A Heartfelt Plea Unheard

Theia awakens to a searing pain traveling throughout her body, her body curled up in her empty bed. Her muscles attempt to move and alleviate the fiery feeling flaring in her limbs but her muscles are rigid and stiff from what she could only describe as the feeling of being frozen in place. Frozen, that’s right… Her mind flashing to the icy man from before, his cocky grin plastered on his face. She remembers the barrage of icicles that cracked against her photon shield, followed by a throbbing pain emanating from her stomach. It wasn’t just her memory that gave her the notion of pain, as she tried to move she could feel the stabbing sensation coming from where she believed she was hit. She glances down and noticed what looked to be a great deal of bandages wrapped around her waist. Peeking underneath she saw a jagged wound that looked like charred flesh and clots of blood. She winced as she placed the bandage back in place and is stunned to see her attire…''Why am I only in my bra and underwear?! If Haruko was the one who dressed my wound…could he have…Eep!'' Theia’s face flushing red as she crosses her arms over her chest, as if her motion would save her some modesty. Quickly pulling out a fresh set of clothes from her dresser she got dressed and went on the hunt for her teacher to thank him for fixing her, as well as to apologize for not listening to him during the battle.

Her body felt weak and sluggish, but she managed to roam freely around the woodland house without disturbing her already healing wound. When she entered the foyer she noticed a few bags packed and sitting slumped by the door. Her eyebrow quirks up in confusion, and so she peers through the door to his room in hopes of finding him, but to no avail. She gently opens the door and shuffles to the side of the house where his motorcycle is parked and calls out, “Hey Haruko, why didn’t you wake me if we were going somewhere?” She says with a smile, as the man who was situating a bag on the back of the metallic beast peers out with a look of dismay. Theia continues to ramble, paying little attention to the apparent discomfort of her senior. “Thank you for bandaging my wound, that was really nice of you. I guess it is my penalty for not listening to you…I promise it won’t happen next time!” She says with a laugh as she brushes the back of her head in embarrassment. “So uh, where are we going this time? Another trip to the post office? Or maybe some cool new place for training! Oo yeah! What stuff should I bring?” She looks at him hopefully as she awaits his instruction.

Haruko’s eyes dart around in his attempt to escape the inevitable confrontation that was about to happen. Becoming highly invested in the task of strapping down his gear to his bike, Haruko keeps his gaze away from the emerald-eyed girl as he voices out in monotone indifference, “You aren’t coming on this trip.”

Theia’s eyebrows wrinkle in confusion at his abruptness, attributing it to his carried over frustration from her actions the day before. She had apologized, so she doesn't know what else she could say to smooth his anger so she decides to brush over her mishap and change the subject once more, "Oh... well ok, that's fine." She begins as she follows her senior back towards the front of the house where the bags were leaning against the wall. "Well don't you worry, I will be better by the time you get back so we can get back to training. I was thinking that maybe we could go and tra--"

"I won't be coming back Theia." Haruko deadpans as he lifts up the two remaining bags and bypasses the girl frozen in befuddled shock. Moments later the girl appears next to him as Haruko passed the last of his things and tied them down neatly. Theia's tone was erratic and had an underlying panic as she looked onto the older man with a blazing quest for answers.

"Wait, what do you mean you won't be coming back?? Like you won't be coming back for awhile? Or are you going on some dangerous quest that you don't think you can handle, and that's why you don't think you'll make it back? Because if that's the case then I should come with you so I ca--" She began, her intonation spiking wildly as her emotions ran rampant with thoughts of the worst possible meaning of his phrase.

"THEIA!" Haruko yelled in a voice that was so low it had the resonance of a bang against a gong. "I am not coming back! I am not going to be your teacher anymore! The only reason I agreed to it in the first place was because of my large respect for Zhulong, but it is obvious that he isn't coming back, so there is no need for me to uphold my deal with him." Haruko said with fire as he met the gaze of Theia for the first time, noticing the sadness swell in her eyes at the emission of his lies.

Her eyes begin to fog with tears as flashes of the dragon leaving her behind play in her head. Not wanting to experience that heartache again, Theia clenches her fists in determination. "No. You can't do this to me too...You can't just abandon me like that! Listen, I know what I did yesterday was wrong, but I'm sorry! It was wrong of me to not listen to you, but I can't just sit by and do nothing in times like that! And I-I can't sit by and let you d-do this..." Theia says as she casts her head to the side to hide the tears falling from her eyes. "I need you Haruko...I need you to help me get stronger. To help me protect the ones that I love... To help me protect you! You're the only thing I have left anymore...I can't lose you too, so please don't go!" She shouts through gritted teeth, the tears freely falling from her glazed over eyes.

Haruko mentally cringes as he hears her confession of love and dependence, knowing that he can't be around such an environment if he ever wished keep his secrets hidden and live a true life. Haruko shuts his eyes tight and pinches the bridge of his nose as he does his best to end this flurry of emotions as quickly as possible. "You insolent, self-centered child...you think I have ever had a shred of sympathy or fondness for you? You, the girl who disrupted my peaceful life of seclusion with her constant questioning and sickeningly sweet stories that I never asked to hear? You know nothing of the way the world works and the slightest clue of what it means to be strong; and an ignorant weakling is something I can no longer tolerate." He spat out with vigor as he grabbed his helmet off the seat of his bike, saying one last phrase before he started up the engine and drove off, "Just give up Theia, you will never amount to anything special." Though unseen to anyone but the shadows of the trees around him, tears began to form at the brim of the older man's eyes as he drove down the winding path to his next destination.

Theia cried as if the ferocity of it might bring Haruko back; as if by the sheer force of her grief the news of her teacher's departure would be undone. She tried her best to control herself, but her hysteria was too strong, too wild, as she had lost someone she had loved once more in her short lifetime. After whirling about, unable to look through her puffy eyes at the forest scene around her, Theia tumbled back through the doorway of the hollow home. Not wanting to dissolve in the kind of despair that had once held her mind prisoner during the time her father had disappeared, she refuses to accept that all is lost. There was no way that she was going to accept this fate; not when she had finally gained the strength do something about it. As she mindless traversed the halls of Haruko's home as her body's exhaustion began to set in from the tears. She went into the room that still smelled like her senior as she collapsed onto the pristine-made sheets. As her eyes begin to fog again from what had just occurred she spies a familiar looking envelope crinkled up in the wastebasket nearby...