Norvina woke up to the sound of a plane. She jumped up from the panther skin and ran outside. Roman was already on his feet with the hunting knife in his hand. They both looked at the sky to see the plane fly over them.

"Please, don't be him. Please, don't be him," she mumbled. "Keep flying, please."

They watched as the plane started to land somewhere close to the plane crash.

"Shit!" She hissed.

She looked over at Roman. She didn't need to say it. He had already heard her say that name, and he knew that son of a bitch would be in that plane. Cesaro. He took off running without warning.

"Roman, no! Stop!" She yelled.

She gritted her teeth and started running to. They had to face this threat together. She kept running until an arm grabbed her. Roman was standing there, watching through some leaves at the two men studying the plane crash and the three dead bodies.

"Cesaro," she pointed at the bald man. "And his best friend Sheamus. Sheamus is a pilot. It makes sense they're both here. Fuck, I'm so doomed."

He placed a hand over her mouth and gave her a stern look before turning around and moving away soundlessly. He quickly disappeared in the sea of leaves. She tried following but she had lost track of him already.

"Roman!" She whispered.

She took another step forward and felt her foot slip on something. She let out a sound of surprise and fell. She heard footsteps run towards her and knew it wasn't Roman. Hands grabbed her and pulled her up to her feet.

"There you are," Cesaro said. "What the hell happened here?"
"We crashed," Norvina said.
"I can see that," Cesaro chuckled. "I found you again, my jewel. I will always find you no matter where you go."

Even in his weird way of trying to sound romantic, he sounded like a threat. He knew she was scared of him and didn't want him. He didn't care. He had bought her from her parents despite her being an adult and not theirs to sell.

"Shall we?" Sheamus asked.
"We shall," Cesaro grinned. "Time to go home. You missed our wedding yesterday, my jewel. I'll have to call in the priest when we get there. Don't worry, we'll still marry."

He grabbed her arm and turned to look at Sheamus. Sheamus had a look of horror in his eyes. There was a longhaired man standing behind him with a hunting knife pressed against his throat.

"Who the hell are you?" Cesaro asked.
"Cesaro," Sheamus almost whispered.
"Answer me!" Cesaro yelled.
"He doesn't speak," Norvina quickly said.
"I see you know him," Cesaro said. "What does he want?"
"He wants you to let me go," Norvina said.

Cesaro smirked and let go of her arm, but a second later he had his arm across her chest and his own knife pressed against her throat. His knife wasn't as big as Roman's but it could do the same amount of damage.

"Let my man go or I'll hurt her," Cesaro said.
"It won't work, Cesaro. He doesn't care about me like that. He doesn't even know me. He doesn't like anyone being here on his land," Norvina said.
"His land?" Cesaro laughed. "It's a fucking jungle. It doesn't belong to him. I tell you what. Once we get back, I'll fucking buy this place and send some bulldozers here to destroy everything."

Cesaro kept staring a Roman who wasn't budging at all.

"Last chance!" Cesaro snarled.
"He'll kill Sheamus," Norvina said. "Let me go, Cesaro. I know how to talk to him."
"I don't trust you," Cesaro said. "Come on. Let's go."

Cesaro started backing away with Norvina. He had no idea where to go. He just knew he had to put some distance between him and Roman.

"I know you know where the fuck to go, so take me there!" He growled in her ear.
"Okay, okay," she whispered. "Follow me."

He kept holding on to her arm while she brought him back to the cottage. She had no idea where else to take him. She knew Roman would come back soon enough, and that Sheamus was probably already dead. Roman knew this place better than anyone. She had to make sure to keep Cesaro where Roman felt at home.

"You've lived here?" Cesaro wrinkled his nose. "This place is disgusting."
"You need to leave, Cesaro. Before he gets back. He'll kill you," she said.
"Not before I kill you," he grinned. "You see, I kinda got the feeling back there that he cares about you a whole lot. Otherwise he would have let me kill you. And trust me, I would have if he had killed Sheamus. No, we need to get Sheamus and get out of here."

She shook her head. Cesaro still thought he would escape this place in one peace. Her jaw dropped at the sight of Roman suddenly walking towards them without a care in the world. The blood on him and his knife told the story of Sheamus' ending. The look on her face made Cesaro spin around. Both men raised their knives and stared at each other. Cesaro moved a hand behind him to grab Norvina but she wasn't there anymore.

"Norvina!" He growled. "Come here!"
"Fuck you!" Norvina said.

Cesaro looked over his shoulder and saw her standing there with a bow and arrow. He couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"Like you know how to use that," Cesaro said.
"Roman taught me," Norvina said.

Cesaro turned his head back around to look at Roman. Roman was smirking at her words and nodding at Cesaro.

"Do you think you can stop me before I reach her?" Cesaro asked.

Cesaro started sprinting towards Norvina. The weird, hoarse voice that suddenly filled the air around them had both of them almost freeze.

"No!" Roman screamed.

The bow and arrow was on the ground next to Norvina. She was on her knees. Cesaro had a hand in her hair to tilt her head back while his knife once again rested on her throat. A small drop of blood ran down her throat to show Roman that the skin had already been broken.

"One more step and you can roast her body tonight as your dinner," Cesaro said.
"Let her go!" Roman growled.
"I thought you said he doesn't speak," Cesaro said.
"He doesn't," Norvina said. "He didn't. Not until now."
"I knew he liked you," Cesaro smirked. "Don't you recognize him? He was all over the news several years ago. He was the guy who had an affair with his general's wife, and then he killed his entire unit when they were out on a mission. He disappeared right after. He's still missing to this day."

Norvina's lips parted slightly. Roman looked miserable all of the sudden. She knew he seemed familiar. Now she knew why. She recognized him from the news.

"You see, this man doesn't give a shit about you or anyone else. He only cares about himself," Cesaro said. "Pick up the bow and arrow."

Norvina picked up the items. Cesaro pulled her back up to stand.

"Kill him," Cesaro said coolly. "He deserves it."

Roman lowered his arms and looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. He wasn't going to fight her.

"He was cleared," Norvina said.
"What?" Cesaro asked.
"He was cleared of all charges last year. It was on the news as well, although not as big as back then. The general wanted a divorce because he found someone younger, and the wife came forward with the whole story because she wanted to hurt her husband the only way she could. By telling the world what they did. It was a setup from the start. They tricked him into believing she loved him. He was supposed to take the fall when they killed everyone for the fun of it. They wanted to be like Bonnie and Clyde. He was supposed to be staged as a suicide afterwards but he disappeared. They're both in jail. Roman's innocent," Norvina said.

Roman looked surprised to hear that. All he knew was that he was wanted for several murders he hadn't committed. He hadn't been close to civilization for years to figure out what had happened since then.

"Kill him!" Cesaro screamed. "Or I'll kill you."

Norvina raised the bow and arrow and took aim. She kept standing there, looking at the man in front of her who didn't plan on even trying to run. Tears started running down her cheeks.

"You asked me if I would make you a bow," Roman said. "It's not that I don't want to. I can't. I didn't make that one myself. It was a gift from one of the tribes here that I befriended. I sometimes do business with them in order for gifts like that. They're about half a day's walk away. They leave me alone unless they need my help. I would have gone to them soon and asked for a bow for you. You can have mine now. I want you to have it."
"For fuck sake, why are you telling me all this now?" Norvina asked.
"I haven't spoken to anyone in years. I don't speak to the tribe either. I just point at what I need. I didn't trust my own voice anymore. And it seems that I'm right. Now that I'm finally speaking to you, I'm about to die. It's okay. I won't hold it against you. Do what you need to do," Roman smiled sadly. "And know that I don't regret a single moment from our few days together."

Norvina lowered the bow and arrow, and dropped them to the ground.

"I can't," Norvina said.
"Pick them up!" Cesaro yelled.
"I can't!" Norvina yelled back.

She spun around and stared at the man she hated with all her heart.

"I will not fucking marry you!" She snarled. "So kill me, you bastard. I'm not going anywhere with you. Pathetic, little man. You are about as useful as dog shit under my shoe."

Cesaro's eyes almost turned black with how angry he looked. He tightened his grip around the knife and moved his hand forward. He hit nothing but air. Norvina had been pushed to the side by Roman who had moved as fast as he could. Cesaro's hand moved forward into nothing while Roman's hand moved into Cesaro's stomach. The knife went in, and Cesaro let out a whimper. Roman pulled his hand back and stabbed Cesaro five times before finally getting up and watching the man bleed out on the ground. He looked down at Norvina who was still sitting on the ground.

"Did they really clear me?" He asked.
"Yes," she nodded. "You can go back if you want. You won't get out of the media shit show but there's no charges pending on you."

He looked around the place where he had spent years alone.

"Did you love her?" She asked.

He moved his eyes back to her. She was slowly getting up from the ground.

"Yeah, I loved her. Or I loved the person I thought she was. A person that never existed. That was a long time ago. I haven't loved anyone for years," he said.

She nodded and stepped closer to him.

"I'll take you back," he said. "I can fly the plane. I'll take you where you need to go."
"What about you?" She asked.
"I made myself a life here. It might be lonely but I like it. I don't wanna go back," he said.

She placed a hand on his arm. He could feel she was shaking slightly.

"Do I scare you?" He asked.
"No," she answered. "Cesaro scared me. My parents scare me. The world I came from scares me."

He sighed. He could read between the lines. She was scared of what would happen when she went back without Cesaro.

"You don't have to go back to them. I can take you anywhere you want," he said.
"What if I wanna stay here?" She asked. "With you."
"Woman, you don't even know me," he said.

She stepped in front of him and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Norvina," she said. "Thank you for saving me twice now."

He chuckled, wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Hi, I'm Roman," he said.
"Hi, Roman," she smiled. "Would you mind if I stay here?"
"You might not like me in the long run," he said.
"Then you can fly me back if that's the case," she said.
"Deal," he said. "Will anyone else come looking for you?"
"No, my parents sold me to Cesaro. It was supposed to be just us at an unknown location for the wedding so I wouldn't be able to escape. That way no one could testify that I never actually said yes. And believe me, I would never have said yes no matter how hard they tried to beat that word out of me," she said.

He sighed and rested his forehead against hers. They both came from worlds that had hurt them. Worlds that had turned their backs against them. Against all odds they had found each other. She grabbed his free hands with both of hers and squeezed tightly.

"Let me stay, Roman," she said.
"As if I could ever say no to you. If I could, you would still be strapped to your seat by the plane," he said.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. In that moment everything felt peaceful to him. He stroked her over her hair and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. In that moment he knew he would be able to love again. He would love her. He could already feel it inside.

"Okay, we got work to do. We need to get those bodies far away from the camp. We need to wash my clothes too. We can't have the smell of blood around it. It'll attract predators," he said.
"I thought Cesaro was the main predator around here and you already took him down," she smirked. "My big, bad hero."
"Oh, it's like that now?" He grinned.

He leaned down and kissed her.

"Keep that thought for tomorrow. After we're done with today's work, we're gonna crash hard. Once we're rested, I'll show you tomorrow just how big I am, and how bad I can be," he said.

He ran his tongue over his teeth and grinned at her. She let out a enchanting laughter that made him feel like he was right where he was supposed to be. He felt at home with her in his arms in the middle of a jungle. Nothing could ever make him want to go back as long as she was there.