8:12 am

Azura skipped downstairs, practically glowing with happiness.

Her smile was broad, and her laughter genuine, as she danced around the kitchen making herself breakfast.

Xandar drowsily emerged from his bedroom and stared at his sister wearily, wondering where her good mood was coming from.

"It's too early to be happy," he groaned, resting his head on the kitchen counter.

"It's never too late, or early to be happy. Anytime, is a good time," she chirped, placing some pancakes in front of Xandar.

He raised his brows questioningly.

"What's put you in such a good mood?" he asked grabbing the fork she offered.

"Everything's going wonderfully. I got good grades in my midterms, Christmas is almost here, and..." She paused, seemingly considering her next words. After a few moments of thought, she continued.

"My two best friends approve of my new one," she finished, her smile now sweet and soft.

Xandar stared at his sister, his mouth full. She had changed so much in the past few days, no doubt because of Jordan. And while he wasn't sure whether or not the change was a good one, Xandar was sure that the boy was making Azura much happier.

And that was worth having her disappear for hours at a time everyday.

"Hey, when are you heading out today? You are going to see Jordan, right?"

"Hmmm," she mused, polishing off the last of her pancakes. "I'm not sure, but I'll go as soon as-" Azura was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

She hopped off her seat and twirled towards the front door.

"I'll get it." She called to Xandar, swinging the door open to reveal none other than Jordan, his shirt and hair covered with feathery snow.

"Jordan!" Azura exclaimed with excitement.

He didn't say anything in reply, but he did offer his hand for her to take. Smiling, Azura accepted it.

"Hey Xandar, I'm going now. Bye." She waved, and grabbed a scarf from the coat rack near her front door.

Xandar hardly had time to say goodbye before the couple sauntered out of the house, the door shutting behind them.

He sighed and went back to his pancakes, wondering when his own special someone would accept him.

***

"So, what brings you here?" Azura asked fiddling with her coat sleeve.

"Well, since I figured since you go through the effort of finding me everyday, I should return the favour," he replied nonchalantly, tucking his hands into his pockets.

"Right. Anyway, what do you want to do today?" Azura asked, a little apprehensively.

"I don't know. I guess we could just take a walk," he shrugged.

She hummed in agreement, and that started a bout of idle chatter between the two.

"So, where's Sky?" Azura asked as they walked along the concrete path. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"I don't really know. I swear that dog knows his way around the city better than I do. Last I saw him, he was raiding a bakery." He paused, eyes flitting to Azura, awaiting her reaction.

She didn't say anything for a few counts. The silence stretched between them until she broke it.

"So you mean to say, that Sky is currently occu'pied'?"

Jordan blinked. And then let out an unexpected snort.

"That was so bad, it was funny."

"There is no such thing as a good pun," Azura quoted, batting her eyelashes innocently.

Jordan simply shook his head in amusement.

"Seriously though, where is Sky?" Azura asked, her tone now more serious.

"I honestly don't know," Jordan answered, seemingly uncaring, but secretly watching her out of the corner of his eye.

Azura gasped and smacked him on the chest. She looked mad, but Jordan could tell that she was just playing.

"You are literally the worst dad in the world," She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Uh-huh. Let's see if you say the same thing when we finally have kids for real." He trailed off.

We?

It took Azura a few seconds to fully comprehend the meaning of Jordan's comment, but when she did, her eyes widened and her face turned red from embarrassment.

She turned towards Jordan, her eyebrows furrowed.

He burst out laughing, the sound ringing out melodiously through her surroundings. It was the most beautiful sound Azura had ever heard, and she found herself wanting to tell him to laugh more often.

But instead, she just smacked his chest again, and with a slight lingering blush, nervously tried to stammer out a reply.

Jordan, taking pity on her, changed the subject.

"Azura?" he asked. "Where are your parents? You never really mention them, and I didn't see them at home when I came today. Are they...you know... alright? he trailed off unsurely, trying not to be insensitive.

"Oh, no. They're perfectly fine," she reassured. "They're both really busy lawyers, so they just aren't home all that much. But they always try to make it home for Christmas. You should be able to meet them then."

Jordan blinked. And then smiled softly, taking Azura's hand in his own.

A few beats of silence passed. Before Azura broke it with a little amused giggle.

"Hey, why do you think that guy is wearing an eyepatch?" she asked pointing towards an older man with an eyepatch covering his left eye. She seemed to be trying to hold in a laugh.

Jordan shrugged in response, though he looked at her suspiciously. "I don't know. Maybe he really did lose an eye."

Her mouth quirked to the side, in a mischievous little grin. "Well, I think it's because he wants to see the world the 'right' way."

Jordan blinked. Once. Twice.

"That was so funny, I forgot to laugh," he said dryly, although the upward tilt of his lips gave him away.

"Hey! You thought the first one was funny!" Azura burst out, giggling.

A little huff escaped his lips, and he shrugged again.

Azura nudged him playfully in the ribs with her elbow, expecting him to simply brush it off.

But instead, he gasped and flinched away, his hands poised in a defensive stance front of him.

Azura took a step back, confused. But then her face morphed into a devious look of realisation.

Her lips curved up to form a mischievous little grin and she raised her hands up, ready to attack.

"Don't tell me you're..." she started, taking slow steps towards him. Upon reaching less than an inch away from him, she rose up on her toes, whispering in his ear.

"Ticklish?"

And with that, she playfully tackled him to the ground, her fingers deftly racing across his body.

And he, he laughed himself hoarse from the torture Azura was inflicting upon him.

They were both laughing like never before, Jordan from Azura's attacks and Azura from Jordan's ridiculous expressions.

He gasped and tried pushing her off, to no avail, as she relentlessly continued her onslaught of tickling. Finally, seeing no other way out, amid gasps and laughs Jordan scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at Azura's face.

While her face was previously a mix of mischief and pure enjoyment, now her face was one of shock. Her eyes were wide, and her jaw hing open in disbelief.

Taking advantage of her surprise, Jordan quickly clambered up, and dusted the snow off his clothes.

Until a snowball came hurtling towards and landed square on his chest.

His gaze flew upwards, to see Azura poised and ready to throw another snowball.

"Oh, it's on!" he laughed, making himself a snowball of his own.

And that triggered the start of the most epic snowball fight of the century.

The two spent a good hour playing in the snow, and laughing their asses off, until they were too exhausted to do anything but simply collapse into the snow next to each other.

They were both panting for breath when they finally stopped, but their expressions were joyful.

"Whew," Azura huffed, wiping the sweat off her brows. "That was fun."

"I can't remember the last time I laughed like that," Jordan said quietly, his smile now bittersweet.

All was silent for a little while, neither saying a word.

Azura stared at the sky, lost in thought, while Jordan looked straight at her, wondering what on earth she was thinking about.

"To laugh," said Azura suddenly, as she turned her head to face Jordan.

"Live, so you can laugh like you just did. So that you can have even more fun in the future. Because, everyone should have the opportunity to laugh themselves hoarse at least once in a while."

Her gaze turned back to the sky.

"Be happy," she finished, reaching for his hand.

And he gladly offered it, trying to focus on anything but how soft and warm her hand was.

And how right it felt in his own.

And just then, he realised something. For the first time since he started living on the streets, he felt peaceful.

Joyful.

Happy.