Francis POV:

I woke to a weird dream playing over and over in my brain and a friend acting just plain weird.

I jumped to my feet as Zoe started running. Calling out to her, I tried to catch up.

"Since when is she so fast?" I panted, breathing hard.

Finally, she disappeared into the forest, out of sight.

I stopped, resting my hands on my knees.

"What happened?" a voice asked, and I turned to see Millie walking towards me, Audun following close behind. She looked just as confused as I felt.

"I have no idea." I replied. I couldn't keep the worry out of my voice. "She looked so...hurt." I frowned. "Did something happen while I was asleep?"

Millie shook her head. "Not that I know of. Up until now we thought the both of you were still sleeping."

Audun snickered. "You should have heard yourself last night! You sounded like an ogre with a serious case of stuffy nose!"

I glared at him. "Do you have any idea how dragons sound when they're sleeping?"

"Hey!" Millie protested indignantly.

Audun's face dropped into a scowl. "Not funny."

"Oh, I think it is. I'm laughing. Haha!" I replied. Alright, I'll admit that was a little immature, but he was pushing me and I was seriously stressed!

Audun clenched his fist, and his face took on a very dragon-like scowl. "So help me Francis I will...!"

Millie bumped him with her hip. "Guys, knock it off." She glanced over at me. "You should go after her."

"I'm one step ahead of you." I said, turning and hurrying away. I heard Audun grumbling as I left. "Stupid wizard thinks he's so hilarious..."

It took a bit of searching and a lot of wrestling with prying tree branches, but I finally found Zoe. She was perched on a boulder, chin in her hands, looking up at the sky.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked.

Zoe jumped, spinning around to look at me.

My heart dropped when I noticed her eyes. They were bloodshot, red and puffy. Barely suppressed tears were hovering on the edge of her eyes, threatening to come spilling out at any moment.

"Oh, Zo." I cooed.

She quickly turned away from me, rubbing her eyes. "It's fine."

I walked to her side and sat down next to her. I reached for her hands. She winced, but did not pull away. I tried to get her to look me in the eyes, but she wouldn't meet my gaze.

"If it was something I did, I give you permission to smack me for it." I said.

Zoe hesitated, and for a moment it looked like she was going to take me up on that offer.

I braced myself, preparing to be seriously damaged.

But to my surprise, Zoe sighed, seeming to deflate instead. "No." she murmured. "It's not your fault." She bit her lip and stared off into the distance.

I had the impulse to hug her, to make her laugh, anything to make banish the heartbroken look from her eyes. But all I could think to say was. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Zoe tensed, shoulders stiffening. "No." she said, her voice coming out in a strangled whisper.

My heart squeezed painfully in my chest. What had I done to her? An idea popped into my head, and I seized it immediately.

The dream.

Sure, she'd probably laugh at me, or punch me for even daring to dream about something like that. I was risking eternal embarrassment here. But looking at her tortured face, I knew what I had to do.

"So I had this dream last night." I said quietly.

Zoe's head perked up in interest, but other than that, her stance didn't change. "Yea?" she murmured softly.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, forcing the next few words out. "It was about us." I whispered.

Zoe's eyes popped open wide, and she looked at me curiously.

Yup, I definitely had her attention now.

I gulped, then continued on.

"In the dream, I saw you punching a log, trying to make it comfortable" I said tentatively. I didn't dare look at her face. I was too afraid. Yup, you heard it right. Afraid. More like terrified.

I took a deep breath, attempting to calm myself. "I offered you my shoulder for a pillow, so you rested your head on it. Then you started talking about stars. That lasted a few minutes."

I started fiddling with the hem of my shirt' concentrating on that one piece of fabric.

"You started yawning, and fell asleep. Soon, I fell asleep." I paused, the hem of my shirt stilling in my hands. "When I woke up, it was still dark out, and you were lying on my chest. You woke up and got all flustered, but I told you it was fine." At this point, I stopped, to scared out of my senses to go on. What would she do if she heard the rest.

Only Zoe's prompting got me to continue. "Go on." Zoe said, sounding interested.

I took a shaky breath, and finally finished. "And I kissed you." I said, voice squeaking a bit at the end. "And told you I-I..." I blushed.

"Yes?" Zoe asked, leaning forward expectantly.

Well, I had already gotten myself stuck deep in this mess, so I may as well finish the story.

"And then." I said, the words flowing out in a rush. I glanced up at her face. "I told you I loved you." I whispered.

Zoe stared at me, her expression unreadable.

I flinched away from her gaze, then let out a sigh, starting to get up. "Well I suppose that's it then. I've made a fool of myself."

"Wait!" Zoe exclaimed suddenly, grabbing my wrist.

I glanced down at her in surprise.

She looked at me timidly. "Th-that wasn't a dream." she said quietly.

I frowned, trying to register what she had just said. "Wha...?"

Zoe stood up slowly, still holding my hand. She stood in front of me, looking at me with wary eyes. "That really happened." she whispered.

And that was when it clicked. "Oh!" I exclaimed.

Zoe smiled tentatively. "Yea." she murmured.

A grin spread across my face. "You know." I said. "That was the best dream I've ever had."

The look on her face was priceless. I knew right then and there that I wouldn't trade this moment for the world. It was so utterly perfect.

We hung out for a little while, getting used to our new relationship. Then we summoned up the courage to walk back to camp.

Holding hands, I'm proud to say.

Everyone looked up as we approached. Millie pretended to swoon. The parents ooed and aahed. Zoe's brothers pretended to wretch.

What did I tell you? Perfect.