UNSEEABLE SPARKS

"Are you sure? We only have an hour left. It wouldn't take long."

Luca's words shocked me.

I glared at him. He looked slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't obvious, but I could tell. It seemed like he was begging for Cece to stay.

What the…?

"Are you going to miss me, Captain Luca?" Cece drawled playfully. "Don't worry, we can hang out later in the comfort of the palace."

Her evocative tone shut him up. Good.

Why did Luca act like that? He never showed any signs of caring whether she was with us or not. In fact, I had expected him to be relieved after Cece announced that she was leaving since he didn't have to babysit anymore.

Luca has been acting weird. Like he was avoiding me. I sensed him growing a bit distant. The only time he met my eyes all day today, was after I successfully started the fire.

I hope it wasn't because of yesterday. But I am determined to return him to his normal self around me.

We walked with Cece up until the mouth of the trail. She could find her way to the palace from there.

"So…" I began, once the two of us were finally alone. "Building a shelter, huh?"

"Yes," Luca responded curtly. He kept walking.

"Okay… so when do we start?"

"We'll go back to that same area first."

"I can't wait," I said brightly.

"Uh-huh."

Again with the curt responses.

I stole a glance at him. His eyes were trained forward, his face impassive.

My glance turned into a stare. I fell back a few steps from his pace just so I could stare at him.

I liked the way he walked. A big and burly man, walking with the grace of a panther. A feline grace. He stepped on places that wouldn't make much noise; unlike me, who was blundering over every leaf and litter on the ground, unmindful of the loud, crunchy sounds my footsteps were making.

I liked watching the sway of his hands. I wanted to grab his hand and force him to hold hands with me as we walked.

"What?" he asked suddenly.

He hadn't looked at me once, yet he still knew I was staring.

"H–huh?" I mumbled. "Oh, look, we're almost there!"

I hastened my steps, skipping to the clearing up ahead. The fire pit was still smoking harmlessly. We made sure to stamp out the flames before we left.

Luca started walking around the edge of the clearing, looking for a suitable place to build a shelter.

"A shelter is necessary to protect yourself from the elements you have no control of," Luca said. "It can provide some amount of protection from the heat or cold, or even from dangerous animals."

"Dangerous animals?"

"You don't have to worry about that here. Apart from harmless critters and birds, these woods are free from predators. The forests beyond Ephemere are more dangerous."

He stopped beside a large rock jutting out between a couple of trees in an elevated area. "This is a good spot."

Luca taught me how to make a crude lean-to shelter.

We gathered long, dead branches and propped them diagonally in rows against the rock, forming a half triangle.

Luca didn't want me to lift anything at first, since the branches we were using had to be big enough so the shelter could actually fit a human inside. But I insisted on carrying some of the lighter ones.

"You're really something else," Luca mumbled.

"Hmm?" I was in the middle of dragging a branch to the rock, but I turned around to look at him.

"Nothing." He strolled past me and snatched the branch from my hands, carrying it along with the one he was carrying.

"I heard you," I said, smiling, as I followed him. "What do you mean?"

He said nothing as he added our haul to the makeshift structure.

"Luca!"

"What?"

"Don't ignore me!" I said stubbornly.

He gave me a sidelong glance and smirked. "I'm not," he answered calmly. "The base is done. It's time to work on the roof."

The 'roof' of the lean-to shelter was made of various fronds and large leaves that we would layer on the top of the wooden base. With enough layers, it would cover up all the open spaces.

"Tell me what you mean," I demanded as I picked up a large frond and began to work, stuffing it within the tangle of branches. "I'm something else?"

"Of course, you are. You're the princess."

"Lu–ca!"

"Okay, okay. I just meant, that despite who you are, you're still willing to do menial tasks. You're not afraid of getting yourself dirty. You're not afraid to lift your precious little finger to do heavy labor; even if you can't, you still try, unlike every other aristocrat out there."

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked.

Was I turning him off? Should I have acted more sophisticated around him?

"No, it's not." He met my gaze for a second. "It's amazing, actually."

My mouth split into a big grin. "You think I'm amazing?"

"Well, don't let it get to your head," he said, almost teasingly. He automatically lifted his hand like he was going to ruffle my hair.

But he stopped, his hand hovering above my head. He stared at it and immediately pulled it back. He turned away and busied himself with the shelter instead.

I did the same, the two of us acting like nothing awkward had just happened.

Why didn't he ruffle my hair? Why did he stop?

It only seemed natural before. Maybe he finally realized that I'm not a little kid anymore and didn't think it was appropriate.

But I didn't mind. I'll always want that act of affection from him.

I can't bring myself to tell him, though.

We continued working in silence. We were so engrossed in our tasks that the silence didn't feel awkward. I worked on the bottom part of the shelter while he focused on the top where I couldn't reach.

Luca had to call it when he noticed the sky dimming.

We continued working on the shelter the next day. Cece didn't join us again, as expected.

We could've finished the shelter more quickly, but I noticed that Luca was sort of a perfectionist. For a structure made out of branches and leaves, I think it was already done. But Luca kept tweaking this and that, talking about stability and integrity, as if he was building an actual house or something.

I didn't mind. I find this quality of his, endearing.

An hour had gone by when he finally declared it done.

I got on my knees and crawled inside to test it out. It was about four feet tall, and I fit comfortably inside while sitting down.

Luca bent over and peeked inside. "You could've waited until we got blankets for the flooring so you didn't have to sit on the dirt."

"Blankets?" I said, laughing. "We won't have blankets in a survival scenario, Luca. Don't worry about me." I crawled back out and dusted off my skirt. "Okay. What's next?"

We then went deep into the woods to forage for plants.

Luca taught me how to identify common herbs known for their medical properties, useful to stop bleeding or promote healing. He showed me berries and fruit that were edible, and specifically stressed the ones that looked edible but were, in fact, poisonous.

I don't think I can remember all of them. Most of the plants looked the same.

"Do you think it will happen someday?" I wondered out loud. "Having to survive on my own."

"I hope not," he answered. "But I would feel better knowing you know these kinds of things, just in case."

"I'm not scared," I said quietly, playing with a random leaf. "You've taught me a lot. Besides, if it really will happen, I'm sure you will be with me when it does."

I looked up to give him a warm smile.

Only to catch him staring at me.

"I won't let it happen."

A breeze carried his words gently to my heart.

Shafts of sunlight filtered through the canopy of leaves from high above us. A shaft illuminated one side of his face, turning one of his dark eyes brown in the light. Even his hair in the sun was a deep reddish-brown, which was swept back in a low ponytail. Except for a stray lock of hair, which was swaying gently in the breeze.

Without thinking, I reached up and tucked the stray lock behind his ear.

His eyes widened at my touch. He grabbed my hand.

But he didn't let go. Or push it away.

He kept my hand pressed against his face as we stood there, unmoving, staring at each other, both unsure of what to do next.

"I won't let it happen," he repeated in a low, gruff voice. "I'll make sure you won't ever be in that situation."

A multitude of unseeable sparks sizzled in the air. It came back in full force, stronger than ever. The inexplicable magnetism that was drawing me in. To him.

"Luca," I whispered.

As if in a trance, I slightly moved my hand and hooked my fingers on the back of his neck. I gently pulled down his head toward mine.

He didn't resist.