Aili

Excited, I snuck out of my (and Candy's) room in my white nightgown. I was about to meet Nio in the garden of the Academy. To a secret meeting. In the middle of the night. We students were not allowed to leave the rooms at night. Unless it was an emergency. There was a strict night's rest, which was controlled by a few employees. At random. Only the large school gate and a few side entrances to the property were permanently monitored by a few guards. Apparently, students had disappeared years ago. I had to hold back a high-spirited giggle when Nio was waiting for me in the garden. I felt like a real criminal.

He was wearing his pajamas. A pair of white pajamas. Fitting, to my nightgown.

"Quiet, Aili!", he murmured with a grin. "Come on, hurry! I know a good hiding place! One of the teachers is on night watch today. I had to sneak past him!"

"I didn't see anyone", I whispered, looking around. Everything was quiet.

Nio reached out his hand to me with a wink, which I gladly grasped, and led me into one of the back gardens among tall bushes. For this, we had to pass one of the entrances to the property. Quietly we scurried from one of the large trees that stood here to the other until we reached the small garden. I'm sure no one would see us here. We crawled into a large bush that had grown like a small hidden cave. I flicked away a spider that was coming down next to my head. Then I looked at Nio. "It's perfect!"

"Isn't it?" He looked in the direction where the spider had disappeared. "Except for the spiders."

"You picked a bush!"

"That's right! In theory, I found my idea very romantic! A little date in the bush!" He lovingly pushed me to the soft ground and leaned over me. "It's a good thing you like creepy crawlies."

"Not as much as one of my little sisters!", I muttered, waiting for him to kiss me. I looked at him expectantly.

Nio laughed softly. "What is it?"

"Where's my kiss? If I'm already lying here appropriately?", I grumbled, pouting.

"Say, please."

"What?" I snorted. "Shouldn't you say please?"

He shook his head, smiling. "No. You want the kiss. Say please."

I grimaced. "Really?"

"Really!"

With a roll of my eyes, I gave in. "Kiss me, please. Please, please. I'd like a nice little kiss!"

And finally, his lips met mine. "I like it when you beg!", he muttered, after the first, fleeting kiss. Then the second one followed and I forgot everything. It was wonderful. I enjoyed the sensation of his lips on mine, of his body wrapped in pajamas on mine. He was warm. And pleasantly heavy. The moment could have lasted forever, but then one of his hands moved up my leg and under my nightgown.

"Eh... Don't!", I said, surprised. I tried to sit up, frightened.

"What?" Nio blinked. His hand remained where it was. I was trapped.

"Don't. Just kisses. Nothing more."

Finally, his hand disappeared from my thigh. Instead, he brushed some hairs out of my face. "Of course", he grumbled suddenly and in a bad mood.

I nodded in surprise. "Good."

"Good!", he repeated, frowning.

"What is it?"

"Aili... What shall I do? You are so beautiful... And you don't want me?" He sat down sadly next to me. I was finally able to sit up.

"What?" The ground beneath me rustled as I turned to face him in confusion. It was covered with dried leaves, small branches, and grass.  "How did you come up with that?"

"I'm not allowed to touch you."

"We just kissed, Nio!", I grumbled. "Or didn’t we?"

"Only kisses, my beauty. Am I not good enough for you? My family isn't rich, is that why you won’t let me?" He shook his head sadly. "Why else are we meeting here? Secretly?"

"What? Nio! We didn't say anything about more than kissing! And what do you mean by 'not good enough' for me? Yes, of course, you are! But... We wanted to meet here because we have our peace here. To talk, maybe kiss. You said breaking the rules together is romantic", I protested quickly. Not good enough? This was clearly nonsense. He was my boyfriend... And he thought he wasn't good enough? Because of a simple 'no'? "Nio. You're misunderstanding."

He nodded. "Am I? If I was good enough, you wouldn't have stopped me. Aili! I only have this one school year left! After that, we don't see each other regularly for a while. At least until you graduate from the academy! We came here, especially for the occasion. So that we have some time for us. Time for us! What else should I believe? Do you understand?"

"We have time for ourselves now", I quickly objected.

"Do we have that?", he snorted.

"Of course!!" I grabbed his hand. But he pulled it away from me with a furrowed brow.

"And I'm enough?", he asked insistently. "Even though I'm not rich?"

"Yes. You fool!", I shook my head. "Let's just... enjoy the starry sky! The bush with its spiders. Isn't that enough? That's all I want. Right now!"

Now he smiled again. "I'd like to believe you. You are rich, you can have anything and everything. But I? I can't give you everything! Of course, this unsettles me! Aili, prove it to me. So that I don't feel bad... How else am I supposed to believe you? Aili? I love you!" He stroked my cheek with one hand. Then he kissed my forehead. His lips moved to my neck. "I love you so much."

He wanted proof? "Nio?" I wanted to lean away from him, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings again. "Don't."

"What?" He pouted at me. "Am I not good enough for you? Am I not rich enough? Good looking? Am I annoying you? If so, tell me now."

"Nio. No." I shook my head. "Don't say that."

He sighed. "How am I supposed to believe you? How? Do you want to break up with me? Is that it?"

"How did you come up with that?" What was I supposed to do?

"Why are you stopping me if you don't want to break up with me?" He looked so sad as he looked at me pleadingly. "You're breaking my heart! We are together. Being together like this is part of it! If you don't want this one thing, then you don't want a relationship! It's the most normal thing in the world. Natural!"

"Of course, I want a relationship!", I stammered, confused. Finally, I nodded and gave in. Our relationship was at stake. Just because of a small 'no'. "Okay."

"Okay?" He looked at me hopefully. "What's okay?"

"You may..."

"Really, Aili?", he murmured in my ear and kissed my neck. "That's wonderful. Don't worry, everything has to be exactly like this! You're going to love it!" And he bent over me again...

-------------

When I returned to my room sometime later, I felt strange. He hadn't been gentle. I pulled out a small bag of herbs from between my socks. A tea that came from the harpies. Syltje bought it for me. To tease me, I think... Nevertheless, fortunately, I had taken it with me. The tea could be prepared cold and warm. The effect was the same. The herbal mixture prevented unwanted surprises. So I put some of the tea mixture in the glass that was on my bedside table and poured drinking water from a carafe into it. After two minutes, the tea was ready to drink. I ignored the herbs floating in it. I had nothing to filter them out.

"What are you drinking?" Candy had woken up and looked at me tiredly.

"Tea."

"In the middle of the night?" She frowned.

"Yes."

"Is everything alright? We don't have hot water... Where did you get the tea?"

I showed her the bag. "Brought it from home."

"Are you okay?" She looked at the bag skeptically. "Is that chamomile tea? I smell dried flowers. They smell very strong."

"Herbal tea. I'm fine", I replied faintly. "Go back to sleep. Sorry that I woke you up." A very useful herbal tea.

"Good. But please, tell me if you're not feeling well." Candy snuggled back into her pillow. "Or if you need help."