hey everyone. sorry i haven't been updating. schools been kinda busy. and i haven't gotten any reviews. if it sucks, you guys can tell me. i don't care. critism makes the sequel better. so i would like some reviews just so i know like this is still being read so i don't post it for nothing. i know you guys know what's gonna happen anyway.......but all the secrets are going to be reveled soon so just stick with me.
Chapter Four: Learning to Live
I woke up before Kaltezira the next morning. Well, I couldn't really tell it was morning considering the sky was as dark as night. The light tapping on my window told me that it was raining. I guessed it was about eleven, maybe closer to noon. Not being able to sleep, I let my fingers stroke Kaltezira's hair again, enjoying watching her sleep.
Soon enough, she stirred and opened her eyes. I smiled to myself as she stared at the wall for a moment and then found myself smiling down at her as she looked up at me.
"Well, hi," she murmured, blinking. I could tell she was surprised to see me here, and even more surprised to wake up with her head on my chest.
"Morning," I replied casually.
"Shouldn't you be in your room?" Kaltezira wondered.
"I should be," I told her, "but I couldn't sleep."
"Won't Ziaghra be pissed if she catches us like this?" she asked after staying silent for a moment. I had to chuckle at the absurdity of the question. I kissed her forehead before answering.
"She wouldn't care if you had another head and a tail," I said. "I grew up kind of alone, the guards were really my only friends. I never hung out with people my age. She hid the prophecy from me until I was sixteen, and it was then I realized why I never really connected with any of the girls my age." Kaltezira seemed to understand the partial lie as she nodded. I could only wonder why.
"Well in that case," she murmured, resting her head on my chest and closing her eyes, trying to go back to sleep. I rolled my eyes.
"Nice try," I said, sitting up, leaving Kaltezira to fall back down on the bed. I looked over my shoulder, smiling, to see her just lying there, dazed.
"Now I won't be able to sleep," she grumbled, sitting up. Even though her hair had been going in one hundred directions in her sleep, it managed to all come together and still fall in gentle waves down her back.
"What time is it? Three in the morning?"
"It's almost noon. It's been raining all day," I guessed. She seemed to believe me. Without warning, Kaltezira climbed off the bed and walked over to the window, opening it effortlessly and letting her hand feel the falling rain.
"Come on," she told me, "We're going flying."
"But it's raining," I pointed out. She gave me a look that said 'No duh, Caption Obvious,' and flicked the water droplets from her fingers at me. I was as startled as if someone had dumped a bucket of water on my head, why I don't know. Kaltezira burst into laughter at my expression.
"That's the point," she said, still laughing. When I had no answer, her laughter abruptly stopped and she looked shocked. "Don't tell me you've never flown in the rain before."
"I've never flown in the rain before," I stated quite plainly.
"Then you haven't lived," Kaltezira told me, dragging me off the bed and towards the window. "It's just water. You're not going to die," she informed me as she sat in the windowsill, one leg hanging out of the window, and the other still in the room.
"And if it does kill me?" I joked with a smirk. Kaltezira just rolled her eyes and dragged me onto the windowsill so that I sat in front of her with one leg in the room and one out like she did.
"What am I going to do with you if you don't know how to live?" she asked me. I chuckled softly and ran my fingers through her hair. I moved so that my face was less than an inch from hers.
"Teach me," I whispered. I had to admit, she set herself up for that one. But then she did the last thing I would expect, she tore herself from my grip and dove out the window. I prevented myself from making out with the side of the window fast enough to watch her extend her wings and gain altitude a mere fifty feet from the ground. As soon as she was outside the city, I saw her glance back. I might as well just get it over with. With a silent sigh, I let myself fall from the windowsill.
The thrill of falling like this was indescribable. The wind pulled my hair off my face and the gentle rain drops caressed the feathers of my wings. I pulled my wings open about one hundred feet from the ground and let my momentum carry me upward and over the city walls, just as Kaltezira disappeared into the forest.
I dove after her, almost hitting a branch within five seconds. I flew slowly, compared to Kaltezira. She wove in and out of the trees at a speed at which I would have killed myself. As the rain drops that fell slowly between the trees soaked my hair, I picked up speed. I managed to keep up with Kaltezira, somewhat, but kept hitting tree branches every couple of minutes.
"Isn't this kinda dangerous?" I called up to her.
"Yes, but it's not life threatening," she answered, not looking back.
"Are you sure?" I asked, hitting another branch. "Ow, damned branch." More like, damn, Kaltezira distracted me again.
"To you, it could be life threatening, considering that's the fifth tree you've hit," she pointed out. I rolled my eyes and turned right into another group of trees.
I flew parallel to her now, hidden by the line of trees between us. I managed not to crash into anything; I was getting better at this. When Kaltezira stopped, her eyes darting from place to place, looking for me, I circled around. I flew at her from below, scooping her up in my arms as her wings folded themselves against her back.
"Well, hi," I said, smiling down at her. Her long brown hair was plastered to her back and the sides of her face from the rain as mine was and her hazel eyes sparkled with amusement.
"Hi," she answered as I landed in a tree. "Was I right, or was I right?" she asked, amused, as I put her down, and sat next to her.
"About what?" I asked.
"That you haven't lived until you have flown in the rain," Kaltezira reminded me. I nodded in agreement. She would just have to wait until I took her flying through the mountains. Now that was a way to live.
"You were right about that. But why'd you fly out the window?" I asked, curious.
"'Cause it was the only way to get you out here," she told me, grabbing a branch above her hand and using it to pull herself into a standing position, sending a group of raindrops down to land on me. "It was either that or I could have pushed you."
"You could have just pushed me then," I replied, standing up on the branch. Kaltezira smiled and leaned against the tree trunk behind her.
"Then I wouldn't have seen the priceless expression on your face," she joked. Thunder rolled in the distance and the rain came down just a bit harder under the trees as I stepped closer to her. I smiled down at her as I rested my hand on the bark of the tree just above her head.
"What am I going to do with you, Kalte?" I asked, wondering what sort of reaction I would get.
"Love me and let us save the world however we are supposed to," she answered without hesitation. I could tell that she hadn't really thought about that. I watched as she tore her gaze from mine, her face turning red. I chuckled and leaned closer to her, our faces so close I could feel the heat radiating off the blush in her cheeks.
"I'll do the first part," I whispered to her, her brilliant hazel eyes darting to meet mine. "I'll leave fate to figure out the rest."
When I kissed her this time, like her answer, Kaltezira didn't hesitate in kissing me back. Her hands felt warm against the back of my neck as her fingers tangled themselves in my hair. I think this time, I was the one who was shocked, somewhat. As that shock ran through my body, affecting me all the way to the center of my being, my arm curled around her waist, my hand resting on her lower back, pulling her as close to me as I could without letting us fall out of the tree. Without thinking about it, my lips slowly began to move against hers. As she did the same, I heard her breath escape her parted lips in ragged gasps.
Much to my regret, it was the lack of air in my lungs that made me pull away. I smiled as Kaltezira moaned softly as her lips left mine, pressing my forehead to hers.
"This is all so weird to me," she murmured, her breath hot and sweet on my face.
"How?" I asked letting my fingers toy with her hair before my palm rested on the side of her face.
"I grew up not loving anyone. I thought there was no one like me in the world. I thought I was alone," she explained, her fingers running through my hair, her hand tracing my jaw, moving to rest on the side of my face for only an instant before her fingers ran across my cheek, returning to my hair.
"I thought I would never love anyone the way I love you." My heart practically skipped a beat as I smiled down at her. She could have said that in fewer words, three to be precise, but I didn't really care.
"You'll never be alone, Kaltezira," I told her, "I'll always be with you. Never forget that." I wrapped both of my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me, closing all spaces between us as I kissed her, letting that shock flow through me again.
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