Heyo!

I am so sorry that this came out so late. Yes, yes, I was procrastinating. But seriously you guys, I promised I would never give up this story until I finished it.

Oh, and you'll find out Winter's catch-phrase in this chapter! A tad-bit cliché, but it's alright. See if you can catch it!

Enjoy! ;)

"Non, Capitaine! We have to go!" Tintin yelled, running towards the bikes he and Winter had left behind. "You have a bicycle, right?"

"Of course, Tintin! Do you think I would run all this way? Blistering barnacles, I'm already losing my breath…" Captain Haddock said, huffing and puffing while jogging alongside Tintin. Winter picked up Milou and ran as fast as she could to catch up to the two. Another rusty-looking bike was next to Tintin and Winter's, and Captain Haddock sighed in distress. "They had NO bikes at all! So I had to use this one that I found at the side of the road… Well, at least it works-"

A wheel of the ancient bike creaked off, and the whole object broke down into pitiful pieces. "THUNDERING TYPHOONS! NINCOMPOOP! BLASTED OLD, WRETCHED, -"

"Calm down, Capitaine, calm yourself! Yelling won't help!" Tintin said, trying to hold back his laugh. "You could use mine. I can share the other with Winter." Winter scrunched her nose, thinking if how they both could fit on the bike. The ginger turned to Winter and put a hand on her shoulder. " C'mon, Winter! Don't make that face… No, I can't share it with Capitaine, he's a little too big to fit on it with me… We've ridden a horse together! You can do this too!" She groaned and scratched her head in fury. "Then how are we going to do this?"

"Simple," Tintin exclaimed, bringing the blue-rimmed bike over to Winter. "Stand on these two things protruding on the back wheel. Then hold on to my shoulders. When you get tired of standing up, you could sit down on the seat with me; yes, it's big enough. And hold onto my waist."

Tintin did not notice the faint blush that crept on her cheeks due to the ridiculous thought of clutching onto him, scared of falling off and breaking her head to two on the cement whooshing past by. "Let's go. Milou, up! Up!" said Tintin, jumping on the bike and holding out a hand to Winter. "Hold on my hand when you climb up. I don't want you falling off and getting hurt."

She took his hand and held onto it gently, carefully lifting her legs up on the brims of the wheel. "Okay, I-I got on." said Winter with a jittering voice. She then rested her two hands on his broad shoulders, gripping it tightly. "Capitaine, let's go!" Tintin pedaled as fast as he could, clearly trying to get to Marlinspike Hall on time. Winter let out an inaudible squeak and quickly squatted down to sit behind Tintin. "My legs are getting tired already, haha, haaa…" She said, holding onto his waist. He shook his head and laughed, going faster by the second.

'Ugh, and this is why I don't favor boys…' She thought tastelessly.

"Bienvenue à Paris, la plus belle ville du monde." The air hostess said cheerfully, gracefully holding out a hand to the exit of the airplane.

Winter stared at the woman in confusion. "What in the world did that lady just say?" She whispered to Captain Haddock, still keeping her eyes on the escorting woman. Captain Haddock bent towards Winter and put a hand to cover the front of his mouth. "…Welcome to Paris, the most beautiful city in the world." He whispered lowly. "Ah," Winter replied, getting up from her seat.

"Capitaine! Winter! Vite!" Tintin said, his head reappearing from the exit. "You two are the last ones!"

"Alright, alright. We're coming now," Winter growled, stomping to the exit.

"Have you been to Paris before, Tintin?" She asked, following him out to a somewhat busy airport. He stopped and stood there to let Winter catch up to him. "…Now and then. I don't favor going out of Belgium if I don't have a reason-"

"TINTIN! WINTER ROSE! OVER HERE!"

Winter and Tintin both whipped their heads over to the screeching voice at once. "It's Bianca Castafiore! She probably caught a plane before us and came here earlier…" He said, staring at the woman approaching them and the other middle-aged women walking by her side. "Les femmes, c'est Tintin et Winter Rose Brimnings. Winter Rose et Tintin, voici quelques-uns de mes amis qui je invité à la mascarade!"

"Plaisir de vous rencontrer, Mesdames." Tintin said in a polite tone, adding a warm smile. The ladies murmured among each other, eyeing Tintin from the top of his quiff to the bottom of his shoes. They then moved their eyes towards Winter, who was nervously twiddling her dress. "What did Ms. Castafiore just say, Tintin?" She said quietly, trying her best not to move her mouth. He moved his eyes towards her, but not his body. "She introduced us to them."

"Are you two engaged?" A young-looking woman spoke with a French accent, breaking the silence. Ms. Castafiore exploded with laughter and faced the one who spoke. "Honey, they have only met for two days." The group made 'Ahhs' and 'Ohhs' as they observed the two young teenagers in wonder. Tintin cleared his throat and grabbed Winter by the arm. "We have to go now, ladies. Goodbye…!"

"Remember, masquerade at seven-thirty!" Ms. Castafiore yelled back with a sing-song voice.

Tintin kept pulling her to the entrance of the airport and she took a glimpse outside. "Oh, wow…"

It was already becoming dark out, and the merry lights twinkled out in the distance. Women in all sorts of fancy outfits grandly strode past by, along with a couple or two. Restaurants and cafes were bustling with customers, and multiple colors were strewn across Winter's eyes. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Tintin whistled. "I was surprised too when I first saw Paris."

Tintin glanced down at Winter and kept a solid eye-contact, which to Winter, lasted an eternity. His eyes were reflecting the city lights with dashes of the familiar green and blue. It sparkled like the gleaming stars, mesmerizing Winter's dull brown ones. She immediately realized what she was doing and coughed purposely, waving a hand in front of her face. "Oh dear! I hate the smell of smoke…"

"… But no one's smoking here, Winter-"

"Ooooh! Cake!" She blurted out, running to a food stall decorated with fake autumn leaves and blinking lights. "Tintin, do you have money right now? I want to eat some!"

He sighed and fished a wallet out of his back pocket. "Which one do you want, Winter?" She beamed at him and faced the rows of cakes. "I want…" Winter trailed off, darting her eyes at all of the delectable sweets. "That one, please!"

She pointed a pinky finger at a mocha-flavored cake, and Tintin spoke to the employee in French. The man cut a slice out of the cake and reached his arm over the counter to pass it to Winter. "Thank you, Tintin! You're a great friend!" She said happily as she dug into mocha-heaven. Tintin gave a small smile and thrust his hands into his plus-four pockets, studying his surroundings in pleasure. He then gave a glance back to Winter and saw her licking the crumbs off her fingers. "Y-you're already done?" Tintin shrilled, staring at the empty plate. She looked up at him and gave a wide ear-to-ear smile. "Sweets go fast when they're around me, Tintin, just to let you know."

The young friends walked around the nearby park, lights and distant jazz floating all around them. Winter sighed gratefully and skipped childishly to a wooden bench. Tintin followed her and sat down, keeping a considerable distance. She then noticed the space and pouted. "Sit closer! It's cold. And I don't smell THAT bad you know, although I took a shower… How many days was it?"

"Does the day that I saved you count? It was pretty far into eleven o' clock."

"Yes, yes, that one counts."

"Then… I think this is the third day."

Winter slapped the bench and gasped. "Only two days? Oh dear, what a short amount of time…" Tintin nodded his head in agreement and looked up into the starry sky. She noticed and did the same. They became quiet, wondrously staring into the pricks of light far away with the only sound of music happily playing somewhere far away. Winter then began to speak. "…You know, Tintin. The night sky won't be as beautiful as it will be now in the near future."

Tintin arched his head to stare at her in question. "How so, Winter?"

She sighed and brought her legs close together to her body. "Mankind will make the air around us polluted, and we will use too many artificial lights the see the stars."

He looked back at the multiple stars in the raven sky. "…How… awful."

Winter nodded her head in agreement. Tintin then suddenly remembered. He whipped his left wrist up to check his watch in fiery. "Great snakes, we're late! Ms. Castafiore told me to bring you to her so she could dress you up for the masquerade." He said quickly, standing up from the bench and urging Winter to come along.

She stood up and looked at him in question. "Dressing up… meaning a dress and hairdo and a mask?" She asked. Tintin nodded his head but then shook it. "Girls- well, females who are not married yet do not wear a mask."

"But why? And what if Lanav is there and sees my face? He'll probably recognize me!" Winter complained, widening her eyes in discreet horror. He pushed her along through the crowd. "Don't worry, I'll figure out something so he won't see you. I won't let Lanav get you Winter, I promise."

She sighed and scratched her head in concern. "…Oh, whatever. Let's hurry up before it's too late."

So again, I have been procrastinating over if I should write this chapter with the masquerade and whatnot. I decided; no. I will wait for the next week to post it up, since I know right now that if I'm in the lazy mood and I write a very very important chapter, I will make it utterly boring. Bear with my you guys!

But thank you for all of those wonderful reviews. You all brighten my day! :)

See you on chapter 7 The Blood-Feathered Hawk!