Chapter 7

Eighteen years ago:

The swords clashed and clanged against one another, but only one bearing them was skilled. With little more than a flourished spin, the attacker missed its target and fell to the ground.

"Stop moving!" Lily snapped angrily as she pushed herself up.

"Stop rushing in blind." Sean replied with irritation. "You couldn't make your attack more obvious if you tried."

"Yes well, not all of us had official training, prince-ling." She growled resentfully.

Renard lifted a single brow at the comment as she took her position across from him again.

"A novice blames their circumstances." He told her simply. "A master learns from their mistakes and doesn't repeat them."

"Yes, oh wise one." She said with a sarcastic bow.

He rolled his eyes, but smiled internally at the comment.

"Again!" he called.

Like before, Lily raced for him, but this time expected him to twist out of her way. When he dodged the swipe of her sword with a lazily turn, she decided to respond differently. She dropped down, spun and brought her leg around, taking Renard's feet out from under him before he could turn and face her again. His back hit the ground hard.

His head spun momentarily from the unexpected slam. It took him a moment to realize what had happened, but he came to when he saw Lily standing over him with the tip of her sword touching his throat. She smiled wickedly down at the man.

"Point, me." She told him with a grin.

Renard smiled despite himself. He was actually a little impressed the thirteen-year-old managed to knock him down when she didn't even reach his shoulder. He pushed himself up and gathered his bearings. Taking the few steps away needed to put more space between them, he squared his frame on Lily.

"Again." He repeated.

And so it went. The two of them fought in the clearing while their parents watched from the background.

"She's a quick study." Elizabeth said as she and Michelle watched. "That's good."

"She takes after her father, in that regard." Michelle replied. "And thank you, for your hospitality."

Elizabeth nodded gently.

Their arrangement and temporary truce was a simple one. Michelle, through friends she still had, was led to Elizabeth. The Hexenbiest offered aid to the woman for two very simple reasons. One, she would be owed a favor from both the Grimm and his wife for what she was doing. And two, it amused her to annoy the royal families. After what they'd done through the years, keeping what they want from them was simply fun.

Elizabeth agreed to hide Michelle and Lily in the woods of Northern Ireland while Andrew –Lily' father- danced around Europe to draw attention away from his wife and daughter. He needed everyone to follow him while arrangements were made to get the three of them to America. He would keep attention elsewhere for awhile until returning to them and whisking them away to the land of freedom. But, it would be weeks before he did. He had to be sure everyone's attention was far away from where it needed to be and stayed there just long enough they could escape.

Renard was there simply to visit his mother, nothing more. In doing so, he was brought into what she was busy doing. He was irritated with it, but felt for the family. He'd lived through it himself.

Nearly three weeks passed while the four shared a roof. It was cramped, small and somehow that didn't seem to bother Lily. Like any little teenaged girl, she began to develop a crush on the young man who'd been helping her learn how to protect herself. And why not? He was tall, handsome and showed her kindness she hadn't experienced from anyone outside her family.

Eventually it came time for Renard to return to college which broke little Lily's heart. She had become sullen and sad with the thought of her eye candy leaving. The mothers recognized it. One thought it was adorable, the other worrisome. It was easy to decipher which thought what. But Renard was oblivious to it. He assumed she was sad because she was stuck in the forest for another week without release.

When he found her, it was in a place she'd tended to go to think. Far from the cabin and concealed within the trees was a spare pile of chopped wood. Lily had a habit of sitting on top of it to see through the underbrush and deeper into the woods. When Renard went looking for her, he always checked there first. When you spend long enough with someone, you begin to know how they think whether you mean to or not.

She heard his heavy footsteps and knew they were deliberate. He'd done it so she would know he was coming versus someone sneaking up on her. Lily barely turned to look over her slumped shoulder. Instead she kept her eyes down when he stepped to the side of the pile.

"Returning to the same spot over and over is an easy way for an enemy to find you." He told her. Most of their conversations centered around –or at least started with- tips on how she could stay alive and safe. Lily only shrugged a shoulder. He looked at the girl sitting on a pile high enough he had to look up to see her face. She avoided his eyes and continued to pout. "What's wrong?" he asked with a heavy sigh. Renard had never been one for affectionate or caring conversations.

"I don't want you to leave." She mumbled.

Renard smiled to himself at her behavior.

"Why?" he asked casually.

She fidgeted and refused to look up until she saw him step in front of her. Reluctantly, Lily looked up at him with her two-toned eyes.

"Because," she answered in the same despondent tone. She didn't know what to say, but she knew it wouldn't be the whole truth. "You're my friend."

He smiled again. It was easier for him back then. He wasn't as tainted by his family as he would become.

"You'll find more friends." He lied. Renard hoped he was wrong, but he doubted it. He knew deep down she'd be twisted by the same paranoia he was that kept him from fully trusting anyone and her life on the run would probably keep people at bay too.

"No I won't." she continued. Lily thought she was being sly, but she couldn't have made herself more obvious unless she said she had a crush on him outright. "Nobody likes me. I'm a freak."

"I like you."

"Really?"

He was saying it to be kind and because he didn't immediately want to thrash the budding teenager, but didn't realize how she took it until he saw how hopeful she looked at him. In that moment, Renard was suddenly well aware that the little girl had developed a crush and it forced him to backpedal.

"Lily," he mumbled. Renard felt incredibly uncomfortable with what he was about to have to say. A woman being attracted to him wasn't new, but she wasn't a woman. She was barely a teenager. "I'm twice your age."

Her little brows pulled together.

"So?"

Renard felt his insides jerk. He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his short hair. He didn't really know how to proceed. He was in his mid-twenties having to deal with a little girl's crush.

"You'll understand when you're older." Was all he could think to say in the ways of an explanation.

Her eyes fell again to her hands as she continued to twiddle them nervously.

"I'm old enough." She mumbled again. Lily didn't seem to want to speak fully, instead refusing to open her mouth completely in case whatever she said was too embarrassing.

Silence moved between them. The only sounds were those of the forest, nothing more. Renard wasn't sure what to say and neither was Lily for awhile. Eventually, she spoke.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I came to find you to say goodbye."

Her brows came together again and he could tell she might start to cry. The discomfort he felt began to grow. He knew he had to end the situation quickly.

"Come here," he said. Lily looked up and noticed his offering his hand. She took it and jumped down off the woodpile with his help. Renard hugged her to his chest. He felt bad for leaving the girl behind in the first place, but with the knowledge she'd grown attached he felt a little worse. "You'll find a boy your own age."

Even he knew it was a lie. Like with the paranoia, she was –though he'd never say it out loud- a freak. At the moment she wasn't Wesen or Grimm. They didn't know what she was genetically, but they knew what she'd be viewed as. The chance of her having a normal life of any kind was slim and they both knew that too. It made him pity her a bit.

Against his better judgment, but deciding it might make her feel better, Renard decided to do something. When they parted, he lifted her back onto the woodpile. He looked up at her the few inches she was elevated and leaned forward. He gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek that overlapped slightly onto her lips. It was nothing more than a family member would do and held no inappropriate undertone, but part of him felt she deserved it. They would never see each other again and there was no guarantee she'd even make it to her first kiss, so he thought he could give her something to remember that wasn't running for her life.

When he pulled away Lily's cheeks were crimson. He'd never seen such a brilliant color on someone's skin. If she was older, she'd have control over herself, but she didn't. Renard chuckled internally. With a final goodbye, he left her alone on the woodpile.

Lily was left to relive her brief first kiss until the sun faded and her mother came searching for her. She never told anyone about it. It was her little secret and always would be. Forever she would remember Sean Renard as her first 'love'.

~!~

Present Day:

Her fist slammed into his jaw and sent him reeling. Renard's head snapped back after he regained his footing. His features twitched between human and Wesen. He was on the border of losing control and he knew it. Worse yet, she seemed just as aware. Until then it had been bad, but still tamer than it could have been. But it didn't stay that way. Consumed with her own rage, Lily went for the knees.

"Zauberbiest bastard." She hissed hatefully. Feeling her icy words stab at him, Renard couldn't hold the monster inside. With a ferocious hiss, he woged. "There it is."

His jaw tightened and his fists clenched. Getting enough control of himself, Renard returned to normal. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction anymore. But, like she had with him, Renard was passed the point of caring and only wanted to hurt. So he said something he always thought was beneath him.

"Half-breed freak." He growled through clenched teeth.

Seeing red, Lily raced for Renard. The fight raged violently. It was vicious and feral. They attacked one another like wild animals, consumed with the purest rage.

"I should've found you after you betrayed my family." She yelled as she wrapped her tiny hands around Renard's throat. "They never should've trusted a royal."

Renard brought his hands up and slammed them down against Lily' elbows, breaking her hold on him. He reached for her throat instead and spun. He slammed her into the wall beside her bedroom door. Renard towered over her small frame by nearly a foot and his hand easily encompassed her throat, but he kept the pressure mild enough she could breathe. He was showing incredible restraint.

"I never betrayed your family." He snapped angrily.

"I don't believe you." She choked.

"Clearly." He said.

Shoving himself away from her, Renard released Lily. He put a decent amount of space between them because he knew the fight wasn't likely to end, but he didn't want it to continue either. He hoped the distance would somehow help calm her.

Breathing heavily, he ran his hands along his head to try and calm himself, but it didn't truly work. When he turned back around, he spotted Lily just before she swung at him again. Renard leaned back and missed the jab by a few sparse inches. He used her gathered speed to push her arm around, forcing her follow through and turn into a complete spin. Seizing his chance, he wrapped his massive arms around her and secured her back to his chest.

"Enough!" he bellowed, either ignorant of his yelling in her ear or he simply didn't care. "I'm done fighting you. How many times do I have to say it?"

Like before, he shoved her away from him. Lily spun again to keep him in front of her. She didn't like him hiding in a blind spot.

"I heard them." She said angrily.

"Heard who? What the hell are you talking about?"

"The Hundjägers!" she yelled. Lily's jaw started to quiver as she remembered the night she still had nightmares about. Renard still didn't understand completely, but he knew she was talking about the Verrat. "They bragged about how easy it was to find us. They said they'd known where we were the whole time, and that they knew about the cabin because they had someone on the inside."

"It wasn't us."

"Bullshit!" she bellowed. "No one save you and your mother knew where we were."

Renard's frustration was growing. His limbs were aching for violence and he hated it. If the fight didn't end soon, he might do something else he would regret and she'd suffer for it.

"You're insane." He said, pointing a stern finger at her. "And you need to stop this before you get hurt."

"If it wasn't you, then who?" she demanded, knowing he'd have no answer. "Who else knew about the cabin? Who knew where we were hiding?"

"I don't know! I was gone by the time you left!"

Silence moved between them again. For the moment, the fighting was over and the rage-filled-hateful words had stopped. But both still ached for more. Their adrenaline was coursing and they wanted to get rid of the energy.

"Get out." She finally said.

Renard, who'd had his back to her for awhile -but was still able to see her reflection in the wall length windows- turned to see her staring coldly at him. At some point, tears had gathered in her eyes. They weren't solely from pain, but aggravation as well.

Frustrated himself, Renard angrily trudged towards the door. He grabbed his jacket en route and slammed her door behind him.