Firefly Glen (m) Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?

The gust of air across her chest and cheeks reminded her of the plains, but there was more debris here, more life growing in clusters. It took more fancy footwork to avoid exposed roots or stone, but she did this deftly, taking full advantage of her slight figure and light-weight body as she nimbly launched over obstacles. When she thought she had lost him, she pealed toward a gap in the glen which opened to a small meadow; here, the fireflies were more active. They shifted away from her as she emerged but then sank back as if the forest itself was sighing.

Mal was not far behind. He was larger than her, like everyone else, and appeared to know the forest better than she did. He came up alongside her with a light comment she didn't really care to hear - her heart was pounding in her chest, her ears, her everything -- and when he touched her, playfully tagging her, she laughed and danced away a few steps.

I wasn't trying very hard, she admits, and with a raise of her brows, veers through a cloud of fireflies in to the thicket again, giving him little warning.