"I don't want you to doubt me." Ariala said softly, her voice sad. "Its only odd to see Adan trying to be so kind. I think I blocked out all the memories of when he was nice to me. He used to be so good to me and everything changed over night. It was unnerving just as it is now that he's back." She said quietly. "Please, don't be upset." He added, almost whispering.

Stopping, Dimitrius looked at her, almost helplessly as he spoke, "Do you.. want to be with him? Ari, if you do, please tell me now.. I don't want to proceed with the wedding and the house if you truly don't want it.. I.. I'll understand.. I mean, he was your first love, after all.. I.. Please.. just tell me now.."

"What?" Ariala asked, her eyes wide with surprise. "Of course I don't want to be with him Dimitrius. Him being kind doesn't change what he did." She said, unlacing their entwined fingers to cradle his face in her palm. "He wasn't my first love. You were and you still are. I don't love him, Dimitrius. Only you. And I when I'm walking down that aisle, you're the only person I wish to see waiting for me. Please don't doubt me." Ariala said, her voice shaking. His doubts causing her stomach to be twisted. She hated to see Dimitrius upset, to the point that it was almost painful for her.

Dimitrius placed his hand over hers as he leaned into her palm, his tone still worried and helpless, "Ari, are you sure? I... You.. Every time he comes around, it's as if you're drawn to him.. You have this look in your eyes, as if you're seeing him for the first time and are rechecking your belief of him.. as if your opinion is improving of him.. I.. I'm just afraid you'll come to me one day and say you've made a mistake, that you're parents were correct, and that really do want to be with Adan.. I.. I don't want to lose you, Ariala.. I really don't.. I love you and I need you in my life.. It won't feel complete without your presence in it.. But if you really want to be with Adan, I'll sacrifice it all to make you happy.. When it comes right down to it, your happiness is all that matters to me.. I just want you to be happy, whether that's with me, or with Adan.."

Ariala felt tears spring to her eyes at Dimitrius's words and blinked them back, embarressed. "I don't want him." She said, searching for the words that would make Dimitrius belive her. "My wedding to Adan was at my grandmother's request, it wasn't a choice. Everytime I see him I remember that day. The humiliation when he told everyone how unworthy I was to be his bride." She recalled, her voice lined with venom. "I can't live forever with someone who treated me as if I was dirt. I only have eyes for you, Dimitrius. I know that Adan's kindness is false. I've known it from the beginning. Please don't think so little of me that I could possibly love someone like that." She said, stepping closer to Dimitrius so that Dimeria's body was the only thing seperating them.

Gently caressing her cheek, wiping the tears away softly with his thumb, Dimitrius leaned in and placed a long, tender kiss upon her lips. Leaning back, he continued to caress her cheek as he spoke, "Ari, I don't think little of you. Never, have I thought little of you. I'm sorry I got jealous and insecure.. I just.. when you look at him like you do I.. I just.. I wonder if I'm really what you want.. I'm flawed, I'm of a completely opposite race, I come with a lot of family problems, I have a terrible temper, and I'm not exactly liked well by your friends. Not to mention I hardly have a prayer of impressing your parents and winning their approval.. I just.. I don't want you to feel as if you're obligated to love me just because I love and adore you beyond description.."

Ariala nearly laughed with relief as Dimitrius held her, her craving for his touch almost satisfied "I'm not perfect either." She reminded him. "I have an unstable ex-fiancee, parents that can't see what's best for me, and a couple of overprotective friends." She smiled softly. "Maybe we can just be imperfect together." She suggested. "Forever." She added, with a smile tugging at her lips. "I'm willing to give it a shot if you are." She offered.

Leaning down once more, Dimitrius placed a long, tender kiss upon her lips once more.

"Forever," Dimitrius agreed softly against her lips before tilting his head slightly and deepening the kiss, "I love you."

"I love you to." Ariala murmured against Dimitrius's lips, suddenly aware of Dimeria's sleeping form creating a barrier between them. "We should get going." She whispered, looking down at Dimeria before taking his hand in her's and walking towards the meadow where Marreck and Erreminette were waiting for them.

Dimitrius smiled as he followed beside her, bring her hand to his lips briefly as they walked into the clearing and headed towards Marreck and Erreminette.

Ariala smiled as she saw her two friends standing in the meadow. Marreck was scowling and Erreminette looked a bit smug. "I guess we know who won." Ariala laughed as they joined her and Dimitrius, all of them walking towards the border.

"This is so exciting." Erreminette exclaimed, looping her arm in Ariala's free arm. "I've never been across the border here. What with freezing and all that." She laughed.

"She didn't mean it." Marreck rolled his eyes, Emelaide was alot kidner then Erreminette was giving her credit. He wasn't sure if Erreminette had completely forgiven Emelaide for their first encounter. If not, this was sure to be an interesting lunch.

Dimitrius chuckled, "Then it's a good thing you're coming when you are. You can see everything in it's normal light on our way to Aunt Lina's, and will be able to see it all in the evening light as well. If you're anything like Ariala, you'll love walking through the forest this evening."

Ariala grinned as they wandered through the winter wonderland that was Winterglade. "Isn't it pretty here?" She asked as Erreminette clung to her side excitedly.

"Its gorgeous." Erreminette laughed as she spun underneath the swirl of the falling snow. "Its colder then I expected." She admitted, wrapping her arms around herself.

Dimitrius nodded, "Aye, you'll get used to it after awhile. And once we're with Emelaide, things will be warmer for you guys. And if that still doesn't help, Auntie has more clothes for you all at the house. Speaking of Emelaide, have you talked to her Marreck? Do you know if she needs to be woken up or if she'll meet us there? I forgot to ask when I stopped in to check on her last night."

"I haven't been able to check on her." Marreck admitted. "I would offer to go to her house to see if she's home but if she's not then I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to find your aunt's house." He shrugged, confused by the situation. "But its Emelaide, she's most likely sleeping in."

Dimitrius sighed, "You're probably right. I was hoping she'd meet us there and bring Ria back to the Castle for me while she was still asleep. I don't dare go to the Palace today.. My parents should be leaving for their Vacation soon and I don't want to deal with another round of 'You'll come to live at the Palace and rule as King once you're married'. Ah well, we'll just have to stop in and see if she's home before we go to Aunt Lina's. It's not too far away from Aunt Lina's, anyway, so it won't be too out of the way," Dimitrius added as they left the forest and entered town.

Erreminette skipped along lightly, trying to ignore the looks from the Winter Elves around them. "Why are they all staring at us?" She asked quietly to Ariala.

"We don't look the same as them." Ariala whispered back. "Maybe they're just not used to seeing Spring Elves. Especially since there's three of us." She smiled.

Dimitrius chuckled at the girls' chatter as he piped in, "Not is three Spring Elves an oddity, but so is seeing the Princess outside of the Palace walls with her wishing-to-be-outcasted brother. These two oddities put together will surely become the talk of the town in moments. Be prepared for a lot of staring."

Walking on, they came to Emelaide's house, "You guys can go ahead if you wish, this won't take long and Ari knows the way. Ari, can you take Ria? She'll wake up if I take her inside to wake Em up, Em's a wretched morning person. It'll take a few tries to get her up and moving."

"Of course." Ariala said, cradling Dimeria in her arms. "Come on guys." Ariala said as she began to walk towards Cindalina's house.

Marreck glanced over his shoulder, hesitantly, at Dimitrius. He wanted to be the one to wake up Emelaide. He felt an odd pang in his gut and rolled his eyes at himself. Jealous? He thought to himself. How could I be jealous of Dimitrius? He asked himself but he could shake the feeling as they trekked onto his aunt's house.

Walking in, Dimitrius headed straight for her bedroom after seeing that she wasn't up. Knocking on her door, Dimitrius called, "Em? You getting ready? Lunch with Lina's soon, and Ria's still with us. I need you to take her back to the Palace for me, she's at Auntie's house, will you do it?"

Emelaide, having been up for hours, just simply not feeling the greatest, rolled out of bed and stumbled to the door, opening it to find Dimitrius. Registering his last question, she replied sleepily, "Yeah, sure. Let me just get dressed."

Dimitrius, having stopped her from shutting the door, looked at her curiously, yet with concern, "Em, you don't look alright, what's wrong? Em, did you keep the fireplace going or did you just go back to our normal temperatures?"

Emelaide blushed, "I.."

"I figured as much, you've caught a cold again, haven't you."

"Shut it, I know it's pathetic for a Winter Elf to catch a cold, but it's not my fault! I just forgot is all, it hasn't happened in awhile.."

Dimitrius shook his head, "Back to bed, you're not leaving the house when you're getting a fever. Your magic will go hectic and I don't believe Erreminette, Ariala, nor Marreck will be able to handle it."

Emelaide glared at Dimitrius as she crossed her arms, "Dimitrius, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You look terrible."

"You're just saying that!"

"No, look at yourself. Do you really want to go and infect everyone else? It'll be hard enough for them not to catch a cold here."

Emelaide sighed as she plopped onto her bed, "You're right.. This just isn't my week.."

Dimitrius chuckled as he tucked her in, "No, it isn't. But just think, next week is sure to be the best week of your life!"

Emelaide rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure, whatever you say Trius.."

After placing a kiss on her forehead, Dimitrius headed back for the door.

"Trius, what about Ria? You can't go back to the Palace on your own..."

"Don't worry," he called over his shoulder as he opened it, "I'll make it through. If I have any luck, they'll be gone already and will leave Ria with me."

Emelaide chuckled, "I somehow doubt that will happen."

"You never know, it could. My father's not exactly the brightest bulb, remember."

"Yes, but your mother would surely never forget her daughter."

"Perhaps, or perhaps she won't remind her husband in hopes of allowing us to get better acquainted. I'll check on you later," Dimitrius added as he headed out, shutting the door behind him.

"Don't tell Marreck! I don't want him worrying!" called Emelaide, her voice muffled a bit through the door.

Dimitrius didn't respond for he was already headed out of the house. Emelaide wondered if he heard..

Ariala made her way to Cindalina's house with Marreck and Erreminette in tow. "Cindalina?" She asked as she knocked on the door.

"So she's making my dress for the wedding?" Erremientte asked as they waited for Cindalina.

"Yup, its going to be great." Ariala smiled, still cradling a sleeping Dimeria. "She's been sleeping a while." She said worriedly. "Do you think she'll be okay?" She asked.

"I'm sure she's fine." Marreck said, looking paranoid as he glanced over his shoulder. "Do you see Em?" He asked as he looked around.

Cindalina smiled as she opened the door. "Ari! It's so good to see you! I see Dimeria's taken quite the liking to you."

Turning to Erreminette, Cindalina held out her hand, "You must be the young woman Ariala's been talking about, Erreminette is it not?"

Noticing Marreck's expression, Cindalina smiled at him, "You must be the one Em's falling in love with. Marreck, correct? I'm surprised she's not with you, I'd heard you two were inseparable after her little incident."

Dimitrius chuckled as he came around the corner to hear the end of Cindalina's comment to marreck, "Auntie, it's probably best he's not around her right now. The silly girl forgot to slowly remove the heat. Instead she simply went back to our normal temperatures and caught a cold.

Cindalina sighed, "Trius, honestly. You two are the worst to each other! If you're not calling her silly, she's calling you an idiot. Can't you two get along and quit acting like childish siblings for two minutes? That aside, is Emelaide alright? Does she need anything?"

Dimitrius nodded, ignoring the comment about their immaturity, "She's fine, Auntie. She's probably going back to bed. She just has a small fever and will need a lot of liquid over the next few days, nothing serious as long as she keeps the fireplace going."

Turning to Ariala, Dimitrius held his arms out for Dimeria, "As for this little Princess, it looks like her brother's going to have to take her to the Palace himself. It's a good thing she's a heavy sleeper," he chuckled.

"Its a pleasure to see you as well." Ariala said to Cindalina as she handed Dimeria to Dimitrius.

"Its nice to meet you." Erreminette added politely.

"Is Em alright?" Marreck said. "Should I be there? I told her to take it slow with her magic." He said worriedly, wringing his hands.

Turning back to Marreck with Dimeria in his arms, Dimitrius nodded, "Aye, she's alright. She just has to take it easy for a few days. She's a quick healer, so the cold should be gone in no-time. She asked me to tell you not to worry about her. I don't know if it's best you see her though, you're apt to catch a cold. That's why she stayed home, she didn't want to infect all of you. Well, that's not completely the truth, I told her to stay in bed. She looks wretched. The main reason she wanted to come so badly was just to see you, so it's truly up to you if you go and see her, just be careful not to catch her cold - she'd kill me if you did."

"I'll risk it." Marreck said, nodding to the others before leaving for Emelaide's cottage.

"To be young and in love." Erreminette laughed as Marreck disappeared. "May we come in?" She asked Cindalina. "I'm afraid the cold is getting uncomfortable." She admitted.