A/n: I just watched this movie and it is amazing. Had to do a some fanfic to have a bit of a play with some of the characters. Just a one-shot, but hopefully everyone is in character. Please read and review! :D

The sun set over the forest, casting a fading, orange glow on the trees and leaves. The sounds of birds settling down for the night filled the air, and the evening breeze had begun to pick up and was whispering through the trees. Ronin's shift had just ended, and though the safety of the forest was always foremost in his mind, now he had the time to grab a brief moment of peace.

A brief scuffling sound came from the branch behind him, and Ronin glanced swiftly over his shoulder. But it was only Nod; the younger leafman had just alighted on the branch behind him and was now slipping from the saddle of his hummingbird.

Ronin let out a brief sigh. He'd thought a branch high in the treetops would at least give him a few moments of seclusion but he had obviously been wrong.

"I thought you'd be having one of your little evening chats with MK," he said, allowing some of his frustration to creep into his voice. Perhaps Nod would pick it up and leave him alone.

"Um, yeah..." Nod removed his helmet and ran a hand through his hair. "I was planning to. But I wanted to ask you something first..."

"What?"

"Well... just about, you know... something to do with MK, before I... talk to her..." Nod wouldn't quite look at him.

Ronin felt his initial annoyance subside, if only a little. It had been a long day, and though the events that had led to the choosing of the new queen had been a good few months ago, Ronin still found himself apprehensive whilst on the job. He'd always been cautious, but he knew it was more than that lately. He would not let something happen to the new queen. He knew the constant worry was getting to him, leaving him more tired at the end of the day than he usually was, but that was no reason to take it out on Nod. "Go on…" he pressed, a little more gently than before.

"Just..." Nod tried again, nervously, "well, you know MK's a stomper... human... and me being a leafman... I was just thinking how well we were getting on. But I don't know if a human and a leafman would... work..."

Ronin raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. He suspected Nod's question was not to do with the physical aspects, but he could not stop himself. "Nod, I know your father's been gone awhile, but you weren't that young... I really would have thought he'd have taught you about these things."

Nod blinked at him, and then he screwed up his face in disgust. "Ronin! No! That's not what I'm asking just... no!" He squeezed his eyes shut briefly as if to clear some image or thought from his mind. "You know what, never mind... I just... thought you'd be able to... never mind..." He turned back towards his hummingbird and grasped the saddle.

"Alright, hold your birds," Ronin held up a hand. Nod was more serious about this than he had first thought. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. What do you mean by... 'work'?"

Nod paused with one foot in the saddle, and then turned back towards Ronin. "I know there's the size difference," he said eventually. "But I don't know... eventually if we were really sure it would work, I'm sure the queen would be able to accommodate making MK small again, or me big..."

He was serious. "Have you talked to MK about this?"

"No, not yet." Nod walked past Ronin and stared out at the gathering twilight. "I know that's too far ahead to really think about. I wouldn't even think of asking her that until... I need to just figure out if it would work first... it'd be a huge change for one of us... I couldn't even suggest it until I was sure that it would be..." he trailed off.

"What, Nod?" Ronin came and stood beside him.

"She's a human, I'm a leafman... I don't know, is it even... allowed?"

Ronin closed his eyes briefly. What Nod meant suddenly hit home, and he wondered why it had not been obvious to him earlier.

"I mean, I know it doesn't say anywhere that it isn't allowed, but..."

"But it doesn't have to say it somewhere. You're worried that people would think it was strange, or that you'd crossed some line, or that you had other motives."

Nod let out a sigh and sat down on the branch. "I... yeah." He looked up at Ronin and frowned. "You gonna tell me you were in love with a stomper now?"

"No, not a stomper." Ronin stared out at the gathering night.

"I... oh... you mean you and... but that's not the same."

"Really? Then how come you can't even say it?"

"I..."

Ronin could feel his apprehension building again, but not as a result of the stresses of the day. This was different. It was the same gut-wrenching feeling he'd had when he'd first realised he'd fallen in love with his queen. The same when he realised, in all her teasing, that she felt the same. The feeling that had always welled up whenever she got close, and yet she had been the only one who could make that feeling fly away as swiftly as it had come with just a touch. And the same fear that had always made him hold back.

"Ronin, I'm sorry, if you don't want to talk about this..."

Ronin sighed and sat down on the branch beside the younger leafman. "Nod, if MK was one of us, would you hesitate?"

Nod thought about that for a moment. "No. But what if I mess things up? People might think it was weird, or that she didn't belong... And you and the queen were different. No one would have minded; it wasn't even as secret as you thought."

"I'm fairly certain most thought I was no more than her play-thing," said Ronin. "Even that was better than what would have been thought of her if... it were more."

"'I'm sure they wouldn't have cared. But I don't want anyone to think bad of MK because she's different. The queen, no one would have thought bad of her..." He paused for a moment. "You guys had something anyway though, right?'

"We had... something," Ronin admitted. He drew a deep breath. If he were talking to anyone but Nod he would have let it rest there. But he would not let Nod make the same mistakes he had. "Nod, there was so much more I would have said to Tara, what I would have dared ask of her, if she hadn't been the queen. And you're right; I never regretted what we actually had. I regretted what we didn't do... what I didn't say. And now..." Ronin drew in a breath. "If you're serious about MK, and you actually want to say something, don't hold back. You don't know what may happen, son, and if there's something you need to say, do it while you have the chance."

He could feel Nod's eyes on him, but Ronin continued to stare out into the gathering night.

"Yeah. I… I'll try talking to her," Nod said, though he still sounded nervous. He stood to his feet. "Ronin…"

"You'd better hurry up. She'll be wondering if you've been eaten by a mouse or something."

There was a pause, and then Ronin felt Nod place a hand on his shoulder, briefly. "Thanks." A short moment later, the sound of the hummingbird taking flight announced Nod's departure. Only when the flutter had faded did Ronin let a sigh escape and the tension in his shoulders release. He would give anything to be that young again, or to still have the option of grasping what was now forever beyond him.

With one last glance at the darkening sky, Ronin stood to his feet and summoned his own hummingbird with a whistle. It didn't pay to dwell on the past, but he knew that later that night when he settled down to sleep, there would be one thing, one person, he would dream of.