Thank you all for the reviews, they mean the world to me!

I thought I should explain a little about Anna's healing - When she heals, she uses her own energy to do it, and because she's not use to it, she doesn't know how to prepare herself and dig deep within herself for the power, so her body just uses whatever energy she has at the forefront of her being, leaving her weak. Like anything, she'll get used to it, but it will take time for her to reach it.

Enjoy!

Chapter 12

Curiosity

It was past 9 o'clock when Anna woke up. She'd done nothing but dream of Nuada all night, and the image of his wounded arm was the first thing on her mind.

To try to rid herself of the picture, she drew a sketch of his arm, making sure to get all the details of the cut, including the blood. She was a little disappointed by the fact that it wasn't in colour and so didn't show the pearly golden hue of the blood.

She felt the same calmness she had the first time, and felt more at ease than she had in a long time. She even tucked her hair behind her ears, which was something she never normally did.

She had felt the same closeness to Nuada as she healed him, and she had felt the urge to put her arms around him. Unfortunately, she had seen him moving his hand over hers, and her fear of touch had reasserted itself with a vengeance. She had been wary of touching him when he carried her to her room, but she hadn't had the strength to get herself to bed. She simply wasn't used to using her powers on others. She wasn't truly prepared for it and it left her drained.

When she entered the canteen, Liz and Red were there. It was unusual for Red to be there at all, as he usually had all his food delivered to his room by an agent.

Anna got her food and sat down next to a stunned looking Liz. It was the first time she'd sat next to anyone by choice.

"I've never seen you in here before," said Anna, looking at Red.

"Liz complained about me being too anti-social. Am I too anti-social?" he asked, looking intently at Anna.

"I... I don't know," Anna mumbled, looking down at her hands.

"Red, come on," Liz said, not wanting him to intimidate Anna.

"What? I want to know why I'm anti-social," he replied.

"Red, you never eat with us!" Liz said, exasperated.

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Only because I threatened you with…"

"Yeah, okay I know what you said," Red interrupted, putting his head down.

Anna quietly ate her breakfast. Part of her hoped that she would see Nuada, but he didn't appear. Perhaps her healing had left him somewhat tired as well. The truth is, she really didn't know how it could affect him. It worried her to no end that she had acted so instinctively, when she realised afterwards that she could easily have hurt him.

It had become so much of a routine for her to take a notepad to the library that she didn't even think about it after breakfast as she made her way there.

As it was, Nuada was busy training with his spear. Anna hesitated for a moment before going in. She didn't want to disturb him again, even if he wasn't fighting anyone, but she knew he would only tell her to come in anyway.

She went straight to the table and sat down. His sword and shirt were laid to one side, and Anna was momentarily tempted to touch his shirt again, but thought better of it and focused on drawing a sketch of his sword.

She tried several times to sketch it, but the angle it was lay at meant she couldn't see it in its entirety. She glanced over at Nuada to make sure he wasn't looking, then reached out and slowly picked up the sword. It was heavier than she had imagined, but not so heavy, she couldn't lift it easily. The metal was shiny and flawless, not a single scratch graced its surface. The intricate detail of the handle was truly incredible. She held it loosely in her left hand and began to draw.

Nuada was busy practicing his lunges with his lengthened spear when he noticed Anna pick up his sword. He continued to train, but kept an eye on her as she drew. The sword was incredibly sharp, and she had no idea how to handle such a weapon, judging by the way that she was holding it. He also noticed that her hair was tucked behind her ears for a change, and he could see her whole face. She had such young features. He could see her biting her lower lip as she concentrated, and it made him smirk.

Anna was just putting the finishing details to the sketch, when Nuada approached the table.

"That is not the safest way to hold the sword," he warned her.

His voice startled her, and she let the sword slip out of her hand. The blade caught the edge of her palm as it slipped, cutting her quite deeply.

Nuada rushed to her side, but she pulled herself out of the chair and backed away from him, keeping her hand against her chest, even as the blood started to roll down her arm. Nuada tried to reach for her hand again, but was stopped when he saw the same familiar green glow encompass her injured hand. It glowed for several seconds, and then receded.

Anna opened her hand and looked down at her palm. The cut was gone. All that was left was the blood on her arm, which she covered with her sleeve. She looked up at Nuada, and was surprised by his shocked look.

"I did not realise that you could heal yourself," he said, looking at her curiously.

"It's not something I can control. It's automatic," she replied.

"That is very fortunate. The cut looked deep."

"It's okay now. I'm sorry I touched your things," she said.

"I do not mind, but you must be careful. They would not be very effective weapons if they were not sharp," Nuada told her.

Anna nodded in understanding, and sat back down.

Nuada placed his spear in front of her and took up his sword. He went back to training, glancing back at Anna who was being very careful not to touch his spear as she drew a sketch of it.

"Would you like me to lengthen it?" Nuada said, spinning his sword as he came back to the table.

"If it's okay," Anna replied.

Nuada came up behind her and leaned over slightly to press a place on his spear. It immediately lengthened, causing Anna to sit back sharply in her chair, bumping her head against his stomach.

Nuada moved away from her and went back to his training.

Anna made a quick sketch of his spear, and then turned to a new page. She watched Nuada practice with his sword out of the corner of her eye. She already had plenty of drawings of him while he practiced, but she found she couldn't stop drawing him in allsorts of positions. He was truly magnificent when he trained. All his strength and agility were used to their fullest, and she never tired of sketching each individual muscle as it worked, flexing and retracting against his strong frame.

Nuada and his sister were the only Elves Anna had ever seen, but it seemed that they were all beautiful and mystical. She wondered if they had Elves of different colours and shapes, like humans were. Did they have differing hair colours and eye colours? Were they all so tall? She had so many questions. She just hoped that she would be able to ask Nuada about his people. He was after all, an outcast, so she wasn't sure if he would feel comfortable talking about his people. Only time would tell.

A/N: How was this one? I hope I'm not going too slowly or quickly for people...