I rested quietly on the couch, legs hanging off the end and my head nestled in Leraj's lap. For once, my mind was silent, empty, and only the tick of Marigold's old tree clock filled my ears. One of Leraj's hands stroked my collarbone through the fabric of my turtleneck and I knew the other to be holding a book – he'd grabbed it from the pile when we'd gone to rest on the couch together.

The horses had been settled in their bedding for the night by Leraj, a little corral and 3-sided shed behind the bedroom section of the house, and then we'd sat down for dinner together. Leraj had mentioned he had surprise in store for me but as of yet, he hadn't made a move to tell me.

That was okay – I could be patient for once.

A few more minutes ticked by. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, t-

"Okay, that's enough," I said, eyes flying open. I sat up and spun round, crouched right beside him.

He drew his eyes away from the book long enough to raise an eyebrow at me before returning to the page. "And what exactly do you want?" he teased.

"You said you had a surprise in store."

"I thought you hated surprises?"

I hissed at his following laughter and stood, hands on hips. "You promised we'd do something fun tonight. This isn't exactly what I had in mind."

He closed the book with a soft thump and gazed up at me. "Fire or stars?"

"What?"

"Choose one: fire or stars?"

"Why do I have to choose one?" I questioned, perturbed by the strangeness of the question but I had the feeling they related to his surprises.

"I need an answer."

"Fine then," I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "I choose both."

"But I didn't..." He sighed then cracked a smile. "Guess I should have seen that coming. We're going to a festival in a small village I stumbled upon a couple of days ago. They're holding a WinterFest tonight and apparently that means a castle-size bonfire, traditional dances and food, and your favourite – fireworks." In a softer voice, he said, "And the stars are for after if you aren't too tired from running around like crazy."

My leg jiggled and I did a little happy dance. Fireworks always held a special place in my heart – it used to be a tradition my parents and I held, travelling to different towns and kingdoms to witness their festivals and fireworks. It was one way for me to keep them in my heart. I guess this holiday wasn't turning out so bad. 

Then something very important occurred to me. "I don't have clothes." I gave my turtleneck a quick sniff and my nose wrinkled. I smelt like horses and roses, two individually nice smells that, when combined with sweat didn't make for the greatest perfume. "And I don't think a shower will help my chances if I have to put these clothes back on. You never told me I had to pack for this adventure."

"Don't worry, I sorted it. There's a bag on the bed with an array of clothing in it. I made sure to pick out what you liked."

"We didn't have bags with us. How'd they get here?"

"I organised everything before you met with Hendrickson."

"What?" I snapped, instantly noting his slip of the tongue. "You planned everything before my meeting with Hendrickson?"

The grin on his face froze and frightened eyes darted to me. Lying eyes. Eyes that said 'oh shit, I've been caught'. I grounded my teeth together and stared at him. He tried to avoid me like a guilty dog.

Fury barely contained, I asked in a soft voice, "How did you know I was going to be placed on leave before me?"

He shot to his feet and over the couch, placing it between us as a shield. "I can explain," he said, holding up his hands to placate me.

I snagged the collar of his shirt before he could reel back and jabbed a finger into his chest. "This holiday is your doing! You told Hendrickson to halt my training and deny me access to new missions." I shoved him back and released him. To his credit, he didn't windmill his arms for balance. Reigning in my anger had never been harder. "Tell me it isn't true."

Holding my gaze, he said, "I told Hendrickson to give you time off because of what happened in Vaizel."

Hands clenching, jaw muscles working, I turned on my heel and disappeared towards the bedroom. I heard him coming up behind me – I planted my feet, spun and growled into his face. He stopped. "You can take your fire and stars plan and shove it some place special!"

Then I slipped into the bedroom and slammed the door in his face. With shoulders heaving, I paced back and forth in the spacious room. The double bed had two bags nestled in the feathered, blue doona – mine and his.

I threw both off the bed in a fit of rage with a grunt then felt the sparks on my arms. My Mana was reacting to my anger and I shook it out quickly so it didn't discharge.

He knew how much training meant to me and after the disaster at Vaizel, I needed training and missions more than ever to keep me grounded. It was the sole reason I came to Liones. I was here to train from the best and use my strength and abilities for the greater good, protecting the innocent and taking down criminals and demons, not gallivant across the countryside on holidays.

"Estra, are you angry?"

"Of course I'm angry!" I stomped to the door and shouted through it. "You're the reason I have to take a holiday instead of training!" Then I wrenched the door open, another stream of words on my tongue ready to burst out.

Leraj fell into the room at my feet. He must have been leaning quite heavily on the door to hit the wood with that much impact. Despite myself, I laughed.

He stood and dusted himself off. Only a tinge to his cheeks betrayed his embarrassed. "Listen, I understand why you're angry."

I sobered up. "I don't think you do, Leraj, otherwise you never would have gone behind my back."

"Something happened in Vaizel. Something you're ashamed of."

"And I told you that I'll spill when I'm ready. Until then, I'll sort it out myself and I don't need you butting in thinking you're helping."

He threw his arms in the air. "What else was I supposed to do?" he shouted at me. "When you got off that horse at the gates, you were weaker than I'd ever seen you and so bruised and battered that I thought you were going to pass out before I could get you to a medic. Not to mention the Mana drain you'd inflicted on your system." In a pained voice, he whispered. "I thought you were going to die, Estra, and that, that was the scariest moment of my life. Losing you because you decided to face your enemies and I hadn't been at your side."

I was dumbstruck. In this moment, he looked so vulnerable. I'd never seen him like this before. He always tried to be big and strong unless I needed a shoulder to cry on. But never had I seen him with so much despair and pain written all over his face.

"Really?"

"Really."

Eyes downcast, a silence grew between until I said, hesitantly, "Now I feel like an idiot." I shook my head. "You did the right thing. I've been so caught up with what happened that it never crossed my mind how you were feeling after it too. I'm sorry for exploding on you."

"You don't have anything to apologise for," he said. "I... should have told you before you went to Hendrickson about my plan."

"Yeah and I probably would have punched you through the wall."

He laughed. "I think you're still contemplating it."

"I don't want to break Marigold's paintings," I confessed then collected the bags off the ground, placing them back where they belonged on the bed.

"We can go back to Liones now if you're not feeling up to the holiday. I won't stop you any more if that's your choice. That's why your bag-"

"No, I want to stay," I said firmly. "Plus, you promised me fire and stars, didn't you?"

A/N: Hit me with those comments. Is Estra's reaction a bit much towards him over the incident or is it kind of relatable in a way? I might have gotten a bit carried away and probably overdone it so please, let me know your thoughts. 

Also, approx. 4 chapters are set to pop up before Part 3 appears! And when that happens, I'll be adding this book to the Wattys. Better chance of winning if I have two books entered right? XD