Lucas stretched as the darkness began to lighten across the horizon. The fire he had built up was slowly dying, he needed to find more wood to burn.
He had thought about her pushing him away all night and came to the same conclusion. Something happened to Eva and she did not want him to know what it was.
After some thought he decided that he would question her. The worst she could do was to tell him to leave her alone again.
Although it would hurt to hear her say that again, he felt determined to do something. And he could do nothing until he knew what was wrong.
He would do anything not to hear those heart wrenching cries again. Only happy tears should be allowed to fall from her eyes.
The log in the fire cracked and sent a wave of sparks up into the early morning air. A glance over the fire told him that Eva was still deeply asleep.
'She cried herself into exhaustion,' he thought as he used a stick to poke the fire once more.
There had been some decent looking wood that he could use for the fire down past the stream. Reluctantly, he left their campsite and headed into the trees to complete his task.
The crisp morning air burned Lucas lungs. They had traveled a long way as they journeyed towards the Capital. The forest here seemed different then what he was used to.
He had never traveled this far personally, but the stories from the Elders had guided him this far. Stories of faeries and spirits were also among those told.
The young ones would always laugh and tell the Elders that they were just tales to fascinate children. Lucas had never really given it much thought.
However, walking through the trees in this area it felt much more magical, like the stories the Elders would tell them. He shook his head and wondered what was wrong with him.
'Is it just because of what happened yesterday?'
His mind was greatly disrupted by the sudden change in Eva. In fact all his thoughts were constantly being thrust into turmoil by Eva lately.
Lucas knew it was a problem, but he had no way of fixing it. He could no more hurt her then to take his thoughts off of her. It was just another part of his life now.
'What a funny life I have been dealt.'
A slight smirk flitted across his face as he gathered dry looking pieces of wood that littered the forest floor.
'If the spirits were real, I am sure they would be enjoying this affliction of mine.'
It really was funny when he thought about it. Who ever thought that an elf would fall in love with a human?
Sure they would sometimes work together, but actually falling in love? He had to be the first one.
Lucas couldn't deny that when he looked at Eva it felt like the world stopped, and sometimes he forgot about his surroundings.
He would agonize over the smallest of changes in her expression.
'Ok, I need to stop thinking about this.'
Lucas refocused his thoughts and concentrated on the forest around him. A sweet smell seemed to be coming from somewhere nearby. It was different from anything he had ever smelled before.
'What a nice smell. I wonder what kind of flower that comes from.'
However, no matter how hard he searched he could not find the source of the nice smell. Frustrated, he carried the wood he had managed to find back to the campsite.
After returning to the campsite the area had begun to lighten up quite a bit with the coming dawn. The darkness didn't bother Lucas much with his elven eye sight, but he saw how hard it was for Eva to navigate at night.
He had grown accustomed to the new schedule of activity based on Eva's needs. The forest they were currently traveling in was abundant in resources so he was able to collect a lot of edible plants and mushrooms for them to eat.
Lucas busied himself with cooking a soup to make Eva feel better. He had managed to find the carrots that she had been favoring lately.
Maybe he was just trying to soften whatever mood she may be in when she finally awoke, but Lucas didn't care. She was still recovering from the fight with the wolf.
Lucas was afraid that her wound may have gotten infected because he was not able to change her bandage the day before.
'What if she tells me to go away again, but this time for good?.'
The thought he was trying to run away from made him grip the cooking utensil in his hand a little tighter.
It was a fear born from the words she had spoken the day before. The words that still continued to repeat in his mind and, when he closed his eyes, he could see the tear streaked face that matched those words.
Eva groaned next to him and he loosened his grip on the utensil. He forced his eyes to stop staring at the pot and to glance down at the girl next to him.
Her eyes were slightly swollen from the tears and her voice sounded rough from the sound of the groan. She was rubbing the back of her hand across her eyes.
"Lucas?" Eva questioned as she blinked rapidly.
Lucas' heart raced at the sound of his name coming from her lips. He gulped down the last dregs of his fear and reached down to smooth the rebellious hairs that were stuck to her face.
"I am here. You should rest your voice."
He couldn't bear the thought of hearing those words again so he focused on other things. Her voice sounded strained, so he would need to make a tea so she didn't fall sick.
His hand wavered briefly while resting on her head. Finding resolve he pulled back his hand and busied himself with readying a bowl of soup for her to eat.
"Here eat this while I get some medicine ready for your throat."
Lucas knew that he sounded panicked. Eva was not saying anything. Instead, she took the bowl from him and began eating as if she did not notice the awkward air around them.
Not even the calm rhythmic feeling of making medicine calmed his nerves.
'I need to calm down.'
Eva's hand steadied Lucas' hands that had begun shaking. All the sounds of the forest were drowned out with what felt like a roar as she forced the tools from his hands.
Lucas blinked and felt a warmth against his chest. Eva was hugging him?
'Is this a dream?'
"... sorry for what I said yesterday. Please forgive me." Her voice was muffled, but the roar in Lucas' ears finally subsided enough for him to understand what she was saying.
His arms wrapped around her tiny body and he hugged her tightly.
"Of course."
The doubts that had been plaguing him all night subsided and relief spread through his body.
******
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