Sometimes strangers form a connection with you in minutes, which others cannot form in years. Why is that? I wonder…

"Good morning, Squall," she greeted him with an angelic smile.

"Wow, you are awake," he said, sounding a lot more excited than he would have liked to show.

"Thank you for taking such good care of me while I was asleep," she said with a slight bow of her head.

"Mention not," he said, waving it off. "How are you feeling?"

"I am doing great," she said reassuringly. "Do you think I am ready to take on Ramuh?"

Squall just facepalmed when he heard it. She burst out laughing, "The reaction on your face was priceless." Her sweet laughter echoed in their room.

Squall just looked at her without saying a word.

'Even after waking up from the sleep she still looked stunning.' His mind noted. 'Just shut up.' He yelled in his mind.

"By the way, thank you for the soup, it was very nice," she said, breaking the silence. She held up the empty container and gestured him to put it away.

He grabbed the container and noticed that all the noodles and veggies were still in it. "You don't like it?" he asked, pointing at it.

"I do so very much, it's just that my left hand felt slightly numb so I couldn't even hold the spoon properly, so I just drank the soup directly."

Squall disposed of the container and then proceeded to dispose of all empty ones he had gathered over the past few days.

"Wait, why are you disposing of them?" She asked.

"It was a good way to keep track of how many days you were asleep. Now that you are awake, we don't need them," he said with a shrug.

Before they could continue their conversation any further, they were interrupted by a visitor.

"Ah, she is finally awake," claimed Dr. K from the doorway.

"I told you the kiss would work," Dr. K playfully jabbed Squall with her elbow as she walked past him.

"What kiss?" Lunafreya gulped in anticipation. The heart rate on her monitor also spiked.

Squall facepalmed and shook his head in disbelief. "It's a joke. A bad one too."

"Oh, come on, it's all in jest. You need to smile more young man," she said, regaining her doctor tone.

"Whatever," he said, looking away.

"If only you smiled as much as you blushed..." Dr. K trailed off as both she and Lunafreya started laughing.

"I am going for a shower, bye," he bolted away before Dr. K could get another word.

"Hehehe, it is so much fun to tease him. He gets flustered so easily," she said, as she removed her stethoscope from around her neck.

After shower Squall left to do some chores as Dr. K has to do some treatment and grooming of Lunafreya.

He returned at night with a bunch of bags in his hands. He kept everything in its proper place and came to Lunafreya's bed, "How are you feeling now?"

She looked very refreshed. Her normally tied up hair was let loose and they freely fell over her shoulders.

"I feel much better, thank you," she said politely. "How are your wounds?"

"I still have trouble moving my left arm and this cast is starting to get really annoying. But other than that, I am okay."

"I am joyous to hear of your recovery."

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. They gave me some lunch in the afternoon, but I was not fond of its taste."

"I hope you like what I got," he said, as he started unpacking the food he had brought from the dinner.

"May I ask what you brought?" she requested.

"You don't have to be so formal. I got some soup, bread, roti, and curry plate," he listed.

"Oh, thank God," she exhaled. Squall just arched his eyebrow questioningly and she explained, "I don't eat meat. I find the very idea of killing an animal to sate my hunger appalling."

"Understood," he said as he took a mental note.

"You brought a lot of food. I won't be able to eat all of that," she said, looking at all the food he had placed on the table.

After what felt like a long and awkward silence, he replied, "This food is for me too."

"My humblest apologies. That was very presumptuous of me," she apologized.

"It's okay. It's no big deal. Also, you don't have to be so formal," he urged.

"My apologies, it is a habit of mine address everyone formally," she confessed.

"I see. I guess you can address me formally if that's what makes you comfortable," he proposed as he took out the foam plates, utensils, and napkins from the bag.

"It is a quite late, so I thought you must have done your dinner already," she said, still sounding guilty.

"Normally I would but I thought I should eat with you today."

"That is very kind of you," she appreciated his gesture.

"What would you like to start with?" he asked.

"Soup please."

He opened the lid and handed the container to her. She held it carefully in her left hand. It was the same soup he brought every day.

After wrestling with the plastic bag with one functioning hand, he grabbed a container of soup for himself. When he turned around, he noticed that she was still holding the soup looking at him sheepishly.

He surveyed the situation quickly and figured out why she wasn't eating. The tray attached to the bed was broken so there was no place to put the soup down.

"Let me help you," he offered.

"No, I got this," she insisted, trying to hold the container with her broken right hand and spoon in the other hand.

"Stop being so stubborn," he said with his now-famous facepalm. She kept her spoon in the container and surrendered, not entirely sure what his plan was to 'help.'

He picked up the container from her hand. "Here, I'll hold. You eat."

"Thank you," she said with a nod.

She took a spoonful of soup and blew some air on it to cool it down. As she brought the spoon closer to her mouth, he noticed that her hand was tremoring slightly. She even spilled some on her blanket.

This time he moved the container closer to her, yet the results were the same. He noticed that she was really struggling with her left hand.

"Are you right-handed?" he asked, wanting to verify his prediction. She just nodded in response.

"Figures. Besides, it will take some rehab for your motor skills to get back to normal," he said, looking at her tremors.

"It won't get any better if I don't try," she insisted as she tried again to eat. Once again, she spilled some of the soup on the blanket as her hand tremored.

"Let me help you," he offered again.

"No, I can do this," she said confidently, even though her hand was quivering.

He sighed and said with a hint of irritation in his voice, "Stop being so-"

"Stubborn?" she finished his sentence for him. "I am not being stubborn. I just don't like relying on others."

"Ya, I figured that much when I saw you take on that Titan in a one-on-one duel," he said sarcastically as he withdrew his hand, not allowing her eating like this.

"That was not the plan," she said as she pulled his hand toward her wanting to continue eating.

"What kind of princess travels without her guards?" he asked as their tug-of-war continued over a soup container.

"The one who doesn't want anyone to get hurt on her behalf," she said, trying to grab the container from him, almost spilling it all in the process.

"Asking for help is not a sign of weakness; it's a sign of trust." She let go of her grip as soon as she heard him say.

"Fine. You win. My left hand feels very numb and I can barely even hold a spoon. And on top of that my whole body hurts. There I said it," she said with resignation. "Now help me please," she whispered under her breath. Not sure Squall even heard it.

"Give me your hand," he instructed, and she obliged.

"Ego is knowing that you need help yet not asking for it." He placed the container in her hand and took the spoon, switching their roles. "It took me many years to learn that lesson."

He stirred the soup with the spoon, took a spoonful of it and raised the spoon to her mouth.

She was dumbfounded at this gesture. He was literally spoon-feeding her. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out of it.

Focused on the task at hand, as soon as she opened her mouth, he shoved the spoon in it. She swallowed quickly before coughing heavily.

"Wat..er.. Ple.. ase" she said in the middle of her cough.

He quickly got up and offered her water. Her cough subsided as she drank it.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, realizing his mistake.

"It's okay, you have nothing to apologize for," she assured him.

This time he was extra careful. He took a spoon full of soup and blew air on it to cool it before offering it to her. She accepted it slightly embarrassed at the current situation.

Once the soup was done, he feeds her main course of roti and curry. Unfortunately, this item is not something that can be eaten with a spoon easily; you have to use your hand to eat roti properly. He ripped a small piece of roti, dipped it in curry and fed her directly from his hand. She even bit his fingers accidentally a couple of times.

She felt a million different emotions as this stranger feed her patiently. Once her hunger was sated Squall changed her blanket before sitting down to eat his food. She watched him quietly and felt horrible that there was nothing she could do for him after all that he did for her.

Once the dinner was over, they sat quietly for a while. Neither of them entirely sure on what to feel or what to say. To break the awkwardness, Squall grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Together, they watched a documentary on frogs by Dr. Sania Yeagre, in total silence.

She had fallen asleep sometime during the TV show. He turned off the light and retreated to his chair.

Next Few Days

Their next few days were a blur. With each passing day, their bond grew stronger. The awkwardness between them had all but dissipated. They felt comfortable and even enjoyed each other's company. Lunafreya had even developed a new hobby of taking selfies with Squall every day.

A familial bond developed between Squall, Lunafreya, and the clinic staff was soon formed. Teasing Squall had become favorite pass time activity for Dr. K and the nursing staff, sometimes even Lunafreya joined in. They even made a game out of it called WCMSBQ (Who Can Make Squall Blush Quickest) and even kept records of who can make Squall blush in the least amount of time. The current record-holder was Dr. K with 2 seconds.

Every morning Lunafreya would write something on Squall's cast before he left for his daily chores. Ever since she recovered enough to hold a pen, it became their morning ritual. Whenever she was bored, she would often scribble on his cast. His once-white cast now filled with scribbles of hearts, flowers and many messages she had written over time. Some of those messages were:

"Come back soon."

"You are a lion."

"Take me with you."

"I am always watching over you."

"Don't keep me waiting."

"I miss you."

"Best champion ever."

"Smile more, please."

"Let me be your light."

"I am waiting for you, always."

"Even if you forget who you are, don't forget who I am."

"You are so Copper and Tellurium (Dr. K told me to write this)."

It was a joyous occasion when they finally removed the cast on Lunafreya's hand. They even had a small cake-cutting ceremony to celebrate it. Her recovery was much quicker than expected, perhaps because of her Oracle bloodline.

An unintended side effect of Squall and Lunafreya's bubbling camaraderie was their predisposition to disagreements and fights with each other. He would often call her stubborn and she would call him heartless and it would escalate from thereon. They had gained quite a reputation with their epic fights in their inner circle, with people often having to pick sides. Yet, what set them apart was their ability to reconcile, connect and care for each other in spite of their differences.

They would not be on speaking terms yet they would endlessly care for each other in their own way. Lunafreya's way of showing her concerns for him was often vocal and more direct while Squall chooses a non-verbal and extremely indirect way. The harder they fought, the more out of the way they went to seek happiness for the other.

One such instance was after one of their epic fights Lunafreya had slammed the door on Squall, not realizing that fingers of his right hand were still holding the door frame. After that accident, Squall had trouble moving his fingers to the point where he couldn't even hold a spoon properly. Lunafreya trying to mend her mistake took every opportunity to assist him with his daily chores. Despite his extreme resistance, she even spoon-fed him just like he had done for her a few days earlier. Secretly she was happy that she got a chance to somewhat repay the favor.

Their next milestone was the removal of Squall's cast. Secretly he was sad when Dr. K had to cut his cast with all the messages written by Lunafreya. The first time he was able to move his arm freely in days was truly a joyous occasion for him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get rid of the smile on his face. It was one of those rare instances where everyone saw him genuinely smile.

Cast on Lunafreya's leg was the last one to go. The first time she tried to walk, she felt like a toddler learning to walk. Squall would often hold her whenever she walked and would promptly catch her when she lost her balance. After lots of rehab, she could finally walk without any support. They would often take an evening stroll in Lestallum with Pryna and Umbra in tow. Shortly thereafter, they started going for jogging in the morning.

Finally, able to walk pain-free she would often drag Squall for shopping; it was something he hated with a passion, but he would put up with it for her sake.

In appreciation of everyone who had helped her in this recovery process, Lunafreya hosted a small party where she cooked dinner for the whole staff. She personally thanked everyone while they were enjoying their meal. Much to Squall's surprise, this runaway princess was a very good cook. The Memory Lane Pastry which she made was his favorite.

With Lunafreya's recovery complete Gentiana, whom they had not seen in days, appeared to warn them of impending danger as the Empire had set their course for Lestallum. She provided the location for Ramuh and urged them to continue their journey to the next Astral. Secretly, they both wanted to prolong their journey as much as they could, because the soon this journey ends, the sooner they would have to go their separate ways. Yet, their duty always overrode their feelings. It was time to leave Lestallum.

Notes:

The answer from the last chapter: Lank is part of Trabia Tech Squad.

Sorry, no Easter eggs in this chapter.

Please leave a comment if you've enjoyed the story so far. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks :)