Hallo! This chapter isn't super romantical, but it's kind of a build up.

Here's some mucis.

~<>~

~ Jake's PoV (IKR) ~

"You're kidding me." I stared at her. "You're kidding me, right?"

Infinity smirked at me. "Don't act like you aren't dying to be with her."

"Infinity." I felt my face heating up. "Stop."

"At least go comfort her." Infinity waved her hands for emphasis. "It's not the worst thing in the world. Friends can comfort friends."

"But you want us to be more than friends." I told her. "You know where this could lead."

"So it's a possibility?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

I face-palmed. Running my hand down my face, I sighed. "Okay. Fine. Don't see why it's such a big deal."

As I walked away, I heard Infinity say in a singsong voice, "Then why do you resi-ist?"

I shut the door to the room and walked down the hallway. Why was she so infuriating?!

I finally made it down to the lobby and walked toward the main double doors. Why was I feeling nervous? I was just making sure that Kat was okay. Nothing bad about checking up on a friend. Nothing wrong with that at all. Then why was my stomach feeling all queasy? Was it because we've never been alone together? Have we ever been alone together? My mind was messed up.

I finally reached the doors. I stopped right in front of them and collected myself. A guy walked past me, giving me a weird look, and exited the building. I followed after him.

I went outside and looked around. Kat was nowhere to be seen.

"Son of a creeper." I muttered, walking out in the street. It was more crowded than before, so it was difficult to see.

The park was right in front. Maybe she went there.

I navigated my way through the street and headed into the park.

~<>~

When I finally found Kat, I had to hide behind a tree.

About 20 blocks away, she was sitting on the grass next to a little girl. She had blonde hair, wore a sky blue dress, and looked about 6 years old. From what I saw, Kat was telling her a story.

I casually walked to a closer tree since any sudden movements would alert her (no, she isn't a dinosaur). Now I was 10 blocks closer, and I was able to hear her.

"So then I threw another enderpearl, and got on the train. But I ended up fainting."

"You didn't die?!" The little girl said in complete awe.

Kat laughed. "No. But I feel like I was close. So don't go throwing enderpearls yet, okay?"

"I wanna be brave like you!"

That must've caught Kat off-guard, because her eyebrows raised. "Oh. Haha, well." She leaned closer. "Between you and me, I didn't feel very brave. Just stupid. There's a big difference."

The little girl shook her head. "You sound brave to me."

Kat laughed again. "Thank you. I'm sure you're as brave as me. It just shows when the time is right."

"What if I fought a zombie?"

"Um, don't do that. You're still a little too young, and you don't want to get hurt."

"But I'm a fighter!" She pouted.

"I'm sure you are." Kat smiled warmly. "But I'm also sure your... parents don't want you to do something as dangerous as that." She hesitated before the word 'parents'. "I don't want you to, either."

She nodded. "Okay. What happened next?"

Kat explained the rest of our story, up until we arrived. She didn't say anything about exploring or the council, since the girl probably wouldn't care.

But I really admired it all. She was really good with kids, despite not being by a lot. She chose her words carefully, and used an upbeat tone.

"I wanna go on an adventure!" The girl looked down sadly. "But I don't think I can do all that."

"Hey." Kat lifted her chin up. "You can do whatever your heart wants if you work hard at it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Later in life, you can go on an adventure if you want. But not now. You can live a relaxed life now."

She smiled widely. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The little girl looked somewhere, and got up. "I gotta go. But thank you!" She hugged Kat, who was shocked at the action. Kat eventually returned it, smiling.

"Bye." She let go of the girl.

"Bye!" She ran away.

Kat looked at the ground, and sighed. "Jake, you can come out now."

I jerked my head out further, and walked over. "How'd you know I was here?"

"You were being awfully noisy."

I was being pretty silent in my opinion, but okay.

"Who was that girl?" I sat down, taking her place.

"Molly. Sweet kid. Saw me sitting by myself, and recognized me I guess. Said her parents told her I shouldn't be trusted, but she wanted to know about my adventures."

"And you told her everything in that small amount of time?" I would've been surprised.

"I left out some parts, like the battle at your army base, the creeper attack in the desert, and fight on the train. Didn't think she'd need to know all that stuff."

We spent about a minute looking around at the nature. Then, I spoke. "Are you alright?"

She bit her lip (she had taken her fabric over her mouth off when she was talking to Molly). "I feel kinda stupid for leaving like that."

"You... were in an emotional state. That's okay. Just all the pressure and then you exploded. At least you didn't break anything." I tried.

"I guess." She felt the grass. "It's just hard knowing that the people that raised me, that are in my blood, are out there and I don't know who they are or where they are or what's happening to them. If they're even alive."

Without thinking, I slowly reached forward and touched her arm. She immediately jerked her head up at me.

"I, I don't know how it feels to not know who your family is, but I know how it feels to not know what they're doing. My dad and Infinity's mom are at the Goldsolace army base. It's, it's pretty out there, not close to anyone else. Easy to attack." I chuckled bitterly. "And we kinda ran away. So they probably hate us."

"Jake..." Kat said, speechless.

I shook my head. "But this is about you." Again, without thinking, I picked up her hand and held it between my own. "I promise, that when we get through this, the instant we get a chance, I am going to help you find your parents and rediscover yourself if it's the last thing I do."

She stared at me for a second, and I thought I did something wrong. Then, she leapt forward and hugged me.

I was surprised for a second, but I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes.

"Thank you." She whispered.

I responded with, "You're welcome."

We broke apart, and I saw her face was slightly red. Mine probably was as well.

"We should get back to the others." She cleared her throat.

"Yeah." I agreed.

~<>~

I can feel the Kake rising from the ashes.

Lol this chapter was a bit shorter, but next chapter is going to be THE chapter, so not to worry.

Question: what are your favorite carnival games/rides? Totally not asking this because I need ideas. Totally not.

Rock on, my little rebels.