A/N: This is my first fiction in a long long time, I hope I've improved in my story telling skills. I mean, I've always been really bad at vocabulary and constructing sentences to bring out emotions…

Disclaimer - I do not own Maximum Ride and the likes. The red ribbon idea was pretty much taken out of a manga which I never read but which I have read the blurb. I forgot the name. It was pretty long. So basically I own nothing except the story telling...

If I had the power to see the future, how great that would be. I thought to myself.

That was when I started seeing the ribbons. Those red ribbons spreading across the country, or even different nations, each end tied to a person's ring finger.

When they first appeared to me, it was on a girl from a school we went to before we flew away again. I was curious, not knowing that only I could see it.

I questioned her about why she had a ribbon tied to her finger, and why the ribbon was so long. I got a barrage of names yelled at me instead of a polite answer.

It appeared that she couldn't see it. I asked the flock. None of them could see it either. They called it a new power, but the effects have yet to be seen.

The ribbons started appearing more frequently, and before I knew it, every turn led me to another.

As time went by, I figured out that those ribbons, it seems, lead right to their life partner. The length of the ribbon shows how much later till they get together. When the ribbons disappear, you know they've found the one for them.

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"Nudge, get your sleepy head off the floor. We've got a long way to travel today."

Iggy was sitting before the campfire making breakfast consisting of the usual packed food. Blind as he may seem, he cooks. As far as I know, he has never once landed a single spot of oil on himself.

Lucky guy. No matter how hard I try, the eggs turn back to carbon.

I sat myself before the campfire and inhaled the aromatic scent of breakfast I could never even dream of making.

"Jealous much?" Fang landed beside me with a smug look on his face.

I spared him the disgruntled look and stared into the fire.

Starting my day off with a smirking Fang was not a good omen…

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I'm officially lost.

Who knows where the flock headed when I went to buy them some food. They were complaining of an empty stomach so I, being their very nice leader, went to get them a little something to fill that black hole of theirs.

I had told them to stay put outside and not wander around like little kids, but as soon as I got out of the shop, they had vanished. And for reasons unknown to me, Fang went along with them.

I thought he'd have some common sense at least. Apparently, his cold demeanor was only to deter us from finding out his true nature.

I sniggered at the thought, settling myself down on a bench opposite the shop, thinking they'd head back sooner or later.

An hour passed, then two. Before I knew it, it was night.

It was getting cold, and I was getting hungry. Giving up on waiting, I diverted my attention to the food in my hands, and it was then that I noticed something tied around that finger on the left hand.

A ribbon.

A red ribbon.

I rubbed my eyes, thinking that it was only my hallucination from being starved for hours. I ignored the hand and went on to finish the food.

Looking down to my left hand, I almost screamed when the ribbon stayed attached to my finger. I squinted and rubbed my eyes, my head going round in circles.

There was no way that I, a man-made creature could have someone destined for me.

No way in hell could that happen.

Cautiously, I stretched my finger out toward it, half hoping with all my might that the satin thread was just a figment of my imagination.

Who knew, my fingers came in contact with a soft and malleable material.

My brain refused to work, and then all of a sudden, it went into hyper mode. Every fiber in my being pulsed with this indescribable feeling of shock.

No way.

No way!

I just sat there, my eyes threatening to fall out and my jaw slowly disconnecting, wishing for myself to wake up from that nightmare.

What if the guy is a gangster? What if the guy is a pervert who drools in his sleep? What if the guy had oily hair and a chubby body?

As these thoughts raced about in my head, they suddenly came to a halt when I realized something. It was not that I was afraid of the ribbon appearing, it was that I was afraid of who was on the other end of it.

That it was wrong! It was the wrong way of thinking for me, Maximum Ride!

What would Fang say if he knew I was thinking about such nonsense? He'd laugh at me for life!

Now come to think of it, I wonder where he is now.

Wait. Why am I thinking of him?

Could it be…

My eyes would have widened even more if it were physically possible.

After minutes of complete silence, stillness, and witnessing the people on the street zoom by like bees to rescue their dear queen, I laughed.

Impossible, I thought. That'll be the day I die.

Still, I was curious. Who is on the other end? Can a mere red ribbon decide my future?

Standing up, I resolved to follow the ribbon.

It led me through the city, in and out of a tunnel, around a skyscraper, and for certain unknown and possibly extreme reasons, into a forest.

I was so engrossed in following the ribbon I didn't notice the five figures high above the forest.

At that time, all I could think of was, Oh my goodness! Don't tell me I'm supposed to marry a bear!

Feeling somewhat afraid of who or what the ribbon was leading to, it disappeared from the ground in a clearing.

No, I'm not saying that the ribbon ended with it being tied to nothing. I'm saying that the ribbon went upward like a blood coated vine dangling from the dark sky above.

The most bizarre thought occurred to me. Maybe the person was on a plane…

I had two decisions; to stop following the ribbon and not reveal my wings, or just follow it because I've already come so far and blow my cover.

Being very well known for my iron will, I extended my wings and shot up to a very familiar sight indeed; Fang's face.

I stopped short the moment I saw him and pummeled a few feet before pushing myself up again. On the way up, I caught a glimpse of a small glint of one of his fingers.

Before I could take a closer look, I was pounced on by three children and started to fall again. I disentangled myself from the net of avian Americans and hugged them all.

Releasing them, I strived to gain my balance, smiling widely, before realizing that I, being the leader, should be reprimanding them for their ill behaviour.

"Where'd you guys go?" I glared at Fang, who was supposed to be in command should I not be around.

In the background, Iggy was comforting Nudge who managed a long string of words while sobbing.

He shrugged, that almost worried look I never seen before disappearing without a trace from his face. "They got bored of waiting and dragged me to a toy shop, one after the other. I was refusing so vehemently that I didn't notice where we were going so we got lost."

He crossed his arms, and with the sudden movement, I was reminded of the glint I saw before.

"Fang, show me your left hand," I commanded. Obediently, he stuck it out with a black face.

"Ribbon…" I muttered softly. Shocked, I noticed the ribbon was dangling from his finger down toward the clearing below, and looking down, I saw that only his end of the ribbon and my end of my ribbon were the only two in the area.

"Rib…bon?" Fang echoed, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Ah! Nothing!" I defended quickly, trying to cover up my earlier slip-up. Unfortunately, Iggy was close by and he heard everything.

"What about the ribbon? Does Fang have one on his finger?" Iggy asked.

That got Nudge interested in the conversation. "Ribbon? Eh? Really? Fang has someone he's destined for after all! Max! Do you know who? Huh? Can you tell us if you do? I really want to see who Fang's going to be with! I wonder what he'd be like around his girlfriend! Will he be sweet? Will he be his usual I'm-so-emo self? Hey! Max! I want to see who it leads to! Can you lead us to her? Can you? Can you?"

"One at a time, Nudge." Really, that bullet train can make you forget you're in the worst ever situation.

She took a deep breath, then with a serious face, spoke, "Do you know who's on the other side of the ribbon, Max?"

"Um…no."

"You're a terrible liar," Fang's voice came from behind me, making my hair stand on its end. "Your eyes give you away."

"How'd you know? You can't see them anyway!" I retaliated, turning to face him.

Only, it didn't come out as I had planned. You see, Fang was so close that even if I just turned my head in his direction, we'd…

After a momentary immobility due to shock, we pulled apart, and as usual, I took off away from him.

I rode on the wind with my hyper speed, trying to get away from it all.

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Fang's P.O.V.

I could do nothing but stare at her as she flew away.

Then it dawned upon me that our lips had just met.

"Hey, it's getting warm in here. Is that you, Fang?" Iggy suddenly asked, grinning maniacally.

"…" Then, without a warning, I felt a strong jerk from a finger on my left hand and I was whisked from my position.

If I were a full human, I'd hate to think what'll happen if such force were applied to my finger.

I pulled in my wings before they had the chance to be morbidly ripped off my back, then allowed myself time to wonder why I was moving even though I wasn't using my wings.

Staring at my left hand, I then realized that it was my ring finger that was being pulled, and on top of that, there was a strip-like depression on it.

It struck me like a thousand pink fluffy bears which I most definitely hate. There was a red ribbon around my finger.

I had never realized before that it was not just an emotional connection but also a physical connection, and if somebody at the other end was pulling the ribbon at such a speed…

It couldn't be…

I grabbed a little of the ribbon on my end and started hauling myself toward the other end.

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Max P.O.V.

He's done it a thousand times before, but why'd I react so strongly to this? It's as if I were one of those preppy girls in school who vie for a guy they know they'll never have, and then something unexpected happens and…

I shook my head. No. I can never be like them. I'm not normal, am I?

Tears I never knew were there in the first place trickled down the sides of my face.

"I'm…crying?" I touched the tears and then burst out laughing at the sheer insanity of what I was going through.

Even I don't know what was going on. I just continued to cry and laugh like one of those girls from a sappy drama serial.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I laughed even harder. I have to be hallucinating. None of the flock could match my speed, and Fang could only do it for a few short moments.

Even so, I turned around, and came face to face with Fang.

My eyelids drooped. "Go away, hallucination. Don't make fun of me." I swatted my hand, but was stopped by a gripping force on the wrist.

"Fang?" I whispered, just then noticing that he was grabbing onto the ribbon. It was so long. Just how did he manage in such a short amount of time?

I halted in my tracks and Fang crashed into me.

"Could you not do that again?" Fang groaned as we hit the mud pile below us. "It's gross."

"You…what are you doing here? How…?"

"Let me see, as the second in command, when the leader goes missing, I have to search for her. Your ribbon dragged me across almost half of the forest. I pulled myself toward you via the ribbon. Simple."

Ribbon. I looked down at it, and my alarm meter exploded.

When did it get so short? It stretched a few kilometers before, but now it was barely a meter long!

"When…!"

"So…uh…how long is it now?" Fang mumbled, scratching the back of his head with a light blush I almost missed in the growing darkness spread across a face that turned away from me.

"I…don't know. It's getting even shorter by the second…"

"Hey Max."

"Yeah?"

"I don't like the ribbon. Let's get rid of it."

I answered before I even knew what I was saying, "Okay."

Hotness erupted at my lips, a layer of liquid moisturizing them.

I forgot I was a mutant. I forgot I was on the run. I forgot I was on a mud pile.

I felt like a preppy school girl who had finally gotten her way.

Pulling apart, the ribbon disappeared.

Breathless, Fang enquired, "How's it?"

"It's gone."

I was suddenly pulled into an embrace so tight that the little bubble of compressed love burst and filled the whole area.

"I've been waiting for this moment for so long. It came so much earlier than expected," Fang muttered into my hair, his hot breath making my skin prickle.

I hugged him back.

"Yeah," I agreed, and tears of joy rolled down my cheek.

Fang disentangled himself from me, face beaming. "I'm really happy, but can you pick a better place next time?"

I whacked his head but couldn't contain the grin. "Come on. The Flock's waiting for us."

"Yeah." He took my hand, but instead of coming up to my side, he pulled me into his arms.

Soaring across the forest held by a prince on black wings, I really felt like a princess.

But that's not for me, so I'll go for ecstasy-high.

A/N: Looking back on my previous fictions, I really thought they sucked…

I'm never one for writing, really. I do better at drawing, but it takes too much time just to get one page done, so I vouched for writing. It's faster, but at the same time, it takes away some of the emotions.

I'm no pro at making tear-jerkers. Actually, I don't even think I can convey anything that I want to through these letters and alphabets.

I haven't submitted anything to for a while now, but really, I just hope this one will be better and match up to your standards.