I had been awake for only a couple of hours. So far, I've managed to fit in breakfast and an hour of training. The sun seemed to have been shining brightly all day. All together, it was a pretty normal day for everyone at the Jade palace. Well, almost everyone. Ever since last night, I had noticed that Viper had seemed to have been keeping her distance. Not just from me, but with everyone. It was affecting her training too. Whenever she tried the spinning logs, she would fall off with the first few minutes. It was just as well she hadn't planned on trying out the fire pit.

I couldn't help but sigh. Clearly our little talk about... things, was distracting her. I was starting to have second thoughts about the whole thing all together. Perhaps it would be best to call it off before it got too far? I should at the least try having a talk with her and let her know that I'm worried for her.

Right after the training session was over, I made my way over to her at once. Seems I wasn't the only one to notice her odd behavior. Tigress and Mantis had already made their way over to her before I had the chance to. Still, it didn't stop me from slithering over. By the time I did, the two kung fu warriors left. The pair passed me and I moved over to Viper. Judging by the neutral looks on their faces, Viper had told them nothing about tonight. She was finding it hard to look me in the eye. The last thing I wanted to do was force her to look at me when she was trying her hardest to avoid just that, so I used only my words.

"I... take it you're wanting to call off tonight"?

Vipers head looked up to me at once with surprise.

"No, nononono it isn't that"! She assured me.

"...But"?

Viper remained silent, as though she wasn't sure what she wanted to say.

"Viper, you know you can talk to me about anything".

I tried smiling to show my support. It raised her confidence a little. It was enough to get her to speak her mind.

"Don't worry about me Mike. It's just, I've been thinking".

"Thinking? What about"?

"Just how fast my life is changing". She let out a small laugh. "It's funny really I suppose. After everything I've been through, you'd have thought something like this would be easy, only I can't stop thinking about it".

I blinked.

"You didn't seem to have that problem yesterday". I tried soothing her.

"Yes well, we did rush it didn't we? We barely managed to give it a second thought. And now that I've got all day long, the fear of it all is catching up to me".

"Then maybe we really should consider"-

"Mike". Her soft voice cut me off more effectively than her shouting could have. I stopped talking and listened to what she had to say. "I may feel scared, but it does not mean to say that I want to run away from it either. This is something I want. Nothing is going to change my mind".

I reluctantly nodded. This was her choice after all. And either way I would have done what I could to help her. For now, all she seemed to want was space for herself. It was the least I could have done for her. I begun to slither away.

"However"... I stopped in my tracks upon hearing her voice again. I turned to see her slithering up to me. "... If I were to make one tiny request"...?

I smirked.

"Of course. What is it you need"?

Viper leaned into the side of my head and whispered into my ear, as though she was embarrassed to say it out loud. As she did, my face went red as she told me she wanted to... wow. Just... wow.

"Exactly how long has it been since you've last done that"?

"Long enough".

"Well, if you're sure it'll help, then yeah. Go for it". I laughed awkwardly.

From there, she smiled and headed back over to the pit of fire. As she did, I turned back towards the way I was originally heading and shook my head. Tonight was certainly going to prove to be... interesting.

...

The day certainly passed quicker than I had expected. The dark night had fallen upon the Valley of Peace quickly. And right now, I was simply waiting in my bedroom as the minutes slowly passed by. On any other night, I'd have been asleep in bed by now. But... not tonight. Right now I was trying my hardest not to think about what was soon going to follow. Still, we did agree that it was what we both wanted. After six months, I suppose it was a fairly normal time to do... it... God, I feel like an idiot just thinking about it.

I made a slight shuffle and twisted the sheets of the bed that I was sitting on. And if on que, my door opened revealing, well, who else, Viper. She was holding two red silk ribbons with her tail.

I remember her telling me this earlier. About how she felt that... dancing for me... would help her feel more at ease, more... in the mood. I couldn't exactly promise the same thing. In fact, I wasn't even sure whether I should have been glad or afraid that I was the only guy she was doing this for. Both I guess? Heck if I know.

Without even needing to greet each other, the show began.

I could only stare in wonder, and a little in embarrassment, as Viper twirled and turned, dancing around the room. The fluid motions and dance moves she made was incredible. It was almost enough to make me forget why she was doing this in the first place. She even used me as part of the act. Spinning the ribbons around me making it as though I was trapped in a small red hurricane.

I remember how she used to talk about herself doing this sort of thing when she was but a kid. Dancing with ribbons in competitions, winning first prize in them, she hadn't lost her touch. Though, some of the move she was putting on right now were *cough* flexible, even for a snake.

You know what the stupid thing was, was the way I just felt... ridiculous, silly, amused, all of the above? Like I did with her, she had her eyes on me the whole time. Not to mention the way she moved her sides was, God I hope I don't sound like a weirdo for saying this but, they were enchanting, as though hypnotizing me under some sort of spell.

By the time the dance had finished, it was more than just my face that had gone bright red. Though at least one of us were in cheerful spirits and Viper giggled at my embarrassment. She folded the ribbons and put them gently to the side. Afterwards, she slithered up to me, coiling around me while I eventually did the same after realizing that it was over. I managed to smile and laugh.

"Seems you haven't lost your touch". I tried starting a conversation.

"Thanks. It was fun just seeing the look on your face". She smiled.

I laughed it off and allowed myself to stare into Vipers eyes as she did the same with mine. I leaned in, she leaned in, and we kissed. Whereas it was a simple kiss on the lips at first, we did it again, then again, and again. Each kiss became more... lustful and aggressive then the last. Eventually I ended up forcing her onto the bed. For a moment, I stopped my assault and looked down to see her smiling happily.

"Are you sure you want to continue"?

It only felt fair to offer her the chance to back out. Though perhaps the smarter thing would have been to do it before we ended up snogging... Kind of late to do so now.

A nod was the only response I got from the smiling Viper. I nodded back understanding the message. Quickly we began to stop wildly kissing each other, and then we... well, that's not exactly any of your bloody business now is it? All you need to know is that it was one of the greatest nights of my life. For both our lives.

...

I felt better getting this out of the way with. But I knew that some people would be a little disapointted with the lack of lemon so I decided to write a small chapter that would lead up to it. This is what I came up with. So if the chapter sucks a little bit, I won't find that too surprising. All and all, I hope you enjoyed reading it. Cheerio!