4:55 am

Azura walked into the now familiar alley before the sun even rose.

Under the cover of darkness, she had slipped out of her house before her brother could wake up. If at all possible, she wanted to avoid any further interrogation.

She was sure that Xandar would be watching her like a hawk once he woke up. But she simply had to see Jordan at least once that day.

Even if it meant giving up on precious hours of sleep.

So she wrapped herself in her warmest clothes, and snuck out at four in the morning.

Her teeth chattered against the freezing wind, but frankly, she didn't care.

Arriving at their usual spot, she stood for a moment, searching her surroundings for the mysterious young man she had come to be closely acquainted with.

A frown adorned her delicate features as she realised that Jordan was nowhere to be found.

Her feet carried her forward as her eyes roamed, eagerly looking for him.

As her gaze was fixed forward, she failed to notice the little white puppy curled up on the ground.

And when she finally did look down, it was much too late to step over Sky. And as her feet stumbled to avoid stepping on the pup, she fell down onto her side with a high shriek of alarm. The sound echoed through the silence of the early morning, followed by an audible thump.

She lay in a helpless jumble of limbs for a few moments, her brain struggling to process the incident. Luckily for her, the soft snow lessened the impact, and she was relieved to find at her body was mostly unscathed.

The commotion woke up the little puppy on the ground, and it gave a little yelp of excitement at seeing Azura.

It jumped up and started running in tight circles around the girl. Groaning, Azura propped herself up onto her knees. She reached out and rubbed Sky's head.

"Hey there, little guy," she murmured as she watched it sidle up to her.

Smiling softly, she asked, "Do you know where Jordan is?"

The puppy gazed at her for a while, before obediently trotting off into the distance. Azura scrambled to get up and catch up with the dog.

Sky halted to a stop in front a figure slumped against a crumbling brick wall.

Jordan.

Azura blinked in surprise, astonished by the intelligence of the little dog next to her. She wasn't sure what she expected when she asked it about Jordan's whereabouts, but it certainly wasn't this.

"You're a lot smarter than I gave you credit for."

Sky barked as if agreeing with her.

Crouching down beside Jordan, she shook his shoulder gently to wake him. All she got where a few incoherent grunts and groans.

So she shook him harder.

He cracked one eye open and stared at her. Until he closed it again and grunted "What?"

"Nothing. Just...wanted to see you," she replied.

He huffed and turned towards her, opening his eyes and plastering an annoyed expression on his face.

"Well, now you've seen me. So go away."

But Azura simply grinned and lay down next to him. Although the snow was wet and cold below her, she didn't feel it. She only felt the weight of his stare on her. Her arm brushed his, and the light tingles she felt turned into a swarm of bees in her stomach.

But, she felt happy. And she hoped he did too.

But the moment was broken by a piercing scream of, "Help!"

Both Azura and Jordan shot to their feet, alarmed and worried about the cry.

"I'll go check it out," he said, breathless. "Stay here."

"No way. I'm coming with you," she replied stubbornly, crossing her arms across her chest.

Jordan frowned, and opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Azura grabbing his hand and leading him towards the source of voice. Feeling that he shouldn't waste any more time, he sighed and reluctantly let her come along. Or rather, drag him along.

Not that he had much choice in the matter.

Her pace hastened to a run, and soon, the duo were sprinting across the snow, looking for anyone who may have called for help, for there wasn't a soul on the streets at that ungodly hour.

And soon, the victim came into view.

A young girl, about ten years old, was surrounded by three older men. As the men advanced towards her, she kept backing away, until she hit a wall.

She was cornered.

The girl was crying, the tears running down her face and into the snow below. She spotted Azura, and desperately screamed.

"Help!"

One guy, a young one with a scornful sneer, clapped his hand onto her mouth, muffling her screams. Azura could see the child struggling against him, to no avail.

Azura gasped, and racked her brains to think of what to do. But really, she didn't have to, for Jordan had already sprung into action.

He bravely walked up to the men, all of them much more skinny and ragged than him.

He then did something unexpected.

He punched the guy holding the girl right in the face, causing him to scream and stumble away.

Standing between this girl and men, he crossed his arms and stared them down, looking angry enough to pummel all three of them to the ground.

He looked awfully intimidating despite his lithe frame.

Jordan opened his mouth, and his smooth voice shouted into the silence. "Scram."

They didn't budge.

Jordan spoke again.

"Look, I'm really not in the mood for getting into a fight right now. So, if you're smart, you'll leave that little girl alone, and make sure I don't catch you lurking around here ever again."

One of the men, an older, balding one, pulled a gleaming knife out of his pocket.

"We can take you on. It's three against one, after all."

He glanced at his comrades, who had turned pale from fright. One of them was holding his bleeding nose and the other, nervously biting his fingernails. They didn't really look to be in fighting condition. The man with the knife 'tched' at their pathetic condition and twirled the knife in his hands.

Azura couldn't believe these guys. Despite Jordan's body being lean and slim and not very bulky at all, these idiots were still shaking in their boots. She scoffed.

Jordan raised an eyebrow sceptically at his statement.

"Really? Because you look like you're about to wet yourselves. Trust me, if you want to live you'll get out of here. This is your last warning."

Azura wasn't sure if Jordan really could take them down, but looking at him then, she had no doubt that he would fight his hardest.

However, the three men left, albeit reluctantly. Azura supposed that they weren't dumb enough to ignore Jordan's warnings.

And once all three had left, she ran over to the child.

"Are you alright?" she asked, crouching down beside her.

"Y-yeah. I guess," she replied, nervously glancing at me and Jordan.

"Hey, I promise we won't hurt you, ok?" Azura said, taking note of her frightened expression. "We just want to help."

"I know. Thanks for that, by the way. I don't know what I'd have done if you weren't here," she said, her eyes shining in gratitude. She looked at Jordan and offered him a toothy smile.

He smiled in response.

He pulled out a bar of chocolate from his pocket and held it out to the girl.

"Here, I was saving this for later, so I must have been saving it for you."

She took it from Jordan's hand, still smiling. She went to unwrap it, when a voice called out.

"Judy! Oh Judy, thank god!" A woman rushed in, immediately enveloping the girl in a hug. She shed a few tears in relief of finding her daughter.

"Mommy!" she squealed in reply.

"I told you not to wander off," she admonished, still holding her close. "I was so worried!"

For a few moments, all was still, as the small family hugged each other from sheer joy and relief.

The mother then turned to Azura and Jordan and smiled at them gratefully. "Thank you, for taking care of my Judy."

And with that she walked off, Judy's hand in her mother's. Judy turned back to wave at them one last time, before disappearing into a car.

Azura glanced over at Jordan, to see him smiling.

"Have you seen those men before?" she enquired, curious.

The smile fell off his face, and Azura was sorry to see it go.

"Yes," he said, looking up at the sky. He continued, after letting out a huff of indignation.

"They're always doing stuff like this. In fact, if it weren't for Judy standing there, I would definitely have beaten them up. They're all bark and no bite. But one of these days, I want to teach them a lesson they won't forget."

Azura stared at Jordan, before grabbing his hand and holding it in hers.

"I have your next reason. Its not a very good, or noble one, but I think it works."

Azura's mouth quirked up, as she watched Jordan tense up beside her. Just like he always did.

"Live to get revenge on those idiots. To make sure that they don't cause anyone anymore misery than they already have. Because honestly, I think you're the only one who cares enough to."

Jordan took a deep breath in, and then let it out.

But he took his hand, which, till now, lay limp in Azura's, and tentatively held her hand. He glanced at her nervously, before pulling her down to sit down beside her.

Azura looked at him in surprise, before her face softened, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

And so, the next half hour was spent in peace. And to anyone who may have happened to glance at them from a distance, they looked like an example of a perfect relationship.