Author's Notes: Again, sorry for the delay between updates. I also apologize for the many typos in the last chapter. And also, his name is Marlo, M-A-R-L-O, not Mario, M-A-R-I-O.

I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and a soft morning breeze. Feeling much stronger, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. The was no drip bag in my arm and my body was not nearly as sore as it was. I opened my eyes to see Blaze, sitting in a chair beside me, reading a book. My movements caused her to look up from her book, and she gave me a smile as our eyes met. "You're awake." She said, and I replied,

"What time is it?" And she said,

"Just after ten." And I said,

"And how long have you been here?" And she replied,

"About 250 pages." Referencing her book, "About six thirty." And I replied,

"Oh...You know you don't have to sit by my bedside. I'm sure you have much more important things than watching me sleep." She replied,

"Perhaps...but this is somewhat my fault...for not telling you." Her smile faded, but I said,

"Hey now, don't be that way. There's no use getting upset about it now. I love you and that's all that matters. If this is what it takes, so be it." She replied,

"Your sweet." And I added, laying back on my pillow,

"Like sugar." She giggled a little, very rare for her.

"The nurse said that your condition greatly improved and that whenever you're feeling up to it, you're free to go." This caused me to pop right back up.

"Well in that case, I'm all set. In fact, how about you and I go on a little date tonight." She smiled and laughed a little,

"Okay, are you sure?"

"Positive." I replied, swinging my legs out of the bed. "I was thinking, dinner and maybe a nice, long walk or maybe dancing." She looked at me with slight disbelief,

"You...dancing?!" And I replied,

"Yes." And she said,

"Have you ever..." And I replied,

"No...but never to late to start." She smiled,

"You're sweet...alright, a date it is. What time?" And I replied,

"How about five or so, in the entrance hall" She smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Then she got up and left me all by myself. I rested a short while more and then found myself out of the hospital wing and wandering back to my room. Along the way, I was met by Marlo.

"It is good to see that you are doing well. Much better than when we found you, face down and half frozen in the snow." My feelings were mixed towards him. On the one hand, he had been one of the nicest people to me. On the other hand, he wasn't there on the top of that mountain and I nearly died there. However, I decided that it wasn't his fault, so I said,

"You will have to try much harder than a cold mountain." Marlo gave a somewhat devilish smile and said,

"Be careful what you wish for, Sir Silver." He gave me a pat on my back and left me to continue on my way. I spent the rest of my day in the library and my room. They did have a great collection of books. I never heard of any of them, but I found that they had an unusual obsession with ghosts and the supernatural and the mind. And it was around five that I donned a sweater and went down to the entrance hall. Blaze was already there, but had dressed down to a simpler red dress. She greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and said,

"Hi." I replied,

"Nice to see you too."

Our date was wonderful. We had dinner at a small cafe in the lower village. And we danced in a nearby bar. It was wierd, as we had never had much chance to ever feel normal. Between Iblis all those years and then the trials that I was going through, it was nice to feel normal. It still was frowned upon for us to be together, after all, I was an illegitimate suitor. But it seemed that we went largely unrecognized. Later that night, we found ourselves walking back to the palace, well after midnight. Blaze was holding my hand.

I said, "That wasn't bad...for a first date." She smiled and replied,

"The first of many." She had been so subtle about it, but it was the first time that she had ever been optimistic about my trials.

"Blaze?" I said. She replied,

"Hmm." I continued,

"You know how much I love you right." She nodded. I kept going,

"And you know that I will always be here when you need me, right?"

"I do." She answered. I kept going,

"And I can trust that you will always be there for me right?" She smiled,

"You're so naive. Of course you can." I said,

"But lets say that something were to happen, and I fail these trials..." She cut me off,

"Don't say that, you will succeed. And if by some case you were to fail. I would elope with you if that's what it came to. I will only ever love you Silver, and you can count on that." I had a tear in my eye, truly touched by what she said. We walked in silence until we reached the palace.

"Shall we go up?" I asked. She consented, understanding my point. I swept her into my arms and flew up high. Her face had a nervous look, as she was always afraid of heights.

"Were is your room?" I asked. She said,

"Around to the other side." She pointed me towards the other side of the palace and directed me to a room that was near mine. In fact, it just happened to be the room that I was told that I couldn't take. I set her down on the balcony and just floated there. I didn't have a balcony in my room and she knew that, so she beckoned for me to pass through her room. She led me inside and I wasn't surprised by her room. Everything was a shade of purple. Her walls, royal purple. Her sheets on her four poster bed, were a much deeper shade. And her carpet was a much more lilac shade. I walked through the room and neither of us said a word. But just as my hand gripped her door knob, there was a slight whimper from Blaze. I froze and looked at her; she looked a little sad.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She replied,

"I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay here and sleep...with me." She may have said sleep, but I knew what she ment. So, instead of turning the doorknob, I locked it and slowly walked toward Blaze, now sitting on the edge of her bed. I knew that, if we were caught, the consequences would be desire. But I didn't care, all that mattered to me were those soft amber eyes that burned with desire and those lips that craved my kiss. She stood up to meet me as I took her in for a deep kiss and much needed embrace...