For the Princess of Nova Roma Amara Aquila, it was just another stress-filled day in the Xavier Institute. She'd just finished yet another Danger Room session with the over-bearing Scott Summers and she really needed a long, hot shower. She was hot, sweaty, and she desperately needed to wash her hair. That was the thing about being a princess. You just had to keep your image nice and clean. It would never do to be seen with your hair sticking out in awkward directions, which was what Amara's hair looked like now, thanks to a stray electrical charge from the resident electrical mutant, Ray Crisp aka Berzerker.

Unbeknownst to our little princess, however, another not-so-stray bolt was snaking down the hallway from a corner which a pair of blue eyes was watching. The face which the eyes were, well- shall we say connected? - were tinged with amusement and mirth, and the mouth was twisted with the effort of trying not to laugh. Needless to say, the peace that had reigned in the mansion broke loose in about five seconds. The figure, unable to keep in the laughs any longer, sprinted to the sanctuary of the greenhouse, snorting with laughter.

"RAY CRISP!" A shrill voice shrieked from the mansion. One of the mansion's instructors, Ororo Munroe looked up from her gardening and glanced over at the boy whose name had been called. He was bending over one of the bushes, innocently observing the tiny buds blooming. "Ray," Ororo said sternly. "What have you been doing to Amara this time?" Ray Crisp glanced up innocently. "Nothing," he replied with a small smile. "I haven't gone within three feet of her." This was the truth. He'd only shorted out the electricity on her heater from down the hallway.

Ororo studied the lanky boy again and then shook her head, bending down to pick continue her gardening. You never could tell what you'd get with Ray Crisp. No telling at all.

"Where is he?" Amara barged into the library, where Jamie immediately multiplied into several Jamies. He recollected himself when Amara banged the book down in front of him. "Where is Ray?" she asked, more forcefully this time.

"Right here, stop terrorizing the little guy," Ray flopped into a chair next to Jamie, who picked up his books and scuttled out of the room, terrified to even speak. "What do you want?" he folded his hands and fixed Amara with those startlingly blue eyes. "I'm at your service."

Amara found herself gazing at those blue eyes of his. She wondered what it would be like to gaze at them under a starry night sky…whoa. She shook herself mentally. Where'd that come from? Ray? Please. She shook herself again. What was she thinking?

Ray watched Amara shrewdly as the girl turned away abruptly. He could have sworn that she was staring at him. But it was probably all in his imagination as Amara laced into him and started screaming about her water heater being shorted out. He wasn't listening at all, but instead watched Evan Daniels outside the window making faces at Rogue's turned back. He found his eyes, however straying to Amara standing at the window. He told himself that it was purely to make his charade of listening to her more plausible, but somehow he couldn't convince himself. Instead, he let his eyes rove over Amara's curvy body and how the sunlight shone on her brown hair. He imagined his fingers running through Amara's brown hair, feeling the smooth texture on his skin…

Whoa. Back off, Crisp. Ray recoiled in surprise. He hadn't expected his thoughts to go in that direction. He leaned back in his chair but misjudged it, toppling off and landing the wrong way round. He tried to stand up and ended up banging his head pretty badly against the table. "Ow," he murmured, rubbing his head and emerging from the bottom of the table. Well, way to impress the lady, Ray.

Is he all right? Was the first phrase that popped into Amara's head the minute Ray banged his head against the table. She bit her tongue. She didn't need Ray to know that she actually liked him. It'd just give him extra ammunition to use against her in future. No, better to let her stew in peace than humiliate herself. Instead, she walked over and bent over to where Ray was on his knees, rubbing his head. "Let that be a lesson to you," she said sweetly, walking out of the room.

Later that day, Ray was in his room listening to Green Day's song American Idiot at full blast. He was writing his essay on American freedom and its rights when Amara came barging into his room. He gasped in surprise and toppled off his bed, once again banging his head on the table for the second time that day. He emerged from the floor, rubbing his head and demanding to know what was going on.

"What's going on?" Amara repeated his question with real anger behind her words. "What's going on is that I can hear your music all the way from my room! I can't study!"

"Do you even study?" Ray retorted. "And what does it matter if you can hear my music? It's not that loud." And as an after thought, he added, "Besides, I bet you're only talking and gossiping with Jubilee."

"We are not!" Amara said indignantly, even though he was right. She hadn't even touched her books. "And your music's not loud? Whoever told you THAT? My room's on the other side of the mansion, and I can hear it!"

"You've just got sensitive hearing," Ray snapped, climbing back onto his bed. "And besides," he added as a thought occurred to him. "If it's THAT loud, why hasn't anyone come up to complain yet?"

"Let's see," Amara said sarcastically, ticking off on her fingers. "Rahne, Roberto, Sam and Bobby went for a picnic. Logan, Ororo, Professor Xavier, and Mr. McCoy are in the Danger Room and you know it's soundproof. Scott, Jean, Evan, Rogue, Kitty and Kurt are in school staying back for extracurricular activities. Is that everyone?"

"You forgot Jamie," Ray pointed out, folding his arms.

"Oh, yes, Jamie. He went to the public library a few minutes ago," Amara shot, tapping her foot. "He said something about being disturbed." She smiled triumphantly.

Ray rolled his eyes and zapped his stereo, turning the volume down a few notches. "Happy now?" he asked sarcastically, his nerves wearing thin. He'd forgotten just how annoying the Princess of Nova Roma was. Amara nodded. "Happy," she replied, sauntering out of the room. Ray shook his head and delved into his essay again.

Except that he couldn't really concentrate. His mind kept flashing back to the heated debate both Amara and him had just gone through. He'd never forget the moments when the both of them started arguing. Roberto had told him before that when they argued, sparks flew.

Except…are they romantic sparks or argumentative ones?

"Argh!" Ray threw his pillow at the door. Even when that annoying Princess wasn't there, she could still annoy and distract him!

Amara stretched as she walked into her room. "There, the music's down," she announced, leaping onto her bed. Jubilee looked at her. "Amazing," she commented.

Amara arched an eyebrow. "What's amazing?" she asked curiously. Jubilee shrugged. "Usually, nobody gets Ray to turn down his volume," she replied. "I tried it last week…"

Amara shrugged. Jubilee took it as a cue to continue. "It seems that Ray does a lot of things for you but not for us," she noted. "I wonder if he likes you?" She glanced at the princess. She was frozen on her chair, her eyes staring out the window. "Ray doesn't like me," she replied in a low voice. Jubilee grinned knowingly. "But you like him," she teased mischievously. Amara, instead of replying turned back to her work. "No, I don't," she said over her shoulder. Jubilee rolled her eyes. Denial.

Later at dinner, Amara and the rest of the New Recruits, except for Jubilee were at the dinner table fighting over the last remnants. Well, the boys were fighting. Amara and Rahne were gaping slack-jawed at the commotion.

"Boys," Amara said finally, amazed. Rahne heartily concurred. Jubilee was lucky that she was missing this scene. She was in Mr McCoy's office, talking urgently. No matter how hard Amara squeezed her, she couldn't get any information. Amara shrugged it off as something educational.

It was about that time that Mr McCoy came loping into the room. "I have an announcement to make," he announced. "Pack your bags. We're going to go on a survival trip." Several outbursts came from the room, mostly disbelief and outrage at being informed on such short notice. After sufficiently calming them down, Mr McCoy explained that this trip was solely for the New Recruits. Like it or not, they were going. In the back of Amara's mind, a thought niggled that maybe Jubilee had something to do with it, but it didn't occur to her to ask until later.

A couple of hours later, the X-Jet was flying over Redwood Forest. The New Recruits that had gone on the last survival trip started reminiscing about their experiences there.

"Remember when Jamie got stung by poison ivy?"

"Remember when Jubilee fell into the pile of mud?"

To which elicited the elegant response of:

"Shut up, Bobby."

The reminiscing went on and on:

"Remember how Rahne chased away the hunter trying to shoot a wolf?"

"Yeah, she bit him so badly that he screamed like a girl!"

"Remember when Amara accidentally burnt the plants she was holding?"

"That was your fault, Ray!"

"How so?"

"You pushed me!"

"Yeah, right."

This kind of chatter went on till the plane landed. This was where Mr McCoy explained that they would all be put into pairs and sent out into the woods. They were supposed to find the plants that were on the list he handed out. Ray and Amara ended being paired together.

"Rotten luck, that's what it is," Ray grumbled. "I get stuck with a know-it-all and an annoying brat."

"Same for me," Amara shot, heaving her backpack higher. "Come on, else we'll be late."

"Clouds are moving in," Ray noted later, as they hiked. "Storm's coming."

"Sure," Amara shot, as she tramped along. "Let's just find this stupid-" she paused to consult her list "-aloe vera and get out of here!"

"Maybe it would help if you stopped complaining so much and concentrate on moving at a decent speed," Ray retorted, brushing aside the ivy against his face and striding forward, ignoring the surprised shriek that exploded from Amara when they wet ivy smacked her in her face. He'd deal with it sooner or later.

It turned out to be sooner. He felt a small and strong hand on his shoulder and it forced him to turn around. Amara stood there, eyes flashing and hands on her hips and glaring at him. "It's not really polite to let ivy swing into a girl's face," she said through gritted teeth. Ray shrugged. "Doesn't really matter to me," he replied.

Amara stepped forward. "Apologize," she said fiercely. Ray didn't flinch. "Now that you're one of the New Recruits, we're all the same," he retorted. "Perfect liberties to torture you." He stepped forward on his last sentence and they were suddenly face-to-face. Amara realized how weird they looked, but at the same time, observed his blue eyes boring into her. She could feel them casting a spell over her…No! Do something, her brain urged.

Amara opened her mouth to yell, but thunder rumbled, lightning flashed and rain started to pour down. Some rain water dribbled into her mouth and she spat it out. Ray turned away and crashed through the underbrush. Amara glared at his retreating back and followed suit.

Ray struggled with his conflicting emotions. He'd been temporarily paralyzed when he'd been so close to Amara, as if lightning had temporarily struck him.

He hated to admit it, but he knew he was losing. He was definitely falling for the Princess of Nova Roma.

Amara groaned as she struggled through the hanging ivy. She wished that they would find a place to shelter already. To the weather god's credit, though, the rain had only lasted a few minutes and the leaves overhead had protected her head from most of the rain.

"Amara," Ray called from up ahead. He beckoned to her and pointed to a cave. "I've found some shelter."

"I was hoping for a hotel, but I guess that this will have to do," Amara said wryly, dumping her backpack on the floor. Ray didn't answer as he was examining some of the wood scattered on the floor. When he opened his mouth, Amara's head suddenly filled up with images of him professing his love for her.

Instead, what came out was…

"You can control fire, right?" he asked, looking up. Amara frowned. This was what he could think about to ask her?

"Duh," she said sarcastically. "I control lava, too, if you need it." If Ray noticed her sarcasm, he didn't show it. He tried to rub the wood together but nothing happened. "Do you mind lighting this up?" he asked. "We're gonna need some heat."

Amara sighed. Oh well. A girl could dream.

Later that night, Amara and Ray sat side by side by the fire. Ray earlier in the day tried to contact the others using Amara's phone, but to no avail. They'd been out of service and Ray had remembered that nobody else had brought along a phone. Despite Ray's electrical skills, he'd been unable to contact the mansion.

Frustrated, Amara flopped onto the floor on her stomach. "It's no use," she said miserably, staring at the fire. "We're gonna starve and die and freeze to death." Ray looked up. "If we starve to death," he commented, "We can't exactly freeze to death." Amara glared at him. "Very helpful," she snapped.

Ray chuckled. "Just trying to make the mood a little lighter around here," he replied. Amara's stomach turned at the sound of his laugh. It was just so…comforting. She struggled with her emotions and sighed. She was fighting a losing battle, indeed.

Amara yawned and Ray watched her from across the fire. "Why don't you sleep," he suggested. Amara nodded and Ray could almost see her eyelids closing. In a sudden spurt of inspiration, he took off his jacket. Bending down next to Amara, he was about to put it over her shoulders when her head suddenly fell onto his shoulders. He stifled a gasp and slowly slid down to her level. She was already sleeping soundly, her breathing light and even. Ray smiled at the wall opposite him. This trip wasn't turning out to be too bad.

Amara yawned once more, her eyes opening to find the morning light streaming through the cave mouth. She blinked sleepily as her senses started to awaken. She was dimly aware of her view being slanted and something covering her arms. She blinked again, her mind starting to whir. She raised her head, shaking it to clear it and then she glanced down at her arms.

Ray's jacket. She took it off and turned to see Ray leaning against the cave wall, snoring peacefully. Amara gulped as she realized that she'd been sleeping on him the whole night. She shut her eyes and then tentatively opened them again. No, he was still there.

But hey. The fact that she'd slept on him the whole night and he hadn't shoved her off once had to mean something. For once, Amara dared to hope as a glimmer of hope shone through.

Ray stretched as he woke up from his slumber. Amara was already sitting by a crackling fire, roasting some fishes. "Fried fish for dinner and friend fish for breakfast," she grinned. Ray smiled back. Obviously, she wasn't too fazed by her sleeping on him the whole night.

"How much longer till the others find us?" Amara asked tentatively after a long silence stretched on for quite some time. Ray sighed. "Not very long, I hope," he answered. He gazed out at the mouth of the cave. He could sense trouble brewing. Unfortunately, he didn't know why.

"Is this edible?" Ray asked, glancing at the fish Amara handed him a few minutes later. Amara glared at him. "I didn't wake up early this morning to get fish and get myself wet to be insulted, you know," she snapped at him.

"Whoa, touchy much," Ray said, backing off. "I won't ever criticize your skills again, chef." After a few seconds, he added, "Besides, Kitty's food is a lot worse."

Amara threw a pebble at him.

The day passed quickly and before they knew it, the two stranded mutants were facing nightfall. The starts came out, twinkling brightly. Amara sat outside the cave, head resting on her hands. Ray came out to sit with her.

"Ray," Amara said softly. "Will we ever get home?"

"Didn't I answer that question this morning?" Ray asked wearily. "We will. We'll survive. Somehow."

"You don't sound very convincing," Amara muttered, but she turned her attention back to the stars. She could feel her heart thumping as she dared to glance out the corner of her eye. Ray was sitting so close to her, his eyes on the stars as well.

"I'm going to get some fish," Ray said suddenly, clambering to his feet. "You went this morning, now it's my turn." Amara nodded, her face tired beyond belief.

She was so close. Ray's heart was still beating rapidly. I could have just reached out to touch her.

But I didn't.

Once again, Ray tried to push away his growing conviction that he liked the princess.

Once again though, he failed.

His thoughts were so preoccupied by Amara, he didn't even notice that two yellow eyes gleamed out of the darkness, accompanied by two rows of gleaming teeth. He didn't even hear the low growl emanating from the creature.

He however didn't fail to notice that a large, adult wolf had sprung from the night and had pinned him down. Saliva dripped from its mouth and Ray flinched as its hot breath hit his face.

"Whoa, buddy, you need mouthwash," Ray said, flipping the wolf off and scrambling backwards. The wolf hit a nearby tree with a yelp but regained its footing, advancing towards Ray menacingly. Ray shuddered as he felt the cold bark of the tree press against his back. Oops.

This definitely isn't Rahne.

Amara gazed at the stars. Rames, one of her father' astrologers had once tried to teach her the art of stargazing and predicting the future. Amara grinned as she remembered how he'd nearly tore his hair out trying to teach her.

What little hair he had, that is.

She tried to remember what he'd taught her. If Ursa Major is pointing towards Jupiter, then…she screwed up her face trying to remember. Disaster is coming? She frowned. Disaster is already here.

"Aaaaaaaahh!" she heard a scream from the forest. An unmistakably familiar scream. Ray!

"Omigod," she gasped, scrambling to her feet. "Disaster!"

She headed for the direction of Ray's scream. She found him, cornered by about five to six wolves, all obviously intent on ripping him to pieces. Amara gulped. This was so not Rahne.

"Amara," Ray said in a low voice. "Get away from here. Now. You don't want to get hurt by these wolves."

"Me?" Amara asked calmly. She swept her arm across the floor, causing fire to separate her and the wolves. She transformed into her fire self and strode through the fire, ignoring the frightened yelps of the wolves. She walked over to Ray and turned back into her normal self.

"I don't think so."

Back at the cave, Amara tended to Ray's wounds. He winced as she applied some herbs she'd found to a gash on his leg. He couldn't walk, let alone run.

"I think I need some fresh air," Ray murmured, stumbling out the cave mouth. Amara watched him go. "Don't go too far," she called worriedly. After waiting five minutes, she couldn't stand it any more. She raced out…

And nearly crashed into Ray outside. He was sitting off to the side, head tilted back as he gazed at the stars. Amara observed him as he sat there, bathed in the moonlight. Without even looking at her, Ray said, "Hey."

"Hey back at you," Amara replied. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine, thanks," Ray said quietly. He smiled at her. "You're not a bad doctor yourself."

"Thanks," Amara muttered, gazing at the stars. "My father's aides taught me how to give first-aid."

Ray was silent. Amara finally broke the silence by going, "You know, I've never seen so many stars at the Institute."

"Well, that's probably because all the lights everywhere are on and you can't see because you're blinded," Ray replied, in an odd voice. Confused, Amara looked back at him, only to see him staring at her. She gulped nervously.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful?" Ray asked, still staring at her. Startled, Amara shook her head. "Maybe my mother-" she started, but she couldn't finish, because the next thing she knew, Ray was holding her neck, pulling her closer and kissing her. She started in surprise and started to kiss back-

But suddenly, Ray pulled away. "I'm sorry," he said in a choked voice. "I shouldn't have done that, but I couldn't resist-"

"Ray, I-"

"I'm sorry, you can slap me, but I-"

"I-"

"It's just that I really really like you, Amara-" Ray broke off. He shook his head. "Never mind."

"Ray, please-"

"I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."

When Amara walked into the cave, Ray was already curled on his side, making sure that his good leg was under him and not the injured one. Amara sighed, remembering that she had been so close to letting him know her true feelings.

It looked like she'd never get to tell him now.

Boom.

Ray jolted up, startled. Across the dark cave, he could sense Amara jerking awake, too. He rubbed his eyes blearily, senses still not fully attuned. But when another boom rocked the cave, Ray felt a sense of foreboding. It was only when rocks started to skitter down the top of the cave that he fully realized what was going on.

He struggled to get to his feet, yelling as he did so, "Amara! Get out of here!"

"Your leg-how-" Amara cried.

"I don't care, go!" Ray shouted, hobbling rapidly towards the cave mouth. He saw Amara sprinting towards the cave and he followed, silently cursing the wolves.

Almost there, Ray. He tried to focus on the fact that Amara had gotten out safely and he tried to focus on her face and not on the fact that his leg was hurting like anything.

Almost there. I'm going to escape.

Suddenly, he stumbled to a stop, coughing as dust flew up into his face. A huge boulder crashed down in front of him, followed by a few more, blocking the exit and sealing up any sunlight filtering through.

Then again, maybe not.

"Ray!" Amara scrambled towards the pile of rocks where Ray was buried. Oh no.

Her heart sank. It's impossible to remove all these rocks!

"Amara!" she heard a familiar voice yell from inside the rocks. Her heart leapt and she scraped furiously at the rocks. "Ray!' she called out, sweat pouring down her back. "Hang on! I'm going to blast you out of here!"

"No, don't!" Ray cried. "The space in here is too small! If you blast these rocks away, you'll get me in the process!"

Amara's hands dropped limply to her sides when she heard this chilling statement. She couldn't blast Ray. Not now. Not when she already knew abut where her feelings for Ray stood.

"Of course," Ray continued, a bitter note in his voice, "You wouldn't mind if I got killed, would you?"

"What!" Amara exclaimed in surprise, slipping slightly. "What are you talking about, Ray Crisp?"

Ray snorted. "You've always hated me." He said it so seriously; Amara gaped at the rock where his voice was emanating from, before finding her voice to say something. "Ray Crisp!" she exploded. "How could you say such a thing?"

Ray laughed bitterly. "You're only helping me here because I'm an X-Men, aren't you?"

"Are you hallucinating!" Amara demanded. "I'm only helping you because I love you-" She stopped and flushed bright red, but it was too late. She couldn't take her words back anymore.

Ray was silent for a long time. Amara focused on trying to move the rocks and sending up bright flares, praying that unlike the other days, her group would actually see them. When Ray spoke, it was a tone of surprise. "You…love me?"

"Ray," Amara said softly. "There's no point in hiding anymore. If we both die…then I want to say…if there's anyone I would have rather been stuck with for a few days…then I'm glad it's you."

Ray chuckled nervously. "Even Jubilee?"

"Even Jubilee," Amara smiled. "She would have whined more about the food than I did."

The two mutants worked silently, each trying to move the rocks, save for the occasional joke or yelp of pain from Ray. Amara's nerves got so frayed that when finally a footstep sounded on the dry leaves, she whipped around and swept her fiery arm across the grass.

"Hang on there, Amara," Beast said, stepping out of the way and into the clearing. Behind him were the New Mutants, all looking worried. "We'll get this cleared out of the way in no time."

And true to his word, he did. Ray limped out, soot covered and sweaty, but Amara gave him a hug regardless of what her princess training taught her. The other mutants gazed on in amusement, and both Amara and Ray could have sworn that somebody said:

"Well, it's about time."