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“You just amazed her,” said Britz to Sheena after the felineko showed Frita some of her spells.
“Those were the simplest spells,” Sheena smiled in response. “However, I think your sister is very impressionable. Just like you.”
Britz smiled, blushing slightly.
“And would you like to be impressed some more?” The felineko suddenly asked, putting her hands behind her back, apparently because she was a little embarrassed. “There's a place nearby. I'd like to show it to you.”
“Sure, let's go,” Britz replied.
Sheena nodded and then turned to Nili and her mother sitting in the room:
“Mom, Nili, can you watch Frita? Britz and I are going to take a little walk.”
The women nodded, and Britz and Sheena left the house. The girl led him to the path into a small forest nearby, and within a few minutes they were surrounded by trees and bushes. The sounds of household activity were replaced by the rustling of leaves, gently swaying in the wind. A little later, Britz and Sheena began to descend a small slope, and nearby they could see a stream flowing in the same direction as them.
“Be careful, there's a root underfoot,” Sheena broke the silence. “I tripped over it once already. And, we're almost there.”
A few moments later, they found themselves on a small shore, where a stream following them on their right flowed down a slope into a shallow lake. Thanks to the water lilies on the surface of the water, the white and yellow flowers on the shore, and the trees growing on either side, this place created a slightly dark but rather pleasant corner inside the forest.
“We're here,” Sheena concluded, looking at the lake.
“It's... beautiful here,” Britz commented, looking around.
“I discovered it by accident when I ran away from the Bermans a year ago,” the girl admitted. “I've been coming here periodically ever since. Sometimes just to admire this place.” She put her hands behind her back again. “Sometimes to hide from everyone and cry when I feel sad.”
“You know you don't have to go through everything alone anymore,” Britz said with concern. “You can always write to me.”
“Sometimes it helps, and I calm down as I write,” Sheena smiled. “But sometimes... I just want to be alone and think about everything in the world. About life, about the future, about love...” Then she turned to Britz. “If you hadn't saved me back then, I wouldn't have had that opportunity.”
“And if I hadn't decided to do it then,” replied Britz, standing next to Sheena, “I don't know how unhappy my life would have been.”
A short pause. Their gaze turned back to the lake.
“Enough reminiscing about the past,” said Sheena, then turned to Britz with a smirk. “Don't you want to... fool around a little?”
“Huh?” Britz was surprised, then noticed the girl stepping into the water with her bare feet.
“It's pretty shallow here. Maybe you can catch me!”
“Hah, okay.”
Caninu took off his boots and also stepped into the shallow water.
“Come on, Britz, catch up!” the girl exclaimed, running a few meters away from the shore. “Or I'll tell everyone that you were one of the last to finish Malt's race!”
“Hey, but that's not true!” Britz shouted, running after Sheena.
“And who's going to check?”
For the next few minutes, Britz and Sheena raced through the shallow water, splashing water around with every step. Despite Sheena's teasing, Britz caught up with her quickly, but it took her longer to catch up with him, although later their roles reversed. Eventually, they stopped at the shore, and then Sheena, catching her breath a little, splashed Britz with water and laughed. However, in the next second, she got a response from the boy, and so they started splashing each other with water.
Finally, they sat down on a rock on the shore, dangling their feet in the soft water and breathing heavily. Water dripped from their clothes and heads, but smiles adorned their faces. For a few seconds, they just sat quietly, enjoying the silence, until Sheena said:
“I've never felt as good as I have these past few days.”
“Me too,” Britz admitted in response. “Saving the world twice, saving ourselves... After that, you start to appreciate these moments much more when we're just happy.”
“Yes...” Sheena agreed, turning to the caninu. “And also because you make me happy.”
Britz turned to the felineko, blushing slightly and just smiling. Then he felt the girl's hand reach for his cheek.
“Thanks to you, I'm alive, thanks to you, I can enjoy life again.” She wrapped her other hand around his. “You always came to my aid, always wanted to bring me joy.”
Britz froze slightly as he listened to Sheena, but then he placed his hand on top of hers on his cheek and leaned against her.
“I just... want you to be happy.”
“I know. And I am infinitely grateful to you for that. Because now I can feel what gives me strength every time I write to you, read your reply, and am near you.”
“But are you sure... about that?” Britz asked. “I am a former Berman, after all...”
“Britz, in my entire life, I have never been more certain of anything than I am of my feelings for you right now.”
She placed her hand on his neck, stroking it gently and looking him straight in the eyes.
“Thank you for everything, Britz. For saving me, for making me happy, for this feeling. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You are my treasure.”
For a second, Britz tried to take in everything Sheena had said, and then he simply smiled in response. He took Sheena's hand, resting it against his face again, and then kissed it.
“And you are mine,” he replied after that. “I will always protect you. I swear.”
Then he placed both hands on Sheena's face, gently stroking her with his thumb. She closed her eyes, and two small tears of joy rolled down her cheeks, reaching Britz's hand. Then the felineko touched noses with the caninu and whispered softly:
“I love you very much, Britz...”
“And I love you too, Sheena,” replied the caninu before his lips enveloped hers.