So sorry its late! hope you enjoy!

Fritz yawned as he lit the fire the next morning. They had walked for hours the night before, and he had nearly had to carry Marisa to the small clearing they had stayed in. She still slept, her face peaceful, like she was dreaming good things. Unlike her, Fritz had been awake nearly the whole night, nightmares threatening to pull him into terrifying worlds. He struck the rocks together one more time and a spark flew from them, but it did nothing, and disappeared like the many before it. Fritz sat down hopelessly. Cory had tried to teach him to light a fire without flint and steel, but he had never succeeded. A groan from behind told him that Marisa was awake. He turned and smiled, her black fur was sleek as always, her eyes squinted in the sun, but she looked beautiful. “Hey.” he said, as she sat down beside him gracefully, “Hey.” She responded back, a cheerful note in her voice. “Can you light the fire?” she asked, yawning again. Fritz winced. “No, sorry, I can't figure it out.”

“Oh.” she said, frowning. “Didn’t your brother like, learn all this stuff?”

“Yes, but that was him, not me.”

She huffed grumpily, and looked into the distance. “I’m hungry.” she said after a while, “we should look for food.” Fritz nodded, but didn’t say anything, still upset about her reaction to his lack of skill. They stood, and she headed in the direction of the stream they could hear not far from there. The snow had melted slightly, but the air was still cold and they shivered. Marisa ignored his gaze, and tramped in the other direction. He turned to follow her. She spun on him, a slight scowl on her face. “Why do you keep following me?!” she exclaimed, her voice irritated. “Well, it seems you know what you're doing.” Fritz responded, his own annoyance growing. “You should know what you're doing! You're the one who had to work for food and stuff!”

“Well I never was stranded in the woods looking for food!”

She opened her mouth to snap back but she seemed to not be able to find words and she closed it, storming away to the campsite yelling, “Well, then I guess we’ll just starve!”

“Fine!” he shouted back. He felt tears spring to his eyes, even she didn’t think he was good enough. He stayed back and looked for food a bit longer. After an hour of unsuccessful searching he gave up and walked back to the camp. Everything was packed, and Marisa was sitting silently on a log, wrapped in a blanket. “Look.” He said, sitting next to her. “I’m sorry I’m no good at this. I had no control over what happened and I had forgotten I needed to be prepared.” She turned to look at him. Her emerald eyes were filled with tears. “I’m sorry. I was just still so mad about this situation that I took it out on you. I really didn’t mean anything I said.”

“I know.”

They stared at each other for a minute, then they broke their gaze and grabbing the packs they turned to the south. From the amount of time they had walked yesterday it seemed that this and half of tomorrow was all the time they needed to finish their walk. They set off, neither of them talked. It just didn’t feel necessary.

They walked until sundown, and they eventually found a spot that they could stay the night at. It was larger this time, with pine trees surrounding it, and a small pond in the middle. They set up their blankets on the ground, and Fritz went to grab flint and steel when he remembered he didn't have any. He tried to think of how to find them, and eventually he left to go searching for it. He tramped through the trees, knocking down loose branches. He came across many different structures of rock, but none of them looked familiar. After a long while of searching, he again gave up and made his way back. He pushed branches aside as he walked, one stabbed him in the stomach and he gasped for breath. “OW!” he exclaimed. That's when it hit him. He didn’t need flint and steel to start a fire! He could use friction! He ripped some sticks free from a tree, and practically ran to Marisa. He slid in front of her. She was huddled up in a ball, rocking back and forth. He quickly through together some kindling. He rubbed the sticks together for what seemed like forever. Suddenly a spark flew, and unlike any fire he had ever lit, it exploded into flames. Marisa looked at him in aw and smiled. Fritz smiled back at her, suddenly he had an idea. He rushed away, now ignoring her calls for him. He lay a blanket on the ground next to the lake. The stars were starting to shine in the sky. He called her over. “Oh my goodness!” she breathed, her eyes glinting with tears once more. “I figured.” Fritz said blushing, that because we didn’t get to have our other date, I had to make it up to you. “Oh Fritz! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She cried, settling on the ground. He sat next to her, not looking at the stars, but her face. Her delicate features were smiling with a joy he had rarely seen. “Fritz.” she whispered. “Yes?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

She turned to face him with a smirk on her face. She leaned in and kissed him lightly, leaving him stunned. She curled into a ball again and laid her head on his shoulder. He saw her eyes close with exhaustion and he closed his own, letting the nightmares fill his head, then pushing them away with dreams of his future.