Lightning Strikes, Not Saves
Sara bit her lip in concern. There was nothing she liked about this whole situation, not one bit. She looked about herself as she ran with the others, Class VII old and new, working and fighting together. They'd made good progress already, breaking into the Black Workshop as they had. They'd already beaten back both Angelica and George, or 'Red Rossweisse' and 'Copper Georg' as they called themselves now. Like the others, Sara still held onto the hope that both could somehow be rescued, but there was nothing more to be done for them right now. There was just one thing left to do here.
Hold on Rean, Sara thought as she ran, we're coming.
The assembled Class VII tore through a torrent of monsters and aberrations as they advanced through the facility. Sara was silently proud of her former students. They'd all come such a long way. She was also proud of Rean's own students. Though the youngest and least experienced among them, they fought with a skill and tenacity that was reminiscent of her students' early days at Thors Academy.
The group reached a wide open platform, suspended in place by great beams and wires. The void below the walkway descended down far below until it vanished into darkness. An ominous silence gripped the group as they all caught sight of something ahead.
A lone figure was before them, advancing slowly from the other end of the walkway.
There he was. Rean Scharwzer. Sara had to resist the urge to rub at her eyes. He was markedly different to how she'd always known him. His hair, usually a mess of spiky black was now a shock of pure white. Even from a distance, his eye's shone out an otherworldly colour, a vibrant and malevolent red. The most shocking thing about him was the purple-black aura that emanated him, the miasma of the curse that had a hold over him. It broke Sara's heart to see him so.
"Instructor." Altina breathed.
"Damn it." Ash snarled.
"Rean …" Alisa began but couldn't continue.
"So, what's the plan here?" Machias asked the group at large, his gun held reluctantly at the ready. "From the looks of him, he won't want to come with us willingly."
"We have to try!" Elliot gripped his staff tighter. "He'd do the same for any of us!"
"Sure, but how?" Gaius asked.
"We need to try and reach him." Emma narrowed her gaze. "His soul is still in him, I'm certain of it. We just need to be able to reach him, get the true Rean to hear us."
"Easier said than done." Fie murmured.
"We can reach him." Juna declared. Her determination steadfast in her eyes as she looked to her peers in the new Class VII. "Together."
"Sure, what's a demon possessed Ashen Chevalier got against us?" Ash asked, nearly a quip but Sara had her doubts.
"You sure you can do this?" Sara asked, biting her lip. "I don't think it'll be easy."
"We have to try." Kurt had his twin swords gripped tight. "We owe him that much at least."
"We can do it." The look of resolve in Juna's eyes reminded Sara of Rean himself.
"Alright, go give him hell, kids." Sara smirked.
Before anyone could move, a sudden smashing of glass and metal filled the air. All eyes turned to see a horde of monsters and aberrations surging from the passage behind them. The giant test tubes they'd passed to get to this point were breaking open, revealing yet more enemies, scurrying over the metal walkway.
Jusis scoffed, bringing his sword ready to bear. "So, they think they can cut us off do they? I'd like to see them try."
"Well, they're certainly attempting to do just that." Laura moved alongside the Albarea son, unsheathing her own sword. "Let us show them the error of their ways."
Alisa turned to the new Class VII. "You go get Rean. We'll all buy you some time."
"We will." Juna nodded.
"Stay safe everyone!" Musse called out.
"Same to you!" Emma replied.
With that, there was no more to be said. Rean's students turned to face down their teacher. Sara watched them go for a moment before drawing her own weapons and turning to face down the massing horde.
"Alright Class VII of old, show me what you've all learned these past few years." Sara muttered with a smirk.
"With pleasure, Instructor." Laura found a smirk of her own.
"We won't let you down." Elliot declared.
Taking a deep breath, Sara gripped her sword tight as she readied herself for the fight to come. With cries from some, steely silence from others, Class VII jumped into the fray.
Nary a word was said between them, yet Sara's former students worked in tandem flawlessly. When Jusis left his flank open to attack by finishing off one beast, Laura was there to guard him from danger. When Alisa strayed too close to the front, Elliot would cast an art to stun her would be attacker before Alisa swivelled her bow's sights down onto their foe. The graduates of Class VII had an innate understanding of the battlefield and of each other, assisting each other in claiming the kill as much as covering for each other's shortcomings.
Yet Sara was just as much in sync as the rest of them. The former instructor drove a quick volley of bullets straight through the head of a beast that had crept up on Emma. The witch nodded her thanks wordlessly and returned her attention to cursing the enemy, stopping a fresh wave in their tracks just long enough for Fie and Gaius to cut them down. A blast echoed out from Sara's other side and she swivelled her head to see Machias' smoking rifle and the dead form of a monster mere feet from the Bracer.
Sara was so proud of each and every one of her former students.
"Instructor!"
The sudden shout dragged Sara's attention away from the monsters she was fighting. Juna was there, splayed back on the ground, trying her best to scurry away from the ominous figure that was her Instructor, looming over her. Rean strode forward with menace, his tachi gripped tight in his hand. The sword was raised to strike down. The rest of the new Class VII were nowhere near enough, though they were clearly trying to reach Juna, none of them would make it in time.
"You got this." Sara muttered to no one in particular.
"Huh?" Elliot's surprised gasp reached her ears before Sara knelt to a crouch, summoning her energy. With a grunt of effort, the Purple Lightning leapt into action, the vestiges of crackling energy emanating from her movement in purple sparks.
A shrill clash of steel on steel drew everyone's attention.
"Now, now, Rean. That's no way to treat your own students." Sara smirked, breathing heavily. Her sword held fast above Juna, preventing Rean's attack from reaching her.
Rean's head turned slowly to glare at Sara. It was a terrifying expression that drove daggers into Sara's heart.
"Instructor Sara?" Juna peered up at her from her prone position.
"Get moving kid." Sara muttered to Juna, not taking her eyes off of Rean. "I'll take over here."
"Instructor …" Juna began before rolling out from under the two Instructor's crossed swords and jumping up to the side and out of immediate danger. She was almost immediately pulled into a fight with Kurt against a host of beasts.
"You dare …" The noise that came out Rean's mouth was dark and unsettling, menacing and malignant. It was not the voice Sara knew.
Sara gazed into Rean's glowing red eyes for a long mournful moment. Their shape was so familiar, but the hue and hate that had taken them over was so alien and oh so wrong on his face. Rean's hair was a shock of white, and a strange, ethereal miasma seemed to emanate from him, as though the evil that had taken hold of him was steaming off. But Sara knew that was far from the case.
"It's ok, Rean, I get it. Sometimes you just want to murder your students." Sara somehow summoned a smirk again.
Rean's only response was to growl, a deep crackle of threat.
"Honestly, there were plenty of times I wanted to kill both Machias and Jusis that first year." Sara almost chuckled. "They just drove me round the bend most days. What with their constant bicker-"
Rean suddenly lurched forward, an animalistic growl on his lips as he struck out towards her.
Sara swore under her breath as she blocked the sudden attack. She had nary a moment to respond before another attack came, then another and another.
"Come on, Rean." Sara muttered through gritted teeth. "Snap out of it, will you?"
"Die!" The beast that had a hold on Rean snarled.
This was bad, Sara was doing her best to dodge and block everything Rean was throwing at her, but it flew in the face of all of her instincts. She was the Purple Lightning, after all. Lightning only knew how to attack, not defend. But she couldn't get on the front foot, not for a lack of skill, but for fear of hurting her prized student.
"You're making this pretty difficult you know, Mister!" Sara growled.
Rean's attacks only grew more vicious and frenzied. This wasn't the young man she'd taught and trained. There was so much bloodlust in those glowing red eyes where there should have been compassion and caring.
"Come back to us, Rean!" Sara pleaded. "I know you're still in there. We still need you!"
Rean didn't say a word in response. He strode forward towards Sara, hate blazing in his crimson eyes. Sword held so tight with some unnatural rage that it was almost trembling uncontrollably in his grasp.
"I still need you."
Rean raised his sword, hilt to his chest, point poised and ready to thrust forward.
Sara swallowed the stale lump in her throat. "You're stronger than this, Rean. You can fight it!"
A twitch. One of Rean's evil eyes faltered, but for a moment. Then, the evil focus was back in full and Sara wasn't certain whether she'd merely imagined it or not.
"You're in my way!" The thing that had a hold on Rean growled. It was Rean's voice, but there was an alien tone to it that Sara didn't recognise, something primal and malevolent.
"The only thing in your way is your self-doubt, your lack of confidence." Sara had no idea how she managed to keep her voice even. "You're stronger than you know. Fight it, Rean! Fight it!"
"Stop that!" The evil snarled.
"Why? Because you know that I'm right?" Sara demanded, emboldened by the evil's faltering. "Look around you, Rean. See everyone here? They're all here for you."
Rean's eyes flickered to the surrounding battle for a moment.
"Alisa, Jusis, Fie, Laura, Elliot, Gaius, everyone, your own students, everyone's here, to get you, Rean!" Sara cried. "We all believe in you, Rean! We all love you."
One of Rean's hand's went to his forehead hesitantly, his expression torn between that pure anger and confusion.
"I love you." Sara swallowed thickly.
Rean's eye's widened a fraction. A spark of something. Recognition? The last ember of what Sara knew to be Rean?
"You … You … You are nothing!" Rean spat, the evil held fast to its host. "You will die, just like the others!"
Sara had to remind herself that the being that cursed her so wasn't Rean, not really. Even so, his words still drove daggers into her heart. But there was still a chance, even now. He had to be in there still, he just had to. Sara couldn't even think of the alternative.
"You think?" Sara murmured, forcing a smirk she didn't at all feel. "Well, come on then …"
Sara took a few steps back, ignoring the screaming voice that surely belonged to reason or logic in her head. Fixated on the look of confusion and hatred waring together in Rean's face, she put her arms out to the sides and dropped her sword and pistol. They fell to the ground with a clatter, now useless.
"We've come so far together, Rean." Sara swallowed, her mouth dry as ash. "I can't do anymore for you. It's up to you to meet me halfway now."
The scowl in Rean's eyes flickered.
"Instructor!" A call. From Juna, it sounded like.
Sara wasn't sure if it was meant as an appeal to Rean or a warning to her. Either way, it mattered not. The die was cast.
"I know you can do this, Rean. Come back to me, please." Sara pleaded.
Breathing heavily, as though he'd run a marathon, Rean lifted his blade to eye level. Sara's back straightened involuntarily. Every instinct she had was telling her to run, to dive for her weapons, anything but this!
Every instinct but one.
With an almighty cry, Rean surged forward, his blade thrusting out towards its target.
Sara slammed her eyes shut, not daring to look upon that face filled with so much hatred in her final moments. It was a face that should have been smiling. It hurt her deeply to see it in anguish.
There was a shout from far off, Sara barely registered it. She had no idea where it came from, or who made it.
A shock of pain suddenly ripped through her. Sara gasped, the motion of it shaking her. Momentum collided with her, knocking her back another few paces.
The Bracer opened her eyes. Rean was so close to her now, almost pressed into her. His deep, ragged breathing so very audible now. Even over the staccato sounds of combat all around them.
Sara lowered her gaze, her eyes almost flying wide open with shock as she saw his blade protruding from her. She swallowed thickly as she took in the alien sight.
But the blade tip had gone through her arm, not her heart.
Sara dragged her gaze away from the bloodied blade that had shorn clean through her upper arm to look into Rean's face. A cacophony of emotions was warring for control there. All the hatred and the anger and the evil were still there, but now it was all vying for Rean's soul against all the goodness within. Sara was certain of it.
With her free arm, Sara threw a hand to the back of Rean's head, gripping onto his strange white hair tight, keeping their faces together as she glared into him. "Fight it, Rean!" She growled. "You can do this! Come back to me!"
Rean stared into her eyes, his expression changing every instant, it was impossible to keep a track over who or what was in control.
"You've got this, Rean." Sara grimaced a little as she moved her other arm as well to hold onto her former student. She ignored the fierce shocks of pain that whipped through her. "And I've got you. I'm not letting you go, not now."
"S … Sara …" A ragged gasp from Rean or the beast within.
"Finally remembered my name, have you?" Sara teased. "Took you long enough."
"I …" Rean broke off into a wordless growl, seizing his head with his hand. The other still griped the sword piercing Sara's flesh.
"I'm right here, Rean." Sara murmured soothingly. "You're not alone anymore. Hell, you never were. Come on, shake this thing off. You can do it, I know you can."
"I … can't …"
"Bullshit!" Sara swore with a hard glare. "You're no quitter, Rean! I didn't train you to be one! You can fight off this thing!"
Rean only responded by lifting his gaze back up to meet hers. Through all the hate and conflict still there, pain now shone bright in his weary eyes.
"Come on, Rean. We need you back here, with us." Sara caressed his cheek lovingly. Aidios, he felt so cold to the touch, like a corpse. "I can't do this without you. So don't you dare give up on us."
Rean was growling, mumbling something far too removed to be any words. He shook his head vigorously. Then, with a sudden shout, he hauled the sword back. Sara nearly screamed with the pain that lanced through her. She barely had any time to react further, Rean was moving once more. He lashed out, casting out his sword's blade in a wide arc.
Sara flinched, but no steel kissed across her.
A loud thud. A shake to the platform they stood upon. Sara looked down. The fallen form of a monster lay sprawling to the side of them.
Sara looked up into Rean's eyes. The red was still there, but the soul inside, was not the evil she'd seen before.
"Rean?" Sara chanced.
Rean gave an almighty cry. A light burst into life all of a sudden. Sara turned her face away to shield her eyes from the shining. A shrill peel of something took hold of the air around them, something ethereal almost.
The sensations passed almost as soon as they began. Sara carefully opened her eyes to the scene, wary of what they might find.
Rean had fallen back, lying sprawled on the floor, seemingly unconscious.
"Rean!" Sara rushed to his side. She immediately searched for a pulse, fearing the worst. She found it, and let out the breath she'd been holding onto.
"Sara!"
Almost too afraid to take her eyes from her fallen student, lest he vanish, Sara whipped her gaze around. Laura was there nearby, fighting off a pair of beasts singlehandedly. The blue haired swordswoman threw her former instructor a brief glance.
"We need to leave!" Laura ground out of her grimace. "We're at risk of being overrun!"
Glancing round at the state of things, Sara nodded in agreement. Laura's assessment was sound as always. Everyone was engaged in battle, fighting desperately just to stay alive. There seemed to be no end to the hordes.
Sara turned back to Rean, leaning down to pick him up. She ignored the pain that shredded through her arm as she lifted him from the floor. It wasn't the easiest task, one that would probably been better suited to Gaius, Machias or Ash maybe, but each was already locked in the fighting themselves, and Rean was Sara's to carry.
Sara staggered over towards Laura with Rean hauled over her shoulder. "Lead the way."
xxx
A void. That was the only word for it. An endless expanse of grey, or was it black? He could hardly tell. There was no form, no landmark to any of it, whatever it was.
It was too tiring to think of. Aidios, it was all just too much. Better to close his eyes and just let sleep wash over him. Yes, that would be best, he thought.
"Come on, Rean." A voice from so very far away muttered, or maybe it was a shout? "Don't give up. We're nearly there."
But I'm too tired.
"We're going to get you out of here." The voice continued, strangely determined.
You are?
A spark of something, light almost, far off in the distance. It was hazy but there.
"Don't give up on us."
A new sensation – warmth – followed. He struggled to describe it beyond that, if only he wasn't so tired. It was coming to him from a distance. It was strangely comforting, it felt right. How could that be?
"We're not giving up on you, not now."
The sensation ebbed for a moment, pulsing. Then it faded, slowly. He tried to cling onto it, but he didn't know how. He didn't know where it had come from.
Don't go, he pleaded.
"We're not leaving you, Rean." A new sound, like the voice gasping in a ragged breath. "You'd have to kill us to keep us away now."
I don't want to do that.
"But you have to fight it, Rean." The voice grew hard with scales. "You have to break free."
Tell me how.
"We're waiting for you." The voice grew quieter, more distant.
He searched endlessly, but couldn't find a way out.
Tell me how, please!
"I know you can do it."
Help me!
Another feeling of warmth. He latched onto it, chased after it, terrified of letting it go.
"I'll be waiting for you … I promise." The voice soothed him somehow.
The warmth and the light grew bolder. They merged into one, one beacon to follow.
I'm coming …
Rean Schwarzer clung onto that promise as he chased after the light and the warmth.
xxx
Rean opened his eyes slowly. He breathed in deep the warm, fresh air. It felt like years had passed since he'd last tasted such freshness. Blinking, Rean looked about himself. He didn't recognise the room, or the bed he was lying in. It was a bedroom of some kind, charming, rustic, but unfamiliar.
"Instructor?" A small, quiet voice called out in the calm.
Rean looked to the side He was almost shocked to see Altina there, sat in a chair by his bedside. She looked like she'd just woken up herself.
"Instructor Rean!"
"Altina?" Rean began, sitting up slightly before being knocked back down onto the bed as the girl tackled him into a hasty hug.
"Oh Instructor, I was so worried. We all were." Altina murmured into his chest, clinging onto him as though terrified he'd fade away.
"Hey, Altina, it's alright." Rean attempted to soothe his student. "I'm alright."
The white haired girl pulled her head back to gaze up at Rean with concerned eyes. "Are you certain, Instructor? You've been unconscious for days."
"Days?" Rean rubbed at his head. He felt a bit tired and maybe a bit stiff, but nothing else out of the ordinary. "Was I really gone that long?"
Altina nodded. "It's been a little over three days since we brought you here."
Rean glanced around the room. "I've been meaning to ask, where is 'here' exactly?"
"The village of Eryn, in the Isthmia Great Forest." Altina supplied, almost mechanically so.
"Eryn?" Rean furrowed his brow. "I've never heard of it."
"It's the home of the witches of the Hexen Clan, including your former classmate, Emma Millstein."
"Wait, Emma? Emma's here?"
"Yes." Altina nodded. "As are all of Class VII."
"Everyone?" Rean couldn't help the smile that grew fast on his face. He made to stand.
"Instructor!" Altina warned, holding her hands out as though he were about to topple on top of her. "Instructor, are you sure you're well enough to move?"
"I'll be fine, Altina." Rean gave her a reassuring smile, though that concern still stood on her features. "I've been lying in bed for three days now, your words, I could use a stretch."
Altina looked like she wanted to argue, but clearly decided against it.
"Instructor!"
The cry from the doorway brought both Rean's and Altina's attention to bear. Juna was there, with the rest of his student's right behind her, each wearing expressions of relief, Kurt, Musse, even the ever stubborn Ash.
"Hi guys." Rean smiled even wider. "Aidios, it's good to see you all again."
"We weren't sure if we'd ever get that pleasure again." Musse elicited a sly smile, driving her gaze up and down Rean appreciatively.
Rean belatedly realised he was shirtless and quickly made to don a shirt.
"Urgh, really Musse?" Juna moaned. "Now, of all times?"
The green haired girl merely shrugged with a look of feigned innocence.
"It's good to have you back, Instructor." Kurt smiled. "We were so worried."
"Even Ash was scared." Juna smirked.
The blond boy scoffed. "You're over exaggerating."
Rean smiled, it was almost like old times, his student's chatting and bickering just like they would in class. "Well, I'm not sure how you all managed it, but thank you for getting me out of there."
"Wait, don't you remember what happened?" Juna looked to Rean with concern.
"Not really. I only really remember being locked in my cell for … Aidios knows how long. The rest is just flashes, it's all blurry really. Honestly, I mostly just remember all the anger I felt, it was … like it was consuming me. Whatever you did to knock that out of me, I'm glad it worked."
Juna looked to the others for a moment before regarding Rean again, each of his students seemed unsure. "Well … we didn't get you out ourselves. I mean, we had help from your old classmates."
"Without them, I doubt you'd be standing here right now." Ash added.
"Yeah." Juna nodded. "To be honest, if there's any one person you should be thanking, it should be your old Instructor."
"Sara?" Rean asked. A flash of something, Sara standing before him, her face twisted in pain as she pleaded with him. Then the moment was gone as soon as it had come. "Sara was there too?"
"Yes, everyone was." Kurt smiled. "It was a bit hectic, but from what we can tell, Sara managed to get through to you somehow."
"Not before she stopped you from slicing this one in two that is." Ash muttered, nudging Juna with his elbow. "Nice going, Schwarzer."
"Ash!" Juna rounded on him.
"What?" Rean blinked.
"Instructor, it's ok, we know it wasn't really you in control then." Juna offered a smile.
"Wait a minute, are you saying … that I hurt you?" Rean asked Juna cautiously.
"No! No, that's not what happened!" Juna waved her hands in front of herself in protest. "You didn't hurt me at all, Instructor."
"Only because Sara got in the way in time." Ash input to the side. "You'd be a killer otherwise."
"Ash! I swear to Aidios, I'll kill you if you don't shut up!" Juna growled.
"Aidios, I'm so sorry Juna." Rean put a hand to his face, appalled of his actions. "I should never have lost control in the first place." Then he pulled her into a tight hug.
"In- Instructor Rean?" Juna managed to blurt out. "It's ok, really. I don't blame you at all."
Rean pulled back, Juna's face was more than a little flustered. "Still, you should never have been put in that position. I'm so sorry, Juna."
"It's fine, really." Juna smiled. "We're just glad you're safe now, Instructor."
"She's right." Kurt added. "We were all worried sick about what you were going through. It's good to have you back with us again, Instructor."
Rean pulled back from Juna to look at Kurt and the others. All of them were genuinely pleased to see him safe and sound, even Ash, in his taciturn way. Rean didn't know what to say. He just smiled his thanks, knowing full well that it could never be enough, but it was a start.
The door behind Ash opened once more and all eyes turned to see Elliot and Gaius peeking through the doorway. Their expressions both lit up when they caught sight of their old classmate.
"Rean!" Elliot smiled wide. "You're awake, thank Aidios."
"Glad to have you back, Rean." Gaius nodded.
"It's great to be back." Rean swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. "It's so good to see you guys again."
"I guess the hair is a new feature then?" Elliot ventured with a bit of a nervous smile.
"What?" Rean blinked.
Kurt made a motion towards his head. "Your, erm, hair seems to have changed a bit, Instructor."
Cautiously, Rean reached up to grasp a lock of his fringe between finger and thumb and pulled it into his eyeliner. He was surprised to find snowy white strands where a uniform black should have been.
"Right …" Rean murmured. "Well, I guess that's new."
"It's alright, Instructor, it actually looks good on you." Musse offered with a coy smile.
Rean wasn't sure if he was reassured by that or not.
"Come on, we'd better go show you to everyone else. Aidios knows they'd kill us if we didn't tell them the moment you woke up." Gaius smirked.
Rean chuckled and made to follow. Warm hugs were shared with Elliot and Gaius before he followed them out of the rustic house and into the shining daylight.
As Altina had said, they were in a charming village nestled deep within the forest. Rean had never seen the like. He didn't have much of a chance to admire the scenery before he was swamped by his former classmates. He was almost overcome with emotion seeing them all again.
There was one person in particular who was missing however.
Rean narrowed his eyes as he looked about for Sara. His former instructor was nowhere to be seen. No one seemed to be sure where she was.
When Rean spotted the village had its own tavern however, he was sure he had a good idea where she'd gone to. He extradited himself from the throng of his friends and students and made his way over to the charming, rustic building. The words 'Lux Lunae' were inscribed on a plaque above the door. Rean entered inside and looked around.
Sure enough, Sara was there, sat at a table in the corner of the room, on her own. It was really her. When had he last laid eyes on her? It felt like such a long time ago now. Had it been years? No, it was surely only a few days or weeks at most, she was just as beautiful as he remembered after all.
"Instructor Sara." Rean smiled warm and true as he moved over towards her. Sara looked up with a bit of a jump as she was startled out of her thoughts. Her eyes focussed on Rean and she blinked a few times before her lips settled into a smile.
"Damn, you're really up." Sara murmured before standing before him. "Almost didn't believe my eyes for a moment there."
Rean wasn't all too sure what to say. "It's really me." He spread his arms out a little as if to present himself. "In the flesh."
"It's so good to see you again, and you're looking good to say you've been comatose for days." Sara smiled and cast her gaze about him once more, slowly taking him in. "I take it the eyes and the hair are here to stay then?"
Rean blinked. "Oh, yeah, I guess they are- Wait, eyes?"
"Has no one told you yet?" Sara bit back a grimace, as though she'd just stumbled into a grave faux pas. "Whoops! Guess I let the cat out of the bag." She chuckled a little awkwardly.
"What about my eyes?"
"Well, they're a bit … well, red."
"Oh … right." Rean wasn't sure what to make of that.
"It's not a bad look actually." Sara offered with a smirk. "It gives you something of a serious look, a bit dark and broody. Some girls go for that sort of thing, you know."
Rean chuckled and rubbed at the back of his neck with something of an awkward smile. "Thanks. Well, maybe they'll wear off eventually, but … well I don't know."
Sara's smile twanged a little. "Well, it doesn't matter either way. You're back with us. That's all that matters."
"Yeah." Rean smiled warm. "I hear I have you to thank for that."
The Bracer's eyes widened a tad as her cheeks pinked ever so slightly. "Oh, well, it was a team effort, of course. I had just as much of a role to play as everyone else did really." She chuckled softly. "You know, if anyone's due special commendations, it should be your own students. They really pulled through for you there. You should be proud of them."
"Oh, believe me, I am." Rean smiled. "They've come on such a long way already, all of them."
Sara smirked. "That sure sounds familiar."
Rean ghosted a chuckle before turning a smirk of his own back at her. "Anyway, don't change the subject. From what Juna and the others have been telling me, it was you who managed to break through to me somehow."
Sara chuckled herself, if only very faintly. "Well, I wouldn't go that far. I may have given you some choice words." She murmured, almost cryptically.
Rean was tempted to ask just what sort of words she'd used, but there was something about the look in her eyes that told him that she didn't want to go down that line of questioning. Rean put his curiosity to the side, for now at least.
"Juna told me how I'd almost … how I nearly hurt her." Rean grimaced. Just thinking about it was uncomfortable. "She said you stopped me?"
"Ah." Sara half dropped her gaze a little. "Well, yeah, that might have been me." She quirked a small smile. "I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."
"Thank you for doing that. I'd ever have forgiven myself if I'd have hurt her, or anyone else."
"You don't need to thank me for that, Rean." Sara shook her head with a murmur. "We all know that it wasn't really you at the wheel back then. No one blames you for anything."
"Still, I appreciate it." Rean smiled. "That and for getting me back."
"Well, what are friends for?" Sara smirked. "But I didn't really do that much, truth be told. In the end, it was you who managed to pull yourself out of whatever funk you were in."
"That's not the way I hear it." Rean smiled with a slight shake of his head. "Well, whatever you said, however you did it, thank you."
Sara smiled bashfully for a moment before her brow furrowed. "Wait a minute, 'you hear'? You mean you don't actually remember what happened yourself?" Sara asked carefully.
"Not really." Rean rubbed at the back of his neck. "I remember flashes, but hardly anything concrete, mainly being locked up in a cell somewhere and all the … the anger." A dark look crossed his good natured features for a moment before he shook it off. He turned a smile to his former Instructor. "Did I miss anything important?"
Sara was silent for a moment, as she considered, chewing her lip.
"Well, only that we got you out." Sara's lips quirked a little. "That's the most important thing."
"And I'll always be thankful to you all for that. I don't know how I could have gone on much longer if you hadn't. I'm not even sure how I managed to last as long as I did." Rean chuckled more than a little ruefully.
"There you go again, Rean." Sara rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Always selling yourself short. You should know better than that by now, you're far stronger than you give yourself credit for."
Rean knew somehow, deep down that he had been on the brink of losing everything he was while locked away, he was sure of it. He decided not to refute Sara's point though. If nothing else, he didn't want to spoil this reunion by arguing.
His eyes drifted over Sara once more, drinking her in: Her smile, her vibrant pink ponytail, that playful look in her warm eyes. All of it was like a wonderful, familiar memory. One detail however nagged at him, gnawing at the edges of his mind until Rean could pinpoint what it was.
"Your arm." Rean's eyes widened as he motioned to the bandage wrapped around Sara's bicep. He almost reached out to touch but caught himself before he inadvertently hurt her. "What happened?"
"Oh, this?" Sara glanced at her wounded arm with nary concern. She waved off Rean's. "It's nothing to worry about. Just got a little banged up is all. I'm right as rain." She flashed him a confident smile.
That didn't sit right with Rean at all. He knew Sara to be an elite fighter. He'd never even known her to get injured, ever. Now she'd done so just to help him. A wave of guilt crashed into him.
"I'm sorry. This is my fault, isn't it?" Rean grimaced.
"No Rean, it isn't." Sara immediately sought to assuage him.
"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to put yourself at risk for my sake."
"Rean, stop it." Sara commanded with steel in her voice and eyes, immediately forcing her former student to cease remonstrating. "This was my fault, my choice. Don't beat yourself up for every little thing like this. What matters, is that we got you out of there, you and everyone else got to come home safe and sound."
"Still, you put yourself in harm's way just for me-"
"And I'll do it again." Sara countered before Rean could continue. "We're at war, Rean. You can't fight it all on your own." She smirked. "Like it or not, we're fighting this thing together, you, me and everyone else out there." She pointed out towards the village beyond the tavern walls. "That means we fight it together. You've got our backs, and we've got yours. Understood?"
Rean sighed with a smile, knowing full well that she was right. "Understood."
"Understood …?" Sara began with a pointed look.
"Understood, Instructor." Rean finished with a growing smile.
"Good boy." Sara winked with a smirk. "I'm sure glad you accepted that so quickly. I'm not above beating up my former students, you know, even if they have just come out of a coma."
Rean laughed before his gaze settled back on Sara with a small, genuine smile. "Aidios, I'm glad to be back here, with you."
Sara smiled, a warm, caring smile. She put a hand up to Rean's arm and gave it a squeeze. "It's damn good to have you, Rean. You had us worried you know, Mister."
"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to make you worried at all." Rean grimaced faintly.
"It's alright, it's all done now." Sara smiled as she murmured softly, eyes sparkling a little wetly. "So stop apologising, Rean. You're back with us now, where you belong. We're not gonna let you go again, not now."
Unable to hold it back any longer, Rean moved in to hug her close. He wasn't sure what made him do it, but something deep inside told him that he needed to make his former Instructor understand.
Sara froze a moment in surprise before responding in kind.
"Thank you, Sara." Rean murmured softly. "For everything."
"Thank you for coming back, Rean." Sara responded warmly in his ear as she clung to him tightly, as though terrified he'd be taken from her once more.