Verona had really no problem keeping up with the boys, and another thing, she was doing for the first time.
Never when she was young was she able to really go out and do what she wanted, such as walking places with little boys.

"I am eighteen," Verona said staring ahead.

That was when she had realized that nor her or Ezekiel had ever talked ages before.. It was odd. Was this the first time she had said anything about her age?
Surely it couldn't have been.. could it though?
She didn't even know how old Ezekiel was. She knew nothing suddenly as she stared down at the ground below her feet, it passing under her at the pace the boys kept.
Really though, had she never said anything?

"I'm 20," Ezekiel said in response despite the fact that he hadn't been asked.

"You two are young," Sebastian said. "Which means I have ultimate authority because I'm 28!"

He seemed to be laughing at the two and himself at the same point but stopped after a moment when he realized what a stupid comment that was. His facial expression seemed more grave now and Ezekiel looked concerned.

"Hey," Ezekiel said. "Are you okay? You look upset. Verona?"

He needed help with this one if they were going to avoid a big angry cat attacking them. ((rawr))

Rubbing her lower lip with her fingers, Verona looked up suddenly, "Oh, I'm fine.."

Well, now she knew how old he was. But somehow, Verona still felt like she didn't know anything about him now. Like he was just some stranger that she happened to fall in love with. Like her lack of knowledge told her that he could easily be replaced, that it wouldn't matter.

Now, Verona desperately tried to block those thoughts out of her mind as they pressed on.

But was it true?

Had she really just fallen for some random stranger, that could easily be replaced by Mayhen, no questions asked?

Ezekiel looked frustrated as the state of what seemed like both of them seemed to decline. He was watching both and he knew he'd agonize for actually coming out here.

"I'm fine, really," Sebastian said with a slight smile after a moment. "I'll be a few paces ahead though."

At that Sebastian ran forward and Ezekiel was forced to walk with Verona alone. He wanted to know more about her and the silly response she'd had the night before had bothered him.

"Do you have a favorite animal?" he asked after a moment of silence. "Or a favorite holiday? What are you thinking about?"

He looked anxious to hear the answer as his eyes were more focused on her now, admiring her beauty and at the same time wondering if there was something else about her that he didn't know. He wanted to know what she was thinking too.

Ignoring Ezekiel's first two questions, she looked up at him, with an almost hurt look in her face.

"I love you Ezekiel but.."

She didn't finish her, but she already knew what she wanted to say.

'But you could be replaced, and I don't know anything about you, not anything!'

But she could never say those things to him, they were too hurtful, and even she couldn't believe she was thinking of saying that.
She couldn't hurt him, not like that.. After all he had done to get her here, and then having to see her with Eric.. she just couldn't..

Ezkiel seemed disappointed when she dodged his questions. He was fervently trying to get to know her while still attempting to listen at the same time.

When she stopped in her little speech he became confused and interested at the same time. If she stopped then it must be bad news. His face twisted into a slight scowl and looked forward.

"If you want to leave you can," he said in a grave tone after a few moments of silence. "That's only if you want to."

He seemed intent on knowing what she meant to say but didn't feel like asking her outright.

"Do you want me to leave," she asked quietly.
Ezekiel was angry, or hurt one, and Verona knew it.

But she didn't want to leave him, not at all. That was everything she was afraid of doing.. and the one thing she couldn't do.
She couldn't just leave him she loved him.

Now, all of her previous fears haunted her as she stopped in her tracks, and slowly looked to Ezekiel.
"Is that what you want," she asked again. But this time, her voice cracked with a tinge of pain.

If this was it, this was the end. She would leave, and she would never come back.
She could go back into the city, go and marry Eric, and of course, he wouldn't be ecstatic.
"Do you want me to go Ezekiel..?"

"No," Ezekiel said in shock. "No please don't leave."
He was almost begging at this point and he looked absolutely pitiful. He had dropped to his knees slightly and he was holding one of her hands in both of his and looking up at her.

"Please don't replace me," he stammered, a bit surprised by his own words. "I know there are others out there more worthy of your hand.. your kiss... your gentle touch as you brush a strand of hair back... please don't leave."

Sebastian was almost out of sight now but he didn't care. He was so dreadfully frightened, it was almost as if the nightmare he'd had that morning were coming true in the blink of an eye.

"Ezekiel," she said softly, bending down to his level.
"I will never leave you, not unless you want me to.."

Placing her hand on his cheek she looked into his eyes, deeply, putting every emotion she had into this one look.
"If ever there was one so worthy, it was you. And never will I want to touch anyone as I do you, I am your's. I could never leave upon my own free will, never."

Pulling him into a quick kiss, she smiled slightly.

"The only thing that bothers me, is that I care for you so much, and yet I know very little about you. It's just odd somehow."

Helping Ezekiel to his feet, she held onto his hand and began forward, "Now come on, we can't lose Sebastian."

Ezekiel seemed more pleased now and he hugged her. He was grinning, something that hadn't been usual for his facade in the city. He was a more energetic and happy person now that the curse was lifted and there was no brooding to do.

"You'll get to know me over time," he said with a smile. "Besides I already know you're irreplaceable."

At that point he noticed he couldn't see Sebastian for the most part and panicked for a mere second before regaining his composure and seeming in a bit more control of himself.

"Forward," he said in a sarcastic military voice.

Laughing, Verona bumped her body into Ezekiel's as they walked.
Oh how she loved him.

Eventually they caught up to Sebastian, who seemed oblivious to their absence, or maybe he was just acting like he was.
And soon enough they would be down by the water edge, Verona could hear it.

And of course she was excited.
She hadn't been swimming in what seemed to be ages, and of course, swimming with Ezekiel would make things even better.

Only moments later, they arrived, and Verona smiled up at Ezekiel, "Finally!"

Ezekiel seemed more pleased when they had caught up with Sebastian who seemed to be a bit sullen at the moment. He would try his hardest to cheer him up in a non-malicious way.

"Water?" he said, though he had been expecting it.

He ran forward at that point and when he got to the water's edge tried to stop, but ended up falling into the water.

Sebastian just laughed at that and seemed to be in a slightly better mood. A glance towards Verona on her reaction to that revealed an unwarranted tension on his part, or rather a fear of disappointing anyone in the nearby vicinity of himself.

Shaking her head, Verona laughed and skipped her way down to the bank.
"Oh Ezekiel, you're so silly," she said as she sat down on the bank, gently dipping her toes in the cool water.
And in truth, it was quite cool, and very refreshing.
It would feel nice upon getting in.

"Now Sebastian," she began. "You are not to push me in the water, and Ezekiel-" pointing to her next victim, she frowned."- don't you dare pull me in here."

Instead of stern, her voice was more fearful.
Though she didn't swim very much, she hated being pushed and, or pulled in. It was her own personal pet peeve as someone had once told her.
But no matter.
Dipping in one of her legs, she began to ease her way in, slowly but surely, making herself used to the water.

Sebastian listened to her and took a running start before jumping into the river so he landed only a few feet away, in a deeper part, sending a spray of water at both Ezekiel and Verona.

Ezekiel laughed slightly as he moved towards Verona.
"You prefer to ease in I see," he teased slightly. "The current is a bit strong in the middle so be careful."

He had meant it when he said it due to his own concern. He'd found a slight instability while standing there but managed to maintain control over his own bodily movements.

Verona did prefer that, and was glad no one had bothered to push her in yet.

Soon enough she was in the water, and dunked under, coming back quickly with a deep breath.
"Oh," she said moving to Ezekiel's arms. "It's quite chilly.."

Pushing herself into his arms, she began to push out with him.

"So Ezekiel, how well do you swim, hm?"

Verona was descent, but not excellent, keep in mind her lack of swimming.

"Fairly good," he admitted. "We do have a swimming pool at my house that I used to pass time in when I was younger."

The fact she was close to him didn't bother him at all but her rather enjoyed it. He could tell that Sebastian was having fun chasing something around, looking to be a fish from here.

He stopped her before they were too deep and smiled slightly. He brushed some wet hair back, which was rather messy at the moment and was getting in his face.

"Now tell me Verona," he said in a sarcastic commanding voice. "What do you want to know about me?"

He thought it to be a simple question but having questions to ask someone to get to know them could sometimes be challenging. He waited patiently though as she thought, thinking of what question he could ask her just to get her to answer them.

After thinking for a moment, Verona smiled up at him.
"Everything," she said in a soft tone. "Every little thing you've ever done, I want to know. Up until the very moment you met, I want to know everything about you."

Now, she felt just a bit silly, and maybe a bit bad for leaving Sebastian to himself, but he seemed fine.

She herself had nothing to hide, and nothing important to tell, but if he indeed wanted to know things about her, she'd have no problem with answering them now.
Verona wanted to answer them.

"You don't want to know everything," Ezekiel protested slightly. "There are a few things that I am actually quite ashamed off."

The admittance seemed clear as he diverted his eyes from her to glance at Sebastian who seemed to be almost in his own world. He shifted again so that he could see her better and smiled slightly.

"I'll tell you as much as I can," he said with a slight smile.

There was a short paused as he tried to figure out where exactly to begin.

"Well I didn't start changing until I was about eleven," he began.

"Wow," Verona said quickly. "Eleven..? That must have been really hard."

Verona knew that she constantly would have been changing if she had been Ezekiel, considering she had always been such a happy child. Always.
Even in the times Verona had reasons to be upset about things, she still somehow ended up excited or happy about something, that was just Verona.

"I wouldn't have been able to control myself at all," she said as she watched the water sway around her.
"I wouldn't have lasted very long.."

Holding onto Ezekiel's body, she had her arms around his waist, and her head against his chest, sort of resting against him.

"You'd learn," Ezekiel said calmly.

He hugged her back and placed a hand gently on the back of her head and kissed the same spot. He was different in the sense that he didn't care and didn't have to watch his mood so much.

"If you can imagine it," Ezekiel began. "I was a really happy child though I got into a lot of trouble. I remember the time I went outside in the rain and played in the mud. My mother was so angry that she decided that telling my father would just make the situation worse."

He seemed to pause as if to laugh internally at that whole fiasco. He didn't want to tell her about his later years since he was so consumed with being upset and angry that they were just unpleasant.

He'd had an interest during that time but it ended horribly, he'd loved her for the most part but it was destroyed when she got a glimpse of what he changed into. He could recall the nights he'd spent wondering what had been so wrong with him.

Verona closed her eyes, listening to the breaths of Ezekiel's body, the rushing water around them, and the occasional splashes of Sebastian, and whatever he was chasing.

"I still want to know everything," she said as she held onto him. "The good and the bad alike, I want to know who came before me, and all that stuff."

Verona had not come across too many men before Ezekiel.
Often times, the men who sought after her hand, were quite vain, and most of them cared nothing for her, like Eric in a sense.
There were only two men she had gotten very close to; Nathaniel and Mayhen.

Nathaniel came from a rich family in another city, and he was quite a kind man, who actually did care for Verona's well being.
And then Mayhen, was well.. Mayhen.

"I'll tell you when I'm ready," he assured gently. "As for now I think I need to get out of the water. I'm a bit hungry."

He had begun to guide her towards shore at that point. Giving him time to gather his thoughts would be needed since he still wasn't ready to tell her everything. He paused slightly before reaching the bank.

"So you know," he stated bluntly. "I'm not quite ready to admit to some of the things I've done or tell people what I've gone through. I'll guarantee you're the first to hear it."

He had smiled after that and waved to Sebastian who had stopped what he was doing and threw a fish onto the dry land. There were three or four there already so it was an assumption that he'd somehow caught them.

"I'm glad," she said in response.
She was happy that she would be the first person he would tell all of his deepest thoughts, his past, his everything to. But she couldn't help but to feel a bit guilty for having shared nothing about herself. But really, again, she had nothing worth sharing.

As Ezekiel got out of the water, Verona stayed in, and waited to be helped out, just like the little woman she was.
It wasn't like she could actually get out anyway, due to her height.

And when Ezekiel did help her out, she shivered a bit at the sudden change in climate, well, to her body at least.
But the warmth soon took over, and she smiled as she wrung the water from her shirt.

Sebastian had gotten out also and was laughing to himself slightly. The swim had done him good and he looked slightly flushed from the exercise. He had taken off his shirt at this point and was wrapping the fish up in it so he could easily carry them back.

"Well Verona," Ezekiel said. "I think we should go back. Aunt Helen will be waiting for us."

It wasn't really his aunt but he'd just decided to call her that at the point. She was more of a grandmother though. He had never had a grandmother so he had no idea what that would be like.

"Tell me something about you," he said after a moment. "Anything? Did you cause any mischief?"

Taking Ezekiel's hand, Verona walked at his pace, thinking for something interesting she could say.

"No," she said. "Actually, I was a quite polite child.. I didn't talk too much to my parents, and I rarely got in trouble. But when I did, it was always for talking to strangers or something.."

After a moment, she smiled.

"One thing, I only wear dresses, and almost all of my outfits include light pink and white."

Smiling up at Ezekiel, she felt a bit happy to be telling him something, anything, even though it was quite unimportant..
It was a start at least.