A/N I don't own anything but the plot. (Another short chapter, I am SO sorry…)

She expected him to be shocked; she expected him to pull away, run away, never looking back, shocked and repulsed by this secret she had just told him. But Torn didn't move. He continued to hold her, and for a long moment he didn't say anything. He simply stayed still, his chest rising and falling as he drew breath. She was so close to him she could feel the beating of his heart, and she took comfort in this. At last he whispered, "What did he do to you?"

Ashelin thought this was incredibly intuitive of him. Was it something in her posture, the way she was not entirely comfortable in his arms, which gave it away? Was it that she was holding her breath, breathing shallowly only when she had to, her every muscle tense against him? She did not know. The only thing she knew is that he must never find out anything more about her. "Excuse me," she mumbled, "I have to leave." She pulled away from his embrace, turned, and ran.

She didn't expect him to run after her… or maybe she did. She didn't know. Right now all the thoughts in her head seemed to be blending together into something insane, something she couldn't even begin trying to decipher. She ran faster, and so did he. He did not reach out to try and catch her, he just ran along beside her. Clearly his intent was to follow, to let her have her time but not to let her just leave him hanging.

"Get away," she murmured just loud enough for him to hear. She didn't want to attract any unwanted attention.

"I won't," he countered. "If you didn't want me to know you wouldn't have brought it up."

She cursed herself, but didn't quite realize she was cursing aloud. Why did I was that? Why? she thought desperately, but there was no turning back now that she had begun to run.

I cannot turn back…but I can stop.

She stopped. Just like that, she stopped running and looked at him. "What do you want to know?" she asked softly.

"I want to know what he did that gave you reason to kill him," he said reasonably. "Just a simple question."

It wasn't, really, but that didn't matter now. She had to do this. She had to tell them.

"When Natasha and I went to the wasteland with Wendel, we thought we were going to get training for survival. For a while, we did, but one night we stopped at an oasis – the same one you and I went to when we were in the desert. That night, Wendel…" she gulped and closed her eyes. "….he…hurt Natasha. He beat her up, and he raped her. The next morning our weapons were gone. We didn't have anywhere to go, we didn't know the desert well enough to find water. Wendel's plan was clever – he knew where the water was, but he didn't tell us. We had to stay at the oasis, or die.

"We should've left anyway, and faced the desert on our own, but both of us were too scared. We had to stay at the oasis. Wendel kept us there, for almost two years. Sometimes he'd beat us so much I'd want to die. In the beginning, I'd cry, but after a while there are some things you learn that even tears can't fix, so there's no real point in crying.

"He'd hurt just one of us, often, and there was no telling who it would be. Sometimes he'd leave for days at a time, and come back with tons of food and beer. He'd be horribly drunk for a few days, and pass out, and leave us there, but we didn't have the nerve to leave even then. He always hid the weapons from us, too.

"Natasha and I were only thirteen years old. We were naïve, and we didn't know that much about babies and all that. But about six months after we'd started staying at the oasis, Natasha got sick. She was weak and feverish, and she'd throw up. After a while, we figured out she was pregnant. We hid it okay from Wendel –he didn't notice much. But one time in the middle of the night, Natasha woke up absolutely covered in blood and screaming. She wasn't too big yet so I figured she couldn't be in labor.

"Wendel knocked me out, and when I woke up Natasha was okay again. I don't know what he did, but whatever it was, the baby was dead and Natasha had been in labor.

"After that I found a piece of flint. It was sharp, sharp as a knife. I knew what I needed to do. The next time he was drunk and passed out…. I slit his throat…that was just before the Bahzre found us…"

Her chin trembled. Torn was afraid she would cry, and what could he do if she did? But she didn't. She blinked a few times and then finally looked at him.

"Ashelin…" he murmured. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't too good with words anyhow, but when someone had just told him the most horrible thing he had ever heard, what was he supposed to say?

"I…I'm sorry," she muttered, turning away. Her red hair – in dreds now, he noticed for the first time – blew in her face. "I shouldn't have told you that."

He reached out and touched her shoulder. "Do you trust me?"

She looked, her liquid eyes wide. "Would I have told you if I didn't?"

"No," he whispered. "I'm just wondering why you trusted me…when you hardly know me."

"I do know you, though," she said.

He shook his head. "We've only known each other for a few days. If I had a secret like that, I'd probably never have the strength to trust anyone again."

She laughed, softly and bitterly. "Trust isn't a gift, Torn. It's a curse."

"No, it isn't…. only when you trust can you heal." He looked at her for a moment before saying, "Can I hug you?"

"You didn't ask before," she said with a brief smile.

"I didn't know you this way then," he explained.

"You don't need to ask." She stepped toward him and put her arms around him.

He hugged her tightly and didn't let go, his mind still reeling from what he had learned about this strong, beautiful young woman. He had a feeling that he could not even begin to comprehend to pain she had suffered, and that there was nothing he could do to help her. Even so…why not try?

He was taken from his thoughts when she pulled away. "I should go," she said quietly.

"Let me give you a ride," he requested.

She shook her head firmly. "I'll walk."

Torn shook his head just as firmly. "Please, let me give you a ride. The Palace is halfway across the city, and its kind of cold out."

Ashelin shivered in spite of her efforts not to. "Yes… it is…After so long in the desert I'd forgotten what cold wind was like."

"Well, I'll give you a ride then… It'll only take a minute."

She followed him in silence, stunned by what she had had the nerve to tell him.