A/N: Happy Halloween everyone! Thanks again for all the prompt requests and (more importantly) all the amazing reviews! Please continue to let me know what you think! Feedback is the most valuable thing you can give a beginner writer!

3. Catch

All things considered, Mateo considered himself a very good wizard. He wasn't the best– at least not yet– but for being entirely self taught, he wasn't too bad. Mateo also considered himself to be a pretty good dancer, contrary to popular belief. He may not be a very good waltzer, but give him any traditional Avaloran dance, and he could dance and twirl and dip his partner until they beamed with delight. Sports weren't exactly a specialty, but he wasn't half bad at Olaball. He could kick and pass, and was a pretty good team player. He could definitely keep up with Gabe, and was at least half as good as Elena and Naomi.

However, one thing Mateo was definitely not good with was horses.

Which explained why, on this particular day, he was hanging off an unstable branch— one that hung from a dried up tree which happened to overlook a rather large and steep canyon.

His hands clenched around the branch, shaking from both fear and adrenaline, and he quickly glanced at his tamborita holster– too frightened to move. He groaned at the empty holster, realizing that his tamborita must have fallen out sometime after his horse flung him off it's back.

To be fair, it really wasn't so much his horse's fault as it was his. Some earth had come loose below his horse's hoof while they raced alongside Elena, and Mateo had mistakenly steered him in the wrong direction. When he realized they were galloping rather quickly toward the canyon, he panicked, completely forgetting how to stop. His horse, recognizing the danger, stopped suddenly and as a result sent Mateo flying– rather comically– toward the tree.

Of course there was nothing funny about it right now. Not while he dangled helplessly over the steep gorge. He squeezed his eyes shut when his vision started spinning. "This is not good… not good!"

Canela's galloping could be heard approaching quickly, and Elena steered her to a stop. Clouds of dirt billowed around, and Elena jumped down quickly.

"Mateo! Hold on!" She cried, her heart pounding in her chest. She took a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm as she tried to think of a way to get him down. He was safe for now— but not for much longer if she didn't calm down and think of a way to help him. She grabbed a rope she kept in her saddle bag, and threw it over her shoulder before rushing back to the tree.

She looked at the tree base, and tapped it a bit with her toe to see if she could get a good foothold, and climb close enough to help Mateo get above solid ground at least. However the root crumbled under her weight, causing the tree to shake.

Mateo cried out, shaking his head quickly. "No good, Elena! The tree is dead! It's going to split and fall if too much weight is on it!"

"What do I do?" She spun around, and her eyes darted around the tree as she tried to think of anyway to get him down. Eyeing the branches, she quickly dismissed the idea to use them as a pulley to guide him back to the ground— they all looked very weak.

Mateo's hands grasped the tree tighter, swearing that he would never ride a horse again. As Elena watched, she realized that although she couldn't exactly get to the branch he was on, the branch right next to him was close enough to him to reach.

"I got it!"

Elena quickly tied the rope into a loop and knotted it as quick as she could. The branches were beginning to crack under Mateo's weight— they didn't have much time.

She twirled it over head, and tossed it as close as she could get it to Mateo's white knuckled hands. "Mateo! Grab the rope!" Elena ran back over to Canela, and knotted the other end of the rope to her saddle.

"I can't! The branch will snap if I move!" Mateo was shaking as he heard the small pops from tree trunk. He extended his fingers slowly trying to reach the rope, but when the tree grumbled at the movement, he held onto the branch tighter.

Elena looped the rope around her forearm and fist, and steadied her feet, "Mateo! You have to grab the rope! I'll catch you!"

He opened an eye, and took a deep breath. He extended his arm, slowly trying to grab the loop just inches away. He cursed his nerves— his hands were shaking too much.

"Mateo!"

Almost too suddenly, there was a loud pop. The tree swayed forward— with Mateo still hanging on— and Elena's heart stopped.

"MATEO!"

There was a moment when everything seemed to happen at once. A cloud of dust exploded into the air, immediately blinding them. "MATEO!" Elena cried, choking on the clouds of dust around her. A quick second went by, and suddenly there was a hard jolt— nearly knocking Elena off her feet, and she dug her heels in the ground.

"Canela! Go, girl!"

On command, Elena's horse tugged the rope that Elena wound around her saddle. Elena pulled the rope with her, praying with every fiber in her body that Mateo would be there.

As the dust settled, Elena rushed forward to the edge of the canyon. She almost cried with relief when she saw wide hazel eyes staring back at her.

Elena reached forward, grabbing the collar of his robe, and pulled hard as he tried to climb up. There was one final tug from Canela, and Mateo pitched forward crashing into Elena as the two fell into a heap on the ground.

Elena felt his weight lift the slightest bit, and watched as his face turned beet red when he saw her beneath him. She smiled at him reassuringly, and reached up to hold onto his forearms. "You're ok!" She sighed, squeezing his arms.

Mateo pushed himself back, face still burning red, and he muttered a quick apology. Her hands slid into his, and he tugged her up.

"Thanks to you." He replied. He sighed loudly and tilted his head back. "Remind me not to ride a horse EVER again."

"At least not until after next week!" Elena laughed, her heart rate finally slowing down. She inched closer, and wrapped her arms around his middle, burying her face into his chest. Mateo glanced at her briefly, before groaning dramatically and dropping back on the dusty ground. Elena laughed as she tumbled down on top of him.

"Just until next week, huh?" He murmured, a playful grin on his face. Elena smiled down at him, and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Well, I can't have you risking your life again! We have a date this weekend!" She lifted herself onto her hands, and hovered over his body. "You're kind of a big deal in the whole thing."

Mateo laughed, and rubbed her back soothingly. "Ok. So, no dangling off cliffs until after the wedding. Got it. What happens after that?"

Elena smiled and dropped her forehead against his. "You don't have to worry about that. No matter how many times you manage to get yourself thrown into a tree, I'll always be here to catch you."

Mateo chuckled, tilting his chin up to capture her lips in a soft kiss.

"I think I can live with that."