This chapter... Yeah.

Bye

~<>~

Just friends.

Lel just kidding.

"Kat...?"

I looked back at Jake. He gazed at me, his eyes fixed on mine.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You have... eyes."

I gasped. "Really?"

His widened. "No! I mean... you have nice eyes."

I didn't know how to take it. I was about to laugh, so my smile widened. "Thanks."

"Let me redo that." He held his hand up and swallowed. "Your eyes are beautiful. I don't know if I ever told you that. But they are."

I smiled more sincerely. "Thank you."

He blinked. "Aren't you going to say something about my eyes?"

That made me finally laugh. "You have eyes too."

"You are just making this complicated." Jake crossed his arms.

"Making what complicated." I raised an eyebrow.

"Ugh." He facepalmed. Then, he started chuckling. "You love making things hard for me, don't you."

"Usually I do, yes." I agreed. "But this time I really have no idea what you're talking about."

"You seriously don't?"

"I mean not really. Jake, what's going on?"

He took a deep breath. "This is already hard because everyone already ship us. It puts a lot of pressure on me, you know? I mean I already liked you before this all happened, so people were just kind of making it worse."

"What...?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Kat, this may be awkward for you. But I just need to get it off my chest." He took my hand and looked into my eyes. "When I first saw you, I didn't just think of you as the girl in the prophecy. I thought of you as the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. The only reason you are special to me is you just being you. Your humor, your kindness, your strength, and of course how gorgeous you are. Not because you're famous." He gulped. "I'm really not good with words, so I'm surprised I haven't choked up or passed out by now. But Kat... I really like you. And if you don't feel the same way, if you don't want to talk to me anymore, then that's okay. I just needed to tell you that."

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to respond. I had to gather up all the things I was trying to say.

"You don't need to say anything." He said, reading my mind. He took his hand away.

Jake just admitted that he liked me. I did have a feeling before, but now it's certain.

Jake likes me.

Do I like him?

Every time I'm around him (which is most of the time nowadays), I always get this warm feeling. I felt safe. He made me safe. He always wanted to protect me, he made me laugh a lot, and he was so sweet (Plus like cute).

And in that moment, I realized three things. One, that Jake was a little bit taller than me. Two, that I only felt like the Pali army base was home because that was Jake's home. And three, that I liked Jake.

I liked Jake.

He liked me.

You don't need to say anything.

It took a minute to respond. "You're right. I don't."

He looked down, both emotionally and physically.

I bent over to meet his gaze. "But I can do something else." I took his hand and stood up, taking him with me.

I looked into his eyes, biting my lip. He took a shaky breath, and grabbed my other hand. Then, we leaned closer, him bending down slightly.

When we were about to kiss, Jake hesitated. Before he bothered talking though, I nudged my head forward and our lips met.

And let me tell you one thing, I did not expect something to feel that amazing.

~<>~

~ Jake's PoV ~

We walked through the tunnel together. I was smiling like crazy; it was a good thing we were in darkness.

"What are you smiling about?" Kat said with humor in her voice.

"How could you have seen that." I laughed.

She joked, "I'm just that good."

"Yes you are." I smiled at her. I couldn't see her expression, but if she could see mine, then I was okay with smiling at the darkness. (Hello darkness my old friend...)

We reached the main room. I expected to go through a peaceful room, with no one in it. I'd walk Kat to her room, and I'd go back to mine. Then we'd both get some sleep.

Ha. No.

"Oh my god Kat!"

Infinity charged forward and hugged Kat. She started petting her head. "Its okay, it's okay."

I looked at the rest of the people, which were Abby, Gordon, and Ash. Gordon raised an eyebrow, Abby raised both, and Ash just looked grumpy.

"I'm okay too." I said to my sister.

Infinity stepped back. "Where have you two been?" She demanded.

"Give me my hoodie." Ash said.

"I went on a mission for Yuri." Kat explained simply. "Jake found me as I was walking back."

"Oh really." Gordon stroked his chin. "You two didn't just sneak out, did you?"

"No, we didn't. Kat's telling the truth." I backed her up.

"Mhmm." Abby crossed her arms.

"It's true!" I exclaimed.

"Give me my hoodie." Ash said.

"Relax bro." Infinity moved her hands in a calming-down gesture. "I know it'll take forever for Kake to happen."

I looked at Kat. She looked at me. Then, we both bursted out laughing.

"What?" My sister asked, eyes narrowed.

I took Kat's hand and kissed it, still remaining eye contact with Infinity. "Kake is official."

"We are now together." Kat confirmed.

Infinity's mouth dropped. She promptly collapsed on the spot. Meanwhile, Abby, Gordon, and Ash were ecstatic.

"That's great!"

"I knew you guys would get together!"

"Give me my hoodie."

We all walked to Infinity, who was on the ground. She coughed, and opened her eyes. She looked at Kat and I. "Am I in heaven?"

I sighed and pulled her up. She gave us another glance, and squealed. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S HAPPENING!"

"Shhhhh!" We all said.

Infinity muttered, "Sorry." I highly doubted she was. "But did you two kiss? Who made the first move? Who asked who? Where was it? Why do you have two inventories, Kat?"

"Can you give me my hoodie?" Ash raised his voice a little bit.

Kat blinked. "Oh yeah." She took the hoodie off and tossed it to Ash.

We all looked at his reaction. He put it on with a satisfied smile, but then frowned when he looked at the front. "Why is there a hole here?"

I jerked my head back at Kat, who looked sheepish. I turned my attention toward where the hole would've been on her— the front of her shoulder. It was caked with dried blood.

"Kat!" I yelled, alarmed. "You're hurt!"

"Oh yeah." She frowned at it. "I forgot about that. It was a poisoned arrow—"

"Poisoned?!"

"— but it doesn't really hurt anymore, unless I flop my arm around."

"Question." Gordon raised his hand. "Why was there a poisoned arrow involved in this?"

Kat exhaled. "I don't feel like explaining this multiple times. Is Yuri still awake?"

"Yeah. You know the old man. He has no life." Infinity said. "Always in his lab."

"I need to go report to him."

"No, you're hurt." I turned to Ash. "Do you guys have an infirmary here."

He snorted. "Just cause we live underground doesn't mean we're savages. Come on."

He headed toward the middle tunnel in front of us. We all followed, even Kat.

The whole way, Infinity kept glancing at us and grinning. I kept giving her a dirty look. When we reached the crossroad in the tunnel, Ash turned right instead of left.

"Infirmary and storage room." He said.

We all started walking down the hall. I went to reach for Kat, but I didn't feel anything. She wasn't there.

"Guys, Kat's gone."

They all stopped.

"She must've went back to Yuri." I sighed.

"We got a missing Kat!" Gordon exclaimed. We shushed him, but he didn't shut up. He ran back down the tunnel and turned, shouting, "WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOO!" We followed after him.

Abby looked at Infinity. "Wee woo?"

~<>~

~ Kat's PoV ~

I speed walked down the tunnel and to Yuri's lair. I wanted to give him the inventories full of evidence and stolen goods asap, but I didn't want to say that stuff in front of everyone. So naturally I snuck away. Cause I'm a ninja.

Instead of knocking on the door, I just opened it. Yuri stood by one of the brewing stands by me. I must've startled him, because he dropped the potion he held. It shattered on the floor.

I gasped, but he just sighed. "We're both lucky that was only an awkward potion." He stared at the glass shards on the floor, and watched them disappear. Then, he looked back up at me. "You completed it?"

I nodded, and took off my inventory bags. I set both out on the table.

"Ah yes, good." He said as he searched them. "Wow. I'm impressed. You did well. Were you caught?"

I was about to answer when the door opened. Everyone gathered into the room, with Jake in the lead.

"You." He pointed at me.

"Me." I waved.

"You are a slippery one." Jake said in a monotone voice. "You need to get that wound fixed."

"Wound?" Yuri frowned.

I sighed. Then, I explained to everyone what happened. Getting in, the two unconscious people, gathering items, the chase, every single detail. And this time, including the arrow. My throat was a bit dry after telling my story.

"Woah! That's crazy!" Gordon said.

Abby whistled. "Can't believe you did all that."

Ash hugged himself. "I'm never giving my hoodie away ever again."

"Lucky!" Infinity exclaimed. "I'd love to do something like that!"

"Why didn't you tell me about the arrow before?" Jake demanded with his hands on his hips.

"You'd freak out." I shrugged.

"Of course I'd freak out!" He shook his head. "Honestly woman."

"Listen sass master." I chuckled. "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt anymore. I'm chill." I turned back to Yuri. "Will that be enough?"

Yuri took out a diamond sword. He observed it, and nodded. "Yes. Ash, come help me unload this stuff."

"Yes master." Ash said sarcastically (or kinkily. Whichever works for Yodd/Yash).

I also went over and grabbed my stuff out. I then grabbed the TNT. "Gordon."

"What did I do wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing." I turned and tossed him the stack of TNT.

He caught it, gawking at all the explosives in his hand. "For me?"

"Seriously?" Abby said in disbelief.

"Just don't blow up the whole place. Only use it for emergencies."

Gordon grinned. He ran forward and hugged me tightly, picking me up in the process. "Thank you!"

"That's my lady you're hugging." Jake coughed.

"What?" Yuri called.

Gordon put me down and backed away. "Don't worry bro. She's all yours."

"So now that Kake is together..." Infinity grinned. She looked at Gordon and Abby. "Your turn."

They looked at each other, and shook their heads vigorously.

"Alright." Yuri came over, wiping his hands on his dress. I mean, coat. "I'll have someone come by and take all that to the storage room. You did good Kat. Get that puncture wound treated."

We were about to file out of the room, but I stopped everyone. "Wait."

They all looked at me.

I hesitated. Should I tell them the plan I had been thinking about for the past week? It was absolutely crazy, and probably wouldn't work. But if it did, it could benefit us greatly. "...Nevermind."

"You sure?" Jake raised an eyebrow. Then, he leaned forward and whispered, "You know, people in a relationship don't usually keep a lot of secrets from each other."

I laughed bitterly, and whispered back, "You know, I could say the same thing about you."

He stood straight up. He narrowed his eyes. Then, he threw his hands up in the air. "I guess."

I gave a real laugh. Victorious, I walked out of the room.

~<>~

Ahhh Kake is real ahhh

But like what plaAan is Kat talking about? Do you guys wanna see her plan? Lmao jk you're gonna see it. In fact, here's a spoiler. You're prolly gonna see it next chapter. It depends on if I want to move this fast.

But speaking of moving fasterish... I'm gonna have to move the chapter total up to maybe 40. Last book was 36. I'm okay with that though, as long as the totals are in a close range. I just have a lot of stuff to put in.

Question: Predict what Kat's plan is gonna be. And be completely honest, don't just say something stupid. I'm very curious about what you guys can conjure up.

Rock on, my little rebels.