A War of Two Hearts

Chapter Four: Our Paths Cross Again

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'How long has it been since I last saw her.' Tai thought as he walked across the courtyard. 'I wish I could see her again. Grrrr...why do I keep thinking of her? There's just something about her that makes me feel ... different.'

Tai was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed a certain blond-haired man standing beside him. "Hey, Tai. Why are you up so early?" Matt asked. He looked down to see some of Tai's belongings crammed in a small sack. "And just where are you going?"

There was silence. Tai didn't say anything. He didn't hear what Matt asked. All he could think of was that girl and how beautiful she looked, even when she cried. It was hard to get his mind off her, even in his dreams she was there.

"Tai, what is wrong with you?" Matt asked with a little worry.

Tai cleared his thoughts and looked at his long-time friend. "What?"

"You haven't been acting the same ever since we raided that Ardin Kingdom. Did something happen?" Matt asked curiously.

Tai closed his eyes and tried to recall everything that had happened that day. He remembered every little detail of her face, her hair, her eyes... her tears. Tai opened his eyes and sighed. "Matt, I'm a failure." He simply said.

"A failure? What do you mean? Wait. You told me you that you had killed that family, every one of them." Matt said knitting his eyebrows together.

"I wasn't the right man for that kind of task. Lord Kyo should have sent another man to do it, a stronger man." Tai gritted his teeth and balled his fists together. "Someone who would've actually done their duty."

"Tai, what are you talking about!? You were the right man for that task!! You've been acting strange lately! What's gotten into you!?!" Matt yelled.

There was a pause between the two. After a few moments of silence, Tai spoke.

"I couldn't kill her." He said bowing his head in shame.

Matt calmed down after he said that. "Kill who?"

"The princess. King Ardin's daughter." Tai then looked up at Matt. "I...I let her go."

Matt began to put everything together. The reason for Tai's mysterious behavior was all because he let some girl live. But Matt seemed to question Tai's motives. "Why?"

"She was...I mean I was about to kill her, but when she started crying...something just stopped me." Tai sighed. "I didn't want to hurt her."

"You didn't want to hurt her? Tai, you've killed thousands of women and all of a sudden you let this girl live just because she is crying? Why her? What's so different about this one?" Matt asked.

"I don't know." Tai said. "I just wish I had never laid eyes on her."

There was another pause.

"So, she's alive?" Matt asked. Tai nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to search for her. Once I find her, I'm going to kill her before Lord Kyo finds out the truth." Tai said picking up the small sack. "This time I'm not going to fail."

"You're actually going to look for her? Don't you think she'd be far by now? Where are you going to start?" Matt asked.

Tai shrugged. "I don't know, but if I don't kill her already she's going to haunt me forever." He started walking over to where the horses were gathered. Matt followed.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" Matt asked him. "What if Lord Kyo asks for you?"

"Just make up something then." Tai mounted his horse and looked back at Matt." I won't return until I find her. I don't care how long it takes. I don't want to end up like a failure again." Matt nodded and watched as Tai's horse rode off into distance.

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It was evening. A small stack of smoke appeared out of the chimney of a small cottage at the edge of the woods. Surrounding the cottage was a clear blue lake and a road that led straight into a nearby town.

"Sora dear, can you help me with this?" An old woman said while trying to cook dinner. "It's hard to cook dinner all by yourself when you reach my age."

"Of course, Elsa." Sora said in a delightful tone. She hadn't felt happy like this since before the tragedy at her kingdom. It's only been a few days, but she managed to put it all behind her.

"You're going to love dinner tonight. This is a very well-cooked meal." Elsa said with a smile.

Sora just laughed but then frowned when she remembered the image of her brother, as well as the image of that brown-haired man. 'I still can't figure out why he let me go.' Sora thought. 'Oh well. I just hope things will stay quiet for a while.' She looked around the room. "Um, Elsa?"

"Yes, dear."

"Where is Lionel? I haven't seen him since this afternoon."

"Oh, that crazy husband of mine? I think he went into town to pick up a few things." Elsa said while stirring her chicken soup." Mmm, this smells good."

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The evening was growing darker and the sun was about to disappear into the horizon. After many hours of traveling, Tai finally arrived at a small town.

'It's getting dark. Maybe I should rest here for the night.' Tai thought looking around. He noticed a few of Lord Kyo's soldiers in town. 'Hmm, I think I should disguise myself first. I don't want any of the soldiers to ask me a whole lot of questions as to what's my purpose here.'

Tai looked around him and found an old beggar on the streets. He smiled to himself before he approached the old man. "Hey, I'll pay you six pieces of gold in exchange for some of your clothing." Tai said holding a couple of gold coins in his hand.

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"Whoo, I'm tired. I didn't expect to be out this long. The sun's almost gone. At least I got what I was looking for." An old man said carrying a basket full of some fruits. "I just hope those two haven't started eating dinner without me."

The old man walked towards the road that led to his cottage. On his way there, he came across a cloaked man who seemed to look almost like a beggar. The man's face was hidden within the hood of his cloak as he approached the old man.

"Um, excuse me sir?" The cloaked man said.

"Ah, yes. Is there something that you need?" The old man responded.

"Yes. Do you have shelter in which I can spend the night?" The cloaked man asked. "It seems to be a little cold tonight."

The old man smiled. "Of course. You can spend the night at my place. It's a small cottage by the woods. We're having dinner and you are certainly invited."

"Thank you very much sir. You are too generous."

"Don't worry about it. It brings me great joy to help people who are in need." The old man said. Both of them took the road leading to the cottage. "So, maybe I should introduce myself. My name is Lionel. I'm a farmer around here. Although I haven't been able to grow much crops lately, probably because of all the riots the soldiers been causing." Lionel sighed. "So, tell me about yourself."

"Well, you can just call me Tai. I'm a traveler and I just came upon this town only a few moments ago. I just need to spend the night and then I'm off to take care of a few things. I would like to thank you for your hospitality though." Tai grinned devilishly. 'What fools these commoners are!'

"No need to thank me, really. So Tai, would you like me to get you some new clothes when we get there? You probably won't be too comfortable in those."

Tai shook his head, his face still hidden in his cloak. "No. I'm fine in these. If you don't mind, I prefer to be alone when we arrive there. I wouldn't want to interrupt you dinner with your family. I don't associate much."

The old man nodded. " I understand." The two approached a small cottage near the forest. "Well Tai, we're here. Once we get inside, I'll introduce you to the family. Then, I'll show you to your room."

Lionel opened the door to his cottage and walked in. "I'm home dear!"

Tai walked in as well. As soon as he stepped in, he smelled the delicious odor of food. He looked as dinner was prepared on the table and an old lady walking over to Lionel.

"Oh, good. You're home. I was getting worried. I didn't expect you to be out this--" Elsa's attention was turned towards the doorway and the stranger who was standing there. "I didn't expect you to bring a guest over neither."

Lionel went over to where Tai was standing and decided to introduce him. "Elsa, this is Tai. He will be our guest tonight. He's a traveler and he needs a place to rest since he just arrived into town." Lionel said.

"Oh, well okay. It's nice to have you here Tai." Elsa said with a smile.

"Thank you my lady." Tai said, his cloak still covering his face.

Lionel looked around the room. "Where's Sora?"

"Oh, she's outside gathering some water." The old woman said.

'Sora. Why does that name sound so familiar to me?' Tai thought.

The door opened to reveal a young red-headed girl carrying a large bucket of water. She struggled getting in and practically almost dropped the bucket if Tai hadn't caught it.

"Oh, thank you. I thought I was going to dropped it. You don't know how heavy that--" Sora looked up to see a cloaked man before her. She couldn't see his face since he wore his hood over. "I didn't know we were having a guest over."

Tai caught sight of her face. 'It's the girl! The same girl I was supposed to kill! How is it that I find her here? Hmm, maybe this won't be so hard after all.' Tai chuckled to himself. He took the bucket of water in his hands.

"Would you like me to help you with this, Sora?" Tai asked.

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A/N: There's chapter 4. I hoped you liked it. Please don't forget to review.