Chapter 2: Kindness and Care

"Anna, is that a cut? Here, I'll use heal—"

"Kratos, it's a paper cut. I-It's fine!

Anna was quite surprised to find out in the next week that he would be constantly checking and worrying about her.

It's not that she didn't appreciate the gesture. No, she was really very grateful he was even bothering to pay attention to her so intensely, but he was worrying about every little thing so much it was seriously getting on her nerves. He was stressing out about every little cut, claiming she was going to get an infection if he didn't disinfect it. Sure, if it was a cut on her leg, then she would be the one asking her own self for healing. But he was pointing out things like a small paper cut!

"I just want to heal any wounds before it's too late. I can't seal everything with my healing artes," he chided her, reminding her of this once again. She could only sigh and roll her eyes.

"I know, I know," she repeated dully, forcing her legs to move. She was actually getting very worn out by all this speed walking and running, but she didn't want to complain. Anna also wanted to get as far away from the Desians as possible. The scars on her body began to throb just thinking about it, so she just pushed away the thought.

"…Are you sure you're feeling alright?" he questioned solemnly. "Your face looks rather flushed."

"I—No, no, I'm really doing amazingly well," she rushed her words out, only now realizing her cheeks were burning pink. She mentally scolded herself, stupid, stupid! Don't blush so easily! Why even are you blushing?!

While she was talking to herself, Kratos went dead silent again. Anna shoved it off as one of those things he just happened to do. Then, he stopped walking completely. She soon halted to a stop right next to him, straining her ears to pick up any noises. What was wrong? She couldn't hear anything out of the norm. Was he hearing something she wasn't?

"Anna, we have to run," he whispered lowly under his breath. She nearly groaned for her aching limbs, but instead, she nodded once. He began at a fast run and she struggled to try and keep up with him. Was he usually so fast? Well, normally she could keep up, but she was just so tired—

"Anna!" Oh, poop. She didn't even realize she fell until he called her name. She tried to get up, but she felt her arms slipping again, and she fell back down onto the ground. Dirt smeared the palm of her hands.

Then, in one swift motion, she felt herself being lifted up. It was all so fast the world had suddenly became a blur of green and brown. As she blinked to regain her focus, she realized Kratos was holding her in his arms, sprinting. He didn't feel like he was running so quickly and roughly—as a matter a fact, his arms were so careful and warm, it was as if he was cradling her.

Slowly, she closed her eyes.

…

The first noise she heard was the fire crackling.

The second was Kratos' almost inaudible breathing.

Blinking several times, she narrowed her eyes to force them to focus. She rubbed at her eyes and felt herself wrapped up in a particularly cozy blanket. She was lying down on the soft grass, snuggled into the sheets. Her first sight was Kratos with his eyes wide open, watching her. She smiled uncertainly and stared up at the dark evening sky. The sun was on the verge of going away.

"Are you hungry?" Kratos murmured, giving her a careful look. Anna slowly pushed herself up and yawned widely, stretching her back and arms. She nodded once after her stomach gave a dangerously loud grumble. It wasn't like she was exactly fit…The cruel Desians back at the ranch had nearly starved them to death. They were given enough so that they would be clinging to death's edge, but would still be able to hang on.

Wordlessly, he handed her a lemon gel and half a loaf of hearty, whole wheat bread. Anna bit gently into the gel, the smooth lemony taste tingling on her dry tongue. She happily ate the bread in silence, soon discovering she was much hungrier than she was. In less than a minute, she had wolfed down both of the snacks without rest.

"Hey, did you eat already?" she asked above the crackling of the flames. She watched the fire particles float up into the air along with the smoke, wrapping her blanket closer around herself.

"Yes," he replied simply. Maybe she was just imagining things, but whenever he claimed he ate, slept, or rested, it always seemed like a lie. She mildly suspected he hadn't done any of those things in the time they had spent together. The food supply should have already been gone through if they were both eating. But it was still half-full.

"Are you sure? The food should have been gone a long time ago if we were both eating," Anna accused suspiciously, licking at her teeth for the bread grains and smears of lemon. "Do you even sleep, either? You've taken the night shifts every day for the past week. What…What are you?"

"…" He was quiet for a minute, but shock was evident on his face. Then, he became just as emotionless as he was a few moments ago. "I…am human. I cannot promise to tell you everything, but there is a possibility I will tell you one day."

"Oh, you're not telling me that, either," Anna mumbled under her breath, where she thought the angels would never hear. "...Well, are you at least going to tell me why you saved me? It's already been a week and a half since then," she remembered, suddenly more awake than ever.

"…Very well. I see no harm in doing so as of now," he responded, straightening his posture and clearing his throat. "I honestly am still trying to answer that myself. I just saw you so bright, being restrained from the beauty of this world that you deserve and saw you wanted your rights as a human being. You wanted to…be free. I believe I saw myself in you."

"You? In someone like me?" she breathed.

"That's the first part of it," he admitted, looking down into the burning, dark firewood singed with ashes. "I've been trying to find out truly why I wanted to help you, but…I have no idea. Perhaps I'll never know." He ended with a sharp breath and then a sigh.

"…Hey, Kratos?" she rose her voice with a nervous tone.

"Yes, Anna?"

"I think…that you don't need to have a reason to save someone. Maybe people just want to some good in the world. Possibly to make up for something?" she scrunched up her nose, as if she smelled something rotten. "I don't know what you've done, since you're one of the four sera-whatever, but…" she smiled encouragingly. "…you're a good person."

Then, without warning, the most genuine smile appeared on his face. It knocked the air right out of her and she could only stare in wonder. She had never seen him smile, no, not once. He looked so peaceful with the world right then, as if everything was right.

"Thank you, Anna…" he trailed off into the silence, the smile soon falling from his lips. "You may not think what you said was important, but actually—no one has said that to me for years. The only time I remember anyone telling me that was when I was a child."

(A/N: Remember Kratos is 4,000+ years old, and the last time he was a kid was…yeah. OK. Now go on and control the feels, if any.)

"That's terrible," she gasped. "You're so kind, but have received nothing in return."

"I'm not without fault and sin," he said lowly. "I have done horrible things, things beyond your belief, which would surely make you hate me." His voice was so quiet and shameful it was barely a whisper. She had to strain her ears to make out the words. "You…need not…concern yourself…with…the matter…" Anna let the words settle gently and allowed herself to fix up the scrambled words in her mind.

"I couldn't hate you," she shot back. "After you saved my life?! That's insane, Kratos. I owe everything to you. Please, keep that in mind." The ashes of the earlier smile were still lingering on his lips and soon, she was mirroring his expression with genuine emotion.

Soon the fire shriveled into a small flame and it was time to sleep. She curled up on the grass with a blanket, using a bundle of Kratos' older clothes as a replacement pillow. She eventually began to fade away into sleep, as the sun went beneath the sky and the night became lively.

Just before she fell into deep sleep, a faint warmness grasped her hand.

AN:

NEXT CHAPTERS:

Chapter 3: Trust and Reassurance

Kratos is still unsure if Anna exactly trusts him. Telling him how she feels about it all is like spelling out all the words in a sentence for a child, but she does it anyway. She vaguely remembers her grandmother telling her, "If something is dear to you, hold on to it and never let it go." She comforts him as he proves her words right.

Chapter 4: Festivals! Red and Green

Thanks for taking the time to read! Also, for the people that reviewed for the last chapter, I really appreciate it. I never would have seen those mistakes on my own. I'll make sure to go back and revise them later.

I would love it if you guys reviewed! The first two reviews made sent me into a full-blown sunshine happy mode for the rest of the day, ahaha!