The next morning, I wake up with an arm wrapped around me. I didn't do much after the incident yesterday, Noa wanted to stay with me, but he had to leave me behind. He had meetings and discussions with Ace and the other higher-ups about Aqua.

Since I wasn't allowed to be alone at all times, he dropped me off at Terry. I was supposed to help him with the animals, but he used the opportunity to pull pranks on people and make me an accomplice.

I carefully rub my hand over Noa's and shift a little closer to him. I thought he was fast asleep, but he turns his hand around and intertwines our hands.

'Morning,' he whispers in my ear as he lays his head down on my neck. 'You scared me,' I joke.
'Sorry, you're just very warm.'

My heart starts pounding faster as I suddenly can't take his arms around me anymore. I feel crushed like I'm stuck in a small box. My chests moves up and down quickly as I try to push Noa off.

He pulls away at my sudden protest. 'Are you okay? Are we- am I going too fast for you?'

Yes, we got very close to each other in not a lot of time, but that's not the issue.

'No, you're doing everything right and I'm happy with what we have, but I just.. I don't know.'
'Is there something I could do for you?' He asks. 'Become the leader,' I joke as I roll my eyes.
'Actually,' he starts but stops himself.

I turn around so I can look at him.

'Actually what?' I ask. He bites down on his lips as he thinks about the words he's about to say.
'We put Ace on a temporary break after what happened yesterday, so I'm actually kind of in the lead now,' he explains.

He doesn't look so happy about it, he's not smiling from ear to ear. He's fidgeting with the blanket and stares down at his hands.

'But?' I ask as something is clearly troubling him. 'I don't think I can do this, I can't make fast and harsh decisions like he does.'
'Do you need to?' I ask.

I sit up and Noa follows my lead only a few seconds later. I take his hand to stop him from fidgeting and interlock our fingers.

'Noa there's a council for a reason, you don't have to make any decision on your own. From what I've seen Ace is only ignoring the council and doing whatever he wants anyway.'

He sighs his eyes now moving back up and looking into mine.

'Why do you think so badly of him?' He asks.

'He seems irrational. It looks like he has decided from day 1 that he doesn't like me, while in my opinion, a true leader should never show who he likes and dislikes. He doesn't listen and just does his own thing. I mean look at my trial. His final words weren't even suggested. Oh and don't get me started about the poor girls.'

Noa gets up and starts walking towards the window, looking around outside.

'He wasn't always like that,' he starts.

I walk up to him placing my hand down on his lower back as I try to look out the window too. He chuckles as he places his hands on my hips and moves me in front of him so I can see outside as well.

'He used to be kind, considerate and just a great leader in general. It all changed when the girls arrived a little more than a month ago. He started to change and I think he's never going to be the guy I got to know 3 years ago. It's a shame you've never got to see that.'

'What happened when the girls arrived? Why did he change?'
'I don't know,' he sighs, 'I don't think I want to talk about it further right now too.'

I nod as I keep my questions to myself. There was so much I still wanted to ask, but I didn't want to ignore his request.

'Where would you want to go today?' 'Home,' I joke.
'Don't we all? If we still have one.'
'Would you take me home to meet your family?' I ask.

He sighs, turning away from the window and getting his clothes for the day ready, which were the same clothes as the previous few days. There barely were any spare clothes for the boys, but stuff got passed around. I offered to share some of the clothes that arrived with me, but they declined.

'I would take you to a lot of places if we weren't stuck here,' he says.
'Do we know why we're locked in this arena?' I ask.
'No, a group of us just arrived here someday, the same way you did, with no idea who we were or where we were, a few supplies and letters.' 'Letters?' I repeat.
'Oh right. They arrived with a bunch of letters, but they are locked with a password asking for your name, but when we type it in, they don't- wait a minute.'

He walks back over to me, lays his hands down on my shoulders and gently shakes me around in excitement.

'Grace! You and Gio know your real name, we should test it out!'
'If what you guys told me is my name, is still my name. I don't remember anything about this anymore,' I say as I spin the cylinder on my necklace around.

I can't help but laugh when I see the bright smile covering his face.

'Come on get dressed! Let's go!'