Summary: Alyss stays with Will for a few weeks to learn some self-defense.

Alyss slept light when she was alone. It was the way she'd been trained since she became an apprentice courier, and she never tried to get out of the habit. It had saved her life a few times.

But somewhere along the way, on accident, it had become a reflex to abandon her training when Will was in the same bed. She slept deeper, and longer. It was completely out of reflex, but she made no effort to change it.

The sun had just risen above the horizon and sunlight gleamed through the window on Will's side of the bed, painting the plain white walls around them. The couple were turned on their sides facing each other, hands curled up to their chests and nearly touching each other's. It gave Will a great angle to see Alyss's sleeping face when he woke up… something so beautiful he could watch it for days.

He just laid there for a while. Watching her. Being there.

Things were usually this way with Alyss, weren't they? he asked himself.

Will laid there for as long as he could, but he couldn't do that forever. Alyss had told him to wake her up the same time Will usually started his day, and she had been quite serious about it. Will couldn't imagine why she wouldn't want to sleep in- just because she was going to be acting like an apprentice for a little while didn't mean she really had to be like his apprentice. But it was more of the principle of it, and Will couldn't argue with that.

Minutes passed, then he finally put one hand on her shoulder and started shaking her; lightly at first, then slowly harder when she didn't wake up.

Soon a quiet groan escaped her mouth, indicating she was awake before she opened her eyes. By the sound of it, though, she was only half awake and hadn't yet fully returned to the world of the living. The attitude looked cute on her.

Will put his hand back down and used it to take hers. Maybe it would help her wake up more. And he whispered, "Good morning."

"Good morning…" she mumbled back. She buried her nose into the fabric of her pillow, like a cat nuzzling into somebody and purring. Will kind of wished it was him.

"Ready to work?" he asked.

"Work?" She thought about the word like it didn't sound familiar at all. "Hm… no, not yet."

Will smiled. "You said you wanted to wake up at the same time I did when I was an apprentice," he said. In a more gentle gesture, he let go of her hand and used his fingers to brush strands of hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"Well I didn't mean it… quite that literally," she said, leaning into his hand.

Will chuckled. "Now-"

"You weren't married when you were an apprentice," Alyss smirked at him. "It's different."

"Good thing, too. I would've never gotten up if I was."

She laughed, and it became more of a giggle. Then the familiar, peaceful silence returned; Will and Alyss spent a minute just staring into each other's eyes. Alyss was facing the window, so her grey eyes, now wide open, lit up and glowed a sparkling silver.

She whispered, "Just a minute more and you can bother me again until I get up."

"Or I could just… throw you out of bed."

"Mhm, good luck with that."

She decided before he did that she was in fact going back to sleep, and there was nothing he could do about it. Alyss exhaled deeply, scooted closer to him and let her body fall completely limp so it was obvious she was going back to sleep whether he wanted her to or not.

Five minutes later they got out of bed.

Alyss spent some time outside warming up her arm with some short range throwing, while Will warmed up inside with some coffee.

She didn't practice archery like Will, because she would probably never have to use it. What she did need to learn was self-defense at a close distance. Especially with knives. She was actually the one that came up with the idea for Will to teach her some standard knife defense, actually, and Will was immediately onboard with it. Of course, Alyss learned some self defense training to be a courier, but it had been too long since she used it and it was never taught in the complexity that Will knew.

Not to mention it gave Alyss an excuse to stay with Will for a week. Or two. Or three. Three weeks should be way more than enough to teach someone like Alyss self-defense, but who needed to know that?

That morning she had been slow to get up, but when she walked out the door of the cabin and into the chilly, morning air, suddenly she was bursting with energy. She did some standard stretches, and began throwing immediately. Wouldn't want this motivation to go to waste.

The first few knives were off by a couple inches, but it didn't take long for her to remember how to throw. She was back on track, better than she was the day before. Soon she started taking steps back from the targets, pushing herself even harder, as she hit the bullseye or the inner circle outside the bullseye every time. She threw further and faster.

Alyss noticed when Will came out of the cabin to watch her, but she didn't say anything. He leaned against the post nearest to her and stayed silent like that for a minute. Just until she was done. She was "in the zone" (he knew the feeling), and he liked seeing her so focused on her work. If only she could see him smiling with admiration at her.

In the short time she'd been there, Will had been able to successfully teach her how to throw knives, and some basic combat. Maybe combat before throwing would've been a more natural way to teach her, but this way, while she learned steps to close quarters combat she would have plenty of time to practice her throwing. Throwing knives took more practice than instruction, once she knew what to do.

Will had to know these things. He was going to get an apprentice of his own someday; Alyss was a great way to test his teaching skills. So this was just as much practice for him as it was for her.

Alyss finished that round of knives, and went to retrieve them.

With an opportunity to speak, the ranger asked, "You're feeling extra good today, aren't you?"

She held a semi-proud smile on her face, with good reason. "Does it show?"

"A lot. You're doing great." Will nodded to the targets; Alyss turned her eyes away to tear the knives out of the board.

Will left the porch and walked into the clearing behind her, knowing she wouldn't turn around yet. Her head was turned away, and she didn't hear one footstep behind her. In fact, all Alyss heard was his voice, and only when he chose to show it to her.

Sometimes she forgot just how dangerous Will was.

"Are you warmed up?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Good." That was her only warning. Will drew his own knife out of his belt, and lunged forward. He would've stopped, had Alyss not sensed him and dodged his attack, but she did. His blade ripped through the empty air where her body once was.

The courier stumbled away to buy herself time. She gripped one knife of her own in one hand, clumsily stashed one in the belt of her trousers, and dropped the rest. Will had taught her to always keep a second weapon on hand. Obviously, even in combat, Alyss didn't forget it.

Will got to attack first again. He aimed for her head with an upward cut, which she fluidly dodged. Alyss stepped far enough away to avoid it, and then some, and thrust her knife up towards his throat.

But Will had enough space to avoid it, and he blocked it with his free hand, just for extra protection. Alyss stepped far enough away from him that he had room.

Another mistake she made was not grabbing the arm that had just attacked her. Will's weapon was still free, waiting to strike back, because dodging didn't do anything but buy her time. The blunt side of his knife met the skin of her neck, not violently, but nevertheless touched it at a diagonal angle. He tipped her head back, so she was standing off balance, and held her hand firmly away from his neck. When she was stumbling just to stay on her feet, she knew it was over. And this all happened in less than three seconds.

Before she knew it, she was caught immovable, off-balance with her right arm caught and her throat at risk of being cut. Even if she pulled her second knife out, she wouldn't be able to keep herself up.

Will could've moved three times as fast if this was real, she thought.

The ranger grinned. "Good," he said, despite her losing. She wasn't ever going to win, after all. He withdrew and she did the same.

Now she knew it was time for comments.

"Smart move, attacking the neck instead of the stomach," he said. "My hand was blocking my stomach, and you noticed that, so you went for the upper body instead." He held a kind, but serious tone when he taught her, even when complimenting her.

Will continued, "A few things, though- you should've grabbed my wrist when I first attacked you." He set them back up in the position they were just in; showed her exactly what he meant. He put her hand on his knife hand and said, "If you had kept my arm in your hand and twisted your body, I wouldn't have been able to win. Okay?"

"Okay." She repeated it again in her head, committing it to memory as she replied.

"Also, step in closer to me when you're dodging attacks. Especially in knife fighting, being in at a close distance is dangerous, but it's much more dangerous to have to stretch and attack. That make sense?"

"Mhm." Alyss smiled at him so he knew she understood. "Got it."

"Great." He withdrew away from her and stood at a normal distance. "Now for the main lesson."

Will had Alyss set the extra few knives on the porch, out of their way. They only needed one knife for this lesson.

"Going to teach me how to kill a man with one move?" she joked, putting them away with her back turned. Will wouldn't attack her at a time like this.

Will snorted. "I wish," he said. "No, but it's very important. It can get frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it it could save your life."

Alyss nodded. She walked directly in front of him, about a yard away. "Alright. What is it?"

"Say… say you're attacking me," he explained. "You can target the middle, the right, or the left, right? Let's make it simple and forget about all the different heights you can aim for. Three options; then when you're defending you have two: dodge, or block."

"Three, if you count getting hit." Alyss smirked.

Will paused. "Well, yeah. For the sake of the lesson let's say you're so confident in yourself that getting hit isn't even an option." He went on, grinning, "So if somebody attacks your left side, it's not very smart to go left to dodge it. And vice versa- if somebody goes for your right side, don't move into the attack. It sounds simple, but it's hard, if you don't have enough time to work out which direction they're going in, or they trick you, or if they're very good at concealing it… well, it's a matter of life and death."

"So you're going to teach me… when to move right and when to move left?"

"Yes, but I'm also going to build up your instinct," Will explained. "I know how fast of a thinker you are, Alyss. What you need is a fighter's instinct, and you need to learn how to trust it. Knife fighting, really any kind of fighting is a harmonious balance between immediate reactions and intelligence. So this is an exercise in avoiding attacks, but while you have to be thinking wisely, it's also a lesson in instinct."

Alyss nodded. "Okay," she said. "I got it."

"Then let's start."

The courier chuckled. He sounded a lot like Halt just then.

"Stand still for now. Be ready for any attack I throw."

Alyss did as he said.

The ranger studied her for a moment, watching her focus. Alyss's lips twitched like she was going to smile, but she forced them down into a frown. This was serious. Who cared if this was her husband? Right now he was a ranger, too.

Alyss watched his face for an indication he was going to attack, but found nothing. Then, without any sort of warning Will slid the knife out of his belt, and cut to her left shoulder. Luckily, he was slow enough that she saw where he was going and could dodge the knife right before it hit her.

"Don't be so tense," Will told her, as they reset their positions. "Relax your muscles and you'll move much smoother and quicker."

"Okay."

Will came at her again. This time he aimed for her right side, and Alyss remembered to relax herself. She also, whether it was on accident or intended, moved much later than she did the first time. Will was a almost a foot away from hitting her when she dodged his knife.

Any other person would have stopped their knife a foot away when practicing, so they wouldn't accidentally hit their opponent if they didn't move. Alyss knew Will was better than that. He had demonstrated to her before, when she asked, that he had incredible control. He could throw a strong punch at her, like he was actually going to hit her, and stop before he hit her with less than an inch between them. It was amazing, and Alyss had total faith in his abilities. But that also meant Alyss wasn't taking any chances.

Will pulled back, an approving look in his eyes.

"Good," he told her. "You moved at the right time. The later you move, the harder it is for your opponent to change direction. Now I'm going to attack faster."

He did just that. Alyss suddenly remembered what he'd said earlier and didn't try to analyze where he was moving, like the past two times. She saw he was coming in with a swinging down motion, but his arm went diagonal halfway down and didn't attack her center like it hinted. That was intentional, so she had no idea where he was going to target until he let her know. When his intentions revealed themselves, she went with her instinct, which, unfortunately, was wrong. He went left, just as she did, too.

But Will's blade stopped an inch from her stomach, not even grazing her skin. Alyss pulled, or shrunk away. She muttered a curse underneath her breath.

Will smiled. "Don't get discouraged, I didn't even get it on my first try. It was hilarious, because Halt was moving even slower than I did the first time and I still ran into the attack. It was completely idiotic; you should've seen his face."

Alyss couldn't help but laugh.

Just as Will told her, Alyss gave herself a little slack. She was just learning, after all. Will came at her again, to the left side this time, but she still moved in the wrong direction.

Will noticeably slowed down for the next one.. and Alyss couldn't help but be a little angry at him. Not even irritated, just angry. She could do this, and she didn't want anybody to take it easy on her when she was falling short.

Even as she told herself, though, that she would get better so Will wouldn't have to spoon feed her, she felt her body stiffening. She couldn't think at all through her frustration, so every time Will attacked, she moved in the wrong direction. Every time she ran into the knife. But this only made her more frustrated, and she caught herself in a vicious cycle that didn't quit until Will noticed it happening.

He stopped, after the sixth or seventh try. "Alyss…" he began, but couldn't continue before she interrupted him.

"Dammit. I'm sorry, I'll get it this time." Will stepped out of his fighting stance, but Alyss got more serious. He could see the obvious strain and aggravation on her face.

"Alyss-"

"Do it again."

"No, I'll wait." Will tucked his knife into his belt. He said, "Relax a little, then you'll-"

"I don't need to."

"Yes, you-"

"I'm not a child, I can get this." Alyss looked at him like she was angry, but Will knew she wasn't angry at him. She couldn't fool him like that. "Don't slow down for me, okay?" she snapped.

"Don't get frustrated," Will told her. Even his kind, affectionate tone didn't calm her down. She was angrier than ever. "Instinct isn't something you can learn in an afternoon."

"But I-!"

"Don't interrupt me, just listen, okay?" Will took two strides forward and took hold of her shoulders. He held her so she was forced to look at him. She glared at him. "You can do this, I know you can," he said firmly. "But if you get frustrated, you're going to sabotage yourself and I can assure you, you won't understand it that way."

Alyss was silent in the few seconds that Will gave her to respond, but he could see her anger eroding away.

Will looked seriously into her eyes, and said, "Don't get angry, and try again. The only way this is going to work is if you let yourself mess up first."

Alyss suddenly looked embarrassed. She nodded, regretting her words already. "Okay." And she had said before she wasn't a child… but this entire rant, she felt, made her look like a toddler.

Will didn't see this look of intense shame on her face. He was too busy taking out his knife again, and getting ready to attack her. "Ready?" he asked.

The courier didn't answer yet. Honestly, she was wondering if she was even cut out to be learning self defense if she couldn't go one lesson without exploding. But in that small span of two seconds where she hesitated to reply, she remembered Will's words.

"The only way this is going to work is if you let yourself mess up first."

And Alyss felt those words sink in deeper than they had the first time. Whether her rant was childish or not… she needed to let herself get past it.

"Ready," she replied.

Alyss's shoulders dropped. Ten pounds of tension left her body, and she comforted herself again with what Will had said before. Just until she could comfort herself with her own words. "You can do this, I know you can."

When Will launched himself at her, at the same speed he had been going before they argued, she let herself dodge the knife extra early. She didn't wait until it was a foot away, she moved as soon as her natural instinct told her to, which was much earlier. But as she expected the blade to stop inches away from her, she watched it sail next to her in the opposite direction, slicing through the air as quickly as if Will had had every intention to hit her.

She grinned, despite her better judgement to stay completely serious. Alyss allowed herself to take things just a bit farther, and threw her arm around the front of his neck. Before he could defend himself, Will was trapped in a semi-loose headlock from his wife behind him.

"A-Alyss-!" he laughed. "You-!"

"You said this was a life or death situation!"

"Have mercy on me! Don't kill me, please, I have so much to live for," he cried.

"Your time's over, Ranger Will." She tensed up, to pull him closer to her and planted a heavy kiss on his cheek. She saw and felt him blush a light red, luckily not from being choked. She had loosened her grip enough for him to breathe easily.

"Hey…" Alyss said. Suddenly she was serious again. She whispered gently into his ear, "Did I ever tell you you're going to be a great mentor?"

Will paused, mouth open in surprise from before. Then it slowly formed into a brilliant grin. "Did I ever tell you you're going to be a great fighter?"

"Thanks. I think I could be."

Will turned his head far enough around to give her a proper kiss on the lips, and even though they were at an awkward angle, they kissed until they got used to it and it didn't feel awkward.

Then their practice resumed.