The nights in Valencia were beautiful. Every time dusk approached, people would gather to observe the stars in the clear skies. Very rarely were the views obscured, so any night was an ideal time to go stargazing. On such a night, when the incandescent bodies were shining their brightest, was the same time General Rooke was on the training grounds, preparing the dummies and targets for next morning's session. He would stop every moment or two to gaze at the sky. Then his eyes would get lost staring at all of the constellations, and he'd have to focus to finish his work before time dwindled for too long.

The sound of footsteps breaking through the sand caught his attention, and the General whipped around just in time to find a figure approaching him. The moment the moonlight revealed their features, he relaxed his muscles and corrected his posture, standing up straight and holding his head high.

"Good evening, Commander Kane."

"Buona sera, General Rooke," Came the quiet reply. Kane hadn't changed out of his outfit all day, returning from a formal consultation only a few minutes ago. He observed the equipment laying before them. "I assume you're preparing for this morning's training?"

"Correct. I should be done in less than an hour, then I will be retiring for the night." He heaved a dummy over his shoulder to move it a few yards away. "-May I ask why you are out here?"

"To find you. I didn't have the chance to meet with you after my engagement with your cadets. I thought I should speak with you about my observations."

"Very well. How did they do?"

"Your remarks of them being exceedingly capable than the rest was accurate. I was more than pleased with the selected few you handed to me." He moved his arms behind his back. "However, there was an instance of a dishonest performance by one of your men. He struck a fellow cadet with full intent."

"Is that so? I can assure you, I keep a watchful eye on-"

"-I am sure you do, Rooke, and I am not implying that you don't. What I'm merely suggesting is to ensure our future soldiers are not conceited this early in the process. Nevertheless, I was very impressed with the fortitude of the wounded one. She showed exceptional skill on her feet, and a willingness to continue with the training. She appears to be very promising."

The General appeared surprised. Leaning forward, he asked, "May I ask the name of this soldier?"

Kane quickly went over various names in his head. He remembered this woman being the only one who didn't answer correctly during roll call. He had a knack for remembering such imperfections. "-Toscani."

"Ah, she has the most determination of all the incoming trainees I have seen. She was among the few I sent to you with hopes that she could impress the likes of our Supreme Commander. To hear she succeeded is an honor on my part."

"You are doing an excellent job guiding these cadets. You will not have to serve in the dill sergeant's position for long." The General hung his head low. "-I will be borrowing more as time goes on. I am having great results observing them, and there is more that I would like to see."

"I am happy to provide what I can." He tipped his hat. "Buona notte, mio padre."

"Goodnight, Rooke."

The sound of the retreating figure's footsteps was the last thing the General heard before the crickets replaced them. He stared at the spot the Commander once was before slowly returning back to his work, moving the rest of the test dummies and ensuring the targets were in place. In this time, he couldn't help but muse over Kane's words. Very rarely would someone be able to impress the Commander and manage to keep their name in his memory afterwards. He expected some admiration for their progress, but hadn't been anticipating for one to stand out in particular. Maybe he wasn't doing something wrong after all.

Valerie groaned as she touched the tip of her nose and winced at the slight pain. She had been dismissed from the rest of that day's training and spent the hours in her bunk, attempting to just breathe. At this point, she was convinced her nose was broken, which would take weeks to heal on its own. She refused to get any medical help since that would risk getting put off training. Instead, she laid herself down in her bed and held her head upright with an ice pack rested carefully on her nose. She hoped it would at least help the swelling so she could be in better shape tomorrow.

She sighed to herself in the empty room. "I hope the General lets me train tomorrow..."

The doors to the room opened and she sat upright in the bed. In came a group of fellow female cadets, the ones she recognized as the women who often gossiped in the locker rooms. Valerie frowned as she let her shoulders drop in disappointment. They scanned the room and started trotting over once they saw her resting on her bunk. She didn't bother holding back a groan as they all sat around her, peering at her curiously.

"You don't look so well, dear..." One of them commented. She rolled her eyes as another added on. "-Everyone's been talking about what happened to you. Are you alright?"

She was slightly surprised at their concern of her well-being, but answered with slight sarcasm anyway. "It's just a broken nose. I'm more than alright." She suddenly quirked her eyebrow. "How are you here, anyway? Isn't training going on?"

"General Rooke was busy helping the slow ones, so we left for a bit." The first woman giggled as she leaned forward. "We wanted to ask you about Kane. We heard you got to speak with him firsthand!"

Suddenly, she was getting bombarded with different questions from these 3 women. "What was his voice like?" "Is it true his eyes are a really pretty shade of blue?" "How tall is he?" "Did you see his sword?"

In a fit of frustration, Valerie threw her ice pack onto the floor. The women jumped in alarm. She rubbed her temples in annoyance as she sat back in the bed. It wasn't her fault Kane decided to watch her the same moment she was struck in the face! And she certainly didn't ask for him to assist her, either; that was his own choice that happened to involve her at the wrong time! If she knew he was going to defend her like that, then she would've prepared herself to get questioned so persistently. All of this was giving her an awful headache...

"If you don't mind, I'd like to have some time to rest. Some of us are looking forward to field training tomorrow, you know."

Abruptly, she turned away from them and laid on the bed. The women exchanged glances before shrugging and getting up to leave the room. Valerie waited until she heard the doors close to look up from her bunk. Finally alone again. Returning to the pillow, she shut her eyes and prepared to take a little rest. Her mind was overwhelmed with everything that had happened today. She was frustrated with herself, above all - letting herself take a blow like that, and in front of the Supreme Commander, no less! She unconsciously shivered just thinking about him and mentally scolded herself for it. So what if there was some sort of physical appeal to this man? She shouldn't let herself get carried away like those other women. He is in a position of authority over her and everyone else here. It's not like anything would happen, anyway...

Disturbed with these thoughts, and trying her hardest to deny that his blue eyes were a rather pretty shade, and that he had such an interesting accent when he spoke, she attempted to drift off to sleep. Her rest involved relentless tossing and turning, and she got only an hour's worth of sleep. When the time eventually came for everyone to rest for the night, these thoughts kept her up for hours. It was as if she was being tortured, and she hated herself for even thinking of them to begin with. She should be thinking of her father, her mother, and her friends, who are all waiting for her back at home...not of this man she met only today.

"Let me understand this correctly...you wish to participate in training, even with your injuries?"

"Yes, General. I want to work through the pain. You cannot take a week's worth of rest on the battlefield, after all."

Rooke was absolutely at a loss for words. Very few times had he witnessed a soldier unwilling to take their time off and wish to work through the pain, postponing the healing process just for a few day's worth of training. The few who insisted on something of the like didn't fend very well on the field. It would be wise of him to force Valerie to bed rest until she can perform optimally, but another part of him was...greatly curious. He could prove to Kane she was as promising as she made herself out to be if she could work through such pain without any decline in her performance.

"You may join, but if I see any physical decline from your injury, I will be sending you to bed rest." Rooke lifted his masked chin. "Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir."

With only slight reluctance, he sent her to her position on the field and watched her run off with ease. He planted his axe firmly in the sand as he rested his chin on his gloved hand. He kept his attention on everyone out there, but kept his eyes on the injured woman as much as possible. He was surprised to find that she was not at all slowed down from a broken nose - her breathing fared well enough to send her running when needed, and she didn't even have to stop to catch her breath. He made a note of this as he watched her, and tapped his fingers on his weapon in thought. He could recognize the signs of a potential soldier if they ever showed, and he was sensing quite a few coming from Toscani.

Kane might find some interest in this.

A couple of weeks passed since she got struck by a fellow cadet. Valerie felt much better since the ordeal - her nose was healing nicely, and it didn't get in the way of her exercise at all. She was personally pleased with how her progress was going. There were only 2 weeks left of their third phase, and she knew soon that everyone would be practicing for the graduation that awaited them. She had only dreamed of the fateful day she would be done with the basics, and finally be considered a true soldier once for and all. She greatly anticipated seeing her mother again. She wanted to tell her everything she has accomplished since she last saw her; to tell her of the goals in mind and how she is going to avenge her father. She could only imagine the proud look on her face. She is going to bring justice to her family. She knows it.

It comes to no surprise that her anticipation leads her to do exceedingly well. General Rooke complimented her more than he ever has as of recently, and she felt proud of herself. She didn't let it go to her head, but it assured her to know she was performing well for the direction she was heading. There was also something...sincere about the way the General praised her. As if she was impressing him personally. And for someone in such a position like his, she was more than flattered. Valerie would confess to looking up to General Rooke - he was a natural leader, and a strong one at that. She found she quite admired that in a man.

However, all of this smooth progress came to a crashing halt when she walked into the locker rooms one evening. She found the group of women from last time surrounding her locker. They were whispering among themselves rather frantically, causing her to hurry over and attempt to see what had their attention. Their heads were blocking any chance of seeing what exactly had them fussed.

"What's the meaning of this?" Valerie demanded, attempting to shoo them away. "What are you doing!?"

They looked surprised at her appearance and a few of them walked away. But the ones that remained merely smiled at her, looking between themselves. It was then she noticed that one of them was holding a piece of paper in her hands. It had a piece of tape on the top, giving her the impression that they had torn it down from somewhere. She got a sinking feeling in her gut when they looked back at her.

"You had a note stuck to your locker. We just wanted to see what it said." One of them defended coyly. She grit her teeth at such a tone - such indecency these women had to get in her business with absolutely no right...

She suddenly swiped it from their hands. They didn't fight to keep it. Once it was in her possession, she read what was written on it. It was a note from General Rooke telling her to meet outside of the barracks as soon as she was finished, and that the Supreme Commander was requesting her presence. It didn't specify where or for what purpose. Plenty of questions buzzed in her skull as she read over the words again, trying to think sensibly of why the Commander would want to see her again. Had she done something wrong?

"'Commander Kane wishes for your presence as soon as possible'." A woman quoted the note with a grin. "Sounds to me like either you're in trouble, or he has some unfinished business with you."

"Trouble? I've done nothing wrong. You shouldn't accuse me of such a thing." Valerie snapped.

She crumbled the note in her hand and pushed past those in front of her to get to her belongings. When she opened her locker, she found a piece of cloth stuffed in between her uniform. She didn't recall seeing it before. She hastily grabbed it and unfolded it, only to realize it was the handkerchief Kane lent to her a couple of weeks ago. 'That's right. It was to help stop the bleeding.' Suddenly, she felt very guilty and briefly wondered if this was the reason he wanted to see her. Did he want it back? She should've returned it when she had the opportunity. How foolish of her to just carelessly keep it with her things...

"What's that?" The woman beside her asked. She obviously got a good look at the thing. Valerie quickly shoved it in her pocket.

"Nothing! Just...a napkin I forgot to throw away."

She didn't give her the opportunity to question her anymore, as she shut her locker and strolled off. While she left, she unfolded the handkerchief in her hands and looked it over. She hadn't gotten the chance to clean it, as there were still blood stains on it. They were the only imperfections, otherwise, it was still as soft as the day she received it. As she turned it over, she found a pair of initials sewn on the bottom: K.V. She glanced up and found herself already outside of the barracks. She decided to keep the handkerchief in her pocket for now. Rounding the corner, she found General Rooke resting his back against the wall of the building, presumably waiting for her. He noticed her and stood up straight. "You got the notice! Very good."

She addressed him as she was taught, then looked at him uncertainly. "You said Commander Kane requested my presence, General Rooke..?"

"Follow me; I will lead you to where he is. "

He turned and began leading her away. She picked up her pace rather quickly to match his. She didn't want to bother the General by pestering him with questions, so she kept quiet as she followed along beside him. She found he was leading her into the elaborate building that towered over the barracks. This part was normally restricted to her and the other cadets. She was surprised as they strolled right past the soldiers guarding the entrance to walk in on such grand interior. It felt like she was wandering into the palaces of King Casimir himself! Rooke was able to guide both of them through easily, and they passed a few intricately-designed hallways before reaching their wanted destination, which was a room situated at the end of the hall with a chair placed just outside the closed door.

He motioned to it with his head. "You will sit there until the Commander calls you in. He is finishing something as we speak, but you should not be waiting for long."

She bowed her head. "Thank you, General."

He left without another word. Valerie hesitantly looked at the chair before sitting in it, tapping the side uncertainly as her eyes glanced over the hallway. There were many designs of the walls to look at, as well as paintings that surrounded her. The floor was made of marble and everything looked elegant. It was nothing she'd seen back home, though she had gotten a glance at such luxurious buildings when she once visited Sivella. She grew used to the barracks, the locker rooms, and the fields that she had been in for over a month now. It almost seemed like she forgot about the life outside of those walls, after all this time dedicating herself to training.

The door opened, ending her thoughts immediately. She jumped up in her chair as a figure walked over to her, then placed his hands behind his back patiently. Before she knew it, she was looking into the blue eyes of the Supreme Commander once again.