~*~
"What is wrong with me?!" Leera screamed her anger and failure. She gripped the gun until her knuckles shown white on black and aimed at the target. Her arms were shaking so badly that she would have missed anyway, but the fact seemed to escape her and she shot anyway. She missed, just barely nicking the side of it. She screamed again, letting go of the gun so that her hands could form fists and pummel the cold concrete below her hands. Her fists repeated the process until her hands finally gave way and left crimson streaks on the icy ground. Two hands gently, but tightly gripped hers, stopping their mad beating tempo.
"Stop this madness, Leera. You are not helping yourself any." Sextant whispered in her ear.
"I can't! Don't you see? What good would I be as a soldier, if I can't shoot a gun? None! I'm tired and scared. And there is no reason for me to be. Help me, please?" Her voice ending in a broken whisper
"Here let me show you." Sextant stood up offering his hand to her. She took it.
Sextant put his hands over hers, positioning her hands where they should be. He ignored the hiss of pain from her. If she didn't learn she would be sent earthward, and that couldn't happen. He wouldn't let it. Her shot seemed to get better only when his hands covered hers. Other wise her hands would start to shake and she would miss.
"Storm, you have an unwillingness to shoot or kill things. You have to overcome that. You're going to have to reach inside yourself and find the spot that is pure black and bring it out. It numbs everything; you use it until you don't need it anymore. Try it." She took a shaky breath and aimed down the barrel. She reached and found the empty place inside of herself and shot. Putting a little bit of her conscience into that shot. It didn't hit dead center, but it was close enough to show that it was an improvement.
"Better, keep on doing shots like that and you'll get better. You should practice more, but it's late now, we need to go to bed." Leera glanced at the clock. It was 1:00 am.
"Thank you." He acknowledged it with a nod.
"Remember what I've told you and you'll learn." Sextant put his arm around her waist as he walked her down the hall to her barracks. She paused before opening the door. He turned and walked away, looking back to see her smile and wave to him, then walk into the room. He walked down an offshoot hall, until he reached his room. He stood in the middle of his room, in the dark. He remembered the smell of her hair and the smell of the tears wiped away. He slowly raised his hands to his mouth and licked her dried blood off of his fingers.
To you Leera, to you.