Chapter 25

As soon as she walked into the medical room, two things made her stop.

First, Ash WAS awake and eating, he was also laughing and trying to wave off the nurse with the one hand that wasn't busy shoveling food into his mouth. Second, Crow was there, sitting on the end of the bed, doing card tricks with his own Blade deck and grinning as if he didn't have a care in the world. He had plenty of cares, he was just hiding them and genuinely happy that Ash was awake.

"Beautiful!" Ash laughed when he spotted her, gesturing her to come in. "Come tell this fine nurse that I'm 100% ready to get back to it."

"Mr. Carbide…"

"And… Crow tells me you're the reason I'm still here. Says you found me last night."

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she stared at him, hardly believing he was already awake laughing and cracking jokes, not to mention eating. She walked toward him, not caring if Crow was in the room, and hugged him, being mindful of his injuries. "I'm so, so glad you're all right." Melyssa mumbled against his neck near his ear, feeling his arms wrap around her to hug her close. Pulling back, she stared into his pink eyes and touched his face gently with her hand. "You scared the hell out of me. And I did find you, but Instructor Rean and Crow are the ones who really helped us get here." She didn't bother telling Ash about how he'd rolled to cover his body with hers to protect her by the stream. Apparently, he didn't remember any of it and that was fine by her. "You should be thanking them, not me."

"The way Crow tells it, if not for you finding me in the woods, I probably would have been out there overnight and nobody would have found me until this morning."

And then he would have been damn lucky if he hadn't died or something, or been found by the enemy. As far as he was concerned, Melyssa had saved his life and until that debt was repaid according to him, he would basically be her slave. Ash pulled her down onto the bed with him, settling her in his lap, and grinned when she began protesting.

"So, when do we head out for Jurai?" He asked as if he hadn't been burnt and concussed the prior night.

"Rean said today." Crow said quietly, his eyes ghosting over Melyssa who was not even looking at him. She was staring at Ash intently.

"You're my friend…no…" Melyssa shook her head, her eyes only for Ash and she did not care what anyone, especially Crow, had to say or felt. "You're my best friend and I'm just glad you're okay."

Even with the singed arms and the knot on his head, he was still very handsome and his personality hadn't changed a bit. Melyssa had absolutely no qualms sitting sideways on his lap in the bed and rested her head gently against his chest. Just his arms, neck, and legs had gotten singed and, luckily, none of it would scar.

"And I don't know if you'll be able to come with us…" Ash immediately pressed his finger to her lips, silencing her and stopped her from what she was about to say.

Oh boy, Ash was going to be stubborn about this, she could already tell.

"Of course he will." Rean's amused tone announced his presence and when three pairs of eyes turned to him, he was dressed in his own clothes. "Our luggage, most of it," He quickly amended as he walked in. "Was recovered. It is all in the cafeteria, waiting to be reclaimed and the casualties were… not as bad as we had originally thought." He came to a stop at the side of the bed, taking in the way Melyssa was sprawled across Ash's lap. That had to suck for Crow, given the pair were apparently kissing and whatnot the night prior.

Yeah, yeah it did. And Crow had no one except himself to blame.

"By the way, before I forget again," Rean bowed to Melyssa. "Happy birthday." Then he held out his hand to Ash. "Good to see you're up, Carbide, we're going to need you."

Crow's eyes widened. Wwwwwwwwwwwwwhhatt?

"Whoa, wait, WHAT?!" Ash was now staring at Melyssa, who had crimson cheeks and her eyes were lowered. "Today is your birthday?"

Oh, did she loathe Rean Schwarzer right about now because he had just done and SAID that in front of Crow! "Y-Yeah…" Why couldn't he do that whole birthday spiel in private when they were sparring together earlier in the woods? Rean was an evil man and she cleared her throat, refusing to look at Crow. "And I wasn't PLANNING on telling anyone, especially given the situation we're in." Teal eyes shot a glare Rean's way before they immediately softened at the shock on Ash's face. "Please don't make a big deal about it."

"Fine, then tell me how old you are," Ash demanded, pulling her up further against him and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Because if you're legal, we can have some FUN, beautiful."

And now her face looked like a tomato. "Keep on dreaming, Carbide. I'm sure you'll get the message sooner or later." She patted his uninjured cheek playfully three times, making him growl. "I'm 18, all right? I'm officially a miserable adult like the rest of you."

"Hey, there's nothing miserable about me, beautiful."

She was legal. She was fricking legal and he had totally ruined any chance at anything, friendship included, because he had been kicking his own ass about defiling a minor. Crow swallowed hard and pushed himself up. "Happy birthday, Melyssa." He said quietly, proud of how even his tone was before walking out of the room. He was going to go see if any of his luggage had been recovered and maybe drown himself.

"I'll go find the doctor and see what he says about getting you out of that bed." Rean said, excusing himself as well.

Crow had a lot of nerve to wish her anything or even speak to her after what he did. Ruining her very first kiss, on her birthday…he hurt her and Melyssa would not be forgiving and forgetting anytime soon. She looked back at Ash, who had a questioning look on his face, and simply smiled back at him.

"You're right, there's absolutely nothing miserable about you." Would Rean really allow Ash to travel with them so soon after the attack? Ash seemed like he was fine, but it would take time and effort to rebuild his strength and time was against them right now. "I'm going to go retrieve my bags, and yours, and bring your stuff here, so you can sift through it and see if anything is salvageable, all right?"

"Or… you can hang out with me a little more," Ash informed her, wrapping his arms around her and squeezed tight enough to show he wasn't an invalid. He felt as fit as a fiddle and ready to go. Of course, a knock upside his head or something would probably prove him wrong and lay him out on his arrogant ass but… it was a risk he was willing to take. "I couldn't help but notice… there's some tension between you and Crow, beautiful." His playful tone was gone, concern creeping in. "Everything okay? What'd I miss while I was out?"

Just like that, the tears were back and she couldn't stop them even if her life depended on it. "No."

She shook her head slowly, clasping her hands tightly in her lap, and felt Ash hook his finger beneath her chin until watery teal met concerned pink. He was the only one she could confide in, not even Juna or Altina had the kind of connection they did. She meant what she said; Ash was her best friend, just like Crow had been once upon a time. That wasn't the case anymore since he didn't know her and she didn't really know the type of person he was these days.

"He kissed me and then called it a mistake. And it happened last night, which is why I'm crying like a baby when I should be controlling my emotions better." The sparring match with Rean didn't release all of her emotions regarding the situation, apparently. "I just need to focus on Jurai right now. Everything else can wait."

"Well yeah, it can, but it won't." Ash said reasonably, the complete opposite of Rean on this. Rean had given into her observation that they needed to be powerful going into Jurai, but Ash already knew she wasn't going to be able to shelve it. Not completely and once she and Crow were on home turf, it was likely to get a lot worse if it wasn't handled sooner rather than later. "Well, beautiful," He said slowly, knowing waiting would likely lead to the issue festering and becoming worse than what it was. Granted, nobody had ever called kissing HIM a mistake and he had never been dumb enough to say that to a woman, but he could only imagine how it felt. "Why'd he call it a mistake? Did he say why?"

"No. He just said this is wrong and it's a mistake and he needed air and he walked out. We had just gotten back from visiting you, actually, and I asked him if he'd stay with me in the same room. I didn't want to be alone." That wasn't unreasonable given what happened to them. "We started playing Blade and the next thing I know, he's kissing me…and I'm kissing him back. And then he stops it, says that, and walks out on me. And if it's because of my age, he's an asshole and he never should have kissed me in the first place." Scrubbing a hand down her tear-stained face, Melyssa wiped them away angrily and took a few deep breaths. "My first kiss and it was a mistake. Great, huh?"

Ash let out a low whistle, freeing one hand to reach back and rub his neck as he considered her. Crow had royally cocked this one up and even Ash didn't know how the other man was going to fix it. Considering how hung up Melyssa had been on Crow…yeah, he could only imagine how hurt and embarrassed she must have felt. If it was about her age…hmm. In the heat of a moment or something, sure, he could see a kiss happening, but just from playing cards…and then to backtrack.

"I'm sorry, Melyssa." He said quietly, pulling the sheet up as much as he could to begin wiping the tears off her face. "That is not how a first kiss should go."

Melyssa pulled the blanket away from her face and shrugged, hating how this affected her. "It is what it is. There's nothing I can do to change it and I have to move forward. It was a mistake and it never should have happened." Once again, Ash had caught her in a vulnerable state and managed to pry the truth out of her by being…him. "It's okay, really. I don't need to be distracted by something like a guy right now anyway. And it sounds like Instructor Rean is pulling strings to get you out of here, so you can come with us. Are you sure you'll be all right to do it?" She still had no idea how they were getting to Jurai, knowing taking a train was out of the question.

"Yeah, I'll be right as rain, don't you worry about me, beautiful." Ash said dismissively, shaking his head at her. "I don't think we'll be attacked like that again, not so soon after the first time. Another attack would mean more civilian casualties and even Ouroboros knows that would draw attention to the rocks they like hiding under." One attack, the majority of the population might think some rogue terrorists or something. Two, on the same people, eyebrows would be raised and then the manipulation thing Ouroboros specialized in was going to be harder to pull off. "I'm not planning on getting knocked in the head again, now that we know they're watching us, I'll be more alert." Gently, he moved her so she wasn't directly on his lap. "Are you going to be able to shelve things and get through this trip to Jurai?" Since that was where she and Crow had met and been friends.

"Yes." She answered without hesitation, knowing her personal feelings toward Crow would have to be put on the back burner until they returned to Leeves. "I did ask Instructor Rean one favor." When Ash just raised a brow, she cracked a sad smile. "I'm not linking up with Crow for the duration of the investigation while in Jurai. We all need to be at our best and he agreed with me. Crow and I don't have great compatibility with Combat Links and the last thing we need to do is bring the entire class down with our issues. So, Instructor Rean said I can link up with him. We didn't know if you'd be coming with us, so I think he'll have you link up with either Altina or Crow." Melyssa congratulated herself for saying Crow's name without cringing or flinching. It just proved she was a professional and would be able to move forward to help Jurai. "Jurai is my home and I will protect it anyway I can."

"I'll probably link up with Crow, he and I don't have issues." Well, not on his end, Crow may wind up having issues with him, but that was neither here nor there.

Crow was going to have to fix his own mess and Ash was friends with both Crow and Melyssa; he wasn't going to be in the center of this mess, but he wasn't going to shut either one of them out. Though… maybe he'd heckle Crow a little bit, once he was out of danger with the concussion -in case Crow thudded him- over this because it WAS hilarious, Crow's foot in mouth mistake. Crow had panicked and overreacted, badly, which was NOT usual for the man, so apparently… Crow had some issues with Melyssa, maybe even feelings for.

That was not surprising. "All right, now I'm really going to grab our stuff to see what all can be salvaged. I'll be back with yours." She leaned forward, kissing his forehead gently. "And you get some more rest. I mean it." Ash merely rolled his eyes at her as she slid out of the bed, looked back at her friend, and headed out the door to go see what had been recovered. Luckily, she had a waterproof bag, something her grandfather had bought for her before she ran away from Jurai. Of course, he'd been discreet about it…and Melyssa suddenly wondered if her family was all right.

If Jurai was being taken over by Ouroboros, were the citizens safe?