I awoke the next morning on the floor, my eyes puffy and swollen. I sighed. Great, now I had to confront Roan and the rest of the group with a tear-streaked face.

I sat up, puzzled. Why did my thoughts immediately single out Roan? Why was I so affected by him? I had never been affected by him before, and I had known him for five years. I flopped back down on the floor.

I didn't have much time to think about the matter more, however, because right at that moment Marge came in.

I looked at her from my position on the floor, noticing that even upside-down she looked worried. But there was more than that, there was something else hidden in her expression. My eyes narrowed marginally as I realized what it was: it was pity.

I absolutely HATED to be pitied. I didn't need people to feel sorry for me or for for the miserable existence I called my life. My tragedies made me stronger. They made me who I was.

Marge came in and sat on the futon. We both sat there for a while, just silently evaluating each other. I was evaluating Marge to see how much she knew of what was going on inside of my head; Marge was obviously evaluating me to see how much collateral damage had gone on inside of my emotionally-torn self.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Marge spoke.

"Okay, I want to know what's wrong. And before you start to defend yourself, it's obvious that you've been crying, so 'I'm fine', won't swing it," she added as I opened my mouth to protest.

I sighed, caving already. Truth be told, I was ready to just let it all out.

"I've just been... spaced out, lately, I guess. It's like whenever I try to focus on something, thoughts flood my head. Thoughts of the Empress, the steady decline of the Empire, and... my parents..." I started to choke up.

Marge put an arm around me and pulled me onto the futon to sit beside her.

Nine years ago, when I was only eight years old, I was brought to the capital to witness front and center my father and mother's beheadings. These were the consequences of speaking out against the Empress.

I had never been the same.

Marge and I had both run far away, vowing to avenge my parents and all who had suffered at the hands of the Empress.

"It's alright, let it all out," Marge cooed, encouraging me to continue.

"I'm just, just, so confused, and hurting, right now, and now I think Roan's starting to mess with my head..."

My hand flew up to my mouth. I hadn't meant to say THAT much.

Marge arched an eyebrow at me. "IS he, now?"

I blushed down to the roots of my black hair and quickly looked away. I got the creeping suspicion that Marge knew a little more than I had originally anticipated on sharing.

She laughed. "Well, it's about freaking time! Vic, you're seventeen, so of COURSE you're gonna have these types of feelings!" She grew somber. "I'm just surprised it took this long," she mumbled to herself, looking down at the floor while seeming to contemplate my psychological well-being.

I sighed. I wasn't surprised, at all. After I had lost my parents, I had built up walls of fortification around my heart so I could never be hurt like that, again. Because being exposed and defenseless is terrifying. And too much of a risk.

But, despite all of my efforts, my walls were starting to crumble. And all because Roan had saved me.

Dang it. I wished that car had just gone ahead and run me over.

×××××

It was a few hours later, and Marge had left me to my own thoughts.

Finally deciding to get off of my lazy tail and actually do something productive, I got up and made my way downstairs.

Most everyone was in the process of eating breakfast. Sin and Roan were sitting on one of the many couches, the former shoving spoon-fulls of Fruity Flakes cereal into his mouth while the latter slowly munched on a granola bar. They were watching the news on the computer, which doubled as a TV, thanks to Marge's incredible technology skills.

The image on the screen flipped to a video of Tamotsu Lei, the Empress' main advisor and safety coordinator, at a press conference.

"Tamotsu Lei has ordered a mandatory security briefing with the four Head Generals of the Rumaen Guard, concerning several uprisings in the Capital, and also concerning new defensive strategies to be implemented.

The audio switched to Tamotsu.

"We are working on new defensive strategies and emergency maneuvers, in light of the recent bursts of rebellion across the Empire. Our number one priority is to keep the Empress safe, and to also protect the Empire and all the elves who live in it."

Sin glared at the screen. "That's just a bunch of dragon crap, right there. He's only concerned with sucking up to the Empress, not protecting the rest of us!"

"Gods, I hate that guy," spat Tressa, coming to sit beside her brother and Sin on the couch.

"She speaks!" Sin joked, laughing. Tressa punched him in the arm, which only made him laugh harder.

Tressa hardly ever spoke, and was perfectly content with sitting in the shadows. She had dark, almost black eyes, and the same dark, chestnut hair as her brother. Roan and Tressa never talked about their past, so none of us really knew their back story.

They were twins, and always seemed to know what the other was thinking or feeling. They were always there for each other, no matter the situation. Through the thick, and through the thin.

Made me wish I still had a sibling.

The news anchor, a female elf with long, shiny, silver hair, appeared back on the screen.

"In other news, taxes are expected to rise this next quarter, by up to ten percent. Empress Maria Gabelle says, 'if we all pitch in, we can overcome this debt'."

Marge turned the TV off. "Well, I think that was a good place to stop anyway, because, number one, I think if Tressa heard any more news on the Empress, she would crush Sin's arm she's holding onto..." Sin was wincing in pain. "... And, number two, we're short on food."

Sin'ichi wrenched his arm out of Tressa's grip, with some difficulty, and massaged it tenderly. He then rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Alright! Another food truck heist!"

Teruo crossed his arms uneasily. "It's not a heist, we're just taking stuff that the Empire stole from us."

And it was true, to a point. The Empire was practically stealing stuff from its people, considering how high the taxes were going to be. But in the end, it was a heist, as Giin would point out.

"Teruo," she said, rolling her eyes, "it's a heist. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you'll be able to sleep better at night."

Teruo glared at her. She glared right back. Roan stood up and walked over to Giin and Teruo so that he was now in between the two.

"Okay, we get you both have different views and opinions on this, but arguing about it and being patronizing," here he cut his eyes over at Giin, "won't get us anywhere. We need food, and this is NOT the way to get it."

I nodded. "He's right. Marge, you, Sin, and Teruo will take this one. Bring Giin for backup."

They all nodded and immediately left to prepare for the mission. I turned to the remaining three.

"Midori, I want you and Tressa here, giving Roan and me tactical support. We're gonna scope out a fresh batch of troops that just arrived south of the legion we took out yesterday in the Jōki no Forest."

"Alright," began Midori, "but be careful. You never know what you're up against, with new troops."

I nodded solemnly. Roan hugged Tressa, we grabbed our ear radios, and we quickly made our way down the back streets and sidewalks of our city to the southern border of the Jōki no Forest.

"Hey, listen..." Roan began nervously. "About last night... Look, I'm sorry if I over-stepped my boundaries after I pulled you out of the street. Believe me, I know how annoying and uncomfortable it is when people don't respect your personal space."

I arched an eyebrow at him quizzically. I studied his face, trying to find the hidden meaning behind his words.

"I just... I was so relieved when you were okay..." Tears were starting to form at the corners of his eyes, and for some weird reason my stomach was doing somersaults within the walls of my abdomen. "... I don't think I could bear to lose you."

I blushed. "What do you... What do you mean?"

He looked down at the ground, traces of a blush on his face. "I care about you."

His hazel eyes bore into my own. His stare was so intense.

"Guys, what's the hold-up?" came Tressa's voice through our radios, interrupting whatever was happening between Roan and me.

I put my finger on the talk button on the radio in my ear. "Sorry, we got a little sidetracked. We're moving into position now."

We were hidden in the thick underbrush at the edge of the forest. Roan was still staring at me, and it was starting to make me uncomfortable. I shook myself, determined to focus on the task at hand.

"Look, we just need to focus, okay?"

"So, you don't have any feelings?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

"Unlike you, I know how to keep my feelings in check," I snapped, not even thinking my words through.

Roan looked hurt. More than that, he looked angry. He looked away from me.

I felt like I was going to throw up. This was NOT how I had intended for things to go.

"Okay," came Midori's voice through the speaker. "It looks like there are only three guards on patrol, so you guys should be able to handle them, no problem."

We quickly sprung out of the underbrush and began taking out soldiers. One we had dispelled them, we looked around. The camp was deserted.

"Something doesn't feel right," I mumbled, getting my gun ready.

"Oh, so NOW you let your feelings out," Roan said, laughing bitterly.

"Shut up," I spat.

Suddenly, soldiers dropped from the nearby trees and opened fire on Roan and me. We turned and dove behind a couple of crates for some cover.

"It's an ambush!" Roan screamed over the torrent of bullets.

I cocked my gun and fired a couple of shots, then quickly tucked myself back behind the crates again. "Thanks for the heads-up, Captain Obvious! Don't know how I would've figured it out on my own!" I retorted sarcastically.

"Gods, you're so frustrating!" he growled, unsheathing his sword and preparing for battle.

Then, I don't know what came over me. I grabbed the front of Roan's shirt and pressed my lips against his. When I pulled away, Roan had a dumb-founded, shocked look on his face.

"Don't do anything stupid," I told him, turning and running into the middle of the storm of bullets and missiles, taking down soldiers as I ran.

Out of my peripheral vision I saw Roan making quick work of his blade, felling soldiers with one swing. It seemed he had a new determination.

I was paying so much attention to him that I almost didn't see the soldier come up behind me. I moved in time to avoid being seriously injured or killed, but the soldier's blade still cut deeply into my arm. I clenched my teeth and bit back the urge to scream.

"That'll be the last thing you do, bub!" I said, putting a bullet right between his eyes, causing the back of his head to blow off and his brain to go flying.

The rest of the soldiers had already begun to retreat, but when I blew that one dude's brains out, that was the last straw.

"Full retreat! Full retreat!" a female soldier commanded, panicking.

Roan and I immediately ran into the forest as fast as our legs could carry us.

We didn't stop running until we were on the sidewalks of the city again. We were both breathing heavily, and my arm was stinging pretty badly. Not to mention gushing blood.  Roan put a hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked between gasps of breath.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

His eyes moved down to my arm, which I tried to hide behind my back. It wouldn't have mattered though. Blood was EVERYWHERE.

He gave me a look that said "really?" and grabbed my hand so he could examine the large gash in my bicep.

"No, you're definitely NOT okay. Here, we can use some of the fabric from my shirt as a bandage," he said, already starting to tear off a large piece.

I yanked my hand from him. "Stop, you don't have to... Look, I'm fine, okay?"

His eyes narrowed. "Why do you do that?"

That uneasy feeling was back. "Do what?"

"Act like you're interested in me, but then when I try to do something nice or show you I care, you shut down and push me away?"

I was taken aback. It was scary how close he had gotten to what was really going on inside of my screwed up head.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.

Roan sighed, finished ripping off a piece of his shirt, grabbed my hand again, and quickly tied it around my gash before I could protest.

"Yes, Vic, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You just don't have the courage to admit it."

He turned around and started walking, not giving me a second glance.

And as badly as I wanted to curse and yell at him, I knew I couldn't. Because, whether he knew it or not, he was absolutely right.