Sovelis sat next to her and put his hands over hers. "Arrika...I've been...kinda...dammit...how do I say this...I'm getting this weird feeling towards you....one that some might look down upon, since your my student, and I'm old enough to be your great-grandfather. I'm starting to..." he stopped talking, and looked at his bare feet. Sovelis's face was beet red and he seemed to be having a hard time saying what he was about to.

"Arrika...I'm starting to fall in love with you..."

Arrika blushed twice as much as Sovelis did, the pressure of his hands seeming even heavier than normal. "R-really?" She stuttered not sure how to respond. "Well I- I l-like you too. A-a lot. Like a lot. And I-" She withdrew quickly under her hood. her black hair shielding her eyes. Her hands were shaking and seemed to have gotten colder. "Yea. I-" She mumbled.

Sovelis's real hand reached up and he placed it on Arrika's cheek. "Don't...hide your face...Your too pretty to do that." he said, smiling at the blushing Sheikah as his own face started to somehow get redder. "I...didn't know what to..uh..say, because I was afraid that you'd laugh or something..." Sovelis told her as he leaned closer to her. "I'm not...even sure that we can...be together, Arrika..."

"Why would I laugh? And who's going to say otherwise?" Arrika said seriously. She found the courage to look at him again, her dark eyes like an endless abyss. Her heart beat furiously in her chest, her thin hands trembling slightly. "I'm not like Mirielle... she likes to blow off guys just for the fun of it...." The Sheikah was really too stunned to speak now. When she'd ever liked someone she'd just watch from the shadows and crush on them from afar. She'd only had the courage to tell her last boyfriend, an assassin named Ronin, that'd she'd liked him, but thanks to Mirielle that relationship didn't work for very long.

"I don't know...Seth or Rhyss might try something if they find out. I'm not sure, but Seth seems to already know that you like me that way." Sovelis said, giving Arrika's hands a gentle squeeze. "But even if someone tries to do something, I'll protect you." he smiled at her, his eyes closed and his grin as wide as ever. Sovelis opened his green eyes and spoke quietly. "And about what you asked me at breakfast, yes. If we could perform the ritual, you'd become an immortal like me, and the Sempari..."

Arrika grinned. A life of eternity with Sovelis didn't sound too bad. "Yeah, Seth has a way of knowing everything. Like everything. You have no idea... Rhyss probably wouldn't care, though. Or maybe he'd be happy, since you pretty much bought me and Seth with a huge sack of rupees. Seth showed me the expression on his face. Too bad I wasn't there to witness it in person. Mirielle would- You know what, I'm not sure exactly what Mirielle would do. But she'd make life hell for me again, that's certain. Did you know, that even for being an all powerful mage and able to kill people with one touch when she's in the mood, she's not telepathic at all? Or barely. She doesn't like to be reminded of it, though."

"Well, thats good. I can make fun of her all I want in my head, and only Seth will know what I'm saying!" Sovelis joked, leaning a little closer to Arrika, a different smile was now on his face. A shy, and somehow innocent smile, one that seemed almost impossible for Sovelis to pull of. But he was doing it. "And I'll keep her from messing us up, alright? Everyone deserves to be happy with someone else, and I'm sure that we can make this work, no matter what gets between us!"

"Yeah. Kobas and Seth used to do that all the time..." Arrika was grateful for what Sovelis was promising her- but didn't Ronin say the same thing? Like Rhyss had told her once in an odd show of affection, some wounds take a long time to heal. The Tempest was inching closer and closer to her. And she had thought Ronin was fast. "Hah. Mirielle almost always gets her way. Good luck with that one," the Sheikah said, half-joking and half serious.

"She may be used to bossing around that idiot Rhyss, but I'm a whole different story. I'd like to see her order me around." Sovelis said, not getting any closer to the sheikah. He let his real hand raise up to Arrika's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry though. I'll keep her off me." the mage said as he leaned his head against her's. "Your not a bad person Arrika...and you shouldn't have to take that crap from Mirielle."

"I'll never be the assertive leader type. I'll always be the follower," Arrika said honestly. "I've always told myself not to listen to her insults and everything, but it's really hard to ignore what she says. Besides, I think Rhyss lets her boss him around. He kind of owes her a lot... if it weren't for her, he'd probably end up as another nameless vagabond on the street. When you look at Mirielle, you wouldn't think she had the heart to take in some runaway kid who seemed good at nothing. Then again, she probably enslaved him all those years," she said, laughing.

"The way your talking about this Mirielle, I'd bet my automail that she did." Sovelis said, laughing as he spoke. "I almost feel sorry for that lazy bum. I'm sorry that I had to pay him off to take you two as my students though...makes me feel like some low-life..." he mumbled, leaning on the young girl and sighing deeply. "Guess what!" he said, looking up into her deeply, dark eyes and smiling.

"Er, what?" Arrika said. "You didn't really have to pay him at all, though. Keeping us was payment enough, but whatever." I wasn't serious about the enslavement part, but now that I think about it... No wonder Kobas told us to be nicer to Rhyss! Woah... Mirielle's mean.

"Your gonna love it here. But I'm not too sure that I want to pass on the 'curse' of immortality to anyone...not unless they are absolutely sure that they want it...." Sovelis said. He looked in Arrika's dark eyes and lleaned over. His lips gently touched Arrika's as he kept staring into her eyes.

Arrika made a little gasp, but stared back into his lighter eyes anyway. She pressed her lips harder against his, losing herself in the moment. She was the one that broke away, though, and she stared down at the ground fixedly. Crap. Now I'll never stop thinking about him... The Sheikah ran her hand through her black hair so that it covered her eyes again. "I guess I'll think about it for a little while..."

Sovelis kept looking at Arrika, even though now, his face was as red as the cloak he always wore everywhere. "I-I'm sorry...I...erm..hehehe...That was uncalled for from me..." he said, comenting about their first kiss together. Her lips...their so soft. Like a white rose's petals...and just as pale... he thought as he scooted closer to her, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders. "I...thought you'd want me to do that..."