(ROMANCE WARNING!! IF YOU DON'T LIKE ROMANCE DO NOT READ THIS!!! IT'S NOT ABOVE PG BUT STILL) Fizzy was twelve years old now, and had lived in the forest for nine years. She'd done many hard things, such as built her own hut and weapons when she was three, survive multiple dragon and puma attacks, as well as survive being captured by bounty hunters multiple times and evading the rest of them. She was left more anxious and paranoid than before, and she was skittish and rather psychotic. But these traits which would hinder her in society were amazingly helpful in the cruel forest. Fizzy's senses had heightened to adapt as well, which was why she quickly heard it when footsteps approached her. She began to spin around, but a heavy weight hit her hard in the side and pinned her to the ground, knocking the breath out of her. Growling, she flung the weight off of her and looked into the eyes of the person. There was a familiarity so unmistakable it made her gasp. That messy ash-black hair. Those once blue-green eyes, which had now morphed to a deep emerald green that Fizzy could get lost in forever. “Aspen?” Her voice was breathless. He was so handsome now! He gave her a smile that made her heart skip a beat. “The one and only!” She smiled as he quoted her words from years ago. She couldn't stop a surge of affection and tackled him in a hug, nearly knocking him over but not quite. “It's you. It's really you,” she murmured, in a tone so quiet it was meant for Aspen and Aspen only. She couldn't see his smile, but she could tell it was there. “It's me. I'm back, Fizz. For good,” he said warmly. She pulled away from him. "Don't call me Fizz. I'm Fizzy and you know it, Aspen.“ He just smiled wider. ”In that case, I'll continue to call you Fizz.“ Fizzy gave him an annoyed glare. As she looked into his eyes, she realized it was nearly impossible to look away. The deep green seemed to hypnotize her, almost, and the kindness glowing there softened her. There was another emotion shining there, too, but it was unidentifiable, and Fizzy wouldn't recognize it until much later, but, she felt it stirring inside her too. Fizzy blinked and broke the connection. ”How did you find me?“ she asked. ”I searched for you. I wasn't able to escape the village until about a year ago. They were suspicious of me, what with you and I having been so inseparable. They watched over me constantly, afraid I would run off to look for you. And when I was eleven, they took their eyes off me for five minutes and that was exactly what I did. I've been searching for you for over a year. I never lost hope, and all along I believed I would find you.“ (Yes that's a line from a song) Fizzy smiled and she felt tears of happiness welling up in her eyes. She flung her arms around him and hugged him again, face buried in his shoulder. ”I can't believe you took such a huge risk for me. That was incredibly stupid, incredibly brave, and incredibly kind. You'll never know just how much that means to me." How much you mean to me, was what she wanted to say. But she held her tongue. Aspen wrapped his arms around her affectionately. “Surprise. I just regret that I couldn't have run away when you did.” “If you had, Aspen, they'd have noticed me running away and we'd both be dead. There was no way you could've escaped with me. What matters is that you saved my life and I'll forever be grateful.” “Fizzy,” he began, "did you seriously think I'd let them kill you? Really? You have no trust in me!“ he joked. Playfully, Fizzy pushed Aspen over in response, then jumped to her feet. ”Seriously, you must be an expert tracker or something, because I've made myself pretty well-hidden." She gestured to . . . well, nothing. Her hut was very well hidden, after all. lol