TOMMY

He's not seriously threatening me, is he? I can't tell and irritation mixes briefly with fear. He's not hurt me yet, but that little remark was a reminder that he could. And boy would Pina - well maybe not. She did basically tell us we were on our own here and while I understand that whatever is Goldar's problem with me is probably at least a small reason for that, I can't lie and say it doesn't sting just a bit. If only I knew why he hated me so much, or what the hell has gotten into Zedd right now.

While I'm trying to decide what to do, Zedd speaks again. "You did well, Thomas, but don't expect to get another shot like that."

Wait, what? From his tone of voice and what he said, it almost sounds like- "You were testing me?"

He nods. "More or less. After all, Thomas, you did need to work off your frustrations and it was a good time to see what you remembered as far as physical combat and technique was concerned. I realized that you needed to be a bit angry for it to be a fair evaluation. Otherwise, you'd have been self conscious about it and made mistakes." Oh is that right.

He thought I was mad before? Now I'm completely pissed off. "So you tricked me?!"

"Not really. I did deliberately make you madder. But really, Thomas, if you knew what I was trying to do, it wouldn't have worked. It would have defeated the whole purpose, you see?"

Oh, I see. So just because there was a good reason for it that makes it okay? And where does he get off being so calm about it too, not seeming the least bit concerned with how furious I now am. "You lied to me - again."

Zedd shakes his head in denial. "No, Thomas. I actually didn't. If you think about what I said, I never actually lied to you. You assumed you knew what I meant, though I admit that I counted on your responses."

"So you used me?"

He sighs heavily. "Fine. Since you seem so determined to cast me in the role of villain, yes, I manipulated you into reacting the way I wanted. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Not really, no. What I wanted to hear was that it was all a big mistake or I misunderstood. The more I think about it, though, the madder I get. Fists clenched at my sides, I fix him with a hard glare, willing him to feel my rage as without thinking, the words come out of my mouth. "You are such a jerk! Just when I try and be nice and give you another chance you go and screw it up again! You're an evil, manipulative, selfish jerk and I can't believe I was fantasizing about you when you're such an ass!" And I did not just say that.

Silence falls as I realize what I said and who I said it to. The stunned look on his face tells me that, yes, I did actually say it, and yes, I am now going to die of humiliation. I can't help but close my eyes in embarrassment wanting nothing more than to beat my head into a wall.

"Thomas-"

"No." I'm not exactly sure what I'm saying no to, but I don't care as all I can think of now is how I have to get away from him. My eyes snap open and I run for the garden around back of the castle. I need some space to gather my thoughts, but I can hear him behind me, calling me.

I race through the rows of plants, not really paying attention to where I'm going which is probably part of my problem as I suddenly skid to a halt, confronted by a corner in the wall that surrounds this side of the area. Great. I turn to back track, only to find Zedd coming up behind me, blocking my escape route. What do I do now?

I study his expression as he approaches and notice that while looking a little worried he for the most part seems more than slightly pleased and if I'm not wrong even a bit, what's the word…smug? Is it because he caught me or what? He stops a little more than arms length from me. I can't look him in the eye - I'm still too embarrassed.

"So you were fantasizing about me, were you?" Yes, smug is definitely the right word by his tone. I can feel my face heat up again part in anger at said tone and again mostly in embarrassment. "Well, I can't really say I blame you. After all, I am sexy, stunning, and charming. Who could help it?" Seriously now, this is what we're doing here.

I can't help the smart remark that comes at his view of himself. "Oh, and don't forget modest."

From the corner of my eye, I see him grin unrepentantly. "Oh, well, of course, we can't forget that. Without that, the whole package falls apart."

I snort in humor before he turns serious. "Look, Thomas who you fantasize about is your own business. However, I would be lying if I said that it didn't please me that you chose me."

"Why?" Wondering if I should ask or not, I can't help it as curiosity gets the better of me.

Looking a bit surprised now himself, Zedd looks like he's about to answer, but then seems to change his mind on something at the last minute. "As I told you before I'm technically a rather young male in terms of my species, probably around what you are in age for yours, and as such I'm never opposed to playing in that manner. However, as I also told you there isn't exactly a large selection of possible bed partners to play with, what with Scorpina and Dar already in a relationship with each other. Plus despite my amazing good looks, charm, sex appeal, and as we agreed, modesty, I can't say that I don't find you appealing as well."

Picking apart what he's said and snorting at his last statement, I roll my eyes realizing that his ego could very likely fill a planet all on its own. "Even when I call you a selfish, manipulative ass?"

Mouth suddenly stretching into a very wicked smile, he leans forward as if going to tell me a secret, "I like a little confrontation in my foreplay." Oh god. Straightening back up he at least loses that smirk for the moment before continuing. "Of course, this doesn't mean that I'm going to start trying to do things you don't want to do. That's not my style, especially not with ones who have already been harmed."

I can't help it - relief floods through my body. Still, honesty wins again. "I don't know that I'm ready for anything like that just yet, Zedd. Truthfully, I'm a little curious, but not curious enough to try anything."

He frowns thoughtfully for a minute, but at least this time holds off on his rather ego-filled jokes. "Let me think on that for a while. If you are truly interested in learning, perhaps I can think of something. For now, however, we'll let sleeping dogs lie. Okay?"

I nod, unsure if that's the response I was hoping for or not, but it'll do for now I guess. After all, what else am I going to do? "That's probably a good idea. So what are we going to do now?"

He sighs. "I think what we need to do is come up with a schedule together. If we set up a lesson schedule, then you won't become over frustrated about any one thing. Let's go back inside and figure it out."

As we start walking, I can't help but ask, "I know that Pina said that we were on our own now, so does that mean that she won't be taking me into the woods?"

"First of all, Thomas, that's not quite what she said. She said that I need to be your main watcher as it was my notion to bring you here, and as such I need to grow up and take responsibility for my decisions. She's not abandoning you, Thomas, it's just that whatever is bothering Dar is apparently only being made worse by her spending so much time with you, so to try and help the situation she's trying to focus a bit more on him right now until she figures out what's wrong with him. Besides, I very much doubt that she'd let me take you in the woods again after the snake thing."

"Good point." Yeah, because that was a little scary. Especially since we found out that it was dangerous. I just don't understand how he couldn't remember that it was a bad snake. "Wait - you were telling me earlier that your memory doesn't work the same way as mine and that you can recall anything you want to."

"Correct."

"So then why couldn't you remember about the snake?" I glance at him when he doesn't answer right away and find him bright red.

When his answer comes it's definitely anything but smug. "Perhaps because few things in this universe scare me like snakes."

I bite my lip, trying not to laugh. He hasn't laughed at my fears and it wouldn't be nice to laugh at his. I manage to control my humor enough to say, "So you weren't able to focus enough, right?"

"Exactly. However, since you seem to not only have no fear of them, but are interested in the animals in general, she would be the best person to take you out and teach you. When she wakes up, we'll get her input on that part of the schedule."

As I find myself wondering how long she'll sleep, there's another flash of pain in my head and once again a memory surfaces. It's of Hayley back in college. She had pulled an all-nighter helping one of the other girls study for an early morning test. Her first class that day wasn't until noon and I didn't have a class until two. I had been arguing that she should sleep and skip her class (since she only had one that day). "Tommy, trust me. You have got to wake me up at eleven. If I sleep all day, I won't be able to sleep tonight and that will throw my sleep patterns all out of whack."

The memory fades and once more I find myself kneeling on the ground gripping my head, this time with Zedd beside me. "Thomas, what happened? Are you all right?"

"A memory came back."

"Another one? Of Kat?" The tone of his last question making me frown as again I don't understand why he doesn't seem to like my friend, I in the end ignore it and shake my head slowly.

"No. Hayley this time." By now the pain is gone and I look up at Zedd. I recount the memory as his fingers coast through my hair possibly in an attempt to sooth any headache I might have. "Is it that way with your people, too?"

"Sometimes" he answers. "But Pina doesn't need to be awakened. She'll wake on her own. Right now she's taking - what do you call it? - a power nap. In a couple of hours or so, she'll wake up and still be able to rest tonight as she should. And before you ask, yes, Dar and I are the same way, but there are others of our species that are like your friend Hayley."

I think about this for a minute. "Is it because you three are warriors?"

Zedd shrugs. "Possibly. I'm not certain about them, but for me, I think so. When I was training, one had to be ready to go at a moment's notice. Sometimes we would be up for days at a time. We learned to make the most of any sleep time we had. Granted, that was many years ago, but I can still do it when I must."

I pull myself up off the ground and Zedd stands as well. "I'm okay now. It just hurts when a memory comes back."

He frowns. "When Pina wakes, we'll ask her about that too." We continue toward the castle, each of us lost in our own thoughts. We enter through the kitchen and head back toward Zedd's office. I'm slightly startled when Zedd speaks again. "By the way, when we went to my office before, you froze when you saw my staff. Why?"

I have no idea what he's talking about. "No, I didn't."

"Thomas, it doesn't matter why, I was just curious."

I step into his office and turn to face him. "Zedd, I have no idea what you're talking about. Honestly. All I did was look around the room and ask what we were starting with."

He stares at me, disbelief written clearly on his face. "Then something's not right, Thomas. You stopped dead for several minutes."

"Several minutes? That can't be right." I may be the one with the head injury, but Zedd's obviously confused. I'm about to say something else, but stop at the look on Zedd's face.

"We both can't be telling the truth unless it's some kind of side effect of your new medication."

"Well, we won't know that until we talk to Pina. It can wait until she gets up."

He looks at me like I've lost my mind. "What if -?"

"It obviously didn't hurt me. There's side effects to every medication on Earth. It'll keep until she gets up. We need to work on the schedule."