Suddenly she was shaking and staring right in the face of Sportacus.
"Elena! Wake up!"
She jumped, not expecting him to be there. "Oh, Sporty." She was relieved. "I guess I dozed off."
"You were dreaming." He sat on the ottoman in front of her and held her hands. "What happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"You were trembling."
"I'm ok."
"Good. I have something for you." He reached down and picked up the bunch of flowers he picked for her. "I brought these for you. To cheer you up."
"Lilacs! Oh, I love them! They're my favorite! Where did you find them? They were all gone from the grove."
"There is a small bush on the other side of Crystal Lake. I got them just in time too. These were the last ones left on the bush."
"Thank you!" She hugged him and she didn't want to let go. Those thoughts crept back in, making her release him. It wasn't the same when she first came here. She handed out hugs and kisses all the time. But now...The feelings were stronger and gave her butterflies in her stomach.
"Um, I'll just go put these in water." She got got up slowly and stiffly and went into the kitchen and was trying to ignore the feelings as she got a glass with water and put the lilacs in it.
She remembered the first time she smelled flowers. Sportacus was taking her for a walk, after her first day there, and he was talking to her about things she needed to know about living in LazyTown, who everyone was, showing her where everything was and acceptable behaviors. In her excitement of everything new around her, she smelled something. She went towards the smells. Sportacus was running after her to keep her out of trouble. She was rather impetuous.
He saw her following her nose, when she came up to a flower patch. She sniffed some and made a face at ones she didn't like and picked others she did.
"They're flowers." He explained.
She touched them and could feel how silky soft they were. She seemed to be looking for a particular scent. She sniffed again and saw a beautiful rose bush. She immediately reached out to pick one.
"No! Be careful!" Sportacus warned. But it was too late. She was poked by a thorn.
She pulled her hand back and Sportacus knelt down and looked at it. "What- what is that red stuff? It...hurts!"
"It's blood. You're bleeding a little. Don't worry. You'll be ok." He hit his chest plate. "First aid kit!" And from the back pack unit popped up a small box. From there he cleaned and bandaged her finger. She looked at him and noticing for the first time how beautiful he was. She stared at him.
"Elena?" Are you ok?" He started to blush as he waved his hand in front of her face. "Elena?"
"What? Sorry. I don't know what happened." Then she caught the scent of the sweetest thing. She got up and sniffed her way to a bush with lavender flowers she approached and made sure there were no thorns. She closed her eyes and took in the scent. She smiled. "What is this?"
Sportacus stood next to her, smiling. "Those are lilacs. They are only around for a short time. Maybe a month or so every year. I think they are very special."
"They are beautiful." She, back in her kitchen, lost in the scent, like before. She went back to the living room and set them on her table. "Thank you." She sat down on the sofa.
He got up and sat next to her. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"
"I don't know. I went to sleep and the next thing I know, I'm asleep in the mud and I feel like I've been running all night. I'm so sore. I don't...I'm-" she was trying to find some way to start. "I've been feeling a lot of emotions I've never felt before, very fast. It's confusing me and I don't think I know how to deal with it. It's too much too fast." She blurted out. "At the wedding I wanted to cry but, I wasn't sad. Then-" she was going to say something about things that she was feeling for him but couldn't. "Then there's this sleepwalking and the nightmares. I feel afraid. Then there was that...incident after the wedding." She smiled and Sportacus was a little uncomfortable. "where I couldn't stop laughing. " She let loose a few chuckles.
"Ok, ok." Sportacus said to get her back on track. He did admit, as embarrassing as it was, it was funny.
"I'm sorry, it-nevernind. Anyway, and sometimes I think of something and it comes to me what it is or I get some context. I don't know where it comes from. It's like learning everything you know in a day. Sort of. There are a lot of other feelings spinning around and I can't handle it all at once."
"Now I understand. As far as you getting context, I don't think it's a bad thing but where it's coming from might be something. You have acclimated very fast. Like you've been here all along. As far as your feelings, the only thing I know is they are all normal. You are gaining knowledge, growing everyday. Why don't we talk about them one at a time?"
She agreed. She needed to sort things out and she had to talk about them. So for the rest of the afternoon Sportacus did what could to help her understand and she felt better. But she was still tackling the feelings regarding him. Those, for now, she kept to herself.
After a sports candy snack, he had a subject to talk to her about. He wanted to talk about his feelings for her but maybe it wasn't the right time yet. He was going to give her a kiss on the cheek when there was a knock at the door.
She got up and answered it trying her best not to show how much pain she was in. She opened the door to Robbie Rotten. He hadn't shown his face since he accidentally kissed Sportacus. Her eyes widened. She smiled cheerfully. "Hi Robbie!"
"Robbie?" 'How does he know every time?' He thought. He stood up and walked to the door but, before he could get out, Robbie came in and stood face to face but, not too close to him.
Elena closed the door and tried to keep the image, that had her laughing so long, out of her head.
"Alright! Listen up Sportaloon! I did NOT mean for that...kiss," he forced out. "to happen that night. I don't want ANYONE thinking otherwise. I don't like you! I never have and never will!" His arms firmly at his sides.
Sportacus smiled and cleared his throat. He wanted to to joke with him but Robbie wouldn't take it well. "Robbie, you...made a mistake. It happens to all of us. I can be your friend if you need one."
"No! No! No! Now you should clear out because it's three o'clock. Time for our chess game." He wanted to get things back to normal.
"Alright." His brows furrowed. "I need to stretch my legs. I'll be back little bit later."
She smiled at Robbie. "Ok, but can you get the board over there? I had a rough night." And she sat down.
With that he continued chatting about various inventions and one he was thinking about reactivating. He would have to make some modifications if he did so.
She said she would love to see it, which made him happy. After their chess game he went back to his lair and she fell asleep on her sofa.
Sportacus went back, before 8:08, to check on Elena. He knocked. There was no answer. He opened the door. "Elena?" He called and went in. He saw her asleep on the sofa. He went into her bedroom, pulled down the covers and put her into bed. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams." And headed to his airship. He smiled thinking of her and after a while, drifted, happily, off to sleep.
