Chapter 14

Rean smiled down at her, reaching out his hand with his palm up. "Apology accepted, Melyssa, and I appreciate how hard it must be for you to do this." Apologies were always hard to give, especially when one had an audience. The others had left to give them privacy, not Crow. But then again, Crow was not himself right now. "And you do belong in Class VII, I won't be sending you away." At her surprised look, he chuckled softly. "You are not the first to have a go at me and you'll probably not be the last."

Juna instantly came to mind with her story. And then there was Altina, who had a very messy past with Rean on her own. "Thank you, Rean."

She took his extended hand and shook it gently but firmly, relief flooding her body from head to toe. Juna and Ash were right; talking was all it took and Rean was a ball of forgiveness. He was almost too good for this world with how gentle and kind he was, despite all the rumors and things she'd heard about the Ashen Chevalier. Her eyes moved to Crow, who had a faraway look on his face and Melyssa knew she owed him, more than anyone else, an apology. Where did she even begin though? He didn't remember her or any of their time together as kids before he left Jurai.

"I'll leave you two alone." Rean said after a long, fairly heavy moment of prolonged silence, stepping away from Melyssa and glanced back at Crow. "Perhaps you two might want to talk inside, where you don't have to worry about others eavesdropping."

Because after today, he knew that Crow and Melyssa were officially 'gossip' material, throw in a healthy dose of everyone who had seen her out and about with Ash. He didn't envy the trio. Well, maybe he wished the misery on Ash, it would serve him right for provoking reactions just for his own devious amusement. Nodding, Crow opened the door, holding it for Rean and Melyssa, his eyes guarded as she slowly walked by him. He had messed up today by losing his cool and carting her off, and he knew it.

It was her fault because she wasn't honest with him. She'd kept the fact they knew each other in Jurai a secret from everyone and it had come back to bite her. The entire walk to their room, Crow remained behind her and Melyssa simply put one foot in front of the other. She went to pull her key out and stopped when Crow's hand came into view, sliding his own in the slot before turning the doorknob. Stepping inside, Melyssa went straight to her bed and sat down on it, exhaustion slowly seeping in. No, she would not be able to sleep until she said something to Crow, having learned her lesson not to keep things bottled up or secrets. No wonder the Combat Link failed between them!

"I should've told you everything from the start." Melyssa spoke up, breaking the tense silence between them. "I know you don't remember me and…I resented you for it because I didn't know the full story." Thanks to Ash, she did now. "I'm sorry for everything…for yelling at you and acting the way I did today. I should've went about it a different way and treating you horribly should've never happened."

Crow remained silent, rolling her words over as he began shedding his clothes. He stopped at his pants, finally walking around to stand before her. When Melyssa didn't raise her head up but stared down at his bare feet and the floor, he slowly knelt down until his face was in her line of vision, red eyes searching her face intently.

"I'm sorry," He began quietly, the words coming out a bit stiff at first. "That I lost my temper and manhandled you, there's no excuse for how I behaved and how I treated you." Like she was a common criminal or some lowly wench, it had been undignified, but his words weren't stilted, his tone apologetic and low. "I'm sorry I don't remember you, or our friendship." That came out sorrowful and a little bitter. "I wish I did. Sometimes it feels like it's just barely there, right out my reach, but begging me to recall, and I don't."

"Crow…"

Sniffling, trying to hold back the tears pooled in her eyes, Melyssa did the one thing she wanted to do since seeing him again. Alive. He wasn't buried six feet under in a grave on the outskirts of Heimdallr. He was here in the flesh and she could feel all the animosity and anger at him melt away. She tossed her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, shutting her eyes to relish the feeling of being in his arms again. Granted, they were A LOT bigger, muscular and strong these days, but he was still the Crow she grew up with.

"You have NOTHING to apologize for. I was being a stubborn idiot not telling you the truth. Nothing else matters except you're here, alive and well. And I know you don't feel the same way, but I really missed you. When you left Jurai, I was devastated and I didn't understand at the time why you would leave without saying goodbye." Pulling back, she cupped his face in her soft hands as the tears poured down her face. "But I do now. The past is the past and it can't be changed, so we just have to move forward and make new memories together, and with Class VII."

Friends, they had been friends and she had to of been rather young when he left. Crow wondered how children could be such good friends and then dismissed that thought as callous. If anything, Rean and the rest of Class VII -past and present- had taught him a lot about just how strong, how powerful friendship could be. It was a disservice to people to assume children couldn't experience those bonds as strongly as their elders.

"Help me remember, Mel." He asked quietly, bringing his own hands up to cover hers as he searched her eyes intently. "I feel it there, help me." That tugging whenever he looked at her, something begging him to recall. "Don't cry…" His hands moved, fingers sliding up her cheeks to cup those tears.

Was Juna right about memories forgotten remaining in the heart of that person? And how was she supposed to help him remember? "You used to call me Lyssa. Everyone else called me Mel or Mels or Mely and you apparently wanted to be different than the rest, so you called me Lyssa. And I used to call you the game master because you loved playing games. We played chess, cards, board games, any game you could get your hands on, you sat me down to play it." Crow continued wiping her tears away while her arms remained draped around his neck. "When your grandfather would work late, you'd come stay the night at my house with my parents and we'd end up sitting out on the roof to look up at the stars. You knew how much I loved looking at them and we would talk for hours. Pretty sure we even fell asleep up there a couple of times." That made her chuckle a little, pulling back enough to grab a tissue since her face was a mess. "You were my best friend and my favorite person in the world. And you protected me from any of the other kids who called me fishmonger or made fun of me because of what my family did for a living. We were friends for 5 years before you left Jurai, I was 10 and you were 13. I know it's a bit of an age gap, but you never once minded hanging out with me." Probably due to the fact her parents were Crow's full-time babysitters since his grandfather, his guardian, worked a lot as the Mayor.

Crow didn't remember any of that, not really. He had memories of fishmongers, of a woman with a nice singing voice and memories of being irritated that at his 'age', he had needed a sitter. "I'm sorry." He whispered, moving so he was sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. "Maybe when we go back to Jurai, something will help trigger these memories. Your mother…. Does she sing?" Or was that another woman he was thinking of, he kneaded his forehead with the heel of his hand.

"Wait, what? What did you say?" When Crow asked the question again, the biggest smile crossed Melyssa's face and she nodded, taking his hand away from his forehead. "Yeah, she does. Not professionally, but she always sings whenever she cooks and cleans. Don't push yourself, Crow." The fact he had these little signs, these little tweaks of memories, told her they weren't completely gone. "When it's meant to happen, it will, and I'll be right here to help you any way I can." I'm never leaving you again, not after finding you, she silently vowed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I'll answer any questions you have at any time." Looking up at him, in those fiery eyes, she leaned up to caress his face with the back of her hand. "You're not alone."

"I know." Crow hadn't felt alone in a long time, but ever since Melyssa had come into his life, something had been gnawing at him. creating an ache he couldn't place and now tonight he knew why there was that burgeoning hole. Something WAS missing, something crucial, and perhaps the last few pieces to his childhood… he had, on some level, been alone and so had she. "I don't have any questions… right now." He added with a sly smile, because he already knew once everything settled and was processed, he'd bombard her with a million things.

Wednesday rolled around, two days before the trip to Jurai, and today was their first official practical exam. Melyssa had trained in the morning before class, not deviating from her routine and felt so much better ever since her explosion with Crow. There was a lot of revelations in that one day and she felt ten pounds lighter ever since. Now, they stood on the academy field in front of Instructor Rean, who was explaining what they would be doing. Crow looked a lot better too, seemed more cheerful and playful, even.

"All right, as I said, teams of two and Crow and Melyssa, you two will be teamed up for the foreseeable future until you can form a Combat Link with each other." Rean reminded them, not winking or cracking a smile because right now he was their Instructor. Business before pleasure. "Now then, you two step forward and we'll get started." He snapped his fingers as soon as they did and a metal robot appeared out of nowhere.

"What in Aidios' name is THAT?!"

Crow chuckled at Melyssa's shock. "It's an artificial intelligence robot that can be set to any difficulty. Courtesy of the Black Workshop." The government now had full possession of it and both Thors Military Academies had gotten a hand full of them.

"Weapons ready. And begin!"

At first, they were able to form a Combat Link, but it fizzled after about 2 minutes, but Rean still saw it as progress. The stronger their bond became, the better they would get until they could keep the Combat Link going until the battle ended.

This was basically a controlled exercise in a controlled environment and after his last, spontaneous, decision which had resulted in Crow and Melyssa fighting without being linked up or without any assistance… Rean figured he should probably walk the straight and narrow for a few classes, especially during testing. Juna might have his head on someone higher than his position's platter if he didn't. He might have been the Instructor, but his students, his friends, were not afraid to point out when he was making a bad decision.

"Ha!" Crow crowed once the battle was over, raising his hand for Melyssa to slap. "Now THAT is how it's done!"

"Yes!" Melyssa's hand connected with his and their fingers squeezed together briefly before releasing, both sheathing their weapons. Crow had decided to battle with his double-saber this time around and Melyssa had to admit, he had amazing form with it. The pistols were fine and everything, but seeing him wield that double-saber warmed her from the inside out for some reason. "Even though we didn't link up that long, it still worked briefly, so hopefully, it'll get stronger with each battle we do together."

"It will." Rean stated confidently, clapping each of them on the shoulder before gesturing Juna and Ash forward. "All right you two, your turn."

"Hell yeah, time to shine!" Ash swung his scythe ax with a grin, winking at Juna, who rolled her eyes at him in response.

Melyssa and Crow got back in formation to watch the rest of their classmates battle the robot like they had.

Even with Juna's eye roll, she and Ash were able to link up. Regardless of whether women trusted him on a personal level given his habit of being vulgar, they all knew he would have their backs in a fight.

Crow, being fairly tall, hung back at the edge of the circle, eyes on the fight. Every now and then, he met Melyssa's teal gaze and he would flash her a smile that she instantly returned. That nagging, lingering feeling was still there, but he knew what it was now and it wasn't as annoying as before. Now, it was mixed with something else, a warmth he couldn't describe but it was a nice feeling. He wasn't alone anymore. He had never thought of himself as being alone, well, not in recent times, not since the death of his grandfather. But that loneliness feeling had been edged out with anger and hate, the desire for revenge, everything else had fallen to the wayside and been his path to this point.

Never again would he be alone and if he tried running off on her again, she was going to hunt him down and string him up by his toes. That was a funny image in her head and Melyssa had to stifle a giggle, instead clearing her throat while Kurt and Altina linked up. Ash and Juna had destroyed the robot in record time, but once again Kurt and Altina prevailed as the fastest time. Once they were finished, Rean congratulated everyone on a job well done, commending them all. One day, when they could do a proper Combat Link, Melyssa had not a doubt in her mind her and Crow would reign and beat even Kurt and Altina's time.

"Now, we need to discuss our upcoming field study to Jurai." Rean announced, handing Juna the papers to pass out to everyone. "There's been a sighting from Ouroboros that we've been asked to look into while we're there." He didn't want Crow and Melyssa thinking he had picked Jurai simply because of them because that wasn't the case. "As most of you know, Ouroboros is to be taken seriously and we're to report to Principal Le Guin for anything we discover. We leave out at 6 AM Friday morning and we'll be gone for 2 days and return Sunday evening sometime. Any questions?"

Nobody had any, at least none they were voicing and Crow looked down at Melyssa when she joined him at his side. Ouroboros was a 'secret' shadow type society and they were behind several of the years recent events, in some way or form, manipulating things behind the scenes. Even him to a degree. Vita came to mind. His death for Cedric. He frowned, repressing a shiver. He remembered that vividly.

"Dismissed then."