgust.

"Please, Nicole! Chaos is totally cooler than he is! He's really strong!"

"But stupid!" Nicole interjected, laughing.

"He is NOT stupid!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!" Grey, out of total annoyance, pushed her softly.

"Is too!" Nicole pushed him back harder, and it continued in this way 'til they both started rolling down the hill. And even then, they were still screaming arguments. When they reached the bottom, they spit out some grass that ended up in their mouths, then looked at each other with squinty eyes. "Look what you did!" Nicole angrily cried while rubbing her dirt-smudged cheek.

"What I did! You mean what you did!" He puffed out his cheeks in anger. Suddenly, Nicole giggled. "What's so funny?" Grey sullenly asked.

"You just look so… silly!" She giggled again. For a moment, he looked at her like she was insane, then he started chuckling, too.

"You look silly too, silly!" Then they both erupted in giggles.

'Of course, I was her knight-in-shining armor… Well, in dirt-smudged clothes, anyway.'

Nicole and Grey, aged 10, were walking home from the market, laden down with a basket full to the brim with vegetables. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, 3 scruffy young boys came out of an alley. One of them, who had very spiky bright orange hair, waved mockingly at them. "Hi there, girlies!" Grey silently steered Nicole away from the ruffians, but they followed. Another boy, dressed in leather and fishnets, turned to the spiky-haired one.

"Gee, boss… Don't those oranges look really delicious?" The third boy, whose white hair hung limply over his face, nodded enthusiastically.

"They would really taste good after a hard day of pick-pocketing…" The boss smiled at them,

"Good thinking, guys." He turned towards the two kids, his outstretched hand reaching towards the basket. Grey went in between them and Nicole.

"Don't touch her or the basket." He glared at them menacingly. The 3 boys laughed.

"A tough one, huh? You'll be sorry, kid." They advanced menacingly towards him. Grey turned to Nicole.

"Run, Nicole!" Nicole looked at him, her eyes a mixture of fear and stubbornness. She didn't want to leave him. "Now!" He shouted, pushing her gently yet firmly. She looked at him again, with that same look in her eyes, then she ran.

Grey Wilde cracked his knuckles and went into an offensive stance. Now this was one of the reasons why he trained and exercised everyday. He smiled at the three, his eyes twinkling with anticipation and filled with one message only. "Bring it on."

He walked the rest of the way home, dirty and worrying about Nicole. He fumbled for his house key then let himself in. Nicole sat in his kitchen, holding a cup of tea. In front of her was a steaming kettle full of tea. She heard him enter and stood up, facing him. "Grey? You're okay!" She ran towards him and hugged him very tight.

"Oof! Geez Nicole, You don't have to suffocate me!" He playfully stuck his tongue out at her. She laughed and jokingly swatted his shoulder.

"What did you do!" Grey smirked.

"I just talked to them about being nice." Nicole tugged a strand of her hair.

"Really? Then why are you so dirty?" Grey shrugged.

"Hey, the past is the past. Just forget about it, okay?" Nicole raised an eyebrow, then sighed.

"Alright…"

'There were lots of times were we just talked and had fun… When we'd just run and run and run, with nary a care for rules or stuffy regulations… Life was so free then.'

"You can't catch me!" 13-year old Nicole sang out as she ran through fields of sunflowers. Her friend Grey was running behind, trying to catch her. Their laughter cut through the silence of the fields, and they kept on running and playing 'til they collapsed, dead tired, on a green patch of grass. They were breathing hard as they lay on the grass, side by side. Grey sat up and turned towards Nicole.

"Wow… Hey, Nicole! My heart's beating really fast! Like a Lunatic's!" Nicole sat up too.

"Really? Hey, that's neat!"

"Here, listen!" He lay back down. Nicole laughed and leaned over, putting her ear to his heart. Grey was suddenly, acutely, aware of her and the nearness of their warm bodies. He smelled the flowery scent of her hair as strands of it strayed to his face and tickled his nose. He was conscious of her hand that was laid on top of his arm. And he was also very aware of how delicate she seemed, and how big and clumsy he was in comparison. The she straightened up, and those feelings were gone. Instead, they were replaced by a deep-seated confusion, of the type that he had never experienced before.

"Grey. Grey. Grey!" A voice interrupted his reverie. Nicole snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Hello!"

"Oh! Hi! Sorry, I spaced out." His friend felt his forehead.

"Are you okay? You seem to be spacing out a lot lately." Grey waved her hand away, laughing.

"Geez, I'm fine! Don't worry." Nicole shrugged and pushed forward a steaming bowl of soup.

"Here, try this. It's newly cooked!" Grey shrugged,

"Sure, why not? Thanks, Nicole." He took a tentative sip. "Hey! This is pretty good!" He started slurping down the soup with gusto. Nicole sat across from him, a smile on her lips.

"Hey, do you still want to go through with the 'laxatives in the mother superior's soup' plans?" Grey shrugged.

"If you want to." He smiled and continued drinking the soup. Nicole's smile grew wider.

"Of course I want to. That's why I made you the test subject." Grey's spoon stopped in mid-air. He stared at Nicole with wide, wide eyes. He wanted to get mad at her, he wanted to wring her neck, but all he did was rush to the bathroom. All he heard from the kitchen was Nicole laughing and gleefully crying,

"Gotcha!"