Description: After an attempt to keep Jessica safe goes badly wrong, Toby discovers Jessica's fear and helps her to deal with it, in their own way.
Jessica gasped for breath. She, along with her fellow Lords of Nature, was running through the Forest Nation away from some particularly persistent Lava Gormiti. One of them had very stupidly revealed their plan to capture her. Rather than fighting the Lava Gormiti and risking Jessica's capture, the Lords had chosen to flee.
"Oh boy, these Lava Gormiti can run fast!" Nick commented, narrowly avoiding a fireball.
"Tell me about it! We've been running for so long, I can barely feel my feet!" Lucas yelped, looking over his shoulder and seeing that the Lava Gormiti were gaining on them. "How are we going to lose them?"
Toby wordlessly took hold of Jessica's hand. If she noticed, she didn't say anything. He had a plan that would work...hopefully. Ahead of them, if he remembered correctly, there was a fork in the path. He would be able to hide Jessica and Lucas and Nick could easily get to safety.
"Give up, Lords of Nature! You're only delaying the inevitable! Hand over the Lord of Air!"
All four of them looked behind them and expressions of shock registered on their faces when they saw how close the Lava Gormiti were getting. "What are we going to do? They're getting closer!" Lucas yelled, dodging a badly-aimed lava blast.
Toby looked forward and saw that they were almost at the forked road. He signaled to Lucas and Nick, subtly pointing down one fork. They both nodded, understanding what he meant. "Let's do this. On my signal..."
"...Now!" After Toby had given the signal, Lucas and Nick hurtled down one fork while Toby headed down the other, taking Jessica with him. The Lava Gormiti split their forces as they weren't entirely sure which fork would lead them to the Lord of Air.
Jessica could hear that there were at least three Lava Gormiti still following them. She wondered if Toby knew what he was doing. As though he could read her thoughts, he remarked, "I know what I'm doing. Just trust me, okay." She nodded, and with that, they sped up, destination in sight.
Meanwhile Lucas and Nick had reached an area where a group of Forest Gormiti were. Upon seeing the Lava Gormiti, they became enraged and attacked, causing the fiery soldiers to retreat. "Thank you for your help, brothers of the Forest." Lucas said, sliding down onto the ground in complete exhaustion. Nick acknowledged them by imperceptibly nodding his head, showing that he, like Lucas, was absolutely worn out.
Taking a deep breath, Toby threw himself into the narrow cave entrance and quickly pulled Jessica in too. Luckily they had put some distance between themselves and the Lava Gormiti so they had some time to figure out what they were going to do.
"Well, that was quite a run, don't you think?" Jessica commented breathlessly. She felt something squeezing her hand and, upon looking, she realised that he had a hold of her hand. A blush on her cheeks became apparent when she noticed that he'd been holding her hand the whole time and, strangely, didn't seem to feel the need to let go. Not that she wanted him to, mind you.
"Yeah," he chuckled, watching her expression. "I'm not sure how safe we'll be in here. Are you okay?" He looked at her with concern, after all he had practically dragged her through the Forest Nation.
"I-I think so." Jessica was confused. Recently Toby had been acting differently towards her, showing concern whenever she was injured, putting his life on the line to protect her. Not to mention the glares he gave any boy who so much as looked at her.
Her heart kept saying, "He loves you and you love him! Tell him how you feel!" Her head, on the other hand, was a lot more skeptical: "He's just looking out for you, like a friend usually does! Stop trying to make it sound like more than it is!"
Toby raised an eyebrow and Jessica laughed nervously, realising that her internal discussion had been a bit vocal. "Are you alr-?"
"Over here!" The shout was loud, and they both glanced toward the mouth of the cave. Thinking quickly, Toby positioned himself so that he was directly in front of Jessica, blocking her from view. "Where's your pretty little friend, Lord of Water? Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt her!"
Toby's expression was one of pure anger. "If you even think I'd tell you where she was, then you're totally crazy!"He gently squeezed Jessica's hand, letting her know that they were safe for the moment.
"Well, it seems like we don't have a choice. If you won't tell us where the Lord of Air is, maybe some time trapped in this lovely little cave will help change your mind!" With that said, the Lava Gormiti all blasted the roof of the cave, triggering a cave-in.
Toby looked up and saw rocks raining down upon them. He heard the sounds of the Lava Gormiti running away, laughing evilly. Instinctively he threw himself over Jessica in an effort to shield her from the falling rocks and also to protect her from the cave-in.
Jessica was now even more confused. He had practically risked his own life just to protect her. Toby never normally acted like this, so what was going on? She could feel his arms holding her up, his body pressed tightly against hers. It made her feel protected and safe. "What am I going to do?" She said to herself, regarding the internal argument she was having with herself.
"About what?" The question made her jump as she hadn't noticed he was listening. Unbeknownst to her, Toby had been watching her the entire time, a smile on his face. She was acting strangely lately, and he was curious as to why.
"Uh, well, I-I don't-" Perhaps it was the close proximity of their bodies but Jessica suddenly found herself incapable of speaking. This only worsened when he fixed his gaze on her, staring at her as though she was the only person in the world. Her breath got caught as he slowly leant down towards her.
However, just at the precise second he was about to kiss her, a rumble cut through the air. They both spun round and saw that the mouth of the cave was completely blocked. They were trapped.
Jessica's expression grew panicked. There was no way out, and she was alone. Well, not completely alone; she had Toby with her. Her breathing got louder and louder as she took in their current surroundings.
Not completely sure why Jessica was suddenly panicking, Toby got up, thinking that he had maybe been laid on top of her a little too long. When, however, she didn't stop hyperventilating, he noticed that she kept shooting frightened glances at the mouth of the cave. All of a sudden, it hit him. "You're claustrophobic, aren't you?"
Her reply was immediate, "No, what would give you that idea?" In Toby's head, however, it all made sense. How Jessica had always been reluctant to fight underground, how she always left her bedroom door cracked open a inch or two and how she always got slightly panicky in large crowds. Another big clue was the fact that she couldn't stand elevators.
"You don't have to be ashamed of admitting you're afraid," he told her softly. "Why didn't you tell us before?" If they had known about her claustrophobia, they never would have made her go underground as much.
"I-I guess I didn't want you all to think I was weak. I mean, you're scared of spiders but you dealt with your fear. I can't even go near an elevator without freaking out!" She sounded as though this was something she had needed to get off her chest for a while.
"Being afraid doesn't make us weak." Toby said in a wise tone. "Without fear, there would be no courage at all. People can only be brave if they face their fears. Running away from them won't help."
"B-But you're not scared of anything anymore!" Jessica protested. What Toby was saying made sense but he was probably the bravest person she knew. After all, she knew that it had taken all the courage he had to face his fear of spiders.
"Me? I'm scared of everything!" He argued, wondering where Jessica got the idea from. "I'm scared of not knowing what to do, I'm scared of being helpless, I'm scared of losing my friends and family. But, most of all, I'm scared of never feeling the way I do whenever I'm with you!"
Jessica blinked. Unless she was completely mistaken, Toby had just told her that he loved her. The thought made her heart leap as it explained the changes in him. "W-What do you mean?"
"Surely you'd noticed that I can't seem to function properly around you lately, and my first instinct is usually to keep you safe." He was right, she had noticed, but she, in an effort to hide the plain truth, had merely presumed that it was all friendship.
"Yeah, I had noticed. I just wasn't sure if I should believe it or not. I mean, up until recently, all we ever did was argue over stupid things. I mean it's all good to say you love me, but how do I know you're not just playing with my heart?"
The atmosphere was tense. Giving in to the inevitable, he leant down, muttering, "I'll finish what I started and then you'll know this is real," before capturing her lips with his own.
Jessica was immediately glad for the cave wall because her legs were not doing a great job of holding her up. Inside, her heart was rejoicing and he was all she could think about. She found herself unable to breathe, but it was for an entirely pleasant reason (in other words, it wasn't because of her claustrophobia). When they eventually broke apart, Jessica wondered how long he had felt this way. She suddenly realised that she didn't need to know; she knew he loved her and that was all that mattered.
"I promise I'll be there for you whenever you need me. After all, it's good to talk about things. I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe." He promised her, holding her tightly.
Jessica smiled. "You know, you're a lot smarter than you make yourself out to be. Not logically clever, per se, but more like emotionally clever."
"Emotionally clever, huh?" Toby grinned mischievously. "I think I can live with that. Anyways I can't blast away this rock and you can't fly us out of here. I suppose we'll just have to wait for Nick and Lucas to find us."
"Stone Hammer!" There was a loud smash and the rocks blocking the mouth of the cave were smashed away.
"Wow, now that's what I call perfect tim-"
"Beloved freedom!" Jessica screamed, running out the cave and flying up into the air, performing several somersaults in mid-air. Toby followed, shaking his head, laughing quietly.
"Uh, how did you two not rip each other's heads off?" Nick asked exhaustedly.
"Yeah, you two usually can't go three minutes without arguing, let alone three hours!" Lucas added.
Toby looked shocked as he stared up at Jessica. Had they really been trapped in there that long? Winking at her, he turned to Nick and Lucas, stating, "Well, there are certain ways..."