“Can you stand?” I asked Oliver. I reached my hand out to him, the smell of last night's campfire lingering on our clothes.
He nodded. “I think so, yeah.” He grabbed my hand and stood. He swayed slightly. I steadied my stance to steady him.
“I don’t know why I feel so weak. You didn’t feel like this after getting the blood essence,” he said as his face paled.
“Maybe you bringing me back made the transition easier.” I shrugged.
He nodded, “Maybe.” He let go of me and tried to stand on his own. He stood, not perfectly, but he stood. He took small steps, and I tried to stay within arm's reach, just in case.
“I need to teach you how to fight,” I stated.
He shook his head slightly and chuckled, stopping in the middle of the tent. “What?”
“We can’t have you unable to protect yourself,” I told him; my voice was harder than I wanted.
“I can fight,” he replied, taking a shaky step as his knees buckled.
I shook my head. “The fight in Gyra was rough. I need to know you can make it through a fight.”
“I was just in shock, Sahora. I hadn’t expected it to happen so fast.” He told me.
“First, we get you healthy enough to walk.”
I told him, even as the plan was already spiraling out of me.
He moved towards me. “You aren’t listening to me.”
“Then on our way to Paesuna.” I looked at him with a smile. “We train.”
He straightened as much as he could. “Sahora, we don’t need to do this.” He took a steady step towards me. “I know how to fight.”
Through the bond, I could feel that he meant it. He could fight in the way that he was taught. But the way he was taught wouldn’t be enough.
“Why don’t we focus on just getting the next shard and essence?” He asked as if that was the answer.
Heat flared in my chest. “Oliver, don’t you understand?”
“Understand what?” He asked, clearly confused.
“I need you to learn so I don’t lose you again.” My voice broke. “Thirty days of you being unreachable. I need to know you can protect yourself. So if I am not there, you can handle it.”
“Sahora.” He reached for me, but I pulled my arm away quickly and turned from him.
“No! I have never cared about someone,” my voice shook, the words scraping out of my throat. “Not the way I care about you.”
I balled my hands into fists. “I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here. So we need to make it so you can protect yourself.”
He rested his hand on my shoulder. I let him.
The bond pulled me closer. I fought the urge to want his warmth.
I turned to face him, his grey eyes filled with a kind of determination that made my breath uneven.
“Then I will learn,” he said, standing steadily now.