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A Heart-To-Heart (Eragon/Arya)

Eragon's POV:

My consciousness slowly returning and a curious noise reached my ears, a lup-dup-lup-dup. It was an overarching noise in a strange symphony. A whistling rush through a system of tubes, a sloshing rumble and...

Grrrrrrowrrr!

That woke me up. My eyes flick open to an extremely pleasant sight. I was lying on top of Arya, my head pillowed by her chest, our arms wrapped around each others waist . The tantalising smell of pine needles causes my mouth to water, making me aroused. A melodious chuckle sounded above me.

"Is that a dagger in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?" asked Arya, her voice amused. My face flushed red. The wicked woman has been teasing me for the last two months since I had the 'Talk' with Erik and Brom, which I am still certain she overheard, judging by the evil grin she had when I came back to the camp.

After that, almost every conversation with her became allusions to the more carnal, catching me off-guard. And she constantly challenged me to duels of swords, mind and magic. With me being pounded into the ground. This resulted in Erik giving me the most important piece of advice when it came to tackling Arya, and women in general.

"When you speak with a woman, any woman, you should be confident. Not domineering, as you will come in contact with a lot of strong women. Respect them, for who they are and what they achieved. Unless they give you reason to lose that respect. But never, ever bend over backwards for them. Your self-respect is by far the most important thing you have"' he said, then sighed, shooting me a wry smile "And as for Arya, she is trying to toughen you up, by constantly challenging you, making you someone she can call a friend. She wants someone who can keep pace with her. And as you are the only Free Rider in existence, she is going to make sure of it. So start challenging her. You will be fighting opponents who far outstrip you in skill. This the best opportunity you are going to get in a controlled environment. Make the most of it"

After that, we were always competing with each other. Swordplay, magic, mental arts, hand-to-hand, running, swimming, eating. We were fiercely competitive, each trying to outdo the other. Even our banter was aimed to make the other blush. Unfortunately in the last, she was ahead of me due to experience.

But, I think this time, I should be able to get one over her.

"Well, I wake up in the arms of a goddess, I think worshipping her is the least I can do" so saying, I gather up my courage, pull myself up over her, while resting my elbows on either side of her head. A short jolt of pain coursed through my right arm, but I ignored it in favour of Arya, who's eyes had dilated to the point of being completely black with a thin rim of green. Her eyes fluttered, when my hips jerked involuntarily forward.

As a flush rose in her cheeks she tried crossing her legs around my waist. I quickly slid out, causing her to growl in annoyance. I just shoot her a knowing smirk, which widens when her stomach growls again in hunger. I decide to help her up from the camp bed, realising we were in one of the rooms in Erik's magically expanded tent. She mock-pouts, then gives it up as she grasps my outstretched hand, shooting me a grateful smile.

"How long...?" I ask her, to which she replied.

"A few hours. You were tossing and turning, only calming down when it was I who was touching you. I felt tired after we escaped that area. I thought I too should take a nap and we woke up like that" she said as we made our way out of the tent towards the camp fire, with Allister working a roasted deer, while Erik and Brom were wrapped up in a serious conversation and Saphira was watching everything with a half-lidded eye. On detecting me, she sent a probe of concern, which turned into amusement on checking my latest memories. Saphira's suggestion of us mating till we calm down was roundly ignored by all of us.

"I see" I reply, my heart not wanting this moment to end. To be completely frank, especially since she had started this competition, she had begun treating me like an equal. Firstly, by never quitting, despite her smashing me into the ground in every thing. Her condescension had ebbed after the first few fights, replaced by a grudging respect.

The first time I marked her in a swordfight, she thrashed me in five consecutive rounds and refused to talk to me the next day.

After that, we truly started to compete.

Slowly, the respect changed from grudging to actual, and the banter began. And when we started winning rounds equally did we train in mind arts and magic, with her beating me, practically all the time.

As we approached the camp fire, Arya stopped me and whispered in an urgent voice "Eragon...about what happened earlier..."

"Mum's the word" I reply, shooting her a small smile, reassuring her. A smile lit up her face, causing me to catch my breath at her beauty.

"You're beautiful" I say, my voice breathy. Her face turned red with embarrassment and she tried to run away. I quickly grab her wrist, while silently cursing myself for letting my mouth run away from me.

"Arya, wait" I say. Her body is as tense as a taut bowstring. I remembered how Saphira once communicated through a series of images. I decide to go for broke.

I reached out to her mind gently, touching it with the lightest brush. I waited for her to lower her barriers. I waited patiently, knowing what I wanted from her in this moment of time. I wanted her to be able to trust me. Slowly, warily, she dropped them.

I made a gentle gesture with my mind and let her see me laid bare. All my strengths, all my weaknesses, all my joys, my sorrows. My fears and secrets. And most important of all, my feelings for her.

From my visions of an unattainable goddess, deigning to grace us with her presence, to a certain amount of jealousy at her skill and strength, to the realisation of her being as flawed as any other living being, especially after she refused to talk to me when I marked her for the first time. And her flaws heightened my desire of her, coupled with a curiosity to know of her. And knowing deep down that if all she desired was my friendship, I promised that I would be a bedrock of stability for her.

As I slowly retreated back, I could see tears running down her cheeks. She slowly wrapped her arms around my waist, leaning her head on my shoulder. Just as I was going to let go of her, physically and mentally, she gestured to me to come to her mind.

'Are you sure?' I asked her, giving her an escape.

'Its only fair' she replied. And I was then submerged in her memories. Her childhood of sunlit bowers, a distant mother and kindly mentors. Of her guard, friend and lover Faolin. I did my best to control my spike of jealousy, but judging by her amusement, I didn't do it well enough. Of her banishment from her mother's side on taking the yawë. Her devotion to her people and their betterment. Her travels, her battles. The deals she struck, the friendships she gained and the inevitable losses. How over time she became wary of new people and jealously guarded her relationships. How only with Faolin, she could ever smile and laugh. How could have I been jealous of something so pure?

And how Durza ripped it all away from her in an instant. How he tormented her day and night, his hissed words inflicting far more potent wounds on her than any torture ever could. How it was her fault that Faolin died.

I sent her soothing waves of affection, to which she gives a watery smile.

And then she showed me her first impressions of me, a flighty, thoughtless child. Watching me being taken under Erik's wing. My bouts with her, where I refused to quit, earning her respect. How I would try starting awkward conversations with her, slowly gaining confidence as our conversations would become deeper, more meaningful. And an attraction, which she felt was wrong as I was much younger than her.

I tightened my grip on her and said to her in the Ancient Language "I will always be your friend first"

Or atleast I tried to. Judging by her amused snort, I got it wrong.

"Where did I go wrong now?" I ask her, my eyes rolling to the heavens. Not that I could see much because we were in a copse of trees. She tugs me by the arm, a naughty smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eyes promising further wicked amusement at my expense.

And honestly? I wouldn't have it any other way.

Next up: Helgrind.

I wanted it to be an Erik tells all kind of situation, but I think he can be allowed to his secrets.

Personally speaking, the whole mess of Eragon and Arya could have been avoided if someone had sat down with Eragon and discussed this with him.

And as for Arya, here she has two figures who are far her senior taking on the mentor/moral compass role, greatly easing her burden of being a sort-of-mentor, guide and confidant of Eragon. Plus,because she is away from her official responsibilities, she is a lot freer with her emotions and she had Erik do a catharsis of her guilt, speeding up her healing.

As for Eragon being able to hold his own against Arya, he's subconsciously tapping into his magic, heightening his reflexes. The side-benefit of that is that he is becoming magically stronger.

R&R!