Nikolai had met all kinds of people throughout his life. Some despised him, others desired him, some wished to gain something from him, but all the time he could always figure out their intentions. However there was one about whom Nikolai couldn't figure out much of. You. 

It seemed as more as he got to know you, the more mysterious you'd seemed. 

But somehow, the more he got to know you, the more he grew closer to you. Until he finally realized he couldn't restrain his mind from wandering to you at all times, until you'd plagued all his thoughts, until he realized he'd fallen in love with you. 

And him being stubborn as always, decided to do anything to win over the girl who'd always appeared as a mystery to him. 

                 …..............................................................................

You, on the other hand, had quite similar feelings but an utterly different way of thinking. You'd began to grow closer to the sunshine boy when the threat of the Darkling had been looming over. You seemed to have grow fond of even the slightest sight of the boy. 

However, he had someone else on his mind. He'd been to indulged to win over the Sun Summoner's  heart to even glance your way. 

So you'd given up long ago. Lost any hope that he'd ever be willing to think of you the same way as he had for the girl, even long after she'd left. So you'd shut your heart and you focused on the life in front of you, you focused on your duties as the head of the Ravkan council. 

All until Nikolai had decided to go to any heights to win you over. 

             ................................................................…..........................

You'd been sitting in one of the quarters near the little palace that had been sitting idle for quite some time. You'd drop by sometimes whenever you wished to get your paperwork done with no one there to bother you, and today, there seemed to be a lot of it. 

It'd been raining intensely when u heard a sound resembling a knock.

You turned towards the door for a moment wondering if someone's outside, then went back to your work thinking no one would bother to come here at such a harsh weather even if they did know where you were. 

Then you heard it again, rapid knocks on the door. 

You got out of your chair and went to the door in a haste, wondering who was outside. 

Your eyes widened at the sight of the person in front of you. Drenched thoroughly from top to bottom, breathing intensively, stood the king of Ravka, Nikolai Lantsov. 

                                                        …....................................................................................................

The plan had been perfect, or so Nikolai had thought. He was to wait for the rain to begin and you to be away from the peering eyes of everyone when he would make his move. He intended to grab the kind of gift you'd love the most, Books.  Or more so, the one you'd been looking for since as long as he could remember. 

So he had set out, the package secured in his arms, the clear motive etched in his brain. But it was when he'd went halfway when he realized how intense the rain had been and had resulted in spoiling the gift and get himself all drenched. And by the time he was at the doorstep , he'd been shivering and had possibly attained a cold. 

“Nikolai!?” Your eyes widened at the sight of him. “What are you doing here in this rain!? “ your tone being equally surprised as your expression. 

Though being badly soaked from head to toe, the boy attempted to keep his composure, “I, came here to see you” he spoke with a nervous grin

His words really confirmed your suspicions of him being an idiot. You looked at him in awe before speaking in a rather stunned voice, “Are you insane!?” you said

“Well, only for you” the mad boy grinned. 

You opened your mouth to speak but closed it. Then suddenly grabbed his arm and rushed him inside, completely ignoring his statement. 

“Sit down” you ordered him as you rushed inside a room in the quarter.

You returned a few moments later with a clean towel to find that he had obliged you. 

“Here, there's a spare room you can use” you spoke, handing him the towel and gestured him to your left. 

“Really? I thought you'd like it better if I just did it over here” he gave a sly grin but quickly changed his expression when resulted in attaining a glare from you. 

After a while, he came out looking less miserable than he'd been and sat down next to you. 

“So why exactly did the king himself run all the way from the grand palace to here?” you asked

Tell her the truth, tell her the truth, tell her the truth, his mind screamed at him. But he just froze, as if he'd lost the ability to speak. 

“Uhhh- well- I needed some important documents from the little palace but it started raining so I thought to just come here” he managed

“Huh? So because it was raining, you chose to cross the whole palace and instead come here?“ you raised an eyebrow. 

Shit. He had been too occupied to practice what to say to you at the doorstep to even think of an excuse. 

“Yeah. Well it- I don't think it even matters anymore” he chuckled nervously

“Yeah” you slowly nodded in acknowledgement

“Anyways, how have you been? I barely see you anymore?” he changed the subject

“Nikolai, you saw me… yesterday “ you responded in confusion

“Yeah, yeah right” he chuckles nervously. “You know how weird time can be”.

You looked at him for a few moments before speaking again “Well um, I should get back  to my work or councilman Henrik is going to be up my nerves again” you sighed. 

“Yeah- yeah sure” he responded. 

He sighed as he looked at the rain through the window, pondering upon how miserably he'd failed today. But he wouldn't stop until he'd reached his goal. He Wasn't A Quitter After All, he thought, grinning to himself

                  …....................................................................................

These foolish little attempts won’t work if I really want to tell her how I feel, Nikolai thought to himself. If he wished to let out his feelings infront of you, if he really wished to tell you the truth,

he had to up his game.

You’d been out of the palace as you and David needed to test some of the weapons you’d been working on. So you’d chosen a cabin away from the population to be the most suitable place as there won't be dangers of anyone getting hurt here. 

Apparently someone else had the idea of moving his expedition to this place.

You had set up one of the you’ve made in the field to test whether it functioned properly. “Well, if it really works it should cover about 6,000 kilometres in about in, ten minutes” David spoke

“Let’s hope it does” you responded as you readied it to launch.

Just as you launched it into the air, you both noticed something in the sky. You looked at in confusion before you finally realized what it was, as it came closer towards you.

Your eyes widened at the sight infront of you, an improved version of Nikolai’s hummingbird…with him on it. He stood on the ship, not having any realization of the massive threat coming his way.

Before you could think anything, you rushed forward and brought both of your hands and sent a massive gust of wind towards the ship’s way. Until Nikolai realized what was happening, it had been too late as he was inches away from being blown to bits.

At the last moment, you thrust your arms forward and sent a gust of wind his way, making the ship violently thrash sideways and finally crashing to the ground.

David rushed towards the ship and helped Nikolai get out. 

Nikolai went towards you, grinning like an idiot. Even though his initial plan had failed, he was amused by how grand his entrance had been. He believed you to have a similar reaction to his little stunt, but the truth appeared to be on the contrary.

You stormed towards him with your fists clenched at your sides, your face flushed red

“So, how did you think of my little manoeuvre?” he asked, still grinning. 

“Have you gone mad!?” you practically yelled at him, your face brimming with anger

“I-” he was caught off-guard by your sudden tone, he’d never seen you this angry

“This place is supposed to be off limits to anyone! And you just waltz in here so willing to get yourself blown to bits!” your rage not deteriorating in the slightest. “You could’ve died!”

Nikolai’s expression transformed into one of immense regret once the realization of what could’ve just happened dawned on him. “I- I wanted to surprise you” he looked down at his feet, his face flushed with guilt

“Well you’ve surprised me enough by almost being killed by your own weapon” you spat.

He remained silent and couldn’t bring himself to meet your gaze as you left.

              ……………………...................................................................

It was proven now, either Nikolai has always been a massive idiot or he’d now turned into one. Had he lost his mind? He could’ve died today, and just because of his foolishness. Had he truly been that big of an idiot to just fly to a practically death zone? You thought to yourself as anger flooded your brain.

What if he…what if I weren’t able to save him on time? Panic filled in you, but now you were truly grateful that he was alive. You couldn’t bear to imagine your life without him in it. You couldn’t bear to live without him.

“I can’t believe he’d do something so idiotic!” you explained the whole incident to Zoya with immense exasperation.

However, she didn’t seem to have the kind of reaction you had anticipated. “Are you really that oblivious?” she sighed

“Wait, what?” you looked at her in confusion

“Can’t you see what he’s been attempting to do for weeks?” she continued, but seeing you still failed to understand, she explained further. “He’s trying to impress you . Have you not noticed his strange behaviour and foolish attempts to win you over?” she rolled her eyes.

A sudden thought struck your mind, Is this why he had been acting so strange for the past few weeks? You wondered. Him behaving strangely at the sight of you, his miserable attempts of striking a conversation with you, running to you all the way from his palace in the rain, and now this. 

Was he truly attempting to…win you over? Your eyes widened at the possibility

You had made a massive mistake, you were sure of it now. Even though Nikolai had managed to almost get himself killed, you had practically yelled at him. You’d broken the heart of the very boy who was going over the board to make you happy.

You had to fix this.

                       …………………………………….................................

You smiled at the sight of Nikolai sitting by himself in the garden. You knew you’d find him here, this is where he’d go when he’d be feeling unwell. More importantly, the place where you had your first proper conversation with him. 

“We can get the hummingbird fixed Nikolai, you shouldn’t feel so disconsolate” You spoke as you approached him

He turned sideways to look at you but then again dropped his gaze to his feet, “It’s not that I’m worried about” he spoke in a tone that truly displayed how heart broken he’d been.

 He then shifted to a side to allow you to sit beside him. “I’m sorry for doing all that, I realize how dangerous it was. But I- I just wanted to surprise you”.

You sighed as you looked at him, “I know Nikolai, I now realize you weren’t intending on getting yourself hurt. But you must know that you don’t need any grand gestures to surprise me, or make me happy. And what if you’d been hurt? How could I have lived without you?” you spoke in a soft voice.

“Really? You- you can’t live without me?” his gaze finally met yours

“Of course not you idiot” you grinned slightly. “Take this very moment for example, just sitting beside you in such a peaceful state is surprise enough for me” your tone grew sombre.

“It is?” he raised his eyebrows in curiosity

“Yeah. Now tell me, what’s been on your mind for so long?”

Nikolai seemed to hesitate before finally mustering up the courage to speak. “I- well the reason I’ve been acting so weird is, well because I’ve fallen in love with you. You’ve plagued my mind in such a way that none other ever had. The way you show affection not in words but your actions, how excited you can get when you get a new idea for something. And those eyes“ he gazed deepened.

“They’re-the way they gleam in the moonlight. They’re so- drownable in”.

His words touched your soul in a way none other had. It was like you’d fallen in love with him all over again.

“So I- I just wished to do something, anything that would make you find me endearing in the slightest” he continued

You were quite startled by his words. All this just to make me find him, endearing? 

You let out a light chickle, making him give you an utterly confused look. “Well, I believe that won't be a problem anymore” you gave him a sly grin

“What? why?” 

“Well, to your enormous luck, I already find you endearing enough, love” 

He looked at you in disbelief which was clearly displayed on his face. Did she really say that?? he thought. 

“Wait, wh- really?” he had a shocked expression plastered over his face

“Yes, I believe I do” you grinned

He continued to look at you with utter disbelief. He couldn't believe what you just said was true. He'd written a whole speech and all but he was panicking too much to think of a word. You'd rendered him speechless. 

“I-” he racked his brain to think of something but he just couldn't. He really did not wish for it to go like this, with him panicking too much to utter a word. 

But your expression remained stagnant. You gazed intensely in his hazel eyes before cupping both his cheeks with your hands and softly pressing your lips to his. 

Nikolai's eyes widened at your action, he'd been the luckiest man alive. 

You slowly pulled away from him. 

“I had a whole speech and all but I have to admit I do not remember a word” he spoke

You grinned at his words, “I have to admit it was quite entertaining, watching you fail so miserably without having a clue as to what exactly you were willing to do”

This time, his hands were on either sides of your face before he pulled you close and pressed his lips on yours. Loving every moment of it. 

Even though his plans hadn't exactly worked, he was immensely glad to be in this very moment.