He held the green woman for a total of two minutes. Two minutes of tranquility that made the next set of events nearly worth it to Fiyero.
He didn't have any time to react when he was shoved away, honestly—he should have expected that. He wasn't looking or acting his best and he was as much a stranger to her as she was to him. But did he enjoy being pushed to the ground? Not at all.
There was a tiny pain in the back of his head and Fiyero's entire vision turned to dark spots. His hand reached out for something that he would not find.
He couldn't recall the last time he felt such disoriention. But it didn't bother him.
What most concerned him was that if he could hold her again he would gladly be shoved to the floor to do it. His hand pressed against the back of his head. Something warm filled his hand but he wouldn't look. Just the thought of looking at his hand made his neck start to sweat and his hands tremble. With his eyes closed he wiped his hand on his pants leg and clenched it closed so he wouldn't see the color.
A hand touched his thigh and he blinked his eyes open. El was on her knees, some rag in her hand.
She didn't speak to him but she lifted his head forward and placed the rag there, pressing it hard into his head. Fiyero winced and his hand shot out but he stopped it. His hand had landed on top of her hand and he was afraid of moving it. This woman was quite capable of chopping it off whether he kept it there or moved it. It didn't matter.
He felt his fingers touching hers before she pulled her hand away.
"Thank you again." He said before he thought too much on their touching hands.
"Stop thanking me. I did this. "
"Yeah and you're still helping. " One side of his face lifted up in a smile.
She blinked at him, "Are you feeling faint? "
He shook his head, "Not really. I can walk." He even tried to stand to prove it to her.
"No—" She exclaimed sharply, pushing him down," You might not feel it yet, but you may faint on your way home and then you'd probably die. "
He shrugged carelessly, "My friends died...Why not me too?"
She stared at him, pressing her lips together, "Your friends died in a war. You would be dying because of something I did. "
His hand ached to touch her again but he refrained from doing it. She clearly wasn't comfortable with touching.
"Can I ask you something?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Who are you, the Gale Force? You ask too many questions."
"No, I'm just an wounded man looking for a conversation."
She scoffed pressing the rag harder on the back of his head. He didn't even feel the pain, well barely.
"How did you end up here? Was this place even yours?"
"I walked here and no." She answered vaguely.
"Come on, you won't ever see this face again once I leave. "
She wasn't buying it. She seemed to be reserved, something Fiyero had never understood before now.
He thought it was odd that some people wouldn't just say what they wanted to, or what they wanted. For a long time he lived his life unreserved, in a way, never faltering with his words for anything.
If he saw something he liked he could buy it with no worries. If he saw someone he liked, well, he was Fiyero Tiggular and that meant he had no problem getting anyone just by his name (and his good looks might have had something to do with it too.)
But now...he didn't want to use his words to make her talk to him when she didn't want to.
Fiyero closed his eyes and put his entire focus on her hand pressing on the back of his head.
"Give me your hand."
He opened one eye, bewildered. "What?" He asked but she was already taking his hand.
El raised his hand and gently removed her hand from the back of his head, replacing it with his.
"I think this would be a nice way to die for me."
"You are melodramatic. A small cut to your head will not be your end."
"You are taking better care of a small cut than the medics out in the field took care of my foot. They just slapped a bandage around it and called it good."
"I'm about to do the same thing here." El said, going off and looking for something in a few drawers.
"Yeah, but you're actually looking at me. They didn't look past the foot or say anything to me about what would happen with my foot. They bandaged it and walked to the next person. It's very nice to be acknowledged that I'm still someone."
"We are all someone. Even those on the other end of your gun, they were someone."
"I know," He said, digging his fingers into his thigh.
El kneeled back down next to him with a small jar. "Lean forward for me."
Fiyero did and she moved his hand. There it was again—the feeling—like the blades of the grass touching his skin.
"This is going to sting a bit." She told him.
"What is it?" He asked, but then he shut his mouth and bit down on his lip at the burning sensation.
"It's a salve to stop it from hurting you too much."
"Yeah, " He complained under his breath, "It's not working."
She pulled back and gave him a small laugh. That small display of happiness from this unknown woman made Fiyero melt inside.
The edges of her eyes crinkled and it was such an attractive sight.
They were both left smiling at each other and something within him stirred. Without asking her, he reached for her face and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. It was like a adrenaline rush without the terrible taste that came with it. This was far better. His burning lips and her soft skin left him wanting more but he only felt her stiff below his hands. His personal contentment had no place here. She didn't care, she didn't know him. His lips and hands were left unwilling to let her go but Fiyero ripped himself away.
His lips begged him to lean in again but he crunched his fingers into themselves and clenched his jaw. He shut his eyes expecting a slap or worse, but as the seconds passed Fiyero found himself in the same position. When Fiyero heard her sniffle he opened his eyes to face her. Her eyes were wide in some inner turmoil, she was still facing him but she wasn't focusing on him. He quickly noticed the smear of blood on one side of her cheek and he could only hear the pounding of his heart, it was in his ears, and in that entire room.
His vision distorted again and he was trudging through the mud in Kellswater again.
The sound of rifles shooting and swords clanking came from everywhere. To his left was his childhood friend, Kay, supporting Fiyero in his arms. He could feel his arm, feel his heavy breathing as if it were happening at that exact moment. Kay said something to him that he couldn't understand, or hear for that matter. Fiyero scanned his surroundings. There were Gillikin men dressed in the finest armor, the Emerald cities men with their elite Gale Force leading them. Though everyone's face was determined he was able to see their misery and their fright behind their eyes.
A man with a Glikkus uniform charged at them and Fiyero held his pistol up, aiming it at the man.
Kay pushed Fiyero to the side as Fiyero cried out in pain, dropping his pistol. He watched as the Glikkus man attacked his friend with a sword. Kay was quick on his feet and stepped to the side defending himself with the shortsword he had stolen from a dead body.
The collision of the swords was loud and with a precise hit Kay slashed the mans hip. The man roared in anger and lifted his sword striking back with force. The younger and thinner man stepped back, blocking him. Fiyero cleared his head and searched for his pistol, eyeing it just foot away. He pushed himself on his knees and went to it, keeping his head low at the shots going by. He grabbed it and when he turned back to his friend he saw the blood covering his face, and the other mans sword in his heart. The man came to him then and Fiyero aimed the pistol at him, not thinking twice at pulling the trigger.
The shot brought him back to today. He was trying to breath. His hand was clutching onto El's. Her eyes were watering.
"You are not really there. Look at me."
He let out a shuddering breath and did what she asked.
"Look at me," He was—he had to—otherwise his thoughts went to bloodshed and screams of terror. "What you are seeing is not happening right now. Do you understand?" She said slowly, never letting her eyes wander anywhere else but his.
His jaw still trembled but his thoughts were all going to her now. Her beautiful eyes, her cheekbones that were a nice brown shade now. He was certain his face was one of a mad mans at that moment. He never wanted to stop staring at this woman.
"That's it, this is what's real right now. Your thoughts are the past, this is the present."
His face relaxed and his hand went up to her cheek. El stayed still as he let his hand rest on her cheek.
"I'm sorry for imposing myself on you in that way," He whispered, letting his forefinger move the tiniest bit on her face. "You should be mad at me."
"I am," Her voice was shaky, "but I won't fault you for doing something you didn't want to do."
He blinked, "But I did want to."
She reached up for his hand and took it off of her but the amazing thing was that she didn't let his hand go, "You're not in the most sane place at the moment."
"That was the only sane moment I've had."
She opened and closed her mouth until she seemingly found something to say, "You don't even know me. I don't know you."
"I'd like to know you. Let me know you. "
She dropped his hand and dragged herself back.
"I'm going wash this blood off of myself and bring you something to clean yourself with." She rose from the floor and dusted off the front of her skirt. He watched her go off to the back and then he couldn't see her anymore.
He looked at his legs and he stretched, swinging his good foot and pushing back on the wall to get up. He didn't like how quiet it was without her.
With his hands pressing the wall for balance he hopped on one leg towards his crutches. When he had them in his hand she reappeared with a small bucket and the blood on her face gone.
"Here." She said, leading him to the table. Fiyero followed as she pulled out a chair for him and set the bucket on the floor.
He sat down and she handed him a clean rag. Immediately Fiyero washed his hands, ridding himself of the blood. He wiped his face, his neck, and his arms and when he was done he looked up to find El gone again.
"El." He called, setting the rag aside and getting himself up. He walked to the back and he grew confused when he saw a door open that he hadn't seen before. He was sure it was never there in the first place. He called her name again but she didn't respond so he went inside.
He found her sitting in another bed, looking down at something in her hand.
"El." He said her name gently. Her head turned, frowning at him.
"I let you stay in my home for a night and you think you can just do as you please?"
"No, I wasn't, I... Well, I am, but I just—I don't want to be," He took a deep breath. It was never so difficult to talk before. "I just don't want to be without you."
Her eyebrows snapped together, looking at him like he used to look at a page of schoolwork. "Why?"
"What I mean is that I don't want to be by myself." He corrected himself, embarrassed by what he had mistakingly said. It made him sound so desperate and needy.
El looked down at her lap and straightened her skirt, "So then go home. You'll be around people." She said quietly.
He shook his head,"It won't be the same at home. I'll be around others, Yes, but they won't know or understand what I've been through...but...but you do."
El looked back up at him and snorted, "I don't know anything about what you've been through. And you know nothing more than what I've told you of myself."
"You lost your little brother. I lost my friends. I cared about my friends. I'm sure you cared about your brother."
He saw her jaw lock.
"So? Many people lost friends and family. That's hardly enough to understand each other. Nobody understood one another before, what makes it different this time?"
"I kissed you."
She looked surprised.
"So what?"
"I understand it made me feel alive again. I understand it made me smile, and it made my stomach flip. I understand that it's making me want to be here with you because it's the only thing I can learn to understand." He decided that he didn't really care if he sounded desperate.
"You really need to be around other people. You've just come from a war. Going home will probably help even if you think it won't.
"No," he shook his head. Fiyero went over to her and sat down beside her. She didn't stand up or move away.
"I don't know if going home will help me at all. But you can."
She was absolutely puzzled by what he said, it was so evident in her face.
"You need therapy, that's what you need." She replied a few seconds later. Fiyero smiled sadly and inched his hand to where hers was resting. He didn't have to touch her hand to feel the electricity running through his fingers.
"Has there ever been a moment in your life where everything just seemed to fall into place. Like you belong someplace…with someone?"
She looked down at his hand, so close to hers, "No, never."
"I feel it. Maybe for the first time in my life. You make me feel like everything will be okay one day."
She shook her head, "You don't know me so that doesn't even make sense."
"It doesn't have to make sense. It just feels right; it feels real." He let his hand rest on top of hers. El's eyes were still staring down. She looked back up at him, her mouth slightly opened.
He leaned forward slowly, watching her to see if she wanted him to stop. He didn't see anything that told him to stop. She didn't say anything. So Fiyero let himself kiss her again. The pounding in his heart grew stronger. He kissed her slowly and gently, letting the intense feeling overwhelm his entire senses. Her hand went up to cup his face and Fiyero brought his hands up too, cradling her face. He moved his head lightly, parting her lips enough to deepen the kiss. He dropped one of his hands, letting it move down her neck. Her hands fell off of his face to his chest and she pressed them into him enough for Fiyero to understand that she wanted him to stop. Fiyero moved his face far enough to keep looking at her. Her pupils were opened up wide, moving all across his face, there was nothing there that made Fiyero question that she regretted his kiss.
"Does this feel real to you, stranger?" He questioned her with a blissful smile on his face. El's eyes lowered down and her forehead creased, creating a pained expression on her face. His hands fell off of her, curling into themselves. He opened his mouth ready to apologize but he was caught off guard when she leaned up to kiss him, drawing him to her.
The pounding in the back of his head didn't matter, his aching foot didn't matter. What mattered was that this woman was the only thing that kept him from falling too deep into his own mind.
For now, she was everything. For now he was someone.