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Chapter III

The next morning I woke up as Alya did. She looked at me, her face was bright red. “H-hi Kira.”
“Morning.”
“Uh…I-I’m sorry.”
I rubbed my eyes with one hand, “For what?”
She sat up and pulled away from me, “Last night. I didn’t mean to…sorry.”
I blinked a few times, trying to wake up. “Ly, it’s fine, seriously.”
She stared at the wall, “Y-you said that…and I still…I’m sorry.”
I sighed and put my arm around her shoulders, “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
She leaned against me, “Thank you.”
I smiled and half hugged her, “Why don’t we get something to eat?”
She nodded and we both got up. As we walked out of the room she put her arm through mine and laced her finger with mine. I looked down at her, she looked like she might pull her hand away so I gently squeezed and smiled at her, she smiled back and we went down to the kitchen.
As I started a massive omelet Alya was making pancakes. We talked about everything and nothing. It was a slightly awkward but relaxing conversation. Atrimes flapped into the room, it’s beak had a small smudge of blood on it. “Have you been out hunting again?”
The raven nodded, Yes there’s a family of newborn rabbits in the field and I was hungry.
Alya sighed, “Newborns? Couldn’t you catch some mice or rats or something, not little bunnies?”
Rabbits taste better.
I laughed, “She got you there, I’d take a rabbit over a rat any day.”
“I like rabbits.”
“So what? Atrimes does too, they taste good.”
“Your omelet’s burning,” Alya said smugly.
I whirled around and quickly flipped it. Atrimes landed on my shoulder, “How is she?”
“Fine, shook up and scared out of her mind but fine.”
The bird affectionately, but not too gently, nipped my ear, Thank you.”
I laughed, Alya said, “What’s so funny?”
“Oh nothing, you and your feather duster are just way too much alike.”
An oven mitt hit me in the back of the head as I was putting my omelet on a plate. “Hey!” I yelled without turning, “Watch it with the oven mitts, I almost dropped this thing, then you wouldn’t get any.”
A hot pad immediately followed my warning. “Fine! No omelet for you!”
I turned back to Alya, we stared at each other for a few seconds then both almost fell to the floor laughing. We put the food on the table and sat down. I was slightly surprised when Alya sat next to me instead of across from me. We both ate, splitting the omelet and pancakes in half. As we finished she looked up at the clock and sighed, “It’s gonna be along day.”
I picked up her dishes and put them in the sink, “Yeah, well get used to it. This is what it’s like every day for me.”
She came in behind me, her hand ran across my back, “Sorry.”
“For what now?”
“You always being bored.” She looked like she was going to cry.
I hugged her, “It’ll be okay Ly. I promise.”
“I know.”
I looked at the clock, we had only been awake for a little more than an hour. “Why don’t you try to get some more sleep? I’ll take care of the stuff here and get a few other things done and I’ll wake you up later.”
She shook her head, “No, I’m not tired. I’ll give you a hand.”
After we finished the dishes we went out to the garage. Everything went a lot faster with Alya’s help. We got the rafters hung and the door back on its track.
I came down from the ladder. We smiled at each other and looked at everything we’d done. As we went back into the house Alya said, “I get the shower first.”
“Fine. Hurry up though, I know you, you’ll use all the hot water.”
She was in there for almost a half hour. When she came out she smiled at me smugly, “It’s all yours.”
I sighed, “Thanks, cold shower here I come.”
She laughed, “It’s fine, I left the cold water going for a while, there’s plenty left.”
I glared at her and went and took a shower.
As I was coming out of the bathroom I heard a crash of metal from the kitchen. I looked in, Alya was trying to shove a bunch of pots and pans back into a cupboard. I crouched down next to her and gave her a hand. After we were finished I said, “What’s wrong?” She hadn’t spoken at all, hadn’t even looked at me.
“Nothing.” She still didn’t look at me.
“Ly.”
“It’s nothing Kira.”
“Ly, look at me.”
She slowly turned toward me. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks were streaked and tear stained.
I stood up and hugged her. She hugged back hard enough to make me think a rib or two had broken.
"It'll be okay." I whispered.
She pressed her forehead into my shoulder, "I hate this. I hate being helpless, I should have done something. I just let them take her."
"You couldn't have done anything Ly. You would have just gotten yourself killed."
"Maybe I should have."
"Hey! Don't say that. Don't you ever say that again!"
She looked up at me, then turned away. "I'm sorry."
I sighed, feeling like an idiot for yelling at her. I grabbed her hand when she turned toward the kitchen door. "I'm sorry Ly. Just...don't talk like that. I...I don't know what the hell I'd do if you got killed."
She squeezed my hand but didn't turn toward me. "I don't know what to do," she whispered.
I pulled her back to me and held onto her. She leaned back against me, "Thank you."
"For what? Having you rescue me, take care of me, let me live in your house, god you've been horribly selfish, not thanking me before now."
She gave a short laugh and rubbed the back of her head against my shoulder. I kissed her cheek, "Don't worry, I promise that they'll never get to-"
"I love you."
I think my brain froze. All audible and motor functions ceased for a moment. "I-I..."
She turned around and faced me, we stared at each other for a few seconds before I could form a coherent sentence. “Love you too.”
She smiled and hugged me, I smiled back and kissed her cheek again. As if summoned by this Atrimes flapped into the room, cawing and screeching loudly. Yes! Yes! Yes! Finally, I never thought it would finally happen!
She landed on my shoulder, nipping my ear hard enough to draw blood. I flinched and mockingly glared at her. She nuzzled Alya, making an odd purring sound.
Alya stroked the raven’s head. “What are you talking about now, and don’t hurt Kira.” She reached up from Atrimes’ head and touched my ear. The cut healed instantly.
I’m part of you. I can feel what you feel.
Alya rolled her eyes and pulled away from me. “Then, thank you for not sayign anythign before now."
Atrimes flew off my shoulder and landed on a doorframe. Alya and I went into the living room. We both sat on the couch, Alya was curled up in my lap. We fought over the remote, talking about anything and nothing, just like earlier this morning. Eventually we just sat in silence, holding each other.
After a long time I pulled away from her and stood up. She looked up at me curiously, and held out her arms out. I pulled her up, “Why don’t we go somewhere? I feel like getting out of the house."
She grabbed her keys, "Fine, let's go."
We rode around in the car, I couldn't drive so I sat next to Alya, holding her hand. We didn't say anything until we stopped in the middle of nowhere. We sat on the car hood, her head on my shoulder, my arms around her.
"Kira, what's going to happen to us?"
I pulled back little, "What? We can't do anything until they do something."
She pulled away from me, "Not that, what's going to happen to us?"
"What do you want to happen? I mean-"
"I want to be with you but, I don't know what's going to happen? What if you remember something that-"
"Nothing, is going to change us. No matter what. I do-"
There was a flash and Alya screamed. I blacked out.