Nightfeather

Nightpaw now spent nearly all of her time with Firefern. She got up and went to his den at the crack of dawn, waited just outside until he was ready to go, and walked with him over to the training den. They would spend all day together, and then they wouldn't go to sleep until well after dusk. They talked all the time, about anything and everything--from the past to the present, from gossip within the clan to upcoming events. And they flirted alot, too. They would tease each other about anything that seemed worthy, joking about the slightest things. They were almost always alone together; at the training den; the stream; the fire, after everyone else had gone to bed--they became inseparable.

One night, just three days since they'd become a couple, after training and the evening meal, and after having talked for hours, Nightpaw fell asleep in Firefern's den. They awoke side by side the next morning, and Nightpaw ended up spending most of her nights in his den from then on.

So now the couple had been together for about a week, training, talking, flirting (though not necessarily in that order!) and, just like the previous couple of nights, the two were still sitting around the fire, which had grown rather small after blazing for hours, and were so engrossed in their conversation that they barely noticed that they were all alone beside the softly-glowing embers.

After talking and joking and laughing for hours, Firefern suddenly yawned.

Both kits chuckled, and Nightpaw joked, "Geez, are you tired of me already?"

Humoring her, Firefern replied, "Are you kidding me? I got tired of you hours ago!"

Nightpaw gasped in mock-offense and said, "Oh, yeah? I'll give you a reason to be tired!" and pounced on Firefern.

They wrestled around for a few minutes, rolling in the dirt and slapping at each other and laughing all the while, and when they came to a stop, Firefern was on top of Nightpaw, and it was just like it had been on that day; Firefern staring into Nightpaw's eyes, both of their hearts racing; but this time, it was a little different. This time, rather than feeling confused, both kits felt excited. They were both still breathing rapidly from their little tussle, but, as they continued to stare into each other's eyes, their breathing evened out, and--along with their heartbeats--became in sync.

Then, without even thinking about it, Firefern slowly lowered his head toward Nightpaw's and, eyes closing, heads spinning, hearts throbbing, Firefern kissed Nightpaw for the very first time.

The kiss was wonderful, slow, beautiful, and full of mysterious and undiscovered feelings for one another. Neither of the kits had ever been kissed before, but, as far as either of them was concerned, this kiss was perfect.

As the kiss ended and their eyes slowly fluttered open, Firefern smiled. He lifted himself so that he was, once again, gazing into Nightpaw's violet eyes and said, in a soft, quiet voice, "I could never grow tired of you. Do you know why?"

Nightpaw shook her head, still a little too breathless to speak.

Firefern gently stroked the side of Nightpaw's face and said, in a low, steady voice, "Because I love you."

Nightpaw smiled and turned into the soft touch of his paw for a moment, then met his gaze and breathed "I love you, too."