SVETLANA

I smile as I open Aella's letter and I sit on Lyre's bed as I begin to read it. Lyre comes into the room after a few minutes and sighs.

"What?" I raise my gaze up from the letter and raise a brow at him.

"Nothing," He shrugs, "I'm just worried that you're spending too much time in the cold."

"The only cold I am feeling is from you," I say and he stares at me in surprise.

I roll my eyes at him and I go back to reading my letter, and I smile and giggle at a few of her comments, but my smile fades a few moments later and my hands begin to shake as I hold the letter.

"Svetlana?" Lyre questions and frowns before walking over to me, "What's wrong?"

I close the letter and begin to cry and as if by instincts I turn towards Lyre and wrap my arms around him and pull him down in a hug as I cry.

"Svetlana?" He questions again and tries to take the letter from me, and I let him read it as I hold onto him.

His breath hitches and he places the letter down on the bed before pulling me closer against him.

"I'm so sorry..." He says quietly and I squeeze him tighter.

"Please..." I whisper as I pull back slightly and look him in the eyes, "Do not leave me and do not make me leave you."

"I won't, but..."

"But you wish for me to," I say and lower my gaze down to the bed, "I understand. I just wish you did not hate me so."

"What?" His eyes widen as I get up from the bed and walk over into his living room, "That's not--"

"That is not right?" I interrupt him and turn around to find him standing behind me.

"No," He says as his eyes scan across my face, "That's not it at all. Don't you get it? I'm worried about you."

"So you still want me to leave, then?" I ask.

"I..."

"That is what I thought," I sigh and turn around.

"Wait," He says and grabs my wrist after I make my way over to the stairs.

"Yes?" I stare at him in confusion.

"I don't want you to go. I'm just putting your needs above mine because trust me, I do want you to stay. I need you to stay, Svetlana, but if you stay it'll just be dangerous for you, so I'm putting your needs above mine, because...I still love you..."

"Then truly put my needs above yours," I say before I put a hand behind his head and crash our lips together.

His hands go to my waist and he kisses me back almost instantly. I pull back after a few moments and he stares at me in a slight daze.

"Svetlana..." He breathes out, "Does this mean that--"

I pull him into another kiss and he mumbles against my lips before kissing me back, and I wrap my arms around his neck. He pulls back after a bit and blushes.

"Hey, wait," He says and looks me in the eyes, "Does this mean that you--"

"I love you, Lyre," I say and he smiles softly at me, "Will you um...will you um...um..."

I stammer and my face turns red as I glance down at the ground and Lyre chuckles at seeing me so flustered.

"I wish to date you!" I shout and curl my hands into fists as I squeeze my eyes shut.

I open an eye to find him smiling at me and he laughs. I open my other eye and he picks me up and whirls me around.

"I'd love to be your boyfriend, Svetlana," He says and I smile back at him.

"Um..." I continue to blush, "Perhaps we could go out later? I believe it would be nice to train with you. O--Or even...we could go to a restaurant...i--if you want..."

"I'd also love to go on a date with you," Lyre chuckles and I smile.

"Okay," I smile, "When?"

He smiles mischievously at me and picks me up before running towards the exit of the cave.

"Lyre!" I shout as he jumps off of the steep cliff and flies down through the empty space between the mountains and snowflakes blow all around us as we rush through the air.

I giggle as the snowflakes and the cold air sting my face as my long, blonde hair whips around in the wind and Lyre's hair becomes tousled during the flight. He smiles as he holds me bridal style and continues to fly around. We arrive at Siankenkii a few minutes later and he slowly stops flying and lands by the path to the Snow Peaks. I laugh once more whenever I see his hair and I run my fingers through it to try and fix it.

"What are you worrying about my hair for?" Lyre chuckles, "Yours is a lot longer than mine."

"I just felt like fixing it," I shrug.

"Come on," He says and grabs my hand, lacing our fingers together, "I'd love to go have dinner with my girlfriend."

I blush and smile shyly as we walk through the streets together until we come to the nearest restaurant.

"You know," I say as we enter the restaurant, "I am sorry that I did not..."

"Don't," Lyre says and looks at me with an understanding expression and squeezes my hand, "Don't be sorry that you didn't stay those few years ago. If you had stayed things would be much different, and I'm happy with the way things are now. So don't feel bad, okay? You got to have great experiences and meet great people. Don't feel bad for doing that."

I stare at him for a few moments before smiling and squeezing his hand back.

"Okay..." I say and we walk to our table.

"Love always finds a way, don't worry about it too much," Aella's words ring through my head.

"Yeah," I whisper aloud and smile, "Thank you, Aella."