"...The things that make me happy." said Mero.
"Like what...?" asked Wura, her voice barely a whisper, worried that any little startle could stop what to her was Mero's most honestly, sincere moment.
"Like the fact that I am still alive...that I get to help other people... I have had several chances in life that many people like me never had." he said, staring nowhere in particular. He seemed to be more inside his thoughts than anything else.
"Even though there are several things that can make you disheartened, it may be easier to dwell on the bad things, but if you look at your life now, and compare it to how it was before, you will be surprised to see that no matter what you are going through, it is significantly better then your old life before." he said.
"I have met a lot of good people that truly care for me, they treat me like they would treat their family, they are like the family I never had, and that includes you." said Mero as he smiled and he looked at Wura who smiled at him.
"Even though things that happened in my life, like my mother's untimely death, I cannot lie that my life has been better than most people." said Mero.
"Just because she is no longer here with me does not mean that she never existed." said Mero.
"She is still very much alive in my life. I hold all her teachings, all her values to heart, she was a wonderful woman who did not deserve what happened to her. The only mistake she made was having a lack of choice, and even for that, I cannot blame her." said Mero.
"I guess what I am trying to say is be thankful, and be grateful for everything you are and everything you have. In the dark times, it is better to think about the good things, rather than the bad things." said Mero as Wura nodded and smiled.
She had never heard him talk so much and with so much passion, and realization and contentment. This was the happiest and most peaceful that she had ever seen him be, and it made her so happy that he had so many good things to dwell on.
"You are so right Mero, so very right." said Wura as she smiled.
"Thank you for sharing such a personal insight with me, I feel so honoured that you trust me enough to be this honest with me." said Wura as Mero smiled at her.
"I have never seen you so...just as honest as you were a moment ago." said Wura.
"Being honest to ourselves is the most important thing we can do to better the understanding we have of ourselves." said Wura as her words stirred up something in Mero, he remained silent, thinking.
Wura yawned and shivered, she was starting to feel cold. The rain outside was still very heavy and it still showed no signs of stopping soon.
Wura let out a worried sigh. She really hoped and prayed that the rain would stop soon.
Now she was worried because the rain had not stopped, Mero's tent had been blown away in the wind, and there was no other place for him to stay for the night.
Even if he insisted on going out to stay with one of the guards, she would refuse, it was still raining very heavily outside, there was no way that she would let him go back out there. So he had no other choice than to stay here.
She was obviously tired, and she wanted to go to sleep, she just could not figure out how to arrange the sleeping arrangements.
"It is getting late Mero, we should probably go to sleep now. I have a feeling that tomorrow will have a lot new challenges that we will have to deal with." said Wura with a smile.
"I agree." replied Mero as he snapped out of his thoughts.
"Well then, I guess that you will have to sleep on the couch, but that is certainly much more comfortable than the ground." said Wura as she stood up from her bed. She knew that even if she offered Mero the bed, which was bigger for a man of a stature, while she sleep on the couch, he would refuse. So she would rather not bother herself with something that unimportant.
"Do you feel dry now?" asked Wura as she walked to the couch to ready it for Mero and he nodded. His hair was less damp and covered up in the blanket, he was even starting to sweat.
"Alright then, let me just make this nice for you." she said as she took one pillow from her bed.
"Wura, you do not have to do this, I do not want to intrude, I can easily go and spend the night in the tent of one of the guards." said Mero as Wura turned to look at him, displeased.
"There is no way I am letting you go back out there, can you not hear that it is still raining?" she asked as she shook her head.
"This might be uncomfortable for you to share your personal space with a stranger, I do not want to impose." said Mero as Wura looked offended by his words.
"This is not in any way uncomfortable for me, and even if it was I would tell you, but it is not, and secondly, you are not a stranger Mero, do not say that, you and I have been through far worse, and far more serious than this, I am unhappy that after everything you still see yourself as a stranger, and you are not imposing, it is not imposing if it is necessary." said Wura as she shook her head.
Mero felt bad that he had said something that caused her to be angry, that was not his intention at all, he just did not want her to feel uncomfortable at all.
"Now enough talking, there is no point for us to be upset or argue, it is late, you need some rest, and I need some rest." she said as she placed the pillow on the couch and she walked past him to her bed as she accidentally slipped and before she touched the ground Mero moved swiftly to catch her.
Wura opened her eyes and scoffed as she looked up to see Mero staring at her.
"I hate that I always fall, and I hate that I fall especially when you are around." she said as she unconsciously found herself staring into his eyes as he stared into hers.
They remained there unmoving as Wura forget everything that was going on outside, all she could see was Mero, and all he could see was her.
Mero was the first to break as he cleared his throat, realizing what he was doing and he let go of her as she cleared her throat.
"You need to be more careful." he said as Wura scoffed.
"You are right, but thank you, for always being there to catch me." said Wura as she smiled and unconsciously placed her hand on his bare shoulder as the blanket had fell from his body when he moved to catch her.
"You do not have to thank me." he replied as his eyes moved to her hand as she realized what she had done and she quickly removed her hand.
"Oh I am sorry about that." she declared apologetically as she wondered why she had moved her hand so carelessly.
"It is alright..." he said, but judging from his tone, it was clear that what she had done was far from alright.
"No... no it is not alright, something is wrong Mero, tell me, what is wrong, what is bothering you?" asked Wura in concern, she had noticed that ever since their last conversation a few moments ago, he had been rather cold. It was easy to sense the change in his attitude quickly.
"Nothing is wrong Wura." said Mero.
"You are lying, you are lying to me Mero, and I do not like it, tell me what is bothering you." said Wura as she was not prepared to let this go and that made Mero sigh.
"Do you really want to know what is bothering me?" he asked as she nodded.
"Yes, yes I want to know, maybe I can help." she said.
"I do not think you can." said Mero.
"Tell me what it is and we can decide whether I can help you or not." said Wura as Mero let out a deep groan, it sounded like a groan of torture, one of longing.
"Mero, you are worrying me, tell me what exactly it is." said Wura as Mero looked at her, his eyes unmoving.
"This—this is the problem." he said, adamantly making up his mind to settle this once and for all. After all, Wura was the one who asked for an explanation, regardless of how much he wanted to continue hiding things, he just could not go on, it was starting to get unbearable.