Naerie had been at one of her usual hangouts that day, a local library to both return and check out yet another set of reading material. She had, of course long ago read everything there, she'd been coming to this particular library for years after all. She had never quite managed to put her finger on it, but there was a vague thought drifting around in her head whenever she visited time and again. Whatever it was it always brought her back to this particular place of learning, little did she know a bit of her past would soon catch up with her, in almost every sense of the term.

	As she left the building, Naerie thought she heard someone calling to her, thinking nothing of it until she reached the crosswalk. The voice was closer, and it was definitely a female's voice calling her name, and a familiar voice at that. Curious, Naerie turned her head to look in the person's direction, seeing someone she hadn't in over a decade now. A petite young panda girl just a couple of years younger than her was making her way quickly up the sidewalk in Naerie's direction, smiling and waving in an unforgettable fashion that Naerie had seen many times before.

	“Penny...” Naerie muttered in a ghastly tone, going even whiter in the face than her fur, taking off in the other direction down the sidewalk just before Penny could reach her. This was a reaction Penny hadn't ever seen from Naerie, someone she'd known to be so calm and collected when they'd gone to school together. The panda's mood went from happy to see her friend again to concerned for her, giving chase to make sure Naerie was alright. This ironically only made Naerie flee further, with a single thought forcing her feet to move; Penny had left for two reasons, the first being that she'd found a job out of country that was within her field of learning, and secondly because Naerie had let her go regardless of their friendship.

	The reason of course was that Naerie had still been coming to grips with keeping her emotions in check to curb any ill effects from her powers, and with Penny around it had only become more and more difficult to keep that effort up successfully. A number of near slips was all it had taken for Naerie to decide that Penny's conveniently timed departure was for the best, as she'd come close to hurting her from the strain to keep her emotions suppressed. Despite Naerie being in even the mildly panicked state she was in, brushing hastily past sidewalk pedestrians and all, there was nothing at all happening from her icy abilities causing them any harm.

	There was only so far panic could take Naerie though, and she inevitably ran out of breath, fatigue forcing her to stop and double over, panting to catch her breath. Penny had thankfully manage to keep on her heels the whole way, now more concerned than ever about Naerie's strange reaction at seeing her after all this time. Naerie's gaze slid over as Penny walked up, and a moment or two passed as Naerie debated whether or not she should tell her friend at last what was going on, and why she'd simply let her go all those years before.

	“I... I was visiting back home to find you again, I know it's been a long time but it's me, Penny... remember?” Penny asked, wondering if Naerie had fled simply because she hadn't recognized her. A shake of her head told Penny that wasn't what was going on though.

	“I remember you very well... how could I not...” Naerie said in between the last few gasps of getting her breath and composure back. Standing back up straight she brushed a loose lock of her red hair from her face before speaking, her mind made up to at last tell Penny the truth.

	“Do you have time to spare, I have some things that need... explaining to you...” Naerie said reluctantly, but the memories of times spent with the only person she let get anywhere near her overrode her usual 'stay away' habits, just as Penny herself had done the very day they'd first met.

	“Sure, is something wrong, what's-?” Penny asked, but before it could become a flurry of questioning Naerie held up her hand for silence, stemming the tide.

	“Follow me to my home, we can speak there.” Naerie said, feeling a lot calmer about the situation by the second, something she hadn't expected but was protesting against under the circumstances.
…

	As they reached Ambar tower and went inside, the whole way to Naerie's living arrangements in the massive building went by without a word from either girl. This time it appeared to be Penny who was growing anxious, until they finally made it where they were headed. Stepping off of the elevator, Ambar herself was sitting back on a lounge chair, taking it easy when she spotted her daughter with Penny, causing her to do a double take to make sure it was real.

	“Goodness me Penny, it's been quite some time, I haven't seen you in-” Ambar began with her usual grin before Naerie cut her mother's obvious agenda short.

	“Neither have I mother, we'll be in my room if you require anything.” Naerie said in what could only be described as an icy, hostile tone. Despite her choice of words, it came across more as verbally drawing a line in the sand, daring her own mother to cross it.

	“Well that's perfectly fine dear, you two must have an awful lot of catching up to do after all.<3” Ambar said with a playful giggle, but knowing better than to test Naerie's patience, clearly rattled as she was. It was only when they left and the sound of them entering Naerie's bedroom hit Ambar's ears that the big bear's grin faded. She may not have fully understood the situation, but one thing she knew for a fact was to not pry into it. At least not for now...

	Penny stood looking around Naerie's room, reeling at just how much it had changed, just like it's owner given the prior events of the day. This at last led to Naerie sitting on the edge of her bed and gesturing for Penny to do the same, patting the empty space next to her. As she sat, Penny waited as Naerie seemed to be collecting her thoughts on just how best to explain what she'd been talking about explaining, finally clearing her throat as she began.

	“All those years ago, I let you leave for a reason, what I'm going to show you may frighten you but please bear with me...” Naerie said as she grabbed a relatively simple object nearby, a scrap of paper wherein Penny saw the strangest sight; from Naerie's finger's up the length of paper, it near instantly formed into naught but a sliver of ice, just like it had been dipped in liquid nitrogen. To prove it was no trick, Naerie gave her wrist the slightest of flicks to make it snap off and fall to the carpet, shattering even on such a soft surface.

	“That was... how?” Penny asked in more keen interest than fear or alarm, a typical aspect of her personality that Naerie had missed, and therefore hadn't been expecting. It did however mean that telling her 'why' and 'how' would hopefully go a lot more smoothly than Naerie initially thought.

	“My mother and father both have their own abilities, I inherited the more active ones from father, but to keep them in check I have to constantly do the same with my emotions...” Naerie paused, seeing if Penny was keeping up with what she was driving at.

	“In other words, if you let go of that control... you were afraid of... oh Naerie...” Penny said as she finally understood what had happened for Naerie to be so stoic during their last time seeing one another. She had to stop and quickly wipe a tear from her black furred eyes as Naerie continued.

	“My mother and her abilities however...” Naerie said, speaking of Ambar with a bit of disdain. She stopped as she listened for signs of said parental figure potentially stalking the hallway just outside, but nothing indicated that as far as Naerie could tell.

	“You got your mother's intelligence... and her looks, if that's alright to say?” Penny added during Naerie's silence in a notably quieter tone than before, causing the latter to look over at her. Naerie had been around her mother long enough to have picked up on quite a few things, and the way Penny sat fidgeting with her cheeks blushing like mad, lips pursed tightly only added up to one possible conclusion.

	“Go on, I'd like to hear you elaborate exactly what you mean?” Naerie encouraged, and Penny knew it was now or never to say what was on her mind.

	“Okay, well... I never held our last encounter against you, even if I didn't know what the reason was until now that you acted that way, but after I left I...” Penny stopped, struggling to find the words to say what she had to say without it sounding too cheesy.

	“I think I started to develop feelings for you past a friendship... do you know what I'm getting at?” Penny said bashfully, all the while staring a hole through the floor while her face burned hotly from the thoughts and feeling swirling through her mind. The feeling of Naerie's hand atop her own finally brought Penny back to reality, and she looked over to see something she would never forget; though small and just barely noticeable unless one were looking for it, a smile was indeed on Naerie's lips at what Penny had just admitted to.

	“I suppose I'm not surprised to hear that, not anywhere near as much as I thought I would be at least... I... enjoyed having you around, even if I didn't ever show it...” Naerie said with a hint of regret in her voice at that fact, but Penny simply shook her head.

	“You did show it, or I wouldn't have ever gotten near you, or... or had this chance to tell you how I felt.” Penny took a deep breath, steeling herself to admit it outright.

	“I love you Naerie...” She at last blurted, now on pins and needles in anticipation of Naerie's reaction to the more blatant choice of words, yet the bear's take on it all seemed unchanged.

	“I know... it doesn't feel wrong, does it...?” Naerie said as though curious of this whole situation, she was still calm but a bit on edge, but whatever the case may be it was clear that Penny seemed to be something of a catalyst to helping keep Naerie's powers reigned in even if her emotions were allowed to slip. To deal with such a foreign part of herself, one she'd kept continually pushed down and locked away was a daunting prospect. Yet for all the time in her life she'd spent managing it alone, it took all of a few hours for Penny to have it be for nothing as well as retain the very same goal. The means may have been completely opposite to what they were before, but the end result was the same, definitely a win-win for both girls given the way this had all unfolded.

	“Naerie, can I... can I kiss you, please?” Penny requested out of the blue, but her sweet tone and demeanor was something Naerie couldn't deny even if she'd wanted to. Taking penny's hand and helping her up into her lap, Naerie embraced her long time friend-turned-lover and leaned in close, both girls' hearts pounding loudly in their ears as the gap closed between their trembling lips. Their eyes closed a mere fraction of a centimeter from making contact when the door opened to Naerie's room, revealing Ambar standing there with a tray of snacks for Naerie and her guest. Before her daughter could shoo Ambar out, the big bear quickly spoke up in her own defense.

	“I see you two are getting reacquainted so I'll be quick, I just thought you girls could do with a snack or two, just a little something I whipped up while you were in here, pardon the interruption.<3” Ambar said with her usual grin as she sat the tray down, revealing a few morsels of fruit and nuts, as well as several small cups of freshly warmed caramel and chocolate sauce, implying she knew exactly what might be going on between the two girls this whole time. With that she hastily scurried out of the room, leaving them to pick back up where they left off again.

	“Maybe we should skip dragging this out too long, she might show back up again?” Penny said with the double intent of getting right to the chase with Naerie, as well as honestly hoping there would be no further interference from Ambar. Reaching over, Penny dipped a finger into the cup of warm chocolate and brought it towards her mouth, only for Naerie to take it and draw said digit into her own and gently suckle it clean.

	“Perhaps we can also have that 'snack or two' in the process?” Naerie said with a double entendre of her own for once, causing Penny to giggle at the out of place remark.

	“I think you got more than just your mother's looks and intelligence, care to prove if I'm right?” Penny asked before Naerie removed the panda's finger to replace it with her lips instead, kissing Penny deeply in quite an experience manner. Pulling away momentarily to speak, Penny's mind reeled at Naerie's final words before things took off at last.

	“Well there's only so much reading about something can do, time to put what I've learned into practice...<3”