Short summary: Sharrkan helps Yamuraiha cope with ending an abusive relationship.

Halves of a Whole (3)
Love the Way You Lie

Remnants of an early morning rain shower dripped from the brim of Yamuraiha's hat. The tears, however, remained frozen on her face. She didn't bother to wipe her cheeks dry. She folded her arms across her chest and pressed on, determined to hit the bed as soon as she reached the warmth and familiar comfort of her room. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and never wake up.

Her feet made no sound as she ducked away from the shaded hall and crossed the courtyard. Something flashed across the corner of her eye. She dared to look up. She saw the glint of a sword first, then the man who owned it. The magician bit back a groan of frustration.

Sharrkan. Of course she had to run into him, of all people. He was a morning person, always up for early sword practice at the crack of dawn. She had forgotten that until now.

Yamuraiha tugged at the brim of her hat and kept her head down, quickening her pace and pretending she hadn't seen him. Sharrkan did not mirror her actions. She didn't think her heart could sink any lower, but it sunk all the more as she heard his footsteps coming closer and louder.

He hailed her with a smug greeting: "You're up early. First time for everything, huh?"

She didn't reply with a snide retort of her own. She kept going as if she didn't hear him. Expecting the usual response, Sharrkan didn't like being ignored.

"Hey, what's up with you?"

His arm snapped forward to grab her wrist. She flinched and whirled around, eyes flashing. He saw fear, open and honest-to-god fear. It surprised him. Frightened him a little, even.

It made him rephrase his question: "Wow, what happened to you?"

With them face to face he got a better look at her. He saw a large cut on her lower lip, dried blood on her chin, and a bruise so big and purple it made her right eye swollen shut. Even the large witch's hat she wore couldn't hide the entire length of her disheveled hair.

She dismissed all this with a terse reply: "It's nothing."

"You expect me to believe that? Come on, tell me."

"I told you, it's nothing." She said it too quickly, out of instinct. It was so obvious; even if stone drunk on Reim's strongest wine, Sharrkan would be able to sense the lie. Right now he was perfectly sober.

Yamuraiha's good eye scrunched shut as she felt a headache resurfacing. She struggled to come up with an answer. "I...I ran into a pillar."

"Well, that pillar seems to pack quite a punch."

Frustration got the better of her. "Why do you keep asking? What's it to you?"

"Hey, just trying to look out for my fellow Sindrian general."

"Thanks, but no thanks. Go away and leave me alone."

Sharrkan reacted to her empty threat by blocking her way down the hall. He held his ground and hardened his gaze. "I'm not letting you off the hook till you tell me what's wrong. I'm not an idiot like you always say I am. There's something you're holding back. I want to know what that is."

She didn't counter his glare with her own, like she usually did. Instead she lowered her head, obscuring her whole face from view. She seemed to give up fighting him. Her bare shoulders shook.

Her voice was soft, broken. "I told him we were through."

Sharrkan stiffened. It hit him like a bolt of lightning. The guy she had been going out with. He almost forgot. Now they were not together anymore. What happened- Wait. Now it made sense.

His voice went quiet with horror. "He...he did this to you?"

She couldn't answer. All she could muster was a weak nod. Something in his proud, hard heart broke when she dissolved into earnest sobs before his eyes. Sharrkan pulled her into his arms and held her there against his chest. She didn't push him away. Tears kept flowing, like the rain around them.

Her voice was muffled against his tunic. "I couldn't hit back. I didn't dare. I was too scared. I just took the hits and name-calling and I ran away. I'm pathetic."

Sharrkan gripped her shoulders, pulling back a little to look down at her. "Yamuraiha, listen to me. You are not pathetic. What you did back there took serious guts. He thinks he has power over you and that's why he beats you, but you stood up for yourself and that's not an easy thing to do. You are brave. So damn brave. I'm proud of you."

It shocked her to hear the sincerity ringing in his voice. He continued to hold her, swaying a little in place, rocking her like a baby. Burying her face into his shoulder made her hat slip off. It hit the floor with a dull wet slap, stirring the two from their reverie. Sharrkan stooped down to pick it up. Then he draped his arm over her shoulder.

"Come on," he said gently. "Let me take you back to your room."

Yamuraiha didn't resist as he guided her inside. She blinked tears out of her eyes and fumbled for the key to unlock her door. He followed her in; she didn't push him away and order him to stay out. He set her hat on her desk. She sank into bed without a word, clearly exhausted and in sore need of solace to herself.

"You want something for your face?" He asked. "A cold wet towel, maybe?"

"No...not now. I'm tired. I just want to sleep."

He nodded. He wondered if she would use any water magic, or some lotion she made herself, to cover up her wounds later. He had no doubt she would; she'd never hear the end of it if Sinbad and the other generals found out.

"Sharrkan?"

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you."

"Sure thing." Yamuraiha's eyes fluttered shut and soon her chest rose and fell with even breaths, falling deep into sleep. Out of sheer impulse, he planted a soft kiss on the top of her head. She didn't stir. Sharrkan made no sound as he crept away and shut the door behind him. Only then he clenched a fist in anger. Sword practice would have to wait.

"I'll give him a piece of my mind," he muttered through gritted teeth. "I'm gonna kick that jerk's ass so hard. I'll make him regret with every second of pain that he ever hurt her."

He lived up to his oath. Sharrkan emerged from the house of the offender grimly victorious and sporting bloody fists. The Heliohaptian swordsman couldn't deny a savage sort of satisfaction from smashing that man to a bruised pulp, leaving him a sniveling mess begging for mercy when he had been threatening Sharrkan only a minute earlier. Of course he wouldn't tell her. All she had to know was that she could breathe and take it easy; she'd never be threatened or beaten by that man ever again.

Back in Yamuraiha's bedroom, she laid still and asleep, with a faint blush on her cheeks. It wasn't from a fever. She felt that kiss from Sharrkan. Somehow it was all her broken heart needed to be whole again.