He put his arm around her, waiting to be hit or yelled at.  Kitt did neither and continued to cry against him.  
After a while Kitt was calming down, but she still felt horrible.  “Are you alright, Kitt?” Artha said, putting his hand on her shoulder, waiting for an answer.  
“…I’m better,” she said, a small smile on her face.  Artha grinned.
“I’m glad,” he said.  “You know how about we just forget this whole thing never happened and have fun.  Do you want to race on the practice track, to get our minds of this?”  Kitt thought for a moment, and she felt that it would be best to just forget what happened because of her reaction, but deep down she wanted to tell him everything.  
“No,” she replied.  “I would like to talk with you… and well…”  Artha could tell what she wanted to talk about.  They both sat down against the stable walls, unable to start the conversation.  They were quiet for a few uncomfortable minutes.  
“…Artha,” Kitt began, “I just wanted to say that I… like you… and I really don’t know what to say…”  She paused, thinking of anything else embarrassing to say.  “I never expected to feel like this towards you… and I just think you’re really nice and ever since I got to know you, I began to have these feelings.  It’s okay that you don’t like me the same way, but I still want to be friends…”
Artha was silent.  He couldn’t believe it.  All this time he thought Kitt didn’t give a flying dragon’s butt about him, but hearing her talk about how much she liked him made him confident.  He began feeling a little guilty that he hasn’t told Kitt about his feelings, too.  His head was spinning, and all he can think about was how much Kitt meant to him.
“Um… Kitt,” Artha spoke.  “You may be mistaken about what you think.  The truth is… is that I like you, too… Ever since I saw you ride up to Penn Stables with that smug grin on your face, I fell… ” Kitt didn’t interrupt.  She only listened.  “Ever since that day when you challenged everyone to ride Beau, I was going crazy!  I never felt like this in my whole life, and feeling it is making me feel wonderful.”  
Kitt was speechless.  She never expected this even though she has saw him looking at her before.  She realized that he expressed his feelings more than she did.  
“Artha… is that really true?” she asked.
“It is Kitt…” he said.  “I really mean it…”  
Kitt swallowed hard.  “Same here…”
“How long have you liked me, anyway?” Artha asked, finding him slide closer to Kitt.
“I started liking you about three months ago… when I helped you out when you were badly drained by Shadow Booster.  Remember how I always stuck by your side, making sure you were okay?  Whenever I held you up because you felt so weak and how close we were I suddenly was growing more attached to you… and at that time I was a bit freaked out by it…”
“You know… that’s how I kind of concluded it, too…” Artha agreed.  “I never really understood my feelings up until then…”  They found each other going closer to one another.
To Kitt the whole thing seemed like a dream… all fuzzy and slightly blurry but calm and relaxing.  She found herself coming closer to him, looking straight in his eyes.  Her emotions were pecking at her again, and this time they were doing it harder and stronger.
Artha’s mind was jumbled up.  He couldn’t concentrate at all.  So badly did he want to get close to Kitt.  He wanted to be so close that he could smell the fragrance of vanilla on her hair.  But he had to control himself.  
Before any one of them knew it, they connected once again, but the kiss was far more passionate.  Both of their hearts began to beat rapidly, enjoying each other’s love for one another.  Once they disconnected, they looked at one another a bit shocked, but relaxed.
They both knew of each other’s feelings now, and they decided to go out on a date tomorrow night.  For the remainder of their time they spent in Beau’s stall, up against the wall kissing and embracing one another.  
When they split apart for air, Artha said, “Kitt, I know about how much we like each other, but how is my Dad going to take this?  He knows I have to train a lot because a Dragon-Human war is coming so quickly; he won’t stand the fact that I will be distracted by my feelings towards you while I should be concentrating on increasing my mag abilities…”
“Artha, he will understand,” Kitt said to him, leaning on his shoulder comfortably, “and he’s your father.  Why would he risk destroying your happiness just to train for a war that might not even happen?”
“Kitt, I know what you mean, it’s just that I don’t want to disappoint him… to fail my job as the Dragon Booster…”  
“I know, Artha…” Kitt said to him, touching his hand, “I know it’s a bit hard for you…”  They sat next to one another, huddling close and began to kiss again to get rid of any stress.

By the next day, Artha faced another few rounds of training in the Under City, along with a few challenging races.  He won two out of three.  His father was proud, which was a good thing for Artha.  If he kept being good at the races his father wouldn’t suspect anything going on between Kitt and him… at least… until he shows the emotions himself.
He couldn’t risk thinking about Kitt and how beautiful he thought she was.  If he did, a facial expression would be pasted on his face for everyone to notice.  He was able to stop doing facial expressions, but he kept thinking about her.  He so badly wanted to hold her again… to feel her warm breath on his…  He couldn’t wait another second for his date with her that night.

The time came at last.  To both Artha and Kitt, it seemed like forever when the time had come.  It was about 7:30 PM, and his final lesson with his father just ended.  He literally ran from the Under City to Penn Stables to see Kitt giving Wyldfyr some dragon food for the night.  He grinned at an idea.  He snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her towards his chest.
“Hi there…” he grinned.  Kitt giggled and turned around to give him a soft kiss on the lips.  
“Are we going to go soon?” she asked.
“Yeah, but where are we going to go, exactly?” Artha asked.
“Hmm… I’m not really sure…” she said.  
“How about we just tell Dad that we are going near the Down City tracks where we will be “practicing” for tomorrow’s gauntlet race…” Artha suggested.  Kitt separated from him and folded her arms, looking at him a bit sternly.  “What?”
“Artha, lying to your father isn’t going to solve anything,” she told him.  “Tell him the truth… I know he will understand…”
“Kitt, I don’t know…”
“Trust me, Artha,” she told him.  “I know he will understand.”  Artha thought and thought, but the only message going through his head was that his father would be a little upset by the fact that he was distracted during important training.  He knew he could trust Kitt, but he just felt uncomfortable.
“Kitt, please,” he said, “let me lie to him.  I promise that by the next day after the day’s training is done I will tell him…”  
Kitt sighed.  “Alright, but don’t push it back a few days!  It will eat you alive…”  
“Thank you, Kitt,” he said to her, kissing her softly on the lips.  “I promise…”
Soon after their talk, Artha explained to his father that Kitt and he will be practicing for a few hours on the Down City tracks.  
Connor then said, “Alright, but be back before 10:00 PM.  That is the latest you can stay.  By the way, I will be going to the Under City to visit the ancient Priests to tell them what progress you are making on your training.  Unfortunately Lance is not allowed to come with me because of how dangerous it can be, and I can’t afford for him to be down in that death trap again.  I don’t want to leave him alone at Penn Stables, especially at his age.  Is it alright if he can tag along with you two?”
They froze.  They knew Lance very well, and they knew that if Artha’s little brother saw any bit of romantic involvement, he would blab it to his father.  But he knew refusing Lance to go with them and stay at Penn Stables alone would be a bit selfish.  
“Sure,” Artha said.  “He can come.”
“Thank you, Artha,” Connor said to his eldest son, “now you’d better get going before it gets too late.”  With that, Connor left them.       

The trio got on their dragons and went down to Down City and they were soon on the racing tracks.  Kitt was a bit curious why Artha let his little brother go with them.  With Lance poking around them and wanting to get attention, it will be very difficult to even share a kiss on the cheek.  They had to find a way to get him out of their way without Lance going very far so that they could keep a close watch on him, and so they could enjoy each other’s company.
Kitt whispered over to Artha on his saddle.  “Artha, how are we going to do this?  You know how Lance can be.  He can be really… you know… annoying…”
“I know, but I don’t want him to be left alone at Penn Stables, and all we have to do is let him get distracted for long periods of time so that we can do what we need to do…”  
“Okay, Einstein, how are you going to distract him?” Kitt asked him smugly.  
“Kitt, I did this all the time as a kid, and it is going to be very easy…” Artha grinned.  
Luckily for them, Artha brought along the ten-year-old’s toy jousting dragon with its remote control and his vidd game so that Lance can be distracted.  Artha told Lance that not far away up at the starting gate was where they were going to be.  Lance nodded, immediately taking his toys provided and began playing while Fracshun watched with an entertained look on his face.  Artha and Kitt went to the starting gate with their dragons.
When they were at the starting gate, Artha and Kitt found a spot to romantically spend the evening.  They left Beau and Wyldfyr to talk, in dragon, amongst themselves.  Artha and Kitt were on the bleachers where all the fans of racing sit to watch dragons and riders battle during the day.  They provided themselves with blankets and some pillows for comfort.  Although bleachers weren’t very comfortable, Artha and Kitt adapted.  They kissed and began to embrace themselves lovingly, enjoying their moment.  
They continued to kiss into the night, unaware about Lance or about anything else.  When they finally disconnected, Artha gently brushed his fingers across Kitt’s cheek.
“No wonder I fell for you, Kitt… you’re too beautiful…” Artha cooed.  
“…And I could get lost in your eyes forever…” Kitt said, pulling him closer to her body.  For long periods of time they did this to one another, as if lost in a trance they couldn’t snap out of… and they didn’t want to…  
Both of them were relaxed and at ease, continuing to kiss each other’s lips.  Both Artha and Kitt were feeling the same thing, and both were dying to let it out.  Their feelings swirled around in their heads…
“Kitt…” Artha whispered, “… I wanted to say this to you for a while now… and… I… I love you…  I can’t help but feel this way… and I can’t control it!  I want to be near you so much and so badly…”
“Artha… I… I love you, too…” Kitt whispered back, “and I can’t help but want to feel like this, too…  I don’t care what anyone else thinks, all I care about is being with you…”  Artha and Kitt closed their eyes and kissed each other’s neck and faces, longing to be with one another…

Meanwhile, Lance was becoming bored with his vidd game, and set it down beside him.  He looked at Fracshun who also had a bored face.  
“You know, Fracshun,” Lance said to his dragon, “Artha and Kitt have been gone for a really long time.  They should have raced down the track by now…”  He got up and so did his dragon.  “C’mon, Fracshun, let’s go down there and see what they're doing.”  And with that, the two walked down to the starting gate.    

--I will continue--