"Gaha- I've never seen a monster like this," Rita said. She picked herself up from the dirt and began casting again.
Yuri evaded the monster's spiked tail and uppercut a hind leg. The ground shook. A vortex of lightning appeared and engulfed the area. The monster laughed as the warriors tried to block the sparks.
"It can cast?" Yuri grunted as he continued to fight with the beast's tail.
"Good observation, genius." Rita was reduced to running around the beast throwing fireballs. She had given up on long spells. The monster didn't focus on one person long enough for her to begin a chant.
GRRRUAAAGH! The roar sent a shock wave that knocked the two combatants down. Yuri held his head as he tried to remove the halo of stars around him. The friendly neighborhood mage was knocked unconscious. Yuri was wearing thin; there was no way he could come close to finishing this monster by himself.
"I'll help!" Estelle burst from the treeline. She targeted Rita and revived her.
"Nice to have you join us," Yuri said while blocking a mean fire spell that spilled from the monster's mouth. He was panting and was barely holding his ground. The low hit count and non-stop evasion was getting to his spirits and his health. Estelle's appearance was what he needed.
"Yuri! First-"
"No, Estelle! Use an offensive spell!"
"But you're badly injured!"
"Just do it, you and Rita cast at the same time. It should stagger the monster enough for me to kill it."
Yuri didn't dodge the tail this time because he was talking and took it full force in the stomach. A spike ripped through his tunic.
"Yuri!" Estelle began to cast but Rita stopped her.
"No! Cast now! Yuri will be fine."
"But-"
"Do it!" Rita screamed. A dark circle swirled around her feet and rose into the air. Estelle chanted focusing on the laughing creature.
While he had quickly recovered from the gash in his abdomen, Yuri would not last much longer. The blood was flowing quickly and he would pass out soon. He heard the familiar CLINK of Angel Ring and the quaking from Ground Dasher and ran almost blindly toward the monster and stabbed it's heart.
Yuri took a seat next to Estelle and followed her gaze to the open waters of the ocean. It was past sunset and the sky was beginning to turn purple and dark blue.
"Good work out there today," Yuri said.
"I only came because I felt this giant earthquake. I was sure it was trouble, so I ran. Then, I heard you and Rita yelling. It was an accident." Estelle was looking at the grass now.
"So? What matters is that you did come, that you did feel the danger and-"
"I should have went with you two to check on the air krene. Then, you and Rita wouldn't have gotten so injured."
"Maybe so."
"I could have helped from the beginning instead of at the very end. Rita would have had time to cast, she wouldn't have passed out, you wouldn't have gotten that wound."
Yuri could feel her eyes on the bandage, "I got this because I was careless, Estelle, it wasn't your fault."
"If I had been there."
"Yes, if you had been there maybe I wouldn't have gotten this. That is a big maybe."
Estelle didn't reply. She nodded and looked at the waves pushing against the embankment. They sat in comfortable silence for some time.
"Why didn't you let me heal you?"
Yuri breathed. "What?"
"Why didn't you let me heal you?"
"Because I wanted you and Rita to cast so we could kill the monster quickly."
"We still could have. Killed the monster quickly, I mean. After I healed you, we still could have killed him the same way," Estelle almost glared at Yuri.
"Yeah, but-"
"No, Yuri, there is no but. I could have healed you and we could have still beat the monster. Why couldn't I do that? Why didn't you let me heal you?
Yuri struggled to find a good answer. Estelle was being more forceful than ever, at all. Within seconds he realized he didn't have a reason or one that would satisfy this new Estellise.
"I don't know, I guess I didn't think it was important. I wanted to focus on killing the monster."
"Yuri, you are important. Your health, your life is important."
"Estelle, don't delve so deep into this, that's not what I'm saying."
"You didn't think you were important enough for me to heal, right?"
Yuri nodded, a little confused. He wasn't fatalistic, he just wanted to win.
"Your health is more important than winning, Yuri. You helped me so much this past year . . . through so much. I don't think I could bear to see you- you know. It's my job to heal the team. That's what I'm good at. That's what I should do. I don't want to stand aside while everyone is hurt!"
"You don't stand aside, Estelle. You do so much. You heal so much."
"Only if you let me, Yuri. I can't heal you if you don't let me."
Yuri sighed. She was right and he knew it. He could have died, could have fallen to some hybrid monster with a spiked tail. The only reason why he didn't was because of Estelle. Because she ran through the forest to help the victims of that earthquake.
"I'm sorry," said Yuri.
"I know. Yuri?"
"Yeah?"
"Let me heal you?"
"Okay."
Estelle leaned over and kissed Yuri who laughed at the metaphor.