Chapter 7:

You may think you see

Who I really am

But you'll never know me

Every day

It's as if I play a part

The weeks that followed found Lily alongside her fellow Scouts in situations even she had never imagined. James goal was to teach his recruit all about the history and folklore surrounding the caverns-and how to survive should they encounter any of the magical obstacle courses along the way. Most of the men complained about the history lessons, wanting to fight instead of listen, but even Goldstein couldn't keep from showing that he was impressed with James' extensive knowledge.

Lily had always known James was smart—one of the smartest during their time at Hogwarts—but she hadn't known that the Captain was good at drawing. Each day when they entered the classroom (tent) there was a new drawing up on the blackboard. For two weeks it had been drawings of magical creatures they could face, for another week it was painstakingly drawn out wand form lessons, and the current week James had drawn out as many of the known cavern sections, lopping them around the room.

Lily had stepped into the tent expecting perhaps a dragon or a hinkypunk, only to find James had written down every historic detail known about the caverns. Her mouth dropped at the intricate designs that made up the maze-like caverns that led underground. Above certain tunnels James had written familiar London Street names so the recruits could see where some of the tunnels led out. In the center of the cavernous drawing was the symbol for the Ministry of Magic.

Lily noted the caverns seemed to run in a kind of wagon wheels pattern, all the little caverns eventually leading to larger caverns that led to one large cavern circling the Ministry in a perfect circle. If it wasn't already confusing enough to make it to the inner circle, history lessons taught them that the caverns were unpredictable with dangers at every turn. Not only were the caverns a maze that had to be figured out, it also had magical creatures still hiding out in its depths. Everything from pixies to dragons, James was teaching as much as he could.

A whole week was spent on how to properly use the point-me spell that helped guide people through mazes. Lily wasn't very good at the spell (she'd ended up getting lost using it in the forest) but Alex was quite good at the spell and made it out of the forest first much to the group's surprise. Lily made sure to partner with Alex the next time they had to navigate someplace since she'd made it out of the forest last and James had sent her a less-than-impressed glare.

By the end of their second month at camp, they started hearing rumors of a test, a simulation of sorts. Lily had even heard Sirius talking to James about a group of Ministry workers coming in one night to build something. Kion was telling his friends that he heard the last group had to complete a simulation before they were allowed to go to the front lines.

Eventually, one morning, the Scouts woke up to a giant maze covering the rest of the field. Lily struggled to see the end of the maze when she walked past it but she couldn't. All the other scouts were staring at it too and that's how James and Sirius found them.

"Today you're going into this maze, Scouts." James announced, "Your task is to escape without bodily harm."

"How do we get out?" Kion asked, "Once we get in?"

"Your task is to collect a gold coin after defeating a challenge in the maze." Sirius revealed, "Once you have a coin you'll be magically transported back to the entrance."

"If at any pointed Sirius or I feel you are in trouble, we will come to your aid." James said quickly, "And you will then be asked to leave camp."

Lily exchanged a glance with Sirius before reaching out to Alex and squeezing his shaking shoulders. Colin raised his hand, looking awkward.

"Colin?" James turned his eyes on Lily's other friend.

"What dangers are in the maze?"

"Everything we covered is inside that maze, with a few exceptions." James smiled, "But be prepared for anything."

Lily took her turn to raise her hand, James and Sirius turned expectant eyes on her, "Will the maze follow a similar pattern to the caverns?"

"No," James' voice was firm; "this exercise is to simply see how you handle yourself in a similar situation."

Lily pressed her lips into a firm line; she would prove she could handle herself in any situation.

~~~I can fool the world~~~

James watched with laughing eyes as Lia stared at the large hedges with her wide green eyes and unconsciously stepped closer to Alex. If she was going to get lost in a maze, it appeared she was at least taking the boy who read 1,000 Magical Herbs and Fungi with her. James had to commend her on her friend choices, considering the last time he'd given the girl a directional problem to solve she'd gotten lost in the forest for over an hour and he'd been considering going after her himself.

Actually, he considered while glancing over at Sirius, he would have gone in after her had Sirius not interfered saying that Lia wouldn't take kindly to the rescue. Sirius was staring at the girl now, calculating something in his head. James saw Sirius' grey eyes flicker towards Kion and James knew Sirius was hoping the same thing as James. They both had a feeling Kion would start crying after an hour in the maze and had bet on it this morning. James had made sure to include an entire hedge of spiders for Kion's enjoyment, not that James would ever admit it.

"Sirius and I will be watching from above," James told the recruits and noting a look exchanged between Sirius and Lia, "Good luck."

James and Sirius went to an overlook built over the maze, rising over the hedges to give a substantial watch. Sirius climbed the ladder first and James left one hand on the rung to look over at his recruits. They were staring at the green hedges, each of them fluttering about nervously. This was the only way James could prepare them for the dangers inside the caverns that took his cousin Jamie from him. This was the only way he could even get the Ministry to consider his young troops. James' eyes couldn't help remaining on Lia a second longer than the others, she held her shoulders square but her fingers were twirling her long black hair with uneasiness.

James stood up next to Sirius on the platform and looked out at their masterpiece. In the farthest right corner a unicorn hovered over a gold piece and her calf. A small lake dweller sat near a bog in the middle of the maze where a gold coin sat dutifully placed on its shores. A section of the maze even burst flames similar to that of a dragon. It was a death trap but James hoped and prayed his recruits would make it through. They had too.

"Alright," James finally mustered up his own courage, " Go!"

His Scouts entered the maze and James was quick to notice Kion trip Lia on her way in. She landed on her palms and sent a sickening glare in Kion's direction before righting herself and continuing her run inside the maze. James' fists curled and his eyes darkened. He'd always hated bullies, being fair to his Scouts be damned, he hoped Kion lost this challenge.

Unfortunately, Lia appeared to be struggling greatly. Her wand work was subpar when she was doing the point-me spell and her duel against one of the other scouts was half hearted when they'd both reached a golden coin. Instead of winning the duel, she practically let the other Scout have it. James didn't understand it. The girl was always so ready to prove herself but in the simulation she seemed distracted, hesitant to fight even.

By the middle of the day, only three of his students were left. Lia and Kion were running through the back half of the maze while Jared Zabani was closer to the middle of the maze, fighting the water sprite guarding the gold coin. Lia missed a turn that led to a gold coin being guarded by leprechauns and their fake gold stash and instead headed closer and closer to Kion. Her pint-me spells seemed to be only directing her to him.

"She's clever." James muttered to the air, "I don't understand why she hasn't gotten a coin yet."

"She's too clever." Sirius replied at his side, instantly knowing who James was talking about, "I think she's determined to make sure everyone gets out of the maze before she does."

"Well that's dumb," James thought out loud, "It's every man for himself."

"You don't mean that." Sirius said delicately.

James didn't dare admit that Sirius was right. James admired Lia for her perseverance. James looked down to see Lia standing in a corner of the hedge observing her surroundings with a very calculating look. James wished he could read her mind at that very moment.

"She's the opposite of you though mate." Sirius justified at James' enquiring look, "Lil acts best on impulse where as you act best on a battle plan."

James looked at Sirius quizzically again, "Lil?"

"What?" Sirius asked absentmindedly as he clapped and whistled for Zabani who'd gotten his gold coin and was magically transported back tot eh front of the maze.

Zabani was met with a cheer from the other recruits who had made it out. James watched as they all dog piled him before resuming watching the maze entrance for the last two recruits.

"You just called her Lil?" James said as his eyes fluttered back to Lia in the maze.

"Who?"

"Lupin?" James pointed down at the girl running along a hedge with her wand held aloft.

Sirius turned back to the maze and offered lightly, "Well, she does remind me of Lily."

James looked down too, Lia's black hair was tied up but it was falling from it's ribbons and strands bounded along her back. James was more reminded of his cousin, Jamie, when it came to Lia…even still…

Then James laughed at himself. For one, Lia was taller and had sharper eyebrows than Lily Evans. Where Lia looked like she could kill with one sharp look, Lily always looked angelic while she was calling James a prat. Lily Evans was a kind soul, despite her wicked tongue.

For another, Lia was allowed in the camp and Lily wasn't because Lily was muggleborn.

"Whatever happened to Lily Evans?" James asked Sirius as they watched Lia and Kion get closer and closer to each other and closer to a test against fiery hedges.

Sirius cleared his throat, "Remus mentioned he saw her once," James tried to seem like this information was of no importance to him but he couldn't fake the sigh of relief at Sirius' next words, "She was apparently living with her family, hiding out from the war."

James smiled, remembering how Lily would hate sitting around, "I'm sure she's bored out of her mind."

"I think she probably found a creative outlet." Sirius sniffed before leaning over the pole and squinting down at the maze, "What is sh—damn it!"

James turned his attention back to the maze and saw what was making Sirius upset instantly. Lily and Kion had entered the same section of the maze—the gold coin centered in the middle of them. They both stared at it then looked up at each other. James could see Lia's calculative face; she was making up a plan to get the coin without setting off whatever defense had been in store.

Lia worked by avoiding the problems, knowing she likely could find a loophole in the situation to make it easier on her tog et what she wanted. Kion worked by taking what he wanted. The outcome of them both going for the same gold coin would only end poorly. James' fingernails dug into the wood as he watched Kion inch forward towards the coin.

"No!" Lily shouted at the boy to stay still but it was too late because Kion's movement had set off the protective charms.

The hedges around them erupted in flames. The pair were surrounding by flickering fire, licking at their ankles and likely burning their skin. James felt his muscles lurch in forward in horror when they both disappeared in a flume of smoke. Sirius' knuckles were white against the wood they held onto, trying to see what was happening.

"I'm going in!" Sirius said quickly but James grabbed onto Sirius' arm, they had to give Kion and Lily the chance to fix this.

The smoke cleared moments later and they saw that Kion had fought through the flames a bit but they were licking his skin with every step he took. Lia was shouting something at him, she hadn't moved and she was impressively swirling water with her wand around her body to protect herself from the flickering flames. James let go of Sirius' arm in shock from Lia's amazing charm work.

"Where'd that charm work come from?" James asked suspiciously.

"She's good at charms." Sirius said, almost proudly.

The sense of control Lia had with the water, all while she shouted direction to Kion who looked frightened as the flames continued to surround him, it was high level magic that James hadn't seen in a long time. Kion stepped forward again and Lily shouted at him to stop moving.

"Listen to her you idiot." Sirius muttered and James whole-heartedly agreed with Sirius.

Kion seemed to realize that movement only made the fire to attack you more. He stood still, shaking and trying to avoid the fire that whipped towards him threateningly.

"What is she doing?" James hissed as the pair stood there staring at each other.

Lia stood there staring at what was likely the gold coin. They both knew that if they moved the fire got worse, originally, either of them could have easily summoned the charm and ran but now they were stuck in the pits of a fiery hell. Lia took a step and the flames lashed out at her, smashing through her watery protection and James heard her call out from the pain and falter in her movement.

"She's going to get herself killed trying to save Kion from the fire." Sirius snarled worry on every inch of his face, "She's playing bloody hero."

James pounded his fist on the forward and looked at Sirius, "If she keeps moving they'll both be burnt to a crisp!" James pulled out his wand, "Merlin, is she even thinking?"

"Go stop her James!" Sirius shouted, James had never seen Sirius in such a panic about one of their recruits Sirius' face was pale as a sheet and his eyes conveyed a sort of panic that one would get if Lia was a loved family member. His altered attitude about the girl sent James into a moment of panic.

"Go!" Sirius shouted when Lia took another step and the fire burst through her protective water charm and hit her in the chest, "Merlin, James, go!"

James waved his wand on the spot and the next thing he saw in front of him was not Sirius' panicked face but a wall of fire. He turned and spotted Lia. She was a step from the coin, her face singed with black from the ashes, her green eyes prominent against he black soot. Another jet of fire whipped towards her and was heading right for her heart. Her green eyes looked up at just the right moment and she looked surprised at first, then angry to see James. The reflection in her green eyes was similar to that of a young red haired witch James loved to stare into and in that moment he didn't care that she was inches from the prize, only that a strong fire burst was heading to her and could injure her beyond repair.

James ended the simulation with one single wave of his wand, the fire disappearing the moment it touched her watery barrier. They were surrounded by normal hedges once again. James looked behind to see Kion with his wand raised towards James in disbelief. It wasn't his voice that cut the thick hair like a knife, it was hers.

"You broke the enchantment." Betrayal rang in every syllable and hit him like a stunner.

James' hands immediately went to his hair as he turned to look at the witch standing feet behind him. He felt sheepish as he stared her, relatively unharmed, despite the predicament he'd just seen her in. With any other recruit he'd have not interfered and now…

"If I hadn't have stepped in you would've both been burned to a crisp."

"She was doing just fine with her water charm." Kion snapped in and quite frankly that made James ashamed even more, when Kion the idiot was speaking up for Lia.

James argued flatly back, "But you both almost got yourself killed in a simulation. A simulation of the caverns the Ministry needs to know you will be okay in."

"but—" Lia tried to argue and James put up a hand to silence her.

"Both of you, my tent, one hour." James demanded of Kion and Lia.

"But—" Kion started.

"Enough." James felt like headache was coming on and he put his fingers on his temple, "Let's get out of this maze."

Lia and Kion sat in the healers tent quiet until Sirius entered and then Lia went to town, calling Sirius a handful on names that James was surprised Sirius let her hurl at him.

"I was fine!" she demanded, "Why didn't you stop him!"

James knew Lia was talking about him so he pretended to be really interested in the ingredients of skelegrow. Lia don't seem to have a problem talking about James even though she knew James was in the tent. Sirius seemed to be trying to calm her down, to no avail. She was furious.

"I didn't stop him because you were going to let yourself play the bloody hero again and turn yourself into a chip!" James heard Sirius hiss, "Merlin, imagine what would happen if you died. Think of the consequences. Remus…me…Hell, James even."

"I was handling it!" Lia snapped moodily, but her argument seemed to have faltered at Sirius' point.

James was surprised to hear his name in that list; he thought Lia didn't particularly like him. What were the consequences to James if Lia died? Besides having to face Remus with the impossible truth that he was a horrible Captain because he couldn't keep those dearest in his life safe from the effects of war.

Lily disagreed unhappily with Sirius, "I would've been fine, had you given me time."

"Lil—"

James whipped his head around at Sirius' sigh and stared at the pair then. He'd called her Lil again, but if she'd noticed Sirius' slip she didn't say or do anything. Lia's arms were still crossed and she was still staring defiantly at the ground. Sirius and James exchanged a look. James saw the worry flooded across Sirius' features.

James couldn't let her stay.

She was too reckless.

She was too much like Jamie.

She was too much like Lily.

She was too much for him to handle loosing.

James left the medical tent with his lips pressed into a thin line. Kion wasn't the only recruit who would be packing his bags tonight.

~~~I can fool the world~~~

Lily stood next to Kion, a change from this morning when they couldn't stand looking at each other. They were outside James' tent, preparing for their meeting with the Captain after the fire adventure in the maze. Sirius was inside with James. Lily could hear their voices through the tent flaps. Sirius sounded angry but then again, so did James.

"Thank you."

Lily turned her eyes upon Kion, who hadn't spoken to her directly since they faced each other in the flames.

"For helping me." Kion elaborated, "I'd have kept going if you hadn't noticed the flames got worse when we moved."

"S'nothing." Lily muttered, wiping her face on her sleeve, feeling uncomfortable.

"It's not nothing." Kion muttered, kicking the grass, "My burns would've been worse if you hadn't have stopped me. The Captain is right—I am an idiot."

Lily didn't dare agree with James out loud so she simply hummed and continued staring at the ground. She fingered the white sweater she'd put on, ever since the fire, the air felt surprisingly cool. The tent flap opened and Sirius welcomed them both inside with a grim expression. James stood by a desk with two letters and two quills out in plain sight. Lily met James' eyes first and she was perplexed for a moment as James' eyes analyzed her sweater.

"Nice sweater." James tried conversationally, "Are you cold?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. Sirius sighed like he couldn't believe James' lack of tact.

Lily knew what the papers were.

They were release forms.

James was releasing her and Kion.

"This is unfair." Lily demanded almost instantly and she noted James wince at her challenging tone. Apparently he'd been hoping she wouldn't fight. He was so wrong.

"You're unsuited for the rage of war," James said simply, passing her one set of the release forms, "So pack up, and go home. You're through." Kion stared at the form with teary eyes, likely ashamed of himself.

"I can do this." She pushed the form back at James who looked exasperated, "I belong here."

James thew his hands up in the air, "Why are you so determined to stay?"

"Why are you so determined to kick me out!" she fired back.

"I don't want to lose you!" James snapped back before realizing what he'd said.

Lily took a step back as James' face went red. Kion sniffed and Sirius put a hand to his forehead. Lily's chest rose and fell with each large breath she took. James bit his lip and Sirius seemed to sense the pair needed time alone. Sirius grabbed Kion's shoulder and led the young boy out of the tent with the release form. The tension inside the tent was thicker than the smokey air Lily had been breathing that morning in the fire.

"I—I didn't mean it like that…" James mumbled, "I lost my cousin the caves," James finally broke and his shoulders dropped, "She was like you, bubbly, spiteful…" he stared at the floor as if he feared looking into her eyes, "I could never live with myself if I ever had to deliver the news to Remus…the same news that I had to get about my cousin Jamie three weeks ago."

"I'm sorry about your cousin." Lily muttered sourly, "But you can't assume that just because I remind you of someone in your past—that I'll have the same fate."

"Can't I?" James finally looked up at her weakly, a soft smile flooding his stone features.

Lily swallowed and wondered for a moment if his words had double meaning. One for a cousin he loved dearly and another for a young witch he'd befriended at Hogwarts.

Either way, Lily puffed out her chest and said in a demanding tone, "I'm not going anywhere."

Feeling his eyes boring into her back as she turned, she walked out, dropping the release forms on the floor as she went. James thought she couldn't follow directions but she could. James thought she'd get herself killed. Lily knew how to survive and she could do it with or without his help.

Lily didn't know how to prove it to James though. She stalked through he tents, ignoring the stares from the other recruits. Whispers followed behind her back and she tried not to think of fighting them. She almost ran into the pole they'd been challenged to climb on their first day as she stalked away from the campsite. Sliding against the pole she felt her shoulders shake as she realized she was at her wits end. Huffing, she slid against the pole and she stared up at the small white flag dangling out of reach.

James was expected the impossible of that that day. No magic to get the white flag, just brains. Brains that Lily unquestionably had. Lily pushed off the pole and turned to stare at it, touching the wood with a new sense of urgency.

As before, Lily wrapped her arms around the pole and tried to crawl up but was ineffectively knocked down to the ground when she'd lost her footing on the back of the slick pole. Lily knew it will take her all night to figure out how to get to the stupid flag James had put up on the first day of camp but she was going to get it. None of the other boys in the camp had even bothered trying again to get the flag. The pole had stood forgotten—much like Lily.

Lily was going to prove all of them wrong.

She was not one to forget.

Lily wished there was a safe way to use her feet to climb up the pole. She'd climbed many a trees in her childhood. Normally, Lily would grab a hold of a branch to help her legs pull effectively against her weight. Sadly, the manmade pole was limb-less and had no grips for her fingers to wrap around.

Lily grabbed around the pole again, lifting herself up. Lily's foot slipped on the first attempt to climb and her feet landed still on the ground. She tried pulling her arms away from the pole in frustration when she noticed her sweater was sticking to the pole. She lifted her sleeves and ripped the fabric from its hold on the pole.

"Yes!" Lily whispered triumphantly.

Lily pulled her white sweater over her head and wrapped the left sleeve in her left hand before swinging the right sleeve around the pole. The sweater effectively pulled against the log but stayed tight against Lily's weight. She'd have to send her mother a letter, commending her knitting skills.

Taking in a breath, Lily shimmied her arms up over her head, keeping the sweater slack, and she then lifted one foot off the ground. Once she only had one foot left on the ground, Lily lifted her last foot up off the ground and grinned breathlessly as she didn't fall.

A bubble of a laugh escaped her lips and she took her first step, falling to the ground in a swift second. The fall only made Lily more determined, she sat up immediately and made her sweater tighter around the pole and wrapping her wrists for more leverage. As she shimmied her way up the pole slowly, she kept her eyes to the sky, watching the clouds roll over the moon in a way that was almost mystifying.

She thought of her parents, who had tried keeping her complacent in a life she was unhappy in. She thought of Remus, who was unhappy in a life he only wished to enjoy. She thought of Sirius, who was just trying to help her because he cared about her. She thought about James and his sad smile when they'd last spoken. She thought about James a lot; especially their times together at Hogwarts and how she wished she could turn back time and go back.

As the sun began to rise the recruits come out of their tents to see a form shimmying it's way to the top of the pole. Lily saw them pointing and shouting for each other to come look. She smiled, despite the pain in her hands from the circulation being cut off by the hold of the sweater. Lily almost to the top and she was sweating more thans he had ever sweat in her life. Every muscle in her body ached as she slowly moved her way closer to the white flag that waved in the breeze.

Below the pole the recruits are shouting and Lily hears Kion's obnoxious voice break through the crowd gathering, "You show Potter, Lupin!"

Lily was no longer doing this to prove herself to the others; she was doing it to prove to herself she was capable of anything. She didn't need her parent's approval, she was going to be a witch if she tried to hide it or not. She didn't need James' approval now because she already knew what James thought of Lily—and Lia was not going to be any different.

With one last hefty push she grabbed the white flag inches from her face and for a single moment she felt weightless.

Far below there was a cry from the boys, cheering and clapping as she maneuvered herself to sit on the top of the pole. Lily stared out at the sea of tents and trees, feeling like a queen on her throne. The recruits looked so little and insignificant beneath her as they cheered in fact, it wasn't their cheers that were making her euphoric; it was the fact that for the first time since Hogwarts—Lily felt accomplished.

A wide grin erupted on her face as she waved the flag in the air and screamed at the top of her lungs.

~~~I can fool the world~~~

In the middle of the camp asleep in his tent, James had heard the shouting, woken up to the commotion of the recruits cheering for someone. James was quickly getting dressed to check out the issue when Sirius burst through the tent flaps looking elated.

"You'll never believe this." Sirius pulled him out of the tent before James could even put on his shirt.

Once in the sunshine, Sirius pointed to the farthest side of the camp and James adjusted his glasses to get a good look. His stomach did a backflip.

James spotted Lia; she was sitting on top of the pole where he'd attached a flag on their first day. Her stomach was pale against the sky as her sweater from the night before was wrapped around her waist instead of covering her body. Her undershirt appeared to have ripped and her hair hung loosely about her face like she'd gone for a swim. The white scrap of flag fabric was in her hands as the boys cheered below for the woman they'd been so willing to throw to the fire only a night before.

"Holy shit," were the only words that could come out of James' mouth as he stared at the young witch.

"I did it!" she was screeching from the top of the pole, "I did it!"

James looked flabbergasted at Sirius, "Without magic?"

Sirius nodded, "Alex said he woke up to go to the loo and saw her shimmying her way up the pole with that sweater you so greatly complimented her on last night."

James didn't even bother hiding his flush as he stared up at the cheeky witch. Where had she come from? She was giggling from atop the pole, seeming to be on top of the world. James and Sirius walked closer, seeing that Lia wasn't alone, all the recruits stood waiting for her to come down from her dominion. Her laugh was so innocent, so memorable, that James couldn't resist his own smile.

"Sirius." James whispered to his second in command.

"Yup?" Sirius had his hands crossed and was also smiling at Lia's cheering.

"Owl Colbie." James brushed his hands on his pants, "The Scouts are ready."

Sirius grinned and slapped James on the back, "You've got it, mate." Then he laughed, "But first I'm going to make sure she gets down off that pole without killing herself."

"Good idea." James smiled at Sirius' joke.

Sirius shot him a playful wink, "Want to come? I 'spect she might fancy giving you that sweater as a souvenir."

James rolled his eyes, "I quite like it off of her as well." He said bravely, admiring the curve of her cream colored shoulders as Lia shouted down the pole to her friend Colin that she was going to just jump down.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Watch yourself Captain." Sirius jested, "Don't get too attached."

As she passed by James after getting help from her station atop the flagpole she flounced by with a wicked grin in his direction. James grinned back at her and reached out to pat her shoulder in congratulations.

"You," he paused when he saw a freckle on her right collarbone, he shook himself and finished, "You did good Lupin. You do belong here, it seems."

"Thanks." She said pleasantly.

She moved past him too fast for his eyes to completely register if it was the same freckle…but Lily Evans had a similar freckle on her collarbone and James could swear it had been in the same exact spot.

Next time:

The woman glared angrily, "Be careful, Captain. Your father may have given you this position, but I am the Minister's Council. And, oh, by the way, I got that job on my own."

James lurched forward, hand going for his wand. Lily grabbed his arm quickly, sensing trouble.

"Hey," Lily drew his attention with her calm voice, "She's not worth it."

James stared down at her, his hazel eyes struggling with something that Lily couldn't read. They were so close Lily could smell the campfire on his clothes and could see every single strand of hair that fell into his eyes. Her eyes searched his for the answer to whatever question he was thinking.

Suddenly, he tore himself from her grip and went walking off towards the fields.

Lily called out to James as he retreated, "For what it's worth, I think you're a great captain." James turned to look at her, opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, and then thought better of it.


Did you enjoy? Did you not enjoy? How's life? Do you like cookies? How's the weather where you're from? How's my story? I literally get one to no reviews for this anymore? Thanks to those of you that do leave me a review-these chapters are all for you! I'm glad you like my little story!

xxx

petals