With the sun shining down over me and you

“Crikey, mate!” In the most outrageously exaggerated Australian accent Nick could imagine, “Nol Irwin” opened the gates and led them into the zoo. “Let’s get move-on, an’-”

“Nola, just, just… no,” Nick said, stopping the motormouthed leprechaun before she gave him an aneurysm.

She glared at him. “Huh?”

“Please stop…” Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know what you’re trying to do, and just… just stop it, please, that’s SO not what I want to be dealing with right now.”

Ella was more confused than anything, not sure why Nick was getting frustrated. Nola’s accent WAS weird and annoying, but she didn’t see the problem. “Nick?” She questioned.

With a sigh, the Nolligator Hunter shed her disguise, puffing up her cheeks and then deflating them like a popped balloon as she trudged to close the gates behind them. “Fine, fine, fine,” she grumbled, returning to her usual accent. “No fun… …Oh well! Moving on then!”

In a flash, Nola was all smiles again. That was the thing about her, she was usually a pretty smiley person. On occasion she’d get down in the dumps, but for the most part you could count on her to slingshot back faster than Ella’s rubber-band.

The pink-haired leprechaun turned her emerald eyes to the two of them and rubbed her hands together excitedly. “Now then, Dakota has informed me that you two are here for a nice, romantic little date, is that correct?”

“That’s right,” Nick confirmed, making Ella blush. He didn’t take his eyes off the girl in front of him. “We’d like a nice day at the zoo. And I’m assuming you were sent here to arrange that for us, is that about right?”

If Nola was here, it was because someone had asked her to “help”. Last time she’d “helped” on one of his private dates, it had been at Mary’s request, though given the intricacy of the scenario they were playing out, Nick suspected Dakota was the one who had given the order this time around.

Nola didn’t confirm either way, except to nod and acknowledge that, yes, she was here to make sure the two of them had a nice day together.

“You can consider me your helpful tour guide!” Nola grabbed a brochure from a nearby stand and unfolded it. Several times. In a matter of seconds a map big enough to serve as a picnic blanket nearly covered her body as she struggled to hold it up in her shaking hands.

She still peeked out from behind it with a mischievous grin, clearly having a blast.

“We have so many exhibits here! More than you could imagine! Just think of an animal, and we’ve got it! And if we don’t, no problem! Just wait a minute or two for one of our hunters to snag one from the wild, and you’re good to go!” Nola chortled. “That’s just a joke, by the way. I’m just kidding! Here at Harem Hotel, we don’t agree with poaching! Not even for the purpose of preservation! Although that’s not really poaching then, is it…? …Well, at any rate, that’s a no-go on capturing animals and putting them in private little zoos where no one else can see them! We only do that with humans and the occasional slime girl in order to run a good show! You understand. Now where was I…”

“Nola,” Nick interjected, sensing a rare lull in the fast-talking girl’s speech and taking the opportunity to take back his side of the conversation, “we don’t need an escort or a guide or a third wheel or whatever you’re planning to be. We can get around just fine on our own, right, Ella?”

“Eh?” Ella looked at Nick, petrified for a moment when she realized he was staring right at her. “Uhum, uh… that… that’s right,” she stammered, jerking her head up and down. “We just, um… we can… walk around on our own, and check out the animals, if-if that’s what Nick wants to do.”

Nick frowned. He didn’t like the way she worded that. “Ella, what do you want to do?” He asked her gently, making the short girl jump.

“Oh! I-I want to go to the zoo, I just told you! That-that’s why I’m here!” Ella said, shaking a little and still giggling awkwardly. “…Right? We’re here, at the zoo, to see the animals.”

For once, Nola was keeping quiet. She could sense that this was a situation that would only be made worse by giving her input (which was honestly the case for most situations, actually) so she didn’t say anything.

“Ella…” Nick was ignoring Nola completely now himself. “Sorry, I must have misunderstood. I thought you wanted to just go for a stroll around the zoo and check out the animals, is that not what you wanted? This is supposed to be about us doing stuff that you’ll have fun doing too,” he reminded her gently.

Ella bit her lip. “No, that… that is what I want, but…” She shot her eyes to Nola and the massive, sagging map in the leprechaun’s hands. She swallowed and her eyes shot back to Nick. “It’s a… really big zoo,” she pointed out.

“Very big,” Nola said.

“So maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing, um, if we had a guide?” Ella wasn’t very comfortable around people, and it wasn’t like she was worried about being alone with Nick again or anything like that, she just… well…

She wanted to make the most out of today. And if they stumbled around and got lost, then that would feel like such a waste!

But she could also tell that Nick really wanted an organic experience that was just the two of them together, having a good time. So what was she supposed to do?! This date had been HER idea and she was already having a conflict!

Maybe she wasn’t cut out for planning dates like this…

Nick could see Ella’s anxiety building. Her hand slowly inched towards her rubber-band.

He acted decisively before she could get too deep into her own head.

“If you want a guide, that’s fine with me then,” he declared, surprising Ella. She looked at him with wide eyes as a smile broke out slightly across her face.

“R-really?” She asked hopefully, her eyelids fluttering. “You don’t mind?”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be a guide, but if there are specific things you want to see, it would be helpful to have someone who could point us in the right direction, right?” Nick reasoned. He was a little intimidated by that giant map too, if he was being honest. He’d never been good at those, and he doubted it was to scale.

Ella nodded her head rapidly. “Y-yeah! That could work!” Nola could point them in the right direction, and then they could get their all on their own.

“Well, it’s not exactly what I signed up for, but you don’t see me complaining!” Nola chirped, smiling from ear to ear. “You little lovey-doveys should have some time to yourselves, after all!” With a giggle she folded up the map and turned it over a couple of times. “So where were you hoping to go first? We’ve got wolves in the north, of course, the monkey cages are thataway, exotic bird enclosures are to the right, you could go check out the reptile room, and then the dragons on-”

“Wait, what!?” Nick exclaimed, his eyes bulging in surprise. Ella’s jaw dropped. “What was that last one?” Nick demanded.

Nola peeked up from her map and looked at him, confused. “The reptile room? That’s where we keep snakes and lizards and stuff, you guys want to go there?”

“No, he, uh…” Ella heard the same thing Nick did, and looked over at him, frowning.

“You said there are dragons. At the zoo.” Nick should have known this wasn’t going to be a normal zoo. Who knows what twisted stuff Dakota had hidden away in here.

Nola rolled her eyes and laughed, and waved her hand. “What? No no no, you misheard me! I said we’re dragging on, as in, this conversation is taking a long time to finish.”

Nick just stared at her. “…You really expect me to buy that?”

Nola batted her eyelashes innocently. “Buy what?”

“Are there dragons here, Nola?” Nick demanded.

“…No.”

“Can you look me in the eyes and say that, please?” He asked, scowling at the shift-eyed leprechaun. Apparently, the pink-haired girl found the cobblestones at their feet to be quite engaging all of a sudden.

Nola flickered her eyes up to Nick and sighed in exasperation. “Okay, fine, you’re right, the zoo does have dragons.”

He knew it. “That-”

“Dragon deez nuts!” She burst out loudly, doubling over with cacophonous laughter. “Bwahahahahahahaha!”

Nick was not amused.

“I, I, uh…” Ella wasn’t sure if Nola was being serious or just playing around, but that didn’t matter. “Nick, I don’t see what the problem is,” she pointed out. “If they have dragons, then isn’t that really really cool?!”

“Well…” Nick paused and looked at things from that perspective. He’d gotten so caught up in Dakota’s antics (facilitated by Nola) that he hadn’t considered that a zoo with dragons in it would actually be pretty cool. “…Now that you mention it, if the dragons are safely in cages or something, that would actually be pretty awesome.”

Nola gave him a distant stare. “Dragon… cages?”

“…You don’t have them in cages?” That bad feeling in Nick’s gut returned. Ella’s eyes widened with fear.

“Have you ever tried to get a dragon into a cage?” Nola asked him pointedly.

“So they’re just flying around!?” Nick sputtered.

Ella’s head swung around with fright as if any second a dragon could come flying across the sky and raining fire down on them.

“No, of course they’re not flying around!” Nola rolled her eyes. “They live in caves. On mountains of gold! Why go out flying if someone could come and steal their gold, huh!? That’s just dumb. …Also, as a matter of safety, I would advise you to NOT try and steal their gold while you’re here. It’s actually, like, really hot, and the dragons will definitely attack you if you do. It’s happened to me enough times.” She blinked. “…I mean, assuming we have dragons, which we don’t.”

“…Right.” Nick rolled his eyes.

Not even Ella was that gullible. She giggled and shook her head. “This is so cool,” she said wistfully, gazing out across the vast expanse of the zoo. She couldn’t see any of the animals from here, but she could hear the sounds in the distance. She’d always wanted to see a zoo for real before. “This zoo even has dragons in it, Dakota can do anything!”

“I know!” Nola chortled. “She really can!”

“What about dinosaurs?” Ella asked suddenly, her eyes widening. “Does she have any of those here? They’re so cool!”

Nick was about to reply, only to remember that Ella had never seen Jurassic Park before.

Nola beat him to the punch with a snort and a roll of her eyes. “Uh… that’s a no-go on the dinosaurs,” she said, shaking her head. “I actually suggested that myself, and then she gave me this look and said ‘Do you think I’m trying to get sued by Michael Crichton?’ and, well…”

The leprechaun shrugged.

“…Dakota knows the guy is dead, right?” Nick pointed out. Then again, Dakota had actually died before he did, so… maybe she didn’t. …Nope, wait, he remembered their alternate timeline, where Dakota had gone on a rant in one of her college classes about how modern-day films didn’t rely on practical effects anymore, and cited enough sources to make her professor’s eyes tired. So she was probably just being melodramatic to Nola.

“So no dinosaurs?” Ella said with a sigh, having no knowledge of why a park full of dinosaurs was a really bad idea (but dragons were fine, apparently) and just feeling disappointed. “That’s no fair, if they can bring dragons back to life, why not dinosaurs?”

“See, when it comes to movies, Dakota- wait, bring dragons back to life?” Nick paused and looked at Ella for a second, not sure he heard that right. She stared back at him, confused.

“Yeah, dragons are extinct in real life, but Dakota can use her magic to bring them back here, right?” Ella said. “It’s so cool.”

“Ella, uh…” Nick wasn’t sure how to break this to her. He was actually stunned. “…You know that dragons aren’t real, right?”

Ella rolled her eyes. “Duh? I just said! They’re extinct, like dinosaurs and unicorns.”

“…No, I mean, they’re made up. They never existed. …Unicorns never existed, either.” Nick was so stunned to learn that there was a full-grown adult who actually believed dragons had once roamed the earth that he didn’t even consider what shattering Ella’s worldview might do to her mood. And by the time he did, it was too late to take it back.

Ella’s jaw hit the ground.

“What!? They… they aren’t real!?” She fumbled with her hair in surprise, like she was questioning everything she thought was true. “But… but… I saw a bunch of them in picture books, about like, knights and stuff, and princesses… knights and princesses aren’t real, then?!”

“Uh, no, knights and princesses were real,” Nick assured her, feeling a little bad that he found her freak-out so adorable. “But dragons weren’t. They’re like Santa Claus, somebody made them up.”

He winced. “Wait, um, so, about Santa Claus-”

“Come on, I’m not an idiot.” Ella’s tone turned serious and she gave Nick a scowling look that was a remarkable impression of Cinder, except less angry and more adorably frustrated. “I know Santa Claus isn’t real. Or the Loch Ness Monster.”

Nick’s head was starting to hurt. “Okay, so…” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “…Dragons and unicorns, you believe those existed. But the Loch Ness Monster, that’s where you draw the line?”

“Yeah?”

…

Well, what was he supposed to say in response to THAT?

Ella shook her head. She looked a little dazed, and a LOT embarrassed. “So… dragons… they’re really made up?”

“Yeah,” Nick confirmed. He looked apologetically at her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to, well… ruin it for you, or anything.”

Ella laughed an awkward, high-pitched laugh and shook her head. “Well… it’s not like you ruined anything. I mean, I thought they were all dead, because of, like, global warming or whatever. So them just not existing is actually a lot better to think about, right?” She pointed out.

Yeah, Nick really needed to talk with Amelia about sitting down with the latina for some tutoring, because there were some pretty massive holes in her learning, that was for sure.

“Still… at least I can see them if I come here, right?” Ella turned to look at Nola with a hopeful gleam in her eye. “The zoo has dragons, and probably unicorns too, right?”

Nola nodded cheerfully. “Yup! But they’re really big jerks. Always poking you with their horns, no fun. Uh-uh.”

Ella giggled again. “It’s weird… I’m learning so much new stuff ever since I came to this island. No one ever taught me that dragons were make-believe before, you know? And now… I’ve made a massive fool of myself.”

She’d kept it up for as long as possible. But the realization that she’d staunchly declared dragons to be on the same level as the Tyrannosaurus Rex to her date had her just about ready to melt into a puddle of self-recrimination.

“Thwap!” Luckily, a snap of her rubber-band was enough to quell those negative thoughts. Cinder wasn’t bothering her right now.

“I’m sorry you’re on a date with such an idiot,” Ella said, burying her face in her hands as her head started smoking.

“Hey, come on, don’t say that,” Nick said gently, placing his hand on her arm. She peeked up at him through her fingers and saw his reassuring smile. But his kind gesture only made her feel even more ashamed.

“Look, how would you have known if nobody taught you?” Nick pointed out. “There’s no need to be ashamed of not being as knowledgeable as somebody else.”

Ella perked up when she heard that. She lowered her hands. “Really?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah. Like… think about it like this. I used to not know how to swim. Can you believe that? And I used to be embarrassed by it. But the other girls taught me how, and now I’m doing pretty okay with it.”

“…I still don’t know how to swim,” Ella mumbled, looking down.

Okay, bad example.

“…Look, my point is that not knowing about something or not knowing how to do something, that’s not a personal failing and it’s not something to be embarrassed by,” Nick said, trying to smooth over his mistake. “We all have things we know, and things we don’t. That’s why we’re learning. Like how you learned today that dragons aren’t real, and how I learned that you thought they were. See?”

Ella’s face turned scarlet. “Please, p-l-e-a-s-e forget about that,” she begged. Now that she knew they were made up, she felt like an idiot. It was like being a grown woman who believed in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or George Washington.

“…Ella, Dakota believes in faeries,” Nick pointed out. “She loves them so much that she created them to serve around her island, even though any adult back on earth would tell you they aren’t real.”

“Ahem.”

Nola loudly cleared her throat. Nick and Ella turned to look at her.

“…What?” Nick wasn’t sure what she was trying to say when she gestured at herself.

“Hello?” Nola waved at herself again. “Leprechaun? Standing right in front of you?”

Ella blinked. “So?”

“So, uh, faeries ARE real?” Nola grimaced.

“Leprechauns aren’t faeries,” Ella said, shaking her head. “They’re, like, little green things, faeries are, well, they’re faeries!”

Oh boy, yeah, Ella reeeeaaaallly needed to be careful saying stuff like this around here. Dakota probably wouldn’t let that one slide.

In a rare show of anger from the little gremlin, Nola looked liable to blow a gasket. But using a considerable amount of willpower, she restrained herself, took a deep breath, and **** her smile back where it belonged.

“…Perhaps it would be best if we changed the subject,” she chirped, batting her eyelashes. “Tell me, Ella, if you don’t wish to see the dragons, what animal WOULD you like to see first?”

“Oh!” Ella had gotten so caught up in her own embarrassment she had completely forgotten why they were here. But now, countless animals flooded into her mind, and she had an abundance to pick from. “The lions! I want to see the lions!” She said excitedly, surprising Nick and Nola both.

“The lions, really?” Nola raised her eyebrow. “Curious choice.” She’d expected Ella to pick something cuter and cuddlier.

“Is… is that wrong?” Ella looked worriedly at Nick. “Lions aren’t made up too, are they?”

Yeah, he definitely needed to have that talk with his stepmother. “No, Ella,” he assured her with a smile as he tried not to laugh. “Lions aren’t made up, don’t worry.”

She let out a relieved sigh. Finally, something was going right!