Even though she slept easily through the night, Ashe was bothered by the fact that the rain had not let up since she fell asleep. If anything else it appeared that the storm had gotten worse. Rain was failing so hard that it was hard to see beyond ten feet or so, and the more disturbing fact was that flooding was now more than a possibility at this point. Ashe got up from the makeshift bed Vaan had made, as well as moving Vaan's arm from around her waist in the process, and walked over to the window. Her fears were soon realized as she saw water inching dangerously close to the opening of their little hide-out, a good meter or so of water just inches from coming inside. "This is just unfair...so unfair," the princess said, her words barely audible due to the falling rain.

Vaan was sleeping peacefully, and Ashe tried to warm herself up by rubbing her arms with her hands. While she probably would never tell him to his face, Ashe was glad to have been kept warm thanks to Vaan, and she had been rather rude to him for it. The teenage boy did do a good thing after all, despite Ashe's discomfort of having his arm around her the entire night.

Remembering why she was cold in the first place, Ashe made sure to cover her chest with her arms and she shivered as a result. Ashe decided to go and check on her clothes and see if they were the least bit dry. While she didn't like the idea of catching pneumonia, she'd rather be in a half-dried shirt than walk about in nothing but her skirt, even if Vaan had come close to seeing her half nude the night before. She had never even let Rasler see her that way even after their wedding, due to the tragedy that happened following that glorious day.

Stepping over the still sleeping Vaan to where her shirt was hanging, Ashe stretched her arms out and tried to warm herself again. Feeling the cloth she could tell it was still damp all over, and her frustration couldn't be contained as she grunted it out.

"So, you're awake?"

Vaan's voice made Ashe jump and turn to see him lying on his side facing her, and Ashe covered herself again having had them at her sides mere moments before. "Don't look!"

Vaan slowly rolled over, "it's your fault for not being cautious, but anyway, I take it our clothes are not dry yet?"

Cheeks red, Ashe nodded, "Afraid not." 'Which means I'm stuck like this for awhile...'

"Oh well, that meant it must have rained all night long," he said sitting up and Ashe turned to have her back to him.

"There's a chance that this room may flood," Ashe said, dread in her voice. She made no effort to hide it either.

"Nah, I think our luck will hold out. Besides, if it does flood we'll have trouble leaving here. The water causes other problems and not just being evicted from the house." Vaan stood up, stretching his arms out, "Such as Vipers."

Ashe had to remind herself about the Vipers, large grey snakes that were dangerous in numbers. The little ones could easily be killed, but a bigger one needed more than one person to kill. "Their dens get flooded and they are forced out during the rain. We have to remain weary of them now more than ever, you got that?"

Feeling a bit taken aback by what he just said, Ashe kept her arms over her chest and turned around, "Like I need to be warned about the danger, least of all by someone like you. I don't need any help."

Vaan crossed his arms over his chest, not convinced, "Oh yeah? You would have been killed had I not stopped you at Gilmore, and then you would've froze to death last night had it not been for me. I'd like for you to show some form of gratitude."

Ashe felt a little bit offended for what Vaan had just said, "Far as last night goes, you put your hands on me-whoa!" She took a step forward and tripped over the blanket on the ground, stumbling forward. Vaan didn't even think, his arms went out and he was able to catch Ashe all while falling back a step himself. Obviously he was stronger than he looked. Ashe collided with Vaan, taken wholly by surprise but before she could adjust herself she shivered. A reaction like that born out of her cold flesh coming into sudden contact with Vaan's chest. To make matters worse, her arms were on Vaan's shoulders, her breasts unprotected. Her bare chest, cold as ice, immediately began to heat up as she realized what the predicament she was in. Her heart started to pound rapidly, and her face gave a shade of red she had never had before. Especially after when she looked up at Vaan's face.

Well, let's just say that while he should have been extremely surprised at what happened, Ashe had expected him to shove her away but what she saw made her angry. He was smiling at her! Like he was amused! Ashe was able to back away, ready to backhand him but he still had a hold of the princess by her arms.

"Sorry about that, you okay?"

Ashe finally struggled out of his grip, covered her chest with her left arm and, with all the force she had smacked him across the face. Fair, he had expected it, just not how hard she ended up hitting him. Vaan stumbled back a step before he nonchalantly fell on his backside. 'Wow...that hurt...' he thought, slightly amused.

Ashe, however, was fuming. "You ever do that again I'll..."

"Ashe, shut up."

The princess gasped, "What did you say?"

"Don't think I'll just let you walk all over me and threaten me all you want, I'm here to help you, but be sure to acknowledge the fact that I can easily leave you out here all by yourself if I wanted to. Just remember that before you slap me for every little thing that goes wrong."

Knowing that she had been beaten back but never one to admit her own defeats, Ashe did the only thing she knew she could do in this situation. Refusing to look at Vaan and not caring, she grabbed her shirt and his blanket and went over to the corner of the room, huddling for warmth and just wishing that she could just leave this god forsaken place. She'd rather fight the Malboros in the jungle than be alone with Vaan right now.