As the sun began to set in what little was visible of the sky of the Fire Kingdom, Flame Princess retreated to her room and began preparing for her night out. The young ruler abandoned her royal armor, thinking it would feel much too awkward inside a truck and plain unnatural for a casual evening of relaxation. With this in mind, she chose to wear her classic dress, as she had done so much while living out in the grasslands.

While the fiery girl made sure the attire wasn't wrinkled, she gazed back to the armor lying on her bed. It made her think of earlier that day, balancing out the positives and negatives. Finn had run into her with a heavy metal object, but, he had run into her, and that was always a nice thing since she never had the time to go see him. Her leg was busted up, but, she got to be carried by him and he fixed it immediately.

Wait, what?

The king noticed she had just caught herself thinking beyond the borders of a 'friend'. The fire elemental shook it off and continued.

His joyriding had irritated her, but, she was offered a night to kick back and enjoy a movie. He had wrecked part of the kingdom, but, it was a part that she didn't like anyway. He tried to get out of telling the truth about Hot Daniel, but, the eventual explanation had made her feel warm inside.

Ugh, stop it!

FP shook her head, determined to reorganize her thoughts. Regaining control over her mind, the princess straightened out her dress and walked out to her balcony. Thankfully, the ash rain had stopped, leaving a kingdom cloaked in a thin layer of black powder. It looked rather bleak against the normal red color of the land. Sighing, Flame Princess shot off into the air, heading toward the work site where Finn was busy cleaning up his mess.

Upon nearing the area, she was stunned by how much progress appeared to have been made. Over half the valley where Finn had been driving was now clear as a canal, free of any form of debris or boulders. The only visible feature of the ground was lots and lots of tire tracks. Flame Princess frowned. Why had she allowed the human to use that darn truck?

I swear brain, if you don't stop it I'll…

She'll what? Knock herself out? Like that would accomplish anything besides making Finn carry her aga- No, she wasn't going to go there again. Upon drifting a bit further, FP spotted the boy luging a huge rock upon his back, struggling to push it into the bed of his vehicle. As the king touched down a few feet away, he managed to slip in onto the rear end, causing the body of the truck to sink down with the help of the shocks.

While Finn slid down next to a wheel to take a break, he noticed Flame Princess approaching him with a smile, which he replied with in turn.

"Hey FP, how was the rest of your day?"

The girl stopped and leaned against the side of the truck.

"It was ok I guess, but it definitely made this night out more important. There's just so much junk to deal with."

The human stood back up and smirked.

"Well then, how about I drop off this one and we can go."

He motioned to the boulder in the back and the king nodded. Finn motioned for the elemental to follow him as he walked to the passenger's side. After opening the door, he gestured for her to take the seat. Stepping over, she saw that the fabric on the inside had been flame shielded.

"Luckily, Flambo stopped by earlier."

FP nodded and carefully got into the cab, adjusting herself to the strange shape of the seat. Meanwhile, Finn gently closed the door and vaulted over the hood to reach his side. Upon setting down in the cushion, he turned the key hanging in the ignition and started the engine, causing the entire machine to shiver momentarily before steadying into a light vibration.

Flame Princess was extremely curious, watching closely as Finn shifted to reverse and swung the wheel around. As he applied the gas, they were pushed backwards and headed toward the nearby lava lake. The king grew a little nervous as she peered out the rear-view window to see the molten rock growing closer at an accelerated rate.

"Um, Finn. Should you really be going this fast?"

The human smiled.

"You bet. Gotta get a nice motion going to pull this off."

Confused and now frightened, FP looked back to the mirror, staring with anxiety at the glowing fluid behind them. She tensed up as it came still closer.

"Finn…could you slow down?"

The boy just continued pressing the gas.

"Finn…"

He held the pedal down.

"Finn!"

They were at the edge of the lava.

"FINN!"

Flame Princess threw her arms around the hero's chest as they suddenly and violently stopped. Luckily, the human knew to brace himself, but remembered he had forgotten to tell his friend that. So in that regard it was good that she freaked out and curled up next to him squeezing his body. However, it was also quite awkward. As the boulder tumbled into the lava from the inertia the truck had built up, FP raised her head and looked into Finn's gaze. He blushed for two reasons, but she only knew of one, the same reason she had. Before it could last any longer, the fiery girl shoved herself away, pushing the boy into the door while she scrambled to the other side of the cab. She glared at him.

"What the heck Finn?! Why couldn't you have just said what you were doing?"

The human rubbed the back of his neck, his face still red for the second reason.

"Sorry FP, I forgot about the whole 'physics' stuff. I should've warned you about the brake."

The ruler gave him a slug in his arm, to which he complained and rubbed his probably bruised skin. She then crossed her arms and stared straight ahead with a pouting look on her face.

"Just get us out of here."

Finn put his hands back on the wheel and shrugged.

"Ok. But let me stop by Flambo first. I think I need a fresh flame shield."

Flame Princess at first thought, why bother? It's not like he would be touching anything that would burn him. At the same time, that frustrating part of her mind told her to just let it go. She grew suspicious.

Nothing's going to happen you dumb butt. We're just going out to watch a movie.

She was starting to realize it was crazy talking to herself. What was up with all the conflict? Every other time she'd hung out with Finn her head seemed to be just fine. What was different? It was then that the fiery king's eyes drifted to the curves of the vehicle's inner metal, following them to the dashboard.

Maybe, it's the truck…

By the time Hot Daniel was whisking the two teenagers across the grasslands, the incident with the boulder had been forgotten, replaced by a feeling of freedom that FP had longed for extensively. Finn had explained to her how to roll down the window, allowing her to feel the cool evening air on her face as he drove them toward the theater.

While the king was enjoying herself, Finn found himself suffering from what was considered the greatest hazard among vehicle owners: distracted driving. Every so often, he couldn't help staring at how Flame Princess's hair fluttered in the breeze, appearing as the beautiful ribbons of crimson fire that they were.

Eventually, FP noticed the way the human's driving was jagged, every so often listing to the right. She was concerned at turned to make sure he wasn't falling asleep. She was surprised to catch him staring at her. Immediately, Finn jerked a bit and swung his vision back to the road, embarrassed. The fire elemental continued to look at him. His arms were noticeably shaking as he held the wheel. He was also biting his lower lip. Flame Princess finally dropped the gaze and began to stick her head back out the window.

"You look very…nice."

FP flung her head back to face Finn, who was still focusing on the road, and still looked tense.

"Just, wanted to say that before I forget again."

The young king stared a moment more at the human before turning back to the window, setting her eyes upon the approaching theater. The rest of the trip was made in silence, not a word from either teen. It was only until they had arrived at the lot in front of the massive screen that Finn finally broke the silence.

"Well, here we are, just a few minutes till show time."

At that, he hopped out of the door and went over to the back, while FP watched from the rear window. The boy reached in and opened up a large utility box that was hooked to the front of the truck bed. He rummaged around for a minute before producing a big bowl and a flat package of unknown contents.

Afterwards, he went back inside and set the bowl between himself and his companion. He then held up the package.

"Could I ask for some heat under this?"

Flame Princess reached out and produced a constant flame beneath the papery item. Within seconds, she heard multiple popping sounds from within the now expanding object. She giggled, realizing that it was popcorn and enjoying the funny noise it was making as the kernels inside exploded.

After the process was finished, Finn ripped the top open and poured out their tasty treat into the bowl. He tossed the bag to the floor of the cab and smiled.

"There we go, movie digs."

FP smiled too and took a quick handful of the food. She then proceeded to toss it straight into her hair, where it quickly fizzled up and crumbled to ashes. Finn looked curiously at the fiery girl.

"I thought that wasn't really eating?"

The princess shrugged.

"Still feels nice. And I don't really think I can eat things that are that flammable."

The human nodded, seeing her point. At that moment, the screen turned white as a projector switched on. There was an unusually small crowd that night, scattered loosely around the area in front of the massive square object. Finn and FP settled into the cushioning and gazed excitedly at the screen.

As the film started, it fell straight into the action sequences, producing tons of escape scenes, drowning submarines, things blowing up; all that good stuff. The two teens watched intently, not even blinking as they were completely absorbed by the movements on screen. They periodically dived into the popcorn, every so often missing the bowl and having to search around with their hand.

After about an hour of crazy visual effects, the movie slowed down to a suspenseful act, creating much tension in the audience. Flame Princess and Finn's movements gradually slowed as they desperately waited for the suspense to finally drop. While a character on screen was wandering the corridors of his vessel, stalked by an unseen predator, he was shivering from fright, admitting that he didn't have the guts to face whatever was following him.

A moment of silence occurred as the man stopped, listening for a sound to indicate the being's approach. As this was happening, the two teenagers each lowered their hands into the popcorn bowl. FP felt her fingers brush against Finn's. A split second later, the stalking entity pounced upon its victim as he screamed in horror. Before she knew it, Flame Princess grabbed the human's hand tightly, holding on as if for dear life.

While the man in the movie was being torn apart, the king tried to control her freak out and subconsciously scooted towards Finn. The boy was also a fair bit caught off by the events of the film, not noticing that he no longer controlled his hand. As the dying man on screen gazed in fear at the monster before him, the creature jumped at him and ripped his face off with its powerful teeth.

Flame Princess threw herself into Finn's lap, knocking the popcorn all over the floor of the truck and burying her face into the human's chest. At this point, he noticed the movement and sat stunned at the shaking elemental. After the gruesome scene had subsided, FP slowly raised her head and peeked at the screen, seeing the beast finishing its meal and walking away down the corridor, looking for more prey.

It was then that she noticed her positioning, swinging her head around to face Finn. The proximity of their faces only deepened the shade of red on the boy's cheeks and caused FP to grow her own. She quickly jumped back to her side of the seat and put her hands in her lap, staring down at the floor.

"Sorry."

Finn shook off his crimson face and looked back to the movie.

"Heh. It's ok. When I watched the last Heat Signature with Jake I actually did the same thing. Boy that was embarrassing."

The flame king couldn't help but grin at this comment. She worked the courage to gaze back at her friend, who noticed and gave a quick smile before turning back to the film. Another hour went by and the sequences switched back between action, mystery, and scenes of suspense, luckily without much more violent deaths. Regardless, FP found herself shift slightly toward Finn every time she jumped at a scary part.

Throughout the film, there was a romantic undertone between two of the characters. It wasn't until close to the end of the motion picture that there was the conclusive love scene that began with a sappy revealing conversation, which both of the humanoids in the truck paid close attention to.

A woman held up her hand as a man was attempting to reach her through the decks of a sinking submarine.

"No! Just go, you can't make it past that rushing water; the force of the flood will kill you!"

The man was undeterred and pushed on, being slammed by more and more water as he came closer to his beloved.

"You know very well I can't lose you. You're…you're the one I love!"

The lady's eyes grew wide as she stared at the battling man, who was now so close, only a single room away from her. He gazed back at her, a look of grave concern and desperation.

"I will risk everything to save you, even my own life."

The woman closed her eyes and hung her head.

"But…no matter how strong you are…you cannot face the forces of nature; they will sweep you away into the dark ocean around us."

Before she knew it, the man was right next to her, completely soaked through multiple times over. He had a smile on his face while his body revealed absolute exhaustion. Finn and FP tensed up in their seats.

"Then…I'll just have to defy nature. Because it will never stand between us as long as I protect you."

Flame Princess gasped in her mind. Her eyes were glued to the screen as the woman leaned forward and placed her lips against those of the man who would risk everything to be with her, no matter how much the raging waters wanted to tear them away from one another. The young king watched as the film depicted the submarine collapsing under the pressure its hull could no longer hold back. The movie drew to a close as the two lovers were last shown in a comforting embrace while the vessel they were in finally sunk toward the bottom of the sea, lost for all time and preserving a bond of true compassion.

The screen went dark. Several of the audience members began commenting on certain points of the film, both positive and negative. FP regained her normal composure as she blinked a few times to regain her full vision. Once that was done, she looked over to Finn. Shock filled her face as she gazed upon him.

The human's head was hung down as he sat back in his seat; a single tear had run down his cheek from his closed eyes. The fire elemental placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Finn, are you ok?"

The human opened his eyes slowly and nodded, still looking down. FP frowned.

"Finn, you're lying. You know how I feel about that."

Instantly, the hero grew an expression of frustration, suddenly banging his head into the steering wheel, setting off a loud horn that caused the majority of the audience to squeal or jump in surprise. As angry shouts were thrown his way, Finn put his back against the seat again.

"It's a broken record FP. Can't you just let it go, this once?"

Flame Princess turned to face the boy, a cross look on her face.

"You promised me."

The human sighed, defeated.

"Just the usual junk. Not being able to get over you, beating myself up, thinking how it could've been if I hadn't sponked up."

He placed his hand on the steering wheel and cranked the engine, once again startling the other movie-goers.

"Nothing new, princess. Just…unpleasant memories."

FP continued to look at him as he backed up from the theater and swung them around to face the way back to the Fire Kingdom. As he shifted back to drive, the fiery girl frowned again, looking out the windshield at the grasslands. Finn kept silent as he hit the gas and forced Hot Daniel forward.

After a while, Flame Princess sneaked a peek at the boy. He was intently staring at the way ahead, not even daring to turn his neck or even eyeballs to gaze at the girl next to him. Finally, she spoke.

"Tell me this Finn, why is it so hard, to let go?"

The hero's face turned to a difficult expression, contorted with anxiety.

"It's really not fair that you ask all this without any way for me to avoid spilling my guts, you know that?"

Flame Princess was taken aback by the outburst. She had never heard him talk like that to her. For a second she felt a little angry at him, thinking there was something to hide. But then, she considered the response. Was it right to drill into the poor boy's mind like that? After a brief mental resignation, she sighed.

"If you absolutely have to, you can lie."

Finn was so stunned he nearly lost control of the truck, momentarily issuing a bumpy ride before he steadied his grip. He looked over and stared with astonishment at the fire elemental. Her expression was sincere. Slowly, the boy returned his sight to the road, taking a deep breath.

"Because…I love you."

Flame Princess lost her place momentarily, trying to gather up the thoughts in her mind. Her eyes meanwhile, remained fixed on the human, who now looked even more stressed than a few moments ago. Finally, the young king managed to shrink her eyes back down to a normal expression, but continued gazing at the uncomfortable boy.

A second later, she noticed they were accelerating at an alarming rate. Finn was cranking the gauge to nearly 70 mph. It was clear to her that he wanted to get out of the truck as fast as possible, or more likely, away from her.

Before a single word could be uttered however, a loud bang was heard near the back of the vehicle, followed by a sudden loss of control. Finn desperately attempted to straighten their course, but to no success. He gave up and slowed down, stopping in the middle of the grass plains that were now shrouded in darkness.

"Aw crud, looks like a tire blew out."

As the hero began to open the door to check on the damage, a loud clang was heard on the roof, making both teens jump. It was followed by another a second later, and another, then three more, a dozen more. Finn and FP looked out with horror to see large blades hitting the hood, scratching the paint and leaving many dents in the metal.

"Oh Grob, a knife storm!"

Flame Princess panicked, having never encountered such a bizarre event directly. The gleaming daggers continued to fall onto the truck, battering away at its surface and creating a loud clanging. One of Hot Daniel's headlights was knocked out, cutting the visibility in half. By this point, the fiery ruler was quite scared, wrapping her arms around herself as she watched the hazardous weather drop upon them.

Finn noticed the girl's worry and slid over toward her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"FP, it's ok. HD can handle this. Banana Man and I made sure it could take on any force of nature."

The fire elemental was reluctant at first, hearing the repeating clangs of metal against metal. She brought up her knees and buried her face in them.

"It doesn't matter. We're trapped here now. Who knows how long this will last?"

Finn suddenly understood the real reason his friend was freaking out. The feeling of being trapped, no way out, danger on all sides. It was reminding her of her time in the lantern, where she was hopelessly miserable within the dreaded glass prison. He felt terrible knowing that he was partially responsible for the predicament they were in.

Nevertheless, he brought in his guts and took a deep breath, knowing the honorable thing to do. While Flame Princess was busy in a state of fear, she suddenly felt herself being surrounded by a pair of arms. Bursting her eyelids open, she stared at the form of Finn, now embracing her with a solemn look upon his face. His eyes were closed.

"Fi-Finn, what are you doing!?"

The human tightened his grip on the fire elemental.

"I know it's scary. I just want you to know I'm here for you, like any good friend would be."

The flame king let go of her shock, now just looking at the boy with wonder.

"I'll always be there to protect you."

FP nearly gasped, her mind flooding back to the movie.

Defy nature. Protect. Love.

She looked back to Finn, who still had his eyes closed, his back resting gently against the seat as he held her in his arms. She did feel safer, less scared even. Gently, Flame Princess moved her head to rest on the boy's shoulder. He didn't react. She assumed he had fallen asleep, not surprising considering the work he had been doing all day.

It gave her a moment to think. Here was the one who had shown her the world beyond her kingdom, had given her a person to trust, and someone to care for. While he had indeed betrayed that trust, FP remembered that trust was something that, however difficult, could be earned back. He wanted to protect her. Why was this significant?

She thought back to her guards at the Fire Kingdom. They also would protect her, with their very lives if necessary. But then, so would Finn, evidenced by how he had risked his safety by jumping down after her when her elemental matrix destabilized. He nearly died, in fact. There was one major difference: the guards did all this under blind loyalty, intimidation, the honor of watching over their ruler. Finn did it all out of concern for her and only her, voluntarily, because he knew her, personally, not just some grunt tasked with keeping a lookout.

That was it. That's what made him special. That's what kept him close to her.

The princess snuggled closer to her friend, planning to follow his lead and take a nap to wait out the storm. She smiled, thinking how well the night had turned out, ignoring the negatives. As a matter of fact, she thanked the negatives, for paving the road to a great realization. Before she nodded off, FP whispered to her protector.

"One day Finn, I want you back."

As she fell into slumber, she failed to know that Finn had in fact not fallen asleep fully. His eyes sprang open as her words registered in his ears. Rather than disturbing his precious king's rest by expanding on the comment, he just smiled and leaned his head against the top of hers. In both their minds, they spoke a single shared thought while their subconscious cast them into a world of peaceful dreams:

Thank you, Hot Daniel.

Well...there you have it.

Hoped you enjoyed and please review!