The Court - Finished!

Maria

I looked at him, and was silent for a moment. "I really don't know." I admitted. "Maybe it was because you were so willing to save your friends, but... I don't know." I couldn't help but get the urge to maybe get to know him. I was supposed to hate him, this I knew, but the only time we had met before was in battle. Seeing him now, relaxed and seemingly carefree... I wasn't sure how I felt towards him.

Finally here
Daniel
They had been lonely the whole morning, Krissy and Daniel. Maria had left hours ago and hadn't returned. He knew it wouldn't be appropiate if they went out to look for her; she wouldn't like it and would probably think they were spying on her.
So all they did was enjoy the lonely morning. There was a part of him though, that still ached for Krissy's secret but he knew he couldn't push it, she would tell if she's ready.
It was near mid-day, they were lying in the small sofa that was in the living room,Daniel wrapping his hands around her warmly.
"I like this" She said to him. "I mean, it has been so long since I had this kind of...peace."

Peace,he echoed in his mind. For him, it was more than peace.

"If life was this easy, there would be no fun" Daniel said laughing, kissing her forehead.

"But maybe it would be better, no pain, no suffering, no more...blood" she said, unlocking herself from Daniel's warm grasp. "I wouldn't have my hands stained with blood"
That part she said more quietly, a bit more painfully. It hurt him to see her like that but those were things that were already deep down her heart.

"Krissy, look at me" He said, lifting her chin so that she could see him. "You did what you had to do, if life was that perfect you wouldn't have learned to love it the way you do."
He looked right into her bright green eyes that seemed to sparkle every time she was thoughtful. He liked them, they had this certain life that made him love life too. All of a sudden, she began smiling and laughed.

"Why do I love your eyes?" She asked him, smiling and rubbing her hands softly in his cheek.

"Because they love you" They both smiled and slowly leaned forward each other until their lips touched softly and they kissed.

Lorraine
"Ready?" I asked them. This si going to be fun, I thought. First time in weeks I had this much fun.
Kayla kicked open the door, and apparently the door was so weak that it fell apart. We didn't care and just went in. The drunk men shouting unintelligible words to us, not that we cared much of what they said.
"Why am I not seeing him?" I asked Jas. "Tic-Tac-Tic-Tac"
The man was no where to be seen, or at least not to be seen yet.

GRAYSON

Grayson laughed. "You should have killed me," he admitted, not opening his eyes to look at her.

"Don't you value your life at all?" Maria asked, attempting to be scolding but coming off as curious.

Grayson shrugged. "I do. Dying just dosen't bother me. Why would it? Living your life...it's so much harder then just dying. That's the only reason I fight for my life. Fighting...actually living, that's the bravest thing someone can do. I'm not as "brave" as people say I am."

Grayson turned to look at her now. Maria looked perplexed. Maria was the brave one here. Just looking at her scars told a story of pain. Death would have been easy, merciful even. Yet she still kept fighting. Now THAT is bravery.

Maria

I was surprised by the fact that he was telling me so much. We were supposed to be enemies. And here we were, sitting and just talking, without a single threat exchanged. It felt odd. "There are different kinds of bravery Grayson. To not fear death... That's a rare thing. Death frightens me more than anything." I said quietly.

GRAYSON

Grayson shook his head and turned on his side so he was facing Maria now. "I don't believe you fear death Maria," he told her. "I think that people fear death because the fear the unknown."

Maria narrowed her eyes. "Why are you acting so normal?" She asked. "Shouldn't we hate each other? I'm surprised enough that we're not at each others throats, but now we're just chatting like we're old friends."

Grayson looked up at her sadly. He had lost his true friends a long time ago. The only people he could ever talk to. Dead. One at Krissy's hand, Damion...just because he fought aloongside the Rogue. And now Grayson had taken his place. Then their was his other friend, Jacob. Gryk had killed Jacob, not knowing how good a friend he was to Grayson. He was tried of friends dying.

"I'm tried of all this death, Maria. Dosen't it make you miserable?" He asked her. "Isn't ot nice to just...talk?"

He turned away from her as memories rushed past him. He closed his eyes and turned his face back to the sun. He didn't feel like reliving the grief just yet.

Maria

Miserable... Yes, that was the right word. "Yes, it does make me miserable. My entire life has revolved around killing and fighting ever since..." A lump rose in my throat, and I stopped talking. If I did speak Grayson would hear the sadness in my voice. I didn't want that. If I had showed any emotion during my time as a maid in the court I would be shouted at. To them, emotion was weakness. I didn't want to show weakness in front of a member of the Court. Grayson said he meant me no harm, but you never could know.

"Ever since?" Grayson asked. He was really curious now. He had heard something...a terrible sadness in her voice before she could hide it.

Grayson sat up now and faced her. Did she have her own sad story to tell. Grayson was truly insterested now. Maria wasn't what she appeared on the outside...she had depth to her. Unlike so many vain, petty people. It was a good characteristic to have.

Maria

"Since the original members of your Court kidnapped me." I said quietly. "They broke in one night. They killed my mother, and... Someone else. The next thing I knew I was at the feet of the Rogue." I struggled to keep my voice under control.

GRAYSON

Grayson scooted closer to her, against his better judgement...still he felt sympathy for this girl. What was up with him? He never felt sympathy or...or guilt.

"I'm sorry," he said, quietly. Maria laughed bitterly.

"You didn't kill them," she retorted. Grayson shook his head.

"I was saying sorry your loss. I know it's tough," Grayson said softly.

"No you don't," she responded, angrily. "You wouldn't know anything of that kind of loss."

Grayson looked up at the sun. Oh he knew what it felt like. And right now Maria was hiding behind her anger to cover the grief. Just like Grayson hid behind his so called humor. Oh he knew what it was like to feel that kind of loss.

"I know enough," he mumbled under his breath.

Maria

I glanced at him. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just..." I put a hand to my forehead. No, not again. Not here. Not in front of him... But there was no stopping the surge of emotion. A few tears ran down my face.

GRAYSON

"Hey...don't cry," he said, hands moving helplessly by his sides.

"I'm not," she replied, turning her head away from him. Grayson smiled a little and shook his head.

"Look, we don't have to talk about this. Should we move on to a lighter topic?" Grayson asked. When Maria didn't respond, Grayson reached over and put his hand on hers. It was a gentle touch but Maria jumped.

Grayson yanked his hand back and coughed a little. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Kammie's great Idea
Daniel
"I know what we should do?" He said jumping from the small dinding table where he was sitting and grabbing Krissy's hand. He was very impulsive and that totally shocked her.

"Daniel, Daniel what are you doing?" She said as she watched him take his guitar and get her out the door. He really wanted to do this, he likes it and it was a chance to listen to her once again.

"We're going to town" He said to her eagerly. But before he went out of the door he grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote something to Maria.
It said:
Maria
We're going to town, but don't worry not the town you're thinking. We'll be back by evening. I fyou need anything you can find us here.
And he drew three figures, three figures only Mair and him understood. BU the whole message was written in an old code Daniel had taught Maria when they were younger. That was his secret, not even Krissy knew about it.
"We're going to sing" He said, going out the door and locking it behind him. Krissy tried to reuse but he pulled her and got her out. It was something different, something to break the boring routine.

Maria

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. You just startled me is all." I wiped my eyes, wrestling my emotions under the surface. The tears stopped, but I felt them just under the surface, threatening to re-emerge at any moment.

GRAYSON

He smiled a little, but cautiously. He didn't do too well with tears. They made him nervous. And to see MAria cry...well, that was unnerving.

"That's alright," he laughed, softly. "It's kind of uncomfortable to talk about that kind of stuff. Especially with me."

Grayson looked up at the sky. The sun was fading now. Grayson smiled. It was almost dark. His favorite time of day...or night really.

Wait...almost dark?

"Shit," he gasped, jumping up. Maria looked at him surprised.

"Sorry," he smiled, sheepishly. "I forgot I had to help Kayal and Jas today. Damn. Jas is ging to be so pissed."

Maria knit her eyebrows together. Grayson only shrugged. "I promised to help," he admitted.

He started to take off but turned around. Would Maria never come back here? Would she see it as dangerous?

"I'll be here tomorrow, but around this time. Come if you wish," Grayson told her, finally taking off. He enjoyied talking with Maria. He hoped she would come.

Krissy:

I resisted Daniel's sudden impulsiveness, but as we walked further away from the cottage the excitement grew on me. We were headed to the next town over called Archridge, where the town was simple and happy. The sun was sinking into the trees in a flaming red colour. The streets of Archridge bustled with passerbyes. We found the fountain and youngsters and elders passed by. Daniel sat on the edge of the fountain, strumming a few chords on his guitar. I smiled and whispered to him,

"Just like the good old days right?"

With a laugh I sat down beside him as he tuned his guitar carefully. A few young street urchins had stopped to look at us curiously. They whispered among each other excitedly at the sight of outsiders. With a smile I began to sing as Daniel strummed a lovely, familiar tune.