**A/N: Oh my gosh, hello! I am such a terrible person for not updating. I literally haven't updated since October. I feel so bad D': I'm really sorry, guys. I've just been so ridiculously busy with school and my after-school activities. If I haven't mentioned it before, I am involved in plays and my school's dance group, so I stay after school every day; I don't get home until around 6. Then I have to eat dinner, and do all my homework, and blah blah blah.

BUT! I am starting an Independent Study in Creative Writing during one of my free periods, so I will be working on this fanfiction (i.e. Short stories) during that time. Wee! I am so grateful to have amazing Followers like you guys. Please continue to follow and Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Chapter 6

It is now 6:50 p.m. and Nod waits impatiently at his and MK's usual meeting spot. Being summer, it was still fairly bright out around 6- although the sun had started to set and the sky was filled with brilliant pinks and oranges- but now it is getting dark. Nod worries that MK won't be able to find their meeting place with her Stomper eyes that are not as accustomed to darkness as Leafmen eyes. He arrived at the tree with a camera in it that they communicate through when MK stays at her dad's place twenty minutes early. He was just too excited to wait until 6:50 to travel there, but since he had so much extra time, he ended up pacing.

Even now, he cannot sit still. He is so restless that he slides down the tree leaves all the way to the forest floor just to waste some time traveling back up the tree. Normally, during work, he would simply whistle for his bird to come get him, and he would be back to the lower middle of the tree branches in a matter of seconds, but he wants more than seconds to go by. He wants to make it to the particular branch with the camera in the ten minutes that he has left while waiting for MK.

He begins by placing his foot into the crook of the tree bark, and then he uses his arms and legs to slowly climb. By the time he is even remotely close to reaching the first set of branches, the earth starts to violently quake beneath him and he almost loses his footing.

"Ahh!" he shouts, grabbing onto the bark and pressing himself against it for dear life. He doesn't dare move; the ground has not stopped shaking.

What is this… an earthquake? He wonders. No, it can't be…. MK?

Sure enough, at this moment, the redheaded girl is making her way through the forest. She knows the path to their meeting place so well that she doesn't even need to think about where she is going; she just lets her feet guide her. She knows that she is getting closer, so she starts to walk faster. Her legs are moving too fast to keep her balance on the uneven terrain, and she trips over her feet and falls to the ground. She quickly picks herself up, not even fazed, and runs to the tree.

Walking is too slow, jogging is too slow, and running is too slow.

MK's body is not physically able to bring her to their meeting place fast enough.

Faster. Faster. Faster. Come on, MK! Speed it up! Can't I run any faster? She thinks.

Her breath leaves her mouth in rushes immediately after she inhales through her nose. She makes a sharp curve around a tree and then spots it. She halts in her tracks. It's their tree. Their tree. It's right there, about fifteen feet away. She takes a few moments to bring her heart rate down and slow her breathing. Then she calmly walks towards it.

She looks at the branch where Nod normally waits for her, but he isn't there.

"Nod?" she asks aloud. "Are you here?"

She takes a step back to glance at the tree, searching for the small young man. She would not have seen him if he had not started climbing again. She would have thought he was a small green leaf stuck to the tree trunk.

"Nod!" she says in surprise once she spots him. She reaches out a hand, picks him up, and places him on a branch that is just above her eye level. They look at each other for a few moments before Nod says, "Thanks for giving me such a heart attack."

"What?" she asks.

"I almost fell to the ground because of you!" he shouts while sharply motioning with his hand towards the forest floor.

"What did I do?" MK asks incredulously, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"You were… well... walking! Really hard. You made the ground shake! I ALMOST FELL."

MK can't help but laugh at his reaction.

"What's so funny?! I COULD HAVE DIED." he yells while crossing his arms and stomping his foot. MK only laughs harder.

"I'm sorry Nod," she says once her laughter has died down. "I just can't believe that you felt the ground shaking just because I was running."
"Running? You were running? Well, no wonder it felt like an earthquake! Wait…. Why were you running?" he asks.

"Um… I got a little too excited to come see you." MK replies while her eyes wander the forest floor and a blush spreads across her face.

Nod's whole body seems to soften. He smiles at her. "You were excited to see me?"

MK lifts her head up and tries to look him in the eye; it's a difficult thing to do while wearing a helmet. "Of course I was, Nod. You're my best friend."

Nod's face melts. A frown deepens upon it and his eyebrows knit together. "You're my best friend," he thinks. Is that all we'll ever be?

"What's wrong?" MK asks, concern etched into her voice.

"….Will you take it off?"

"Take what off?" MK tries to sound like she doesn't know what he means.

"You know what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb."

"Nod…"

"Please, MK. I haven't seen you in months. Can I at least look at you for ten minutes?"

MK lightly sighs. "Okay," she says. She reaches her arms up to her head and pulls the helmet off. She places it on the ground and then tries to smooth out her hair. Then she looks at Nod. He stares at her, committing her every feature to memory. The orange flecks in her bright green eyes. The light dusting of freckles across her rosy cheeks. The way her slim nose turns up at the end. Her rose-petal pink lips. Every feature is absolutely beautiful to him, and he never wants her to hide them behind that stupid helmet just so that she can hear what he has to say.

Nod would much rather be in her presence and look at her than be able to talk with her. He is perfectly fine with spending an afternoon looking into each other's eyes. Of course, he would love to go on adventures with her again like they did last summer, but he knows that that is an impossible dream.

"Hey Nod… I've been thinking. Could you bring the queen out here tomorrow? If it's too dangerous for her, we can meet closer to Moonhaven. I just can't meet you guys there because I would destroy everything. There's something I want to ask her about. Could you do that?"

Knowing that MK can no longer hear him, Nod bows his head very slowly in a "Yes" so that she will see it. MK smiles in return.

"Great. Thanks. Do you wanna talk more?"

Nod does the same action as before. Without saying a word, MK picks him and sits down against the tree. She puts her knees up and sets him on them. Then she reaches to her side, where the helmet rests, and puts it back on. Now, they can talk freely to each other and be a bit more comfortable.

They spend the whole evening talking about what has happened in each other's lives since the Spring.