The following night, James was in his room just thinking. Lillian was supposed to rest for a few days at least as she recovered from her injuries, taking it easy until she was cleared for duty again. James checked in on her as often as he could when he wasn't helping with repairs and such around the settlement. He had been so worried about Lillian after she was injured, but there was something more and it bugged him to no end that he didn't know what it was. He felt so guilty that he couldn't protect her, almost wanting to ask his grandfather to take her out of the field entirely but realizing that wouldn't be fair to Lillian and it was beyond selfish of him to even consider it.

'What is this feeling? Why is it only around Lily?' he wondered, but his thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door. 'I wonder who that could be at this hour...' Getting out of bed, he went to answer the door.

"Sarah?"

Sarah was frantic. "James, it's Lillian..."

"What about Lily?"

"Kimi came to get me when she couldn't find her anywhere. We've looked everywhere, but she's just gone."

James didn't even bother with his armor or weapon, he just pushed passed Sarah and ran to the roost- hoping she'd be there. Finding that she wasn't, he turned to search Astera himself. He searched the workshop, the tradeyard, the canteen, everywhere he could think of. He was beginning to panic, then got a strange sense he knew where she was and headed towards the training arena.

Lillian had woken from a nightmare, and in the nightmare, she faced off against that mysterious black winged monster. She woke with a start just as the monster lunged for her and she tried to shake the fear away. But the fear was intense and Lillian wanted to fight back as best as she could against it. So she headed to the training arena, grabbing one of the practice staffs and started going through her usual routine.

'I can't let this get to me...' she thought. 'I have to get stronger...'

Lillian knew there wasn't really anything more she could have done, but she still felt like she hadn't been careful enough and broke her promise to James. She felt like she failed him as a hunter and that didn't sit well with her.

'I can't let something like that happen again...'

Lillian pushed through each part of her training regiment, but didn't get very far before the pain really began to bother her- bringing her to her knees.

'I have to push through the pain...' she thought as she forced herself back to her feet and onto the next part of her routine.

James reached the training arena as quickly as he could, searching around until he spotted Lillian near the center with a practice staff.

"Thank goodness..."

He watched as she moved through her usual training regiment, appearing to be fine, but when she collapsed onto her knees he rushed forward.

"Lily!"

Lillian, panting, pushed herself back to her feet and used the staff as support. She looked up when she heard someone calling her name and saw James running towards her.

"Lily, are you insane? You haven't recovered from your wounds yet!" James said, scolding her when he reached her.

Lillian ignored him and tried to push herself to another area of the arena where she could practice with a different weapon. "I'm fine, James..." She forced herself passed him.

"Lily, look at yourself! You're in pain!" He went after her, reaching forward to grab the staff and stop her.

"I have to do this..." Lillian said, but her strength was failing again and she slumped forward.

James caught her, steadying her. "You idiot... why would you push yourself like that in your condition?"

"I failed you..." Lillian answered, tears in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" James looked down at her when she didn't answer. "Lily?" He saw that she had passed out, tears slipping down her cheeks. "Lily..." Scooping her up in his arms, he carried her out of the arena and back towards the infirmary.

When he got back to the settlement, Sarah and Kimi came running up.

"Where was she?"

"I found her in the training arena."

Sarah and Kimi walked with him back to the infirmary, watching as he laid her back in bed and pulled the covers up over her, looking up as his grandfather came to the door. He motioned for Sarah to leave and stepped outside, closing the door behind them.

"Is she alright?" Edgar asked.

"I don't know..."

"What was she doing in the training arena?" Sarah asked.

"She was training."

"In her condition?"

James nodded. "She said she had to do it, that she failed us..."

"But that's silly!"

Edgar sighed. "It's understandable that she feels as though she failed."

"But she's one of our best hunters!" Sarah said.

"That may be, but think about it from her perspective, too." Edgar replied. "For her to be training with her injuries, that shows not only determination but also dedication- as reckless as it may be. She must want to get stronger, no matter what the cost, because she feels as though she failed us."

"Lillian..." Sarah looked at the door, worried. "I hope she's OK..."

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Edgar assured her.

Knowing there was nothing more they could do for her, Sarah sighed and went back to bed. Edgar and James walked back up towards their quarters and Edgar noticed James had something on his mind still.

"You have that look." he said, chuckling.

James sighed. "Something's been bothering me."

"Want to talk about it?"

"That'd be great."

Edgar listened as James explained what was on his mind, how he felt something strange around Lillian and only her, how he worried about her in a different way than the other hunters under his supervision, everything.

After awhile, Edgar chuckled. "That's the same way I felt around your grandmother." He looked at his grandson, arms crossed. "Tell me, lad, what does Lillian mean to you?"

"What does she mean to me?" James leaned against the railing and looked at the waterfall. 'What does Lily mean to me?'

"Think about it, James, then you'll find your answer." Edgar patted his shoulder. "I can tell you one thing, though: Lillian makes you smile in the same way I did when I met your grandmother, the same way your father did when he met your mother." Bidding him a goodnight, he left his grandson to ponder over what they had talked about and hoped he could find the answers he needed on his own. 'Best of luck to you, James. To you both.'