Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I know it's taken me FOREVER to update, but I just couldn't find the inspiration. Plus, I've been really busy with my high school applications. I'm almost done, so I'll try to update faster after I finish. Anyway, there's some juicy stuff in here. Read on!

Chapter Eight: Stronghold Tour

Ian's POV

I stood there, struggling to keep my mouth closed. I could tell that Natalie was doing the same thing. Gaping was so un-Kabra-like. Still, the stronghold was amazing. Perhaps even as good as one of our Lucian bases.

The first thing that struck me was the transparent walls. It was obviously too hard to be regular glass. Besides - we're Cahills. Cahills didn't use normal glass. It was probably crystal or diamond, or some other transparent mineral. I guess Madrigals aren't very secretive inside their branch, I thought.

We were standing in the middle of a velveteen carpeted hallway. Straight across from us, I saw a room, no, more like an arena, full of people practicing acrobatics. Not regular acrobatics, but the kind that you could use in different situations. I saw two people sparring in a ring, but if I hadn't known any better, I would've thought that they were dancing together. They glided across the ring, performing complicated maneuvers and attacks. A little off-way, a boy was flipping his way across a hall full of crossing red beams. Farther down, I spotted a group of people scaling a replica of a building, twisting and kicking their way up. I suddenly understood how Amy had been so graceful and deadly at the same time in our wrestling match.

Amy smiled at our reactions. "This is where we practice our 'moves'." She tilted her head towards the room. She led us farther down the hall while explaining, "Madrigals have the abilities of all the other branches, so we have a lot of training rooms." She stopped at various room, explaining every one.

There was a Tomas room, consisting mostly of heavy weights and weightlifters.

Indescribable music flowed from the Janus room. We saw a full-symphony orchestra playing along with a choir. Farther down, I made out what looked to be like performing stages.

The Ekaterina room was unsurprisingly filled with people in white lab coats rushing around with unnamable items and a few people sitting at computers. Amy explained that this was where the Madrigals usually conducted research unless the information was strictly classified.

I had been wondering about what I would see in the Lucian room. I was not disappointed. I briefly observed what looked like capture the flag, stealth mode, complete with poison weaponry. To the side, I could see shelves of seemingly normal household objects that would most likely become deadly at the flick of the wrist.

"Those are the public rooms," Amy concluded when we reached a solid metal door at the end of the hall. "Anyone is allowed to see what goes on in them. To access the more private places, you need special permission."

With that, Amy typed in some sort of password, and the door slid open. "Come on. I'll introduce you to Uncle Fiske." She led us past the door.

A small part of me marveled at how different Amy seemed now. She seemed comfortable in her current surroundings, without a trace of her nervous stutter. Then again, she was a Madrigal, so it would make sense for her to be confident among her own branch. But still. How far she had come from the girl in South Korea.

I involuntarily flinched inside. I would never forgive myself for hurting her like that. Those two words would awaken pain inside of me wherever I was. She must have despised me so much precisely because she had feared being caught in that exact situation. But...that meant...it would mean that she...

I sighed. No matter how appealing the idea was, I knew that it could never become reality anymore. Even now, I bet she was trying to hide her disgust at being with me.

"Are you alright, Ian?" Amy's voice came out of nowhere. I jerked my head up and found myself looking into her green gaze touched with genuine concern. I realized that I had stopped walking, and that everyone was looking at me.

With the natural reflexes that came with being a Kabra, I hid my surprise and smirked. "Just fine, love."

The concern was immediately replaced by annoyance and subtle amusement. "Drop the nickname, will you?" she muttered.

Amy's POV

Ugh. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't keep Ian off my mind. But being in the stronghold seemed to make everything considerably more relaxed, at least to me. This was where I had learned how not to be nervous, how to be the confident person I had always dreamed of being. This was where I had learned how to be a Madrigal.

I led the group down to Uncle Fiske's office and knocked. "Uncle Fiske? Are you there? It's us. And some friends."

I stepped back when I heard a crash from inside, followed by some grumbling. But sure enough, the door opened a few seconds later to Uncle Fiske's looming figure.

"Ah, hello, Amy," he greeted. He looked behind me. "Dan and Miss Gomez are here, naturally." Dan and Nellie nodded hello. "But could that be...Ian and Natalie Kabra?"

"Um, yeah, you encouraged bringing friends, right?," I replied. "Ian, Natalie, this is our Great-Uncle Fiske." They nodded politely back. Turning back to Uncle Fiske, I explained, "We sort of ran into them in our new neighborhood. So I invited them to come along."

"Of course, of course. Making friends with other branches is always an important part of being a Madrigal." He turned towards Ian and Natalie. "You, there, Ian. You are the next in line as head of the Lucian branch, are you not?"

"Yes, sir," he replied steadily.

Uncle Fiske looked them over for a minute before saying, "Well, Amy here will soon be the head of the Madrigal branch, so I sincerely hope that you will get along." I hoped that he only meant being friends.

He waved us inside his office, and we sat down in some chairs around his desk. "Has Amy shown you around yet?" he asked Ian and Natalie.

"She has," Ian answered. "She's taken us around the public rooms."

"She said that we need special permission to see more," Natalie offered.

Uncle Fiske nodded his approval at me. "True. Well, for the future head of the Lucian branch and his sister, I suppose we could make an exception."

"Excuse me, sir, may I use the restroom?" Natalie piped up.

Uncle Fiske smiled. "Of course. Dan, could you show Miss Kabra the restrooms?"

Natalie winced, and Dan's eyes oogled. "Why me?"

"Because you know your way around, and I expect you to be a gentleman and show her to the ladies' room, then around the stronghold."

Dan opened his mouth to say more, but nothing came out. Making a frustrated noise, he rose out of his chair and motioned for a pouting Natalie to follow.

After they had left, Uncle Fiske stood and told Nellie, "Would you like to have some coffee with me?"

Nellie nodded. "Sure."

I couldn't believe it. Uncle Fiske obviously didn't know about the unwritten law that neither Dan nor I were to be left alone with a Kabra. Specifically, Ian and me.

But before I could say anything, Uncle Fiske and Nellie were at the door. Uncle Fiske smiled at me. "You can show Ian around, can't you, Amy? We'll meet up here in, let's say, an hour. Alright?"

At least Nellie looked slightly alarmed, but she didn't argue. She pursed her lips quickly, then told me, "Don't worry, kiddo. See ya soon." And out they went. Leaving me. With Ian Kabra.

"Well, then. Shall we begin?" Ian stood and brushed off his clothes neatly.

"Um, s-sure." Stupid stutter.

Ian gave a charming smile as he held open the door for me. I grinned nervously back.

We started our way deeper into the stronghold. I showed him some more secretive rooms where we trained, my stutter surfacing occasionally. Ian seemed to stand way too close to me half the time. My pulse was rushing. Why, oh why, did Uncle Fiske have to pair us?

We finished a few minutes earlier than expected. When we arrived at the office, we still had five minutes left. So we just stood around in an awkward silence.

Ian broke the silence first. "Thank you for the tour, Amy. It was wonderful."

"Um, y-you're welcome," I muttered.

He hesitated, then said, "I...I really am sorry for what I did. I know that you can never forgive me, but I just wanted to tell you that."

I turned to him. "Ian, I already told you. I'm not blaming you for that anymore," I said gently.

Ian turned to face me. His eyes were pooled with an indescribable emotion. Slowly, he rested my cheek in his hand. I shivered at his touch, but I couldn't pull away.

He leaned in closer. Oh my gosh. Too close! my mind screamed, but I was trapped in his gaze. Our faces were now centimeters apart. I shut my eyes. Ian closed the distance between us and softly pressed his lips to mine.

Woo, first kiss! *sigh* Yes, I know that there was some OOC-ness and sudden mood shifts, but I wanted to get this chapter out faster, so I guess I was a little sloppy. And I'm sorry that I didn't describe the rest of the stronghold very much. I wasn't feeling too creative during Amy's POV. (I write the first part on a different day and it's almost 10pm now. Soo tiirreeeed. -.-) Anyway, how was the Amy/Ian moment? Too fast? Too slow? Review, please! And you're welcome to tell me who was OOC and in what way. (BTW, Firework by Katy Perry is now my favorite English song. :3) AND TODAY IS MY B-DAY! (February 3rd)

Lovely Out! ~`'~

Oh, one more thing. I've put up some polls on my profile, and I don't think I can update any further without some decent results, so hurry and vote!