"I'll always be your guardian angel."

[Imm1ck3y]

Kaz had saved her life. Twice. And on both occasions, ended up risking his life and everything he held dear, all for her. The first time, he'd shoved himself in front of an arrow aimed at her, and luckily managed to escaped with his life intact. That cost him a scar on his left arm from where the arrow had grazed him. The second had consisted of attempting to single-handedly fight off a Magistrate by himself, for the noble goal of protecting her and the village from harm. He succeeded but doesn't remember anything other than that, last he heard he lost 15% of all his blood during the fight, had suffered a concussion and had fractured three of his ribs among other injuries, atleast that what they told him after he'd blacked out. Apparently though, after it happened, the town began to think of him as a hero of sorts, for his 'heroic' actions in risking his life for them. Kaz thought of himself as selfish more than anything else. He'd done what he did out fear for what the magistrate might have done to her and her family, the safety of the town and his own family was an afterthought. Kaz winced as the sun blinded him momentarily. The sun looked like a white egg from where he was resting. He shut his eyes and looked at the greenish waves imprinted on his eyes. He felt tempted to hop out of bed and get the hell out of this hospital. To return home and see her again, but his injuries were far from healed, besides, what good what it do to return home looking like this? Kaz moved his right arm slightly. Pain immediately ripped through his arm, sending cold shudders down his spine.Ya, it'd be a while before he'd be able to return home.
"You okay?" someone said.
Kaz turned around to face the intruder, it was May.
"I've seen better days." he said with a grin.
"You sure have," she said, her face suddenly filled with chagrin, "Sorry." she added.
"Have you done anything wrong?" asked Kaz.
"No." she said, confused.
"Then don't apologize." he said, growing somewhat annoyed.
May started pacing around the room and touched the gray wall beside him.She stared out the window. Kaz noticed how the sunlight seemed to make her olive skin glow gold.She absently passed a hand through her golden-brown hair and Kaz's heart caught, she was as beautiful as ever. May suddenly turned her attention to him, and Kaz found himself transfixed by her bright blue eyes.
"I'm not here to thank you Kaz," she began "I'm here to tell you that you need to stop this recklessness. You could have died back there! How would your family have dealt with that? Your little sister? Your mother? You could have died Kaz!" She cried as she slouched on the side of his bed. Kaz grabbed her hand firmly
"How would you have dealt with that?" he asked, rubbing a finger over her hand. She pulled her hand away from his.
"Don't ask me that."
She quickly tucked her scarf into her light brown coat, and licked her lip. Kaz was suddenly alarmed
"It's winter already?"
"Of course it is!" she replied. A lump formed in his throat, he swallowed it immediately.
"It was still autumn when it happened!" he stated.
"That was three weeks ago!" she said incredulously.
Kaz was at a loss for words, "W-what exactly happened to me?"
May broke eye contact and her gaze rested on the left edge of his bed.
"You were in a coma, for three weeks, or twenty-two days, to be exact."
Kaz's eyes widened, they never told him.They'd only told him that he had blacked out momentarily, they had not informed him that he had fallen in a coma. His mother suddenly came to mind, she must have been scared to death. He couldn't even imagine what it must have been like for his little sister.He made a mental note to buy her the biggest teddy bear he could afford when he got back.
"Why didn't they tell me?" he inquired.
"Your mother didn't want to tell you, she looked so sad and heartbroken, she thought you had died. She told the doctors not to inform you of your coma."
"And why are you telling me?"
"I don't have it in me to lie to you, Kaz."
He thinned his lips, it had definitely been hard on his mom. Something came to him suddenly
"Doesn't she know that I'm a-"
"No, she doesn't." May interrupted. She stood up. "Why? Why Kaz? Why do you always have to put yourself in danger, why do always have to be such a reckless idiot!" she yelled.
"I just have to." he replied blankly, staring at the wall behind her.
"No you don't."
"Yes I do."
"Then why? Can you tell me that, atleast?"
Kaz paused and inhaled sharply "I do it for you."
She blinked twice, surprised.
He added quickly "I do it because it's the right thing to do, I do it because I have a duty to everyone in this town. I do what I do to protect what matters to me. I do it to protect you, and my mother, and my sister."
"You remember that arrow, the arrow that almost killed you? I did that because," he swallowed "you matter to me. When the Magistrate came and threatened the town, I fought him, with everything I had, because I felt that I had to protect you, and the town and my family."
"Your so self-righteous Kaz." she said, a grim smile on the corner of her lip.
"Anyways, I'll be going home. Take care Kaz." she said as she leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek. Kaz felt the kiss catch the edge of his lip.
He smiled "I'll always be your guardian angel." he said.
"I know." she replied with a grin, and walked away, closing the door behind her.He spun in his sheets and pulled the blanket up. He shut his eyes,I'll always be your guardian angel, he thought to himself before he fell asleep moments later.


I suddenly had this random sense of inspiration to write this, so I did, I don't know if it's any good, but I hope it's good. Feel free to give some suggestions/criticism!

[Imm1ck3y]

"Kaz, please sign here and-," the woman pointed to another small box on the sheet of paper "here."
Kaz signed both boxes and handed it back.
"Thank you sir." she replied automatically.
He spun around and walked across the lobby in his sneakers. Ah, sneakers, he hadn't worn these since the fight. Up until now, he'd been forced to wear nothing more than socks and weird white robe with blue dots all over it. He couldn't even begin to imagine how stupid he might have looked. He laughed at himself, rejoicing in the freedom that was clothing and footwear. He stopped at the bench and sat down, he still had to get that teddy bear for Miriam. The problem was where and which to get, at an earlier time, he might jumped on any bear or monkey they sold, but Miriam was now five years old and had just suffered the painful experience of almost having her brother die on her. She might have outgrown teddy bears. Kaz bit his lip, he decided to buy her a giant fluffy cat. That should be enough for her, he thought to himself. He stuffed his hand in the pockets of his jacket, and when he felt something bulge under his fingertips, he pulled out its contents. Two squished packs of bubble gum and the crumpled wrapper of a Kit-Kat bar. He threw it in the black garbage bin at the end of the bench. He inhaled sharply and exhaled, freedom, he thought. And headed for the souvenir shop.

Everything was overpriced. From bubble gum to balloons to teddy bears, all was overpriced. Chocolate bars were $3.99, bubble gum was as high as $4.99, a fluffy lion the size of his palm was $7.99, he laughed and raised an eyebrow at the price tags. He was not gonna buy anything in this shop. This is downright robbery, he thought. A hand suddenly rested his shoulder and he turned around in surprise. "We heard they were letting you out today." said his mother with a strong and firm smile. "Kazi!" yelled Miriam as she ambushed him with a sudden hug. She immediately broke into tears and cried loudly. Kaz looked around the food court nervously, slightly embarrassed by her sudden display of emotion. He rubbed her head, trying to reassure her.
"I'm fine Miriam, no need to cry."
"But you were sleeping for so long Kazi!"
Kaz felt bad for putting her through such an experience. He crouched down, and held both of her shoulders firmly "I was just tired, so I decided to sleep for a while." he pulled back the sleeve of his coat and flexed his right arm "Look, Kazi's twice as strong as he was when he came into this place!"
She wiped her eyes slowly "Really?"
Kaz gave her a stern look that said 'don't even ask'
"Yes really."
She seemed satisfied with his answer went back to her mother and held up a hand expectantly, her mother grabbed it and Miriam fell quiet. Kaz looked at his mother.
"Sorry bout that..."
His mother simply grabbed him by the collar and hugged him tightly, three seconds later she erupted into tears as well.
"Mom..." he said, once again glancing around the food court. People didn't seemed bothered, nor did they seem to care. He figured such emotional displays were quite a commodity for most of them.
Still, he slowly broke away from her all encompassing arms and said "I'm fine."
"Please don't do that again, your mom isn't invincible you know."
"Yeah." he said, he remembered something briefly "Mom, what about work-"
"My son matters more than my job."
Kaz nodded grimly. He shrugged and said "Shall we?"

His house was exactly as he remembered it, on the outside atleast (minus the blanket of snow that covered it). He barged through the worn door, home at last, he thought.
The first thing that came to him was the oh-so familiar smell of mothers' favorite dish, fried chicken.
Kaz had permanent smile etched on his face. He walked across the hall and sat down on at the dinner table. Everything was so...normal and usual. He felt as though nothing had changed at all.
"I'm putting Miriam to sleep, feel free to grab a plate if your hungry. It'll be for a while so try not to make any noise."
Kaz nodded. Food huh? The food they served him at the hospital was crap, it all melted in his mouth and had absolutely no taste, at this point, anything that had taste and didn't melt like rotten yogurt in his mouth was welcome. He observed his mother. She had Miriam in her arms. Miriam looked as peaceful as he'd ever seen her, her eyes were shut and she slept silently. She walked out of sight along with his mother when she headed for Miriam's room. Kaz sighed and bee-lined for his own room, I can always eat later, he told himself. He stopped when he caught sight of door. It all felt so familiar to him. He opened the door slowly and stepped in. All was as he remembered it. He still had random socks displayed all over the floor and shirts tucked under his bed. He slouched on his bed, his bed was still as disorderly as he remembered. Taking a look at the floor, he saw a multitude of random sheets of paper, unfinished assignments and forgotten projects litter the floor.
It was organized chaos, just the way he liked it. Home at last, he thought, rubbing a hand over his right arm as pain continued to course through his veins. The corner of his eyes felt moist and hot tears slide down his cheek. Its nice to be back.

[Imm1ck3y]

Kaz couldn't sleep, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't bring himself to find rest. He stared blankly at his door and noticed a bright yellow light under it. Why is the kitchen light still on this late? He forced himself to get up and shut it off anyways, maybe by doing that, he'd finally get some rest. Kaz opened his door silently and headed for the kitchen, fully intent on shutting it off.
Then his mother came into view. Kaz heart dropped at the sight. She was clutching her head in palms and sobbing silently. In front of her were two white letters spread across the table.
"Why-why didn't you shut off the light?" he said, not wanting to pry into her business.
His mother hadn't even noticed his presence and threw a quick glance in his direction.
"I have stuff to take care of, Kazuhira.." she mumbled quietly.
His eyes fell to the ground "You don't seem to be taking care of things."
"I am."
"Why is my name Kazuhira anyways? I'm not asian."
His mother laughed silently at the change of subject, "Your father was." she examined him with sad eyes "You weren't born from my womb Kaz, you were found."
His curiosity ignited, he grabbed a chair and sat down.
"Go on." he said.
His mother looked off to her left and continued "You were orphaned during the war." she blinked slowly and she had a sudden faraway look in her eyes "We don't know who your mother or father was, all we know is that in the aftermath of the war, there was living child abandoned in a house across from where we used to live." she laughed grimly "If we'd come any later, the house might have collapsed. We fell in love with you as soon as we first laid eyes on you."
"Your name, Kazuhira, means peace. After the war, innumerable amounts of dead and deceased people were found in villages, towns, and cities. I lost my sister, and your father lost his mother." she paused briefly, and tears flooded her eyes "We were devastated by the loss, we wanted to, find a way to make a difference. We wanted to help someone. That's why we took you in."
Kaz nodded, this wasn't anything he hadn't already heard before, but never before had she said it in such detail. "We named you Kazuhira because we hoped that you would bring us peace and comfort."
Kaz was at a loss for words.
"Oh." he said awkwardly.
"That mark" she mumbled "Was the one thing we never quite understood about you."
Kaz's hand instinctively flew his left shoulder blade. That mark was something he never understood about himself. She turned her attention to the two letters in front of her and palmed her head in her hands. Kaz usually would have felt helpless and incapable of helping, he would just have sat there, unable to help her, unable to make a difference, but now he had something that he knew would change everything. He ran back to his room and grabbed his own letter, a smile etched on his face as he did so. He ran back to his mom and threw across the table. She grabbed the note, her face devoid of emotion "What exactly do you want me to do with this?"
"Open it."
"Listen, I'm not in the mood for-"
"Open. It."
She stared him, not really seeing what he could possibly have that was so importantly, she opened it reluctantly. Kaz face curved into a smile as his mother's eyes passed over his letter.
A sudden rage and anger took hold of his mother, and she threw the letter back across the table.
"I don't need that." She said angrily.
Kaz eyes widened, he couldn't see why she was pushing it away. The letter held nothing bad, in fact, it would help them, greatly.
"Yes, you do mom!" he retorted. "Your always crying and stressed out about how you can't give us the life that dad wanted to give us right?" he grabbed the letter and waved it in the air "This, this can help us with that! You said dad wanted to give us an ideal life, a life where we didn't have to worry about anything," Kaz pointed at the letter "This can bring us that life mom!"
His mother grew angry and yelled "This is my problem. Not yours, not hers," she pointed at Miriam's bedroom "and not anyone else's." She eyed him with the kind of anger Kaz couldn't comprehend.
"I, I have been given the God-given job of feeding you and keeping a roof on your head. You are not my husband. I will take of things, as I always have. Your job is to go to school and get the education so that you can make your own ideal future." She yanked the sheet of paper from Kaz's hand and said "I don't need this. You can go and buy yourself whatever the hell you want with it, but I don't ever want to see this again." She slammed the letter on the table and dismissed herself from the conversation, heading straight for her room. Kaz grabbed the letter and returned to his room.
What was her problem? All he did was try to help! He hadn't insulted her in any way and yet, she seemed to have taken offense to his gesture. "What the hell?" he said to no one in particular.
He tries to help her and she basically tells him where to shove it. Kaz was beyond annoyed, he needed to talk to someone, now, so he threw on his jacket and slapped on his hat. It wouldn't do him any good to stay, no, he needed to smile, be happy and to spend thirty-thousand dollars on something. In other words, he needed May.


It was dark and cold outside, and the weather didn't cut him any slack. His cheeks froze solid in three seconds flat, and his ears, even with the hat, we're starting to get cold. Looking up, it was a full moon today. "Whaddaya know?" he said. He sat on his small porch in the frigid weather, waiting for May's arrival. He checked his watch, it read 11:19. Maybe it was a bit selfish of him to call her so late in the night. He had sudden heart attack as felt something tremble on his lap, he grabbed it and pulled it out, it was his cell-phone. This is why I hate vibrate, he thought.
He turned it on and read the message:

Look up!

He looked up and his heart skipped again, there she was, standing in front of him, bright yellow mits, light brown coat, perfect brown hair, mesmerizing blue eyes and all.
"Give me a heart-attack..."
She giggled "Why'd you bring me out here anyways?"
"I figured you liked shopping."
"For what?"
"The biggest teddy bear ever created."
She laughed again. A smile formed on Kaz's lips. Kaz couldn't help it, she had that effect on him. Whenever he was down or in a slump, as soon as she smiled, happiness overtook him. When he was around her, his problems, his issues, his constant pain from his not-yet healed body, didn't matter anymore. She changed the rules of the game every time he saw her, she was his ray of sunshine. Her face grew a questioning look "Is the mall even open at this time?"
"It's open 24/7 remember? The Christmas craze and everything..."
"Oh ya.." she said, suddenly remembering.
She yanked his arm and pulled him up, Kaz bit back a howl of pain and tried to keep a straight face through it all. "You alright?" she asked.
"Better than I was a week ago."
She raised an eyebrow and flashed a smile, then, squeezing his hand tightly, said "Then let's go and find that giant teddy bear!"
And then it happened, his problems, his issues, his pain, didn't matter anymore. "Well, I called you because I figured I'd never be able to find my way around a mall by myself. So your gonna have to walk me through this."
She grinned "Please," she glared at him "what do you take me for?"
Kaz laughed at that. If only she knew.

[Imm1ck3y]

Kaz seemed as happy as ever to her. He laughed and seemed to be floating on cloud nine.
May remembered the gruff and sad voice with which he had called her. Looking at him now, she didn't see any of that at all. He pulled her into the next shop with a playfully wink.
"How about this one?" he pointed at a giant white bunny with greatly oversized front teeth. She laughed, the bunny looked like a kangaroo with fangs. She shook her head decisively.
"No."
He stared at her with puppy dog eyes "But it's adorable!" he joked with a smile and hugged the bunny. It was as tall as his shoulder.
She broke into even more laughter.
"Cmon, let's check the other stores."
She reached out and tried to grab his hand. He jerked his hand away from hers. She felt her heart stop for half a second, his reaction was completely out of character. His eyes stayed fixated on hers. A silent moment passed between the two. Then she noticed a persistent twitch in his left eye. She narrowed her eyes and decided to press the issue.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.
He quickly shut his left eye, but it still kept twitching uncontrollably.
"It's happening."
She lifted an eyebrow. She grabbed his hand again, this time, he didn't resist. She pulled him to a nearby bench and sat him down beside her. His head fell on her shoulder.
"Do you feel cold?" she asked.
"Not anymore." he replied.,
She placed her hand on his forehead. He was blazing hot.
He shifted uncomfortably. He swallowed nervously. Kaz's left arms convulsed lightly.
"Why can't you control it?" she inquired nervously "I mean, you usually control it just fine, don't you?"
Kaz laughed lightly "I can usually control it completely, but, as you know, I'm not exactly in the best of shape." he coughed "Ya, fighting a Magistrate will do that to you."
May looked around the mall, no one other than them and a few random people were present.
"Are your powers back?" she asked, even more concerned.
"Can you get me a cup of water?"
She ran to the across the food court, grabbed a small white cup, filled it with water and ran back as fast she could.
"Here." she handed it to him.
He grabbed the cup slowly and carefully. He stared directly at the water in it for about fifteen seconds, his left eye still shut. He handed it back to her. The water had been frozen solid.
Ya, his powers had returned alright.
Alarm suddenly gripped her and she said "What about last time? Last time, you passed out cold. You had a fever for four weeks. You couldn't even see straight. You were dizzy and-"
Kaz gave her a reassuring glance "That was the first time it came, now, I'm used to it."
Still in panic, May yelled "Why the hell did you accept the pledge again?"
Kaz eyes were slowly losing focus, and his forehead was getting hotter.
May was lost, she didn't know what to do. It wouldn't help if he passed in the middle of a mall and he was way too heavy for her to carry. The hospital was now out of the question, with his powers now returned, he'd most likely be dissected like a dead frog if he went back.
"Damn it Kaz..." she knew he was slowly losing consciousness as she spoke.
Kaz's left eye suddenly flew open and he stood up again with renewed strength and vigor.
May noticed his brown eyes start to glow lightly.
"I accepted the pledge again," he eyed her, his iris now an icy bright blue. "Because of my promise to you." he said. May's eyes widened, this was completely uncalled for.
"You realize that by doing that, you're gonna have to keep fighting right? You do realize that you'll never be able to go back now?" she cried, tears filling her eyes.
"I'll always be your guardian angel." he said as he leaned in and kissed her.
She broke away from the kiss and cried. Tears ran down her cheek incessantly "You don't have to do this for me!"
He wiped a tear off of her cheek and gazed at her.
"I want to do this for you May, and for everyone else." he whispered.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop herself from crying.
"Promise me." she mumbled "Promise me you won't die.."
She leaned in and kissed him deeply. He kissed her back.
Pulling away, he replied calmly "I promise not to."
She nodded and wiped away the tears, he's always kept his promises. With a handsome grin on his face, he pulled her up and held her in his arms, and she erupted into tears yet again.
She clutched the collar of his coat and rested her head on his shoulder.
He would keep his promise. She lifted her head and their noses touched,
"You better protect me well." she said.
"With everything I have."
She broke eye contact and exhaled "Why are we here again?"
"We were about to buy that giant bunny."
She laughed grimly and nodded, looking at it now, the kangaroo with fangs was actually quite adorable.

[Imm1ck3y]

Kaz had never been 'officially' part of Haven's Militia, but they were all over him. All of the time. If he went out and ate a burger at the mall, they'd know what topping and the contact information of the man who cooked it for him. Why? Simple really, he was a biological weapon in the form of a 15 year old kid who refused on three occasions to join their cause; you gotta keep an eye on him at all times. They did. When he saved May from that errant arrow, they were the ones who mobilized a specialized strike force to eliminate the bastard who shot it. The magistrate was another matter altogether though. First, he was an actual biological weapon. One that had a nice stamp of approval from the mainland to take care of Haven's "rebellious actions". He was atleast thirty years in age, and had the ability to carve and bend metal to his will. Kaz's ability was that to freeze. Match made in hell, he thought. His abilities were much more powerful than the Magistrates, in terms of raw power anyways. But the military's slave dog did have one thing going for him; experience. Kaz had little to none. He'd only found out he even had powers four months prior. Yet while he fought the Magistrate, the Militia did not help him. They didn't send out a helicopter full of trained assassins out to help him. They didn't even do anything, at all. That was weird. Very weird. Kaz figured after the stunt they pulled out with the arrow thing, they would have atleast know that a Magistrate was present. Cause' he might have died back there. That's why, staring into May's unaware eyes,
"I'm joining the militia." he decided.
She looked down at the back of her hand and didn't respond.
A silence hung between them. He looked around the park. Not a soul other than them we're out there. The wind blew a soft screech into his ears, and clawed away at his exposed nose. He wiped his nose. May still didn't say anything. He walked across the park slowly, leaving her side. He reached the old bench. He sat down and rested his hand gently on it. He jerked his hand back in pain, he'd just gotten a splinter! He grabbed his hand with his left arm and cradled it awkwardly, being a man who'd almost died, splinters were still as painful as hell. He heard an odd thump beside him and noticed that Katherine had taken a seat beside him.
"How-" she stopped mid-sentence "How do you expect me to take this?"
Kaz examined the dead tree trunk right in front of him. There were no leaves left, and it's trunk was covered in a blanket of cold snow.
"I-" he too stumbled for the right words and glanced in her direction "Miriam liked the teddy bear." he finished oddly.
May shook her head in a 'what the hell sort of way'. Kaz felt like he was stabbing himself in the chest for doing this. May repeated herself "How do want me to take that?"
"Joining the army is the only way I can become strong enough."
"What do you mean strong?"
Her blue eyes bore into his soul.
"Last time, I barely succeeded in stopping him!" he felt a cold flame ignite in his chest "I almost died May!" He stood up and spun to face her "I-" he grabbed her hand "I wasn't able to protect you."
"If I had died and failed, what do you think might have happened? The Militia is the only way. It's the only I can keep my promise to you! Haven would have been destroyed, in good part because I wasn't strong enough!"
"I need to be stronger, I really do May. I really do."
Another silent moment passed between them.
"What does that mean for us?" she asked.
Kaz felt like he'd just rammed the knife through his heart now.
"It means, I won't be here until I feel I'm strong enough."
"We're over?"
He didn't know how to respond to that. She clutched the collar of his coat and pulled his face near hers like she had so many times. He swallowed nervously and responded "I hope not."
May's eyes widened at his statement and she opened her mouth to respond, he cut her off quickly "Really, all this means is that i won't be here for a while." he shrugged meaningfully.
Her eyes seemed lost in his, and her breath formed a white cloud in the frigid air. His collar shook lightly from the trembling of her thin hands. Her light brown hair flew off to her right in the harsh wind and the her lip quivered. To Kaz, May had always seemed strong and funny, outgoing and comfortable with herself and those around her. That's the impression she gave him seven months ago, when they first met. He was talking with Mr.Torew about nothing in particular, when she came along and inserted herself into the conversation. That was no easy feat. Especially when it came to Kaz and Mr.Torew's conversations. He and his science teacher would talk about the weirdest and most random things. One time, they spent a whole two hours talking nothing but the answer to the famous question "who am I"? Another time, they spent the afternoon talking about whether perfection is worthwhile goal to ones life, they talked about things completely unrelated to science. They'd cover politics, ideals, morals, science, and whatever it was that came to mind. The conversations they had were epic, especially for how confusing they we're to people listening to them. But she handled it like a pro, she talked and responded and replied with the exact same sort of reasoning him and Mr.Torew did. She understood their mad ramblings and crazy ideas. After that single conversation, unbeknownst to the both of them, a bond had been forged. She came and discussed things with Mr.Torew everyday from that day on, and since Kaz always did one way or another, they ended up finding out alot about each other in the process. And that eventually lead to him asking her out. Which lead to them becoming a thing. Which, in a longer and more complicated way, lead to her finding out about his powers, and actually accepting them. But she when she looked at him, she saw him. She didn't see a biological weapon, she didn't see a monster, or a freak, she saw him. That's why, looking at her now, she was as vulnerable and defenseless as he'd ever seen her. Tears streamed down her cheek and his collar was being pulled down from her slouching hands. He never knew his presence meant that much to her, and that him leaving would have that effect on her.
"You remember when you asked me how I would have dealt with it if you died?" she wiped her eyes quickly, her left hand on still on his collar. She looked at him weakly, a feeble glimmer in the corner of her eyes.
"I wouldn't have been able to deal with it. I would have been crushed like nothing else could be crushed. I would have ceased to see the world the way I do now. I would have lost all hope in myself." She said. Kaz couldn't stand to see her like this. He willed back tears.
"Don't say that." he said.
She laughed, but Kaz heard no humor. She leaned in slightly and kissed him on the cheek. His eyes never left hers. Then she nodded calmly and let go of the collar she'd holding onto for so long. Kaz watched as her eyes regained it's familiar fire and her posture straightened.
"I'll leave you with this, " she picked up her purse and got up, then, turning to face him for what might be the last time in quite a while ended with this "Until you get stronger."
Kaz fought back the impulse to just turn around and hug her. His back was facing her, and he knew that looking back was no longer an option. He nodded.
He couldn't hear her footsteps. He couldn't see her face. He could no longer hear her voice.
He could no longer be with her until he filled his promise. A new sensation filled Kaz. Conviction. He was now sure as to what he was doing, and was ready for whatever was thrown at him. He would come back, stronger than ever. He crouched low and grabbed a the small piece of paper on the snow infront of him. It was a very small sheet of paper, folded into a shape small enough for him to miss if he didn't already know what he was looking for. He threw it into his pocket and turned around.
Kaz felt a pinch in his hand and winced slightly, he hated blisters.

[Imm1ck3y]

Kaz didn't like fighting. He hated violence. Everything he had ever done had been for the town and those who mattered to him. He fought out of necessity. He fought for what he thought was right, but he was struggling right now. He had just said goodbye to Miriam, May, and his mother. If doing that wasn't enough, his mother had inserted doubt into his choice. "No war can be won without bloodshed." she told him before he left. He remembered the look she had given him.
"What are you doing?" shouted the drill sergeant.
The platoons sorry excuse for a row straightened instantly, and they fell quiet.
"I said, what are you doing?" she yelled, stopping infront of his squad. Kaz looked around, not sure as to who she might be talking to. His squad didn't respond, maintaining a picture perfect salute.
"Do we have a problem, private?" the drill sergeant continued.
Kaz tilted his head in a quick glance to the guy beside him. He then, in a weird motion, looked back at the sergeant.
"Are you, talking to me?" he asked.
The drill sergeant sighed and adjusted her beret slightly to reveal a sharp mane of dark brown hair. He eyes were just as dark as her hair was and her nose was wrinkled just below her eyebrows. Her jaw was clenched in annoyance, but did nothing to conceal her amusement.
She eyeballed him, then sighed and shut her eyes in exasperation.
"Who do you think I'm talking to?"
Kaz blinked twice. The girl couldn't be more than year older than him, and yet she was supposed to be a drill sergeant?
Kaz eyed her up and down.
She continued "And is that how you hold a gun?"
Kaz looked down at the metal contraption dangling uselessly at his side. Despite it's small size, it was heavy enough to weigh his arm down. It looked absolutely alien to him, but Kaz knew such machines were used to end lives, the lives of human beings. His posture remained the same, the gun still hanging off to his left.
The drill sergeant looked surprised by his blatant discomfort with his situation.
Another stare-down occurred between the two. The drill sergeant eye's softened in understanding, to Kaz's own surprise. She then turned around and resumed pacing infront of the rest of the platoon, barking orders as she did so. Kaz looked down at the giant piece of metal he was holding.
He'd never held a gun before.