... .:chapter 4:...

"WAAAAH" Caitlyn called out when she woke up and everything that happened came back to her in a flash. Her face was completely red, and it wasn't from the fever she had had yesterday. And of course, Nathan had vanished again, to make it even worse. She buried her face in her hands. What was that guy thinking, coming to see her when she couldn't even say something useful? She couldn't even imagine what embarrassing things she could have said!

And the worst was that she didn't even remember a bit of it.
Groaning, she stepped out of bed, tripping over her own sheets and landing on the floor painfully. She sighed, but then noticed something under her right hand. It was a small note, scribbled most likely in a hurry. Blinking, she picked it up and unfolded it.

Feel better :)

Nathan

She stared at it, and suddenly felt a huge smile on her face, without really knowing why. Then she punched the ground, also without really knowing why.
"You're acting so strange today..." Samuel said when he opened the door. He raised his eyebrows at her tangled in her sheets, on the floor and with a strange grin on her face. She blinked, and then struggled to stand up normally again.
"Are you feeling better?" Sam asked, helping her to her feet. The note was crashed in her fist, and she quickly slid it under her pillow.
"Yeah, a bit... I'm still a bit shaky, though." she said, following him out the door, still in her pajama's. When she was downstairs, four pairs of eyes turned to her and Sam.
"Caity!" Colin said, grinning. "Are you feeling better?" he asked, playing with a lock of his curly red hair. Caitlyn smiled. "Yeah. Much better, to be honest. Thanks for helping me yesterday, everything..." she said. Benjamin and Rosalie smiled warmly at her. Anya tucked a blanket around her shoulders. Blushing from all the attention, she sat down a chair again.
"It might snow today..." Sam mused, since he was the one with the better sense of what the weather would be. Everyone stared at him for a second. Then Colin jumped up.

"SNOW!" he said, running around the room.
"Eheh...". Caitlyn smiled slightly. Snow was nice, but it was cold as well. And since Christmas was nearing, it was fitting. But it had been so warm lately, it seemed impossible!
"I think it might be snowing already..." Sam continued, a wistful smile on his face. Immediately both Caitlyn and Colin dashed to the window. And yes, there were small white flakes coming down from the sky. White, thick clouds hid the blue sky from view.
"It's beautiful." Rosalie said, noticing the small layer of white that started to cover everything. Caitlyn nodded. Then Benjamin cleared his throat.
"Let's take a break today, everyone..." he started. Everyone shouted in glee.
"Yes, let's do that!" Colin said, grabbing a scarf and hat and dashing out the door. Caitlyn stared after him blankly, and sighed. Sam stood up slowly and took out his black winter jacket. He raised his hand in goodbye and took off. He headed out, walked past the window with his hands in his pockets. She somehow felt a bit melancholic looking at him like that.
"Hm..." Rosalie mused, leaning against Benjamin for a bit. He smiled and put his arm around her. "The mood for Christmas is finally in the air..." he mused, staring out the window. Caitlyn smiled. Then she stood up, and headed to her room.

Actually, she felt like going outside as well. So she grabbed a deep blue winter jacket from her closet, and an oversize cap in the same color. She put on a white sweater, a white pair of jeans and white fluffy boots. Then she grabbed her stick and attached it to her belt. And then she opened the door to her balcony and took off.
She could immediately feel the difference when she was on her board. The cold air took some getting used to, and she tried to breathe slowly and shielded her face from the snow. She just planned to fly around for a bit, but then decided to head to Flaris to see how the young kids were doing with their training.

It turned out a bit harder than she thought when she flew over the sea, which had thick mist hanging above it. She coughed and wrinkled her nose. Her dark blue eyes studied the distance until she could see the familiar hills of Flaris appear. A few minutes later she landed in the capital, where Vagrants and older people scurried about busily. A large Christmas tree had been set up in the middle of the place. She pulled the top of her sweater up a bit, and hid half of her face in it. It was way too cold!
After having bought a few twinkle stones from a cute Vagrant dressed as some kind of Elf, she took a walk through town. And then, for the first time, she noticed a large mansion on the top of a hill, close to town. In the distance it looked huge, and after hesitating for a bit she headed up the hill. The mist cleared, and she saw an old man with a bottle sitting in front of the gate.

"'Scuse me, sir? Are you the owner of this house?" she asked hesitatingly. The man looked at her with bloodshot eyes and she backed up a bit.
"I sure wish. The owner of this house is a rich person who I've never met before." he said. Caitlyn didn't quite get it and raised her eyebrows.
"Um... Okay..." she said, walking up and touching the gate. She jumped backwards when the gate swung open. The old man gawked at her. "It never opened for me!" he said, groaning. Caitlyn cautiously stepped through the gate, and it closed behind her. It was an old house, with dark wooden doors. She could hear classical music coming from inside, even though it was faint. In front of the front door she saw a small terrace, shielded from the weather by a small roof. She came a bit closer, and noticed someone sitting in the huge sofa that was half turned away from her. Coming even closer, she gasped.

It was Nathan. Nathan lived in here? She stared at his sleeping face. He looked kind of troubled, a small frown was on his face. His dark hair poked out in all directions, and he had a black robe on, tied around the middle.

Right when she was about to sneak away again, his eyes fluttered open.