Disclaimer: Umm…well, they're not mine…and I don't have time for this.

Enjoy, everyone! (My favorite part of the story is from this chapter on.)

Chapter Six: Admitting

The next day, Rosethorn tried to avoid Crane as much as possible. However, she couldn't get away with it for very long.

He finally cornered her by knocking on the door of Discipline when she was busy. Lark let him in, and of course she insisted that Rosethorn talk to him. "It's rude not to, when he came to see you," she said firmly, pushing her friend in the direction of the living room. "Go on."

Rosethorn sighed and went.

"Hello, Crane," she said quietly, sitting in a chair as far away from him as possible, just in case. She didn't want to accidentally obey a sudden urge to tell him how she felt.

"Rosethorn…" he began uncertainly. He stopped, cleared his throat, and continued. "What…why…?"

She looked at the ground. She couldn't watch him any more, for fear she'd blurt it out.

Rosethorn didn't realize he'd come up next to her chair until he put two fingers under her chin and lifted it up so she would look into his eyes. "Why are you avoiding me?" he asked her softly.

"I—I…" she stuttered, unable to formulate an answer.

"All right, let's try a different question. Have you decided yet?"
"Decided what?"

"Come on. Don't play dumb. Have you decided whether…erm…whether you can love me or not?" He was a bit uncomfortable now, but he gazed into her eyes steadily.

This—or something else, she wasn't sure what—must have made her a bit too nervous, because she suddenly said loudly, "Like you care!"

He looked puzzled and a little hurt. "What do you mean? Of course I care. I asked you to figure it out, didn't I?"

Rosethorn was ashamed of that hurt. "I just…thought…" she whispered.

"Thought what?"

She looked away. "I thought that maybe…y-you wouldn't care about me anymore."

"Look at me," he told her gently. She obeyed. "Now, why would you think that?"

"I don't know. You've seen all my bad sides these last few weeks. You've seen me too tired in the morning, and grumpy all day, and dumb for no reason…" She trailed off.

"And you thought that would make me love you any less?" he asked. She nodded, and Crane looked at her affectionately. "Oh, Rosie," he said quietly, and she half-smiled at the sound of the nickname coming out of his mouth. "You shouldn't have worried. These last few weeks have only convinced me to love you more." She smiled again, properly, at that.

There was a silence, and then he said abruptly, "But it won't do any good if you don't love me back. I made a promise that I would accept whatever you said, and I will, but…I…well, yes." He stopped for a moment, waiting. When she didn't answer, he asked her nervously, "Um…so what's your decision?"

"My decision. I think…" Rosethorn paused for a moment, unsure of how to say it, then plunged right in, glad to be saying it at all. "I think I'm in love," she said.

He took a breath, looking as though he could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Really?"

"Yes," she assured him, unable to keep a huge smile from spreading across her face. He smiled back, glowing like a huge weight had been taken off of his shoulders, and held out his arms. She fell into them, suddenly laughing like a maniac, and hugged him tightly, laying her head on his shoulder. He laughed too, holding her just as tightly as she held him.

After a few minutes, they calmed. She sat up then, looking at him joyously. It was all right, he loved her, and she loved him back…she still couldn't quite seem to get it into her head.

"Rosethorn?" he said.

"Yes?"

"I've just realized: throughout all that, I never told you properly that I loved you."

"Oh," she said.

They were quiet for a second, and then he spoke again. "Rosethorn?"
"Hmm?"

"I love you," he said, and kissed her.

A/N: Yay, fluff! (grin) Sorry to people who don't like it…what can I say? I'm a sucker for fluff.

Anywho…review please! See ya next chappie!