February 14, 2014
It was Valentine's Day, and four members of the Shane Gang were trying their best no to be distracted as they chased some of Blakk's workers out of a town out in Land's End.
As the gang rode out of the town, Alana and Trixie fell back a little bit, bringing up the rear of the group.
"Are you doing anything else today?" Alana asked with a sly smile.
"Like what?" Trixie responded, her voice dripping in false innocence.
"You know," Alana laughed. "It Valentine's Day, got anything planned?"
Trixie snorted and rolled her eyes.
"No way," she said.
"Aw, why not?" Alana pouted. "Too much of a chicken to ask him to go somewhere with you?"
Trixie's cheeks turned pink as she shrugged, glancing up at the front of the group where Eli rode on Lucky.
"I don't see you asking anyone," she responded. Alana's smirk faltered. She hadn't been expecting Trixie to so rapidly turn the tables, but she quickly recovered.
"Wanna see me do it?" she challenged.
"Bet."
"Fine."
Trixie watched, appalled, as Alana sped forward on Midnight, riding up to where Leo rode alongside his brother at the front of the group. He and Eli were having a conversation of their own, but the two Shanes fell silent as soon as they saw Alana approach.
"Hey, Leo," Alana said, forcing herself to keep talking so she wouldn't back out. "I don't think any of Blakk's workers are gonna try anything else today after the beating we just gave them, and I don't have anything else planned for today, so do you want to take a ride together? I've been wanting to visit this grove in the Jungle Cavern."
Leo's azure eyes widened, and he glanced at Eli, looking a little startled. Then he recovered and managed a nod.
"Yeah, sure," he said.
"Awesome," Alana responded, giving him a thumbs-up and falling back so she was once again riding even with Trixie. She smirked at the shocked look on the redhead's face.
"I am impressed," Trixie admitted. "But were you actually already planning on going out to the Jungle Cavern?"
Alana sighed and shrugged.
"No, I was gonna take a nap. But," she said, glancing up at Leo, "I think it'll be worth it."
~~~~~~~~
"So, where exactly are we going?" Leo asked Alana.
The two rode side-by-side on their Mechas, traveling through the Jungle Cavern. The Lumino ore in the ceiling and on the ground was beginning to dim, and the bioluminescent mushrooms were starting to shine.
"I found this grove a little while back," Alana explained. "It's really beautiful all the time, but I think it's best at night. And I don't think you can have a true appreciation of Slugterra's flora until you see it."
Leo slowed down his griffin Mecha as Alana began to slow down Midnight.
Ahead of the two slingers flowed a river, lit up by the occasional Lumino ore beneath the water. Slick gray stones lined banks, small puddles gathered up in dips and crevices. Alana stopped Midnight and got down, turning to Leo, who was looking around hesitantly.
"This doesn't exactly look like a grove to me," he said as he dismounted his griffin. Alana smiled and put her hands on her hips.
"Are you accusing me of lying?" she asked, pretended to be offended. "How dare you?"
"I'm accusing you of not using proper vocabulary," Leo corrected, walking up next to her and looking around at the river.
"I know what I said. This isn't the place," Alana explained, walking down the stone bank, kicking at puddles as she went. Leo followed behind her, and carefully the two walked down the slippery stone.
Alana's boot suddenly hit a slick patch of stone, and she jolted to the left, teetering and beginning to fall toward the river's edge. Leo shot forward, her hand wrapping around hers, catching her before she landed in the water and carefully pulling her back up away from the edge.
"Thanks," Alana laughed, brushing aside her bangs with her left hand. She and Leo both looked down at where their right hands were still holding each other. Flustered, both slingers' faces flushed as they rapidly let go of the other's hand.
"No problem," Leo said quickly, scratching at the back of his head. Alana hurriedly turned away from him, continuing to walk down the rocks (more carefully this time), a small smile on her face.
She found what she was looking for and stopped, turning back toward Leo and gesturing down at the rock.
"Ta-da," she said, crossing her arms. Leo crouched down, looking at the hole in the rocks in front of him. It was nearly three feet wide, large enough to enter with ease. A tunnel led down beneath the rock, angling slightly in the direction of the river.
"Wow, that's a lovely hole in the ground, Alana," he said with a smirk. Alana rolled her eyes.
"It's the entrance," she said. "So, are you brave enough to go in first, or do you want me to?"
"Ladies first," Leo responded, bowing and holding an arm out towards the tunnel. Alana laughed and walked up to the hole, sliding in without hesitation and holding either side of the opening.
"See you on the other side," she said with a wink before letting go and falling down he tunnel.
Alana let out a whoop of cheer as she slid down the stone tunnel, twisting in a few directions before it leveled out. The tunnel spat her out onto a raised platform of rock under the bank she had just been standing on moments ago. Violet Lumino crystals in the walls lit up the small cave.
"Come on down!" Alana called up. She took a few steps back as she heard Leo sliding down the tunnel. A few seconds later, he appeared out the mouth of the tunnel, quickly getting to his feet and looking around wildly.
"That was cool," he laughed. "How did you find this?"
"I may have fallen," Alana said. Leo covered his mouth with his hand, trying to hold in his laughter, and Alana couldn't help but note how cute the gesture was.
"Come on," she said, walking to the edge of the raised stone platform. "We're almost there."
Beyond the stone was a five foot span of water, only a few inches deep. Drops of water dripped down from the ceiling, echoing across the cave. Alana stepped down into the water, which didn't even completely cover her feet, beckoning for Leo to follow.
A wall of purple-teal vines and leaves covered the stone wall in front of them. Alana parted some of the vines, revealing not solid wall behind them, but an opening. She stepped aside, allowing Leo to walk through before following after him, letting the vines swing back into place.
The grove had another raised platform that Leo and Alana stood on. As Leo looked out past the platform and out at the small grove, his jaw dropped.
The ceiling was only a foot or two above their heads, dark gray stone decorated with pale blue Lumino crystals. Green vines climbed up the walls, where water droplets from the river above slowly slid down. Beyond the platform the slingers stood on was a deep pool of water, sending reflections up on the ceiling.
The water seemed to have a glow to it, and Leo crouched down to see dark blue Lumino crystals lining the bottom. Floating on top were green lily pads and some of the most beautiful flowers he'd ever seen. Alana sat down next to him, watching and smiling as he looked at the plants in wonder.
They were light blue water lilies, but they weren't the plain ones that could be spotted in ponds. These glowed in varying shades of blue, ranging from the pale ice to deep sapphire. Some rose straight from the water, while some laid on lily pads.
"Wow," Leo said, sitting down next to Alana. She laughed softly, leaning forward and tugging one of the glowing lilies free of a lily pad. Its stem curled up as she pulled it from the water, holding it gently in her hands.
"I know. Aren't they beautiful?" she asked, looking at the petals in her hands. "I love the colors."
"Really?" Leo asked, pretending to be shocked. "You like the color blue?"
He poked at her blue tee shirt.
"I never would've guessed based on this," he continued. He reached up, carefully brushing aside some of the blue in her hair. "Or this."
Alana laughed and rolled her eyes.
"I know, it's a shocker," she said. Leo smiled, looking back over the pond and the flowers bobbing in it.
"This really is cool," he said, watching as small fish darted around in the water. "Thanks for bringing me here."
Alana hesitated for a split second, debating what she should do. Then, biting her lip, she scooted a little closer to Leo and leaned toward him, resting her head on his shoulder and looking out among the grove. For a moment, he didn't do anything.
Then, slowly, he leaned his own head against Alana's.
"This is great," Leo said quietly, still looking out at the glowing blue flowers.
"Yeah, it is," Alana said, looking up at him.
--------
February 14, 2015
As Leo walked back into the hideout on the morning of Valentine's Day, he couldn't believe that a year ago today he and Alana had seen the blossoming of the water lily grove.
He wished he could have captured that blissful moment. There was nothing he wouldn't give for time to have frozen on that night.
It was late morning. Eli and Trixie had already left, eager to have a couple hours to themselves before the gang inevitably spent their evening trying to reverse the damage the dark energy was doing to Slugterra. Leo vaguely remembered when the Elementals had returned. He'd thought that after that adventure, the Shane Gang would get some peace and quiet.
How wrong he was.
It had been almost two months since the return of the Elementals.
And it had been one month since a new era of darkness befell Slugterra, since the members of the Shane Gang and Defensores Antris had been able to sleep in peace.
Kord and Pronto were resting in the living room. They were too tired to bicker like they used to. The last month had been spent fighting for Slugterra once again, and the exhaustion that brought along was beginning to take a toll on the defenders of the caverns.
"Is she still asleep?" Leo asked as he locked the door behind him, walking up to the couch where Kord and Pronto sat watching a Max Jackson movie. Junjie stood in the kitchenette, sleepily throwing together some kind of meal.
"Yup," Kord said. "You know, I don't think you'd be bothering her that much if you woke her up."
Leo shook his head. He wanted to see those blue eyes more than anything, but he couldn't bring himself to wake her.
"It isn't that big of a deal," he said nonchalantly, even though he knew he was fooling no one. "I'll just wait."
Alana was sleeping- or at least trying to- as much as she could nowadays. There wasn't exactly a calculator for it, but Leo guessed that a quarter of Slugterra's light energy had been corrupted by now. Alana had described it to him, the feeling of constant coldness at the edge of her mind every second. She was fighting to keep Slugterra safe, but she had a battle going on inside her, too.
Maybe she would have been able to get through it normally, Leo thought, if so much hadn't happened a month ago.
That day would haunt every defender for different reasons. Because of what had happened on January 13, both Alana and Leo had felt like they had been torn to pieces. They'd both lost something important to them that day.
Leo found it hard to think back to when Alana had been a pure ray of light as he quietly ascended the hideout's stairs. She'd once been happy enough to look a ghoulslinger in the eyes and give a genuine smile. But Leo had seen Alana moved to tears by the sight of a rose only two days ago.
He wanted to help her more than anything in the world. But supporting his love in her time of need was growing more and more difficult the Lady of the Night haunted Leo's dreams. What was a couple to do when both people were drowning?
He looked down at the flowers he had gathered in his own hand.
The pale blue bioluminescent lilies were accompanied by stalks of horsetail and a few reeds, tied together with a light blue ribbon. He'd ridden out to the water lily grove that morning, waiting until the last second to pick the flowers so they would be as fresh as possible for Alana. Leo wished he could give her the world, but he knew she'd love something so simple and beautiful.
He stopped in front of her door, staring at it and wondering if he should knock. Kord was right. She probably wouldn't be upset if he woke her up.
But the memory of the dark circles beginning to form under her eyes, and the lack of light and enthusiasm- he couldn't risk bringing her out of what could be a peaceful sleep.
Instead, he smiled sadly and set the bouquet on the ground in front of her door.
He'd give anything to turn back the clock and see his love back to her old self, beaming with life and energy.
"Happy Valentine's Day," he said quietly.
~~~~~~~~
after years and years of being on Wattpad
I've finally written something romance-based
THERE, ALLY
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Cyan out!