Jazmine followed Huey tentatively carefully, worried that a single step could shatter this dream and separate her from Sammy again. On their way out, Huey turned off the stable lights while wishing Jazmine would walk a little faster. The kids made their way to the horse rink, to which, of course, Huey had the keys.
"Okay Jazmine, let me help you up." Jazmine blinked.
"What are we doing?"
"You're just going to ride the pony a couple times 'round the rink."
" . . . Is this legal?" Huey's face hardened, and he turned to the horse.
"In your case, it really should be," he said more to himself, than to her.
"What do you mean? Why are you doing this?"
"Jazmine, I am a justice warrior. I could never allow myself to sit back and do nothing as one of my . . . acquaintances gets mistreated and abused. I tried to help you but you wouldn't let me."
There was a little quiet, but Huey's flame only grew.
"They used you, treated like trash, and you got absolutely nothing out of it. You just stood there and took it, and when it was over, you went on as if nothing happened!"
. . . what was he talking about again? Who was he mad at? Huey couldn't think straight over this overwhelming anger.
"Thank you." Meekly looking to the ground, she was teary eyed again. "I just thought that the sooner I'd accept the loss and let go of the dream, the less I would grieve, and I'd be able to get on with my life."
"I want to show you, why you must fight to get what you want, show you how great it feels. It feels like the exact opposite of what you felt when Wuncler rode away with his chariot - times a hundred! He played dirty, so it was no longer fair for you to have played nice."
At that moment Huey and Jazmine seemed to have understood each other more than they ever had before. The way they thought, what they believed in, why they acted the way they did, all made a little more sense. Jazmine felt closer to Huey. Huey's appreciation for Jazmine grew. Lost in the beauty of the tender moment, it took a while for either of them to remember where they were and what they were doing.
"Uuumm, Huey?"
As Huey directed his attention from his thoughts to Jazmine, a strange thought came to him. It was completely foreign to him but, for a second, Jazmine looked . . . 'cute.'
" . . . yeah."
"I want to ride my pony."
Wordlessly, he helped her onto the pony. That was the most determined Huey had ever seen her. Please understand, she still had her kind, soft features, and she didn't look fierce at all, but it was a start if anything.
Huey instructed her on the basic commands for the pony before gently leading her. He was happy. Good was happening, amazing good, because of him; there was less to be angry about. Focusing on these positive thoughts, his disdain for the world melted away for the time being, and he found himself smiling. Not smirking, smiling.