The Thaw

After a short hike Layla found herself down by the edge of the lake. It was really a gorgeous day. The sky was blue, the water was clear and sparkling, and the sun was slanting down from the west as it gradually started it's downward march toward evening. She kind of regretted her decision not to let Musa join her. It would have been nice to hang out with her friend in such a beautiful spot.

Standing on the lake shore she surveyed the area, turning in place slowly as she searched for any sign of the ice witch. Thus far she couldn't see Icy anywhere. Had she arrived first or had Icy forgotten and stood her up? Well at least there was no sign of an ambush thus far either. But then she supposed if it was a trap she wouldn't see any signs until it was too late anyway.

With such thoughts in mind the sound of a splash coming from behind her made the water fairy whirl around, arms cocked to cast a spell at whoever might be trying to get the drop on her. Icy had just surfaced from the water a few yards away and was busy wiping the water off her face and smoothing back her hair, which Layla noticed was down rather than done up in its usual high-pony. She spotted the dark-skinned girl and grinned.

"Ah, there you are, at last. I was starting to think you weren't gonna show up."

Layla lowered her arms and stared at the white-haired witch curiously.

"Icy, what're you doing in there?"

Icy just shrugged and started to wade ashore.

"I got bored waiting for you and decided to go for a swim."

As Icy got into shallower water her breasts emerged, revealing that she didn't seem to be wearing a top of any sort. As the water got shallower and Icy drew closer Layla could begin to see that this state was also echoed down below. She stared in open disbelief.

"Naked?"

Icy waved a hand to indicate the surrounding area.

"I don't see anyone around to object, do you?"

Layla had to admit she had a point. This arm of the lake, the end closest to the school, was pretty much deserted. It was Monday, the school year was in session, and the weather, though pleasant, wasn't really hot enough to inspire most people to head down to the lake to cool off. She knew, though, that about half a mile away the lake turned 'round a bend and passed close to Magix. On that end of the lake there were docks where folks could go out boating on the lake. Should any boaters happen to come out around this end of the lake they could get quite an eyeful of the nude witch.

"Still seems pretty risky though. You never know who might happen by."

Icy emerged fully from the water and walked over to the dark-skinned fairy with a playful smirk.

"Like you, perhaps?"

Layla gave her a suspicious look.

"Just what kind of game are you playing at Icy?"

Icy put one hand on her hip and casually pointed at her with the other, water still dripping off both arms and running down her legs.

"Hey, you started all this remember. I'm just making this up as I go. If you don't like the way I play maybe you should make it a little plainer what it is you want out of this relationship."

Layla looked stunned. Icy was throwing this back on her? She certainly hadn't given the ice witch any indication that she wanted to see her nude, at least not that she could recall. Not that she particularly minded though. The girl did have a really nice body. She still dreamed about the showers the two of them had shared on Theorbella after they found that abandoned hospital. Still, she was pretty sure she hadn't been putting out any 'Please get naked for me' signals. She shook her head.

"Right now what I want is for you to put some clothes on so we can talk."

Icy gave her a teasing smirk.

"What, you can't talk to me when I'm naked? And here I thought you were doing so well at it."

She turned away from the water fairy and walked a couple yards away to a nearby boulder, her fine white hair clinging evocatively to her figure, making an intriguing pattern of vertical stripes across her bare ass. She bent at the waist as she reached down to start retrieving articles of clothing from behind the boulder, giving Layla quite a view in the process. Brushing the worst of the water off her skin with her fingertips first, she started putting her clothes back on, starting with her baby blue halter top, then her powder blue panties and darker blue skirt before finishing with her white calf-length boots. Picking up one more item she turned and walked back over to the waiting fairy.

"Mind helping me put my hair back up? It's kind of a pain to do on my own, especially when it's wet."

Layla nodded wordlessly and accepted the hair wrap from the ice witch. Icy's show had had its intended effect on the water fairy, serving to emphasize her womanly attributes and suggest certain possibilities. Icy had been wanting the dark-skinned girl ever since their return from Theorbella, and though the incident which had erased her memory had temporarily made her forget that, the kiss they had shared back at the ice rink had brought back all those memories in a big way. Now she was determined to remind Layla how much she had wanted the white-haired girl in turn.

Turning her back, she gathered her hair in both hands and raised it up over her head, pulling a section straight between both hands as she held the base pulled tightly to her scalp.

"Just wrap it around and snap the clasps shut."

Layla took a closer look at the item in her hands. It was about a five inch tube, open along one side so it could be wrapped around the hair. Upon closer inspection she noticed the three clasps along the edges of the open side, opposite the three faux diamonds on the other side. Stepping in close behind Icy, she reached up and slid the device around the witch's hair, clicking it shut once everything was in place. Icy lowered her arms and turned to face Layla before she had a chance to step back.

"Thanks. I appreciate you doing that for me."

Layla felt a little nervous standing this close to Icy while they were face-to-face. It caused a little flutter in her stomach that she tried to tell herself was just because this former enemy had invaded her personal space. She swallowed hard, noticing the aroma of Icy's skin mingled with the scent of the lake water. She tried and failed to produce a smile.

"S-sure. No problem."

She turned and took a couple of steps away, then turned halfway back to look at her again.

"So, how have you three been adjusting to your new lives?"

Icy folded her arms and turned away from the water fairy.

"'Adjusting to our new lives.' I guess that's certainly one way of putting it. When you can't remember anything about your old life, everything's an adjustment. Did you know that Cloud Tower is alive, and that it likes to rearrange bits of itself to play pranks on newbies? Evidently it's decided that we're newbies."

Layla nodded, even though Icy couldn't see it.

"We've been there a time or two. We've seen what Cloud Tower can do."

She placed a hand on the ice witch's shoulder, instantly drawing Icy's attention.

"As tough as it must be though, it doesn't look like you've let it stand in your way. I mean, look at you! It's been, what, three months now since you guys lost your memories? Yet here you are, competing for your school in the inter-school ice-skating competition, sneaking into Alfea, going skinny-dipping, doing stuff that most people with their memories intact would find intimidating, but you don't even give it a second thought. You'd think not knowing who you are would make someone really insecure, but not you. You're so confident, so self-assured. It's kind of inspiring, actually."

The ice witch turned to face her fully with a teasing smirk.

"Is that why you seem to like me so much? Because you find me so 'inspiring'?"

Layla blinked at the odd question.

"Well, yeah, I guess that's part of it."

Icy placed a hand on her lip and leaned to the side.

"What is it you want from me Layla? What exactly is your interest in me? Not that I don't like the attention but I keep getting mixed signals from you. It's starting to get on my nerves a bit."

Layla turned aside and rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably.

"Well, see, the thing is, I don't exactly know what it is I want from you. I'm still trying to figure that out myself. I keep asking myself why I'm so drawn to you and where it's leading, but I don't come up with any answers."

She glanced sidelong at the white-haired beauty.

"I do know that I'd like to help you make the most of this opportunity you've been given to start your life over. You could be anything you want to be now, and I feel like I wanna do whatever I can to help you choose the path that will make you happiest."

Icy frowned at that. *Translation: she wants to turn me into a nice little witch who doesn't hurt anybody. Well fat chance sister. I already know what I'm destined for, and "nice" doesn't feature in it.* Speaking aloud, she said "Not that I don't appreciate your kind offer, but if there's one thing I've figured out about myself it's that I choose my own path in life. Nobody chooses it for me."

Layla turned to face the ice witch and waved both hands at her.

"I didn't mean it like that! I just meant, well, Cloud Tower is really only geared toward one way of thinking. I just thought maybe if we spent some time together it might give you a few more options to think about."

Trying to head off another negative reaction, she lowered her hands and looked at Icy questioningly.

"So, do you have any ideas yet on what you might like to do with your life?"

Icy gave her a knowing grin.

"I've got a couple of ideas. Here's one of them."

She stepped up to the dark-skinned fairy, placed her hands on the girl's hips, pulled her in close and planted a soft, lingering kiss on her lips. Layla froze in surprise at this unexpected move, then closed her eyes and quickly lost herself in the moment. There was just something about the ice queen's kisses that seemed to make her melt and just forget about everything else. Some distant part of her mind seemed vaguely uneasy with what was happening, but the rest of her was remembering the way she looked emerging from the water, naked and glistening, water beading on her delicate-looking pale skin. Her hands seemed to move of their own accord to encircle the witch's waist, pulling her in closer as their lips parted and their tongues lightly danced. It took a few moments before the thought *Wait! I can't do this!* managed to percolate through the blizzard of emotions flooding through her. Reluctantly, she pulled away from the kiss to look questioningly into Icy's cold blue eyes.

"What are you doing to me?"

Icy grinned at her teasingly.

"Giving you a few more options to think about."

Layla stepped back from the ice witch's embrace, fighting not to show the tremors threatening to overwhelm her body.

"I... I have to get back. It's almost dinner time. The others will be waiting for me."

Icy gave her a smug, possessive smirk.

"See ya later then Layla. I'll be looking forward to it."

Layla waved nervously as she continued to back away.

"Y-yeah. S-see you later!"

She turned and ran, fleeing from the scene with unseemly haste. Icy smirked wickedly at the retreating fairy's departure.

"You can count on it!"