Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, belong to the creator of the Pocahontas franchise. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

"Are you ready?" Nakoma asked with a wide, over-excited grin plastered on her cheerful face.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Pocahontas replied.

Pocahontas was beyond excited to be marrying Kocoum, but she was nervous as well. She'd known Kocoum all her life—seventeen winters to be exact-and had chased him around when they were small children after he'd pulled her long braids. She'd seen him grown into the most respected warrior in the village at his nineteen winters.

The most handsome warrior in the village at that, she thought, as she felt heat rise to her cheeks.

She watched him converse with other young Powhatan men across the village as she, Nakoma, and Talet smashed corn in wide, flat baskets called mipatas. She glanced up and suddenly locked eyes with him, and his darker ones seemed to deepen in color as he stared at her intensely. Pocahontas felt her body flush, casting her gaze downward, unwilling to let him know the extent of his affect on her emotions, and her body.

He was going to be her husband soon, so she had better get used to him looking at her. Her modesty had always disallowed her to talk with him for very long ever since they'd crossed the boundary from childhood to adults.

She was strong and proud, and the respected daughter of the chief so she was not used to showing her vulnerability. Only with her father, Nakoma, Flit and Meeko did she feel truly comfortable. Her mother had died long ago, and her father had not married again, but the void was not unbearable in her life because memories of her mother lived on through her father's vivid stories.

She could vaguely remember certain things about her mother…smells, touches, her lovely smile…and somehow she felt that she stayed with her as she moved through life.

Pocahontas became good friends with Kocoum at the tender age of three, but the way he looked at her now made her feel uneasy. She knew he was protective of her and cared for her. As they had grown older, she'd grown increasingly timid around him, not her usual blunt self and more was more inclined to hold her tongue in his presence. This mostly due to the growing attraction she felt for the young warrior.

Pocahontas never admitted that she had crush on Kocoum, and what girl in the village didn't, but he had eyes for only her. Now, he focused those eyes on her with a look filled with such fire and want, as if he already knew she was destined to be his.

She wanted to marry Kocoum greatly, but her inexperience with matters of the heart made her unsure if she could handle him for that matter. But, boy was she willing to try. Her thoughts were interrupted as his sensual lips curved into a smile and he shuffled around another warrior and began to take strides towards her.