Tove and I played around, throwing snow at one another, but it became increasingly hard as it went on. It al looked like games, and it was fun, but it was more than that. Stopping a slew of snowbals helped me learn to quickly stop multiple attacks from different directions. I tried to return fire even before I stopped the snowbal, and that helped me learn how to fight back while stopping something.

Those were two completely different tasks, and they were difficult to master. I’d been working on this for a while, but couldn’t get it down. In my defense, neither could Tove, but he didn’t realy think it was possible. My mind would have to be able to hold something and throw something at the same, which it could do, but starting and stopping things at the exact same time was the impossible part.

When we were both sufficiently frozen and exhausted, I colapsed back in the snow. I’d worn pants and a sweater today because I knew we were training, but al that exertion always left me overheated, so the snow felt good.

“Is that a truce then?” Tove asked, panting as he lay down in the snow next to me.

“Truce,” I said, laughing a little.

We both lay back, our arms spread out wide as if we meant to make snow angels, but neither of us did. Catching our breath, we stared up at the clouds moving above us.

“If this is what our marriage wil be like, it won’t be so bad, wil it?” Tove asked, and it was an honest question.

“No, it won’t be so bad,” I agreed. “Snowbal fights I can handle.”

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

“A little.” I turned my head to face him, pressing my cheek into the snow. “Are you?”

“Yeah, I am.” He furrowed his brow, staring thoughtfuly at the sky. “I think I’m most scared of the kiss. It wil be our first time, and in front of al those people.”

“Yeah,” I said, and my stomach twisted at the thought. “But you can’t realy mess up a kiss.”

“Do you think we should?” Tove asked, and he looked over at me.

“Kiss?” I asked. “You mean when we get married? I think we kind of have to.”

“No, I mean, do you think we should now?” Tove sat up, propping himself up with his arms behind him. “Maybe it wil make it a bit easier tomorrow.”

“Do you think we should?” I asked, sitting too. “Do you want to?”

“I feel like we’re in the third grade right now.” He sighed and brushed snow off his pants. “But you’re going to be my wife. We’l have to kiss.”

“Yeah, we wil.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.” He smiled thinly at me. “Let’s just kiss.”

“Okay.”