Tsunami's stomach lurched for the fifth time, as she paced back and forth on the beach where she was supposed to meet Riptide.
"By the moons, why do I feel so nervous about this? All I have to do is tell him how I feel, right?"
Riptide had been teaching her Aquatic for a year now, and today was her final test. He had taught her everything he knew about the language, ranging from greetings, how to ask questions, and even some slang. Tsunami had been surprised at herself that she managed to learn the language to quickly. Although, the biggest reason was probably because of her teacher. She didn't have the best track record for paying attention. Whenever Starflight was rambling on about some dumb topic that she didn't care about when they were under the mountain, she usually lasted 1 minute before her mind started to wander. But when Riptide taught her, her mind never wandered, not even once. She focused on his every word, soaking it all in as she listened intently. She sighed. It didn't take very long for her to fall for him, his handsome face, his charming personality, it seemed like he was perfect for her.
"Damnit Tsunami!" She yelled internally at herself, "Stop daydreaming and get it together!"
She had arrived half an hour early, to rehearse what she was going to say. First, she planned on completing the test, acting normal, like this was just another lesson. Then, before they both went their separate ways, she would say: "Hey, I learned some new words that you haven't taught me yet!" And he would say: "Yeah, what is it?" And then she would say "I love you squid-brain!" And then they would kiss and marry and have dragonets and have a happily ever after.
Okay, maybe not the kiss and marry and have dragonets part, but she would say that she loved him. During every single lesson they had, she had an urge to tell him how she felt, but she always chickened out at the last second. Well, not today, she wouldn't! She would tell him how she felt, and she wouldn't chicken out.
She was so deep into her thoughts about chicken, that she didn't notice a certain sky blue Seawing sneak up behind her.
"BOO!"
Tsunami whirled around at starting speeds and smacked him with a right hook that knocked him to the ground.
"OHMYMOONSRIPTIDEI'MSOSORRY!" She shrieked.
She ran over towards him and held his face between her talons.
"Riptide, are you alright? I didn't mean to hit you, I swear!" She said.
"Owwwww..." Riptide groaned. He hand reached up to rub his jaw before realizing Tsunami was holding his face in her talons. He blushed a dark red and tried to act natural.
"Nice weather we're having, right?" He blurted.
Tsunami rolled her eyes, but grinned at him when she saw he was okay.
"You idiot! Did you really think it was a good idea to sneak up on me like that?" She scolded.
"Clay told me that you weren't as impulsive anymore!" He replied. "I didn't think that you would punch me that hard!"
Tsunami sighed. "Alright, whatever. Let's get on with the test, alright?"
The test was fairly difficult, with Riptide quizzing her about different greetings, adjectives, verbs, etc. The test went on for a half hour, with Tsunami only messing up a few times. When the test was finished, Riptide looked at her with a smile on his face.
"Congrats 'Nami! You are now practically fluent in Aquatic!" He cheered.
Tsunami grinned. "Finally! Now I can insult dragons without them understanding me!" She said.
Riptide laughed. "Yeah, and now you can understand when other Seawings are insulting you!" He agreed.
They talked for a while more before Riptide told her that he had to leave. "Well, its been great teaching you Aquatic 'Nami! Maybe I'll drop by the school for a visit sometime!" He suggested.
"Yeah, I'd like that a lot!" She replied with a smile on her face.
"Well, gotta get going now. Have to take care of some things back at the Talons of Peace base. See you soon!"
He was just about to take off, when Tsunami suddenly shouted, "WAIT!"
He immediately turned around and faced Tsunami with a concerned look on his face. "Huh? What is it? Is something wrong?" He asked her.
"No, it's just that... I have something to tell you." She admitted.
"Well?" Riptide was curious now. "What is it?"
"Uhhhhhh... well, it's-it's just that... uhhhhhh..."
"DAMNIT TSUNAMI!" She screamed at herself. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU COME HERE HALF AN HOUR EARLY TO PRACTICE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY AND NOW YOU CAN'T EVEN SAY IT?!"
Riptide was looking at her with a confused face. "Uhh, Tsunami? You alright there?"
Oh. Right. She had somehow forgotten that he was there. Well, might as well get it over with.
"I LOVE YOU!!!" She shrieked. Riptide let out a yelp and covered his eyes, and Tsunami realized that she was also flashing the 3 words over and over at full brightness in Aquatic. She immediately stopped flashing them, and a horrible feeling appeared in her stomach.
"Oh no, I've messed it all up, haven't I? I try to tell him I love him and instead I blind him. Great job Tsunami! Great job!"
Tsunami was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she was caught off guard when Riptide suddenly wrapped his wings around her in a tight hug.
She wasn't sure, but judging by how hot her cheeks were, she guessed that she was blushing so hard that she could have been mistaken for a Skywing.
"I love you too 'Nami." Riptide pulled back and beamed at her.
Tsunami grinned back at him and pulled him in for another hug. "Well squid-brain, you sure know how to make a girl blush." She sighed. "This is nice."
Riptide smiled. "It sure is."
