Sam stood, leaning against the rake, sighing with a smile. He knew they’d do this. And although his hard work was ruined, it made him happy to see them happy like this, tail wagging frantically as they jumped around in the pile and enjoyed the crunch of the leaves under their paws.

After the pile melted into something more like a layer of leaves on the ground, they popped out, happily exhausted from the play. They didn’t realise they’d collected their own pile of leaves on top of their head, to which Sam chuckled, motioning them to come to him so he could clean them up. They gave him wolf kisses all over his face as he did, nuzzling his cheek and licking him as a way of saying thank you.

Sam would have to rake the leaves again, but he didn’t mind at all.

Not when his mate was beaming at him, smile more blinding than the sun itself.

THIS. this is why she's seemingly reverted back to being sillygoofy. it's a facade. she is shoving her emotions down and trying to be the rock for ralsei and kris to lean on.

she's trying to preserve the good times, should they get ripped away by the final prophecy. to have something good to look back on, in case the worst case scenario comes and she (likely) has to sacrifice herself. which...

... seems all too likely.

she reassures her friends that they will find a way to break the prophecy, and gerson encourages her to as well, but. does she really, truly believe she can?

she boldly and brazenly stated her intention to take noelle with her to the festival in chapter 4, but i believe it was the final prophecy that gave her the motivation to finally, really, pursue her affections for noelle. it could have just been a cute date, a fun teenage memory to look back on...

... but what if her time's running out?

what if she can't stop the final prophecy from happening?

she needs to tell noelle how she feels...

... before it all comes crashing down.