December 27, Winter, year 20

…okay that was audacious, even for him. And here I thought he was going to try and be inconspicuous. Teach me to make assumptions.

Claire had dropped by the inn, hoping to beg a cup of hot chocolate from Ruby. The sky might've been clear, but the wind was still cutting like a knife, and the little farmer had been trying to find some ever-elusive white grass for hours.

Ruby was studying a piece of paper frowning thoughtfully when the blonde entered, whistling a bright tune. The look on the innkeeper's pudgy face made her whistle die mid-note, and she approached with caution.

"Something wrong Ruby?"

"Oh well…" the woman seemed almost embarrassed. "This note was sitting on the desk this morning… It's from the thief."

Claire barely suppressed a groan, and what escaped was hidden by the sound of doors upstairs being flung open and feet rushing down. Rock, followed by Nami, skidded into the main room of the inn.

"What's this about a note?" Rock demanded.

"You have a note from the thief?" Nami wanted to know.

Claire was nearly shoved out of the way in Rock's eagerness to see the dreaded letter, something that Nami kicked him for.

"Relax, relax," the innkeeper smiled. "Here, read for yourselves."

She laid the paper down on the check-in/out desk for the three to read.

I'll waltz into the Inner Inn tonight as midnight exactly.

With Love, Phantom Skye

Claire, again, barely repressed a groan, knowing full well that Skye was likely sitting at the top of the stairs and enjoying this to the hilt.

"Waltz, eh?" and Ruby smiled. "Such a bold thief!"

"Ruby," Nami as clearly exasperated. "You're being way to casual about this!"

"Yeah Mom!" Rock agreed. "We're talking about a thief who could be after all the paintings and—OW!"

Rock looked at Claire, who had kicked him to make him shut up. She gave him her best 'It was an accident' look, and he turned back to his mother. Skye, she knew, didn't need help in deciding what to steal. But it was better to not give him any ideas…

"Seriously this is like… a chance to catch him and get famous or something!"

Nami and Claire both smacked their forehead in mutual exasperation. Only Rock would think of the publicity behind such a feat.

"Well," and Ruby seemed doubtful. "I suppose sweetie, but… how are you supposed to catch him? No one else has been able to."

This time Claire had to hide a pleased grin.

"Claire can help us!" Rock proclaimed.

"Wait, what?"

"Hey, that's a good idea…" Ruby gave Claire a hopeful look. "Will you kiddo?"

The farmer heaved a sigh.

"Yeah, alright. Might as well…"

She would have to work to cover for him if he got caught again, but it would at least give her the chance to play cover this time.

"Awesome," Rock grinned. "Who else do you think we should ask?"

"A plan would be good," Nami nodded. "And we have plenty of time to think about it too."

"That's right," Ruby chirped. "Make it a good one kids."

"Yeah, better take our time on this one," Rock agreed, heading back up the stairs.

"Gotta think, gotta think," Nami murmured, heading out into the white winterland.

"Oh Claire?" Ruby's voice halted the farmer, "try not to be late dear, okay?"

Claire chuckled and nodded, then headed up the stairs to the room where Skye spent his mornings. He was sitting on the bed, chuckling to himself when she pushed the door open, annoyance clearly written across her face.

"Why are you so reckless?" she hissed, closing the door firmly behind her. "You're lucky neither of them thought to connect you to that note of yours… I can't believe you keep using that name too!"

Skye watched as she fumed, then reached out and calmly caught her sleeve, halting the girl mid-pace.

"I know what I'm doing, and I even brought the wig and contacts from last time," he smiled faintly, trying to be reassuring

She huffed, propping her hands on her hips, clearly not happy with him. He gave her a cocky smile which made her want to kick him, hard. She stuck her finger in his face, keeping her voice low.

"You are such a risk taker! Is the adrenaline of thieving ever going to stop Skye?" Anger slipped down to worry. "If you run enough risks, you'll get the whole town after you… I don't want that."

He thought about protesting that he had a disguise. That no one would be able to make the connection between a dark-haired, purple eyed thief and his normal self. Then just sighed, reached out, and pulled Claire down into his arms. The farmer squeaked her surprise, and felt a blush crossing her face. Skye's chin came down on top of her head lightly, and after a moment she just relaxed into the embrace, listening to his heartbeat.

"Please…" he said quietly. "Trust me. I won't get caught."

"…not like I get a choice," she mumbled sourly. "Promise me you won't try anything stupid?"

"I promise…"

And so now I have to go back to the Inn and see if I can't run some sort of interference to prevent Nami and Rock from catching Skye. I've been thinking most of the day, but so far, nothing sound like it would work reasonably well. I mean Rock isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but Nami's someone to be reckoned with.

Phuuu… better get moving. It's almost midnight.

Claire bundled up in her winter-kitty raiment, marveling at the fact that none of it had yet to go missing, which was a miracle in and of itself. She wondered briefly, if maybe Skye hadn't cast some type of spell on them to keep her from misplacing them.

Then she forced her mind back to the problem at hand, how to cover for her thief. She still hadn't come up with any ideas by the time she reached the inn, and pushed opened the door with a mildly panicked feeling.

To her surprise, there was no one in the lobby, or anywhere in the lower part of the inn for that matter. Before she could voice her confusion, she heard a shout from outside.

"It's the thief!! It's Phantom Skye!"

And it was a voice she knew well. How had Damien managed to weasel his way into the Valley this time? Ah well, it wasn't important.

Claire picked up her feet, and raced out of the inn, stopping short as she tried to figure out which way the shout had come from.

A disguised Skye nearly ran her down, and in fact that had to grab each other to stay upright. The farmer raised one blond eyebrow at him, frowning.

"Do I get to say 'I told you so' now?" she asked archly.

"Certainly," Skye puffed. "If you can get me out of this mess, I'll let you say it all you want."

There was a tense silence, Claire weighing her options.

"Alright," she said briskly. "Go into the inn, change back to yourself, and I'll cover your tracks."

The expression on Skye's face, a mix of awe and wonder, made her smile a bit.

"I will never forget this," he said softly.

"No, probably not," she agreed. "considering I'm going to tease you about it for a long time."

He slipped carefully into her boot prints, then hesitated. She waved a hand at him, urging him on. If the mob caught him here, there would likely be the worst form of small-town judgment ever, something she never wanted to see happen to the one she loved.

A quick smile crossed his face and he leaned forward quickly, briefly capturing her mouth with his. To say that Claire was stunned would have been an understatement. But all too soon the kiss ended, and Skye hurried back into the warmth and security of the Inner Inn, leaving Claire to deal with the upcoming crowd.

She forced herself to try and think rationally, and stop blushing… despite the fact that it was a dark night, most of them were carrying lights of some type, and she didn't need them asking any more questions.

So cloud nine was pushed off to one side at the group of people skidded to a halt, and Claire had to blink at the size of the ambushing group. The original three had managed to get Marlin, Celia and Vesta to join them as well, and there was Damien in the back, looking smugly proud of himself.

"There you are Claire!" Ruby exclaimed. "Look who joined us!"

"But the Phantom guy slipped right by us!" Rock interrupted

"We think he went this way.." Nami continued. "Did you see him Claire?"

"No sign," Claire replied, shaking her head. "If he did, I didn't see him."

She saw how Damien's eyes narrowed in annoyance, and had to work to keep the smug smile off her face.

"No? Man, that's one slippery thief," Rock complained.

"Still, he couldn't have gotten too far," Celia encouraged. "Maybe if we hurry we can still find him!"

"Let's check over there!" Vesta boomed.

The villagers scurried away, leaving Damien and Claire facing on another.

"You're not supposed to be here," she said coolly. "How did you get into the Valley?"

"Trade secret," Damien smirked. "And because I've been so helpful, your innkeeper said I could stay a couple of weeks on the house."

Claire groaned, and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance, wondering vaguely if this was the Harvest God's idea of a bad joke.

"Go join your little thief hunt," Claire said flatly. "And stay out of my way or I will beat you to hell and back."

Dark-green eyes flared in anger, but after a minute he stepped away. Only when he was out of sight did she let out a long sigh of relief, and head for her home, her cats, and most importantly, her heated blankets.

…He kissed me…