Learning to Walk Again 2

Learning to Walk Again

Chapter Two

I saw something light, something spherical, but it soon disappeared. I opened my eyes, my senses flooded with pain, to see a painfully familiar face. He was holding me tight to him, looking into my face. I heard my mother crying, faintly, and then his voice . . . one which I have never heard before or since my grandfather showed me those DVDs when I was ten, say, “Hold on . . .”

I closed my eyes, and then opened them, to look at my chest. A tear in the fabric ran from my right shoulder, to nearly the bottom of my rib-cage, on my left side. Blood soaked the fabric. There was pain every time I took a breath. A line of wet trickled down from the cut on my left cheek, which followed my cheekbone. I looked up at Dinobot again, and saw his optics filled with worry. Why would he worry for me? We just met. We didn’t even know each other.

My worries disappeared, as I fell into darkness again.

Some time later, I awoke, to see the ceiling of one of the rooms in the Pavilion. I tried to sit up, but a jarring pain in both of my hands, as well as my chest, forced me to lay back again. I held up my hands, to see the palms bandaged. I looked at my chest, and saw that I was covered by a blanket.

The sliding door opened, and I turned my head, to see my mother standing there. She rushed to my side, and stroked my hair out of my face. “Baby . . . you’re finally awake.”

“What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

I blinked. “I remember being attacked, but . . . that’s it.” She seemed oddly relieved. I frowned. “Why?”

She shook her head. “You’re safe, now. You’re well into healing.”

“I hurt, Mumma . . .”

She made small, soothing sounds, that I hadn’t heard since I was sick with pneumonia, six-and-a-half years ago, when I was in the sixth grade. They brought back memories of being a child, warm and safe within the circle of my mother’s arms, reading a large picture book.

I wished that I were that small once again.

It was four weeks later. I was walking normally again, but I wasn’t allowed to even touch a sword. My chest was still healing, and still pained me fiercely, when I moved a way that stretched it too far in one direction or another.

“Alessa! You have a visitor!”

I walked around the Pavilion’s veranda, to see Talon standing there. He smiled, and carefully embraced me. My mother handed me a note, and walked back through the gardens, to order supplies for the store from the list that was in her hand. She ran the store when I wasn’t up to it. I opened the note. It read, Don’t get into a relationship with him. I’ll tell you tonight. Trust me, please.

I folded the note, and tucked it into a pocket. I’d do as my mom asked. She knew what she was doing. I sighed, and looked up to see Talon watching me somewhat worriedly. “Are you really all right?”

I nodded. “I’ll be fine, Talon.”

He shook his head. “I’m only Talon in the arena. I’m Jett outside. And you promised me a movie, didn’t you?”

I smiled, since chuckling and laughing hurt. “Yeah, I kinda did, didn’t I? On the other hand, though, I’m still not able to leave the gardens. That way, people can keep an eye on me while I’m recovering, and I’m not all that far from a place where I can get to easily, when I want to rest.”

I led him around to the west side of the house, where there was the most sun. I liked to sit out here on the afternoons, and sketch, even though it was almost frigid, these days in November. I sat on the south side during the noon-ish hours, and I sleep most of the morning away in my warm, soft bed, which is a mattress on the floor, in one of the warmer rooms. He leafed gently through my sketches, with my permission, and said, “You know, there are quite a few rumors flying about you at the arena.”

I was instantly interested. “Ooh. I can’t wait to hear this!”

He shook his head. “They’re actually starting to connect you with your fighting personality.”

I nodded. This really was a serious matter. “Have you said anything?”

“No. Should I have?”

I shook my head. “No, but could you start a new rumor? Could you tell them that I’m training for the finals by myself? So there are no distractions? Tell them that Kedakai’s in Japan.”

“Finals are in three months,” he said softly. “What will they say, when you come back all battered as you are? Kedakai, I can’t let you.”

I shook my head. “And I’m Alessa.”

He nodded. “I still can’t say that, knowing that you can’t even touch a sword after a month of being awake. Not to mention three weeks of being in the hospital. What really happened? The papers didn’t go into detail, and you know how us fighters like to know exactly what happened. All they know, is that you’re the girl who had helped Kedakai prepare for fighting.”

I looked at the frozen mosses, just starting to grow upon the rocks. The sun was starting to glint on the ice. “Talon . . . Jett . . . I’m not so sure what had fully happened either. All I know, is that I deflected a blow, got these from it, got hit with a dagger here, and . . .” I sighed, and indicated the scar that ran from the right shoulder, between my breasts, and ended at my rib-cage. “And this.”

He turned my palms over, and gently traced the scars. “They scarred completely in a two months?!”

I shook my head. “Don’t ask me, Jett. Honestly, I should still be bandaging them right now. I know that. My chest is starting to be the same way. It’s already nearly fully scarred over.”

“But . . . that’s not really . . . not really natural, Alessa.”

“I know.”

“How’s that happening?”

I shook my head, and picked up a sketch that I had started that morning. It was of an angel in flight, enjoying the freedom that my own body wouldn’t allow me. Jett smiled sadly, and noted the sword that she was carrying. “You’re that anonymous artist that does all the illustrations for advertisements.”

I smiled. “Yeah. That’s me.”

He touched the scar on my cheek, but I pulled away. “Please, Jett, I don’t think that this would be wise. Friends is enough.”

He looked almost regretful, but he smiled nonetheless. “Alessa, I’ll do anything for you.”

I looked at my palms, scarred. “Please don’t say that. I . . .”

Jett blinked, and leaned closer, his voice apologetic. “I . . . I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you went for girls.”

I smacked him as hard as I could, without my scars tearing. “Just because I’m not interested in you, doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in any guy! You pig!”

He was shocked, and he winced, lowering his eyes, as I glared death at him. He held his hands up. “I’m sorry, Alessa. It was easer dealing with you when I thought that you were one of ‘the guys,’ you know? I just don’t end up saying the right things to girls, I guess. I never was good at talking to them, either. I’m sorry.”

My anger evaporated, and I touched his shoulder. “I’m sorry for losing my temper, Jett.” He looked up. I continued. “And I can help you learn how to deal with a girl, from a girl’s point of view. It’s just that . . . I think that just dealing with me as if I was still ‘one of the guys’ would also help.”

He nodded, starting to smile. “Hey, you wanna be my best man when I get married someday?”

I hit him again.

Mom was sitting with me, by the small in-door fire that was burning. It was set below floor-level, upon gravel, and surrounded by stone. Jett had left not a half-hour ago, and I was wondering what my mom had meant by the note. She looked at me, and I passed the stick with a marshmallow on it, that was already toasted. She sighed, and I asked, “What did you mean, that I can’t get into a relationship with him? I had to yell at him today, and I like him. I didn’t want to make him feel bad.”

She sighed, and said, “You’ve been promised in marriage to someone.”

I blinked at her. “What? How? When?”

“When is simple. Seven weeks ago, on the day that you were attacked. How . . . isn’t as simple, Alessa.” She stuck another marshmallow on her stick, and I pulled my one off of my own.

I sighed, and said, “Can you tell me who I’m going to marry?”

She smiled. “You’ll see.”

“I’ll take that as ‘no.’ Can you at least describe him to me?”

“You’re taking this amazingly well,” she commented, giving me a small smile.

I sighed, and looked into the flames, feeling their warmth seep into my outstretched hands. “Only because I know that your choice was for the best. That, and because this also eliminates the fact that I have to search for a guy, which would be a royal pain.”

She chuckled, and said, “He might seem harsh and cold on the outside, but I know that he has a warm heart. He hides it well, so you might have some trouble unearthing his affection for you.”

“So he’s met me?”

“Seen you, yes. But you haven’t said anything to him. He helped save your life, when you were attacked.”

“He was there?”

“Yes.”

“Did he see it?”

“I’m not sure. I can’t get into his mind.”

I sat back, and looked into the fire. “How old is he?”

“Not that old. Possibly three, four years older than you. Maybe five, but I doubt he’s any older than that. I spoke with him, and he tried to sound older than he really was. The others that were there didn’t even notice.” She touched my arm, and I looked to her. Mom’s smile was warmer than the fire. “He’s a good person, and would defend and protect you forever.”

I smiled, and looked into the fire again. “Then I’ll do the same for him, whoever he is.”

I set the sword down, and ran to the stream that ran through the gardens, plunging my burning hands in. I had remembered to make a hole in the ice before I had started practice. I gritted my teeth, as the cold started to soothe, then numb them. I pulled them out, and sighed. seeing small spots of blood on the scars. It would take a while for them to toughen up. I stood, and walked back to the sword, and carefully picked it up, feeling my chest start to pain me. I looked at my watch, waterproof, vintage Transformers Decepticon insignia on the face, and grinned. “Twelve minutes, strenuous exercise. Not bad.”

I walked to the Pavilion, and then put some antibiotic salve on my hands, which also numbed them. It was a great relief, after training sessions like the one I had just done. It was ten weeks since the attack, and I had been attending school regularly again, since the sixth week.

And finals were one week away.

“Kedakai!”

It was three days later, and I was back to my normal self, but still pushing to be better.

I heard Jett’s voice, and walked out to greet him. I saw a young man on crutches beside him, who blinked at me when I opened the door. I smiled, and said, “You wouldn’t have used my fighting name, if you didn’t have another fighter here.”

“Kedakai, meet Kedamono.”

He blinked again. “You . . . you’re the Kedakai?! But . . . but you’re a girl!”

I chuckled, and replied, “Kedamono, listen to yourself. Would a man be able to have as much flexibility as I do? We’ve fought before. You’ve seen me. I’ve done splits defending myself against you.”

He hobbled forward, until we were face-to-face. He stared into my eyes, and then nodded. “Talon was right. I thought that he was joking when he said that you were a girl.”

I grinned at Jett. “Did he laugh?”

“Yup.”

“Kedamono, I’m ashamed of you.” He chuckled, and I asked, “Do you think that you’ll ever fight again?”

“No,” he replied slowly. “Never. Even if I fully recover from the limp, I’ll never enter an arena again. Too many bad memories, for two-an-a-half years.”

I smiled. “But what about the good memories? When you won the Regional Championship, and went on to the Nationals, representing our arena? When you made a complete clown out of Fang, and he couldn’t do a thing about it? You’re worshiped by kids all over the place. Even though you’re hurt, Kedamono, when I was walking down a street to visit one of my friends after some classes one day, I saw three kids, each arguing that they were Kedamono, The Beast, and that they would rip my arms off, since I had apparently looked at them the wrong way.”

He smiled. “What did you say to them?”

I chuckled. “I said that I was Kedakai, and that nobody defeats me twice in serious battle.”

Kedamono laughed, and nodded. “Just like that fearless one, too. Did you back your statement up?”

I grinned, and took up an offensive position, as if I held a blade. “The Kedakai and the Kedamono duked it out, while my friend stood by, laughing. She knows, since she helps me when I need it.”

I dropped out of the position, and he said, “So you battled one of the Kedamono?”

I shook my head, smiling. “I let one ‘kill’ me, and I tackled the other two on the snow, tickling them, while the first tried to get me in a choke-hold.”

Kedamono smiled, and held out his right hand for me to shake, his Japanese eyes twinkling. “I’m Yamayuurei Itosugi.”

I smiled, noting that he said his name in the Asian way, with the family name first. I smiled, shook his hand, and said, “Trubae Alessa. It’s an honor to meet you face to face, finally.” I smiled to Jett, who was smiling already, and I said to Itosugi, “Please. Allow me to show you around, Yamayuurei-san.”

His smile heightened with surprise, and he replied, “Domo arigatoo. May I have the honor of calling you Are-chan?” I chuckled, hearing him say it the way that it would be spelled in Japanese, and nodded. He added, “Then please call me Ito-chan. I’m only three-and-a-half years older than you, and calling me Yamayuurei-san makes me feel old.”

So he was only twenty-one? Heh. Twenty-one and cute! Ooh, I fall hard for Japanese boys. Must be a fetish. I nodded, and helped him up the stairs to show him around. He had left his shoes by the door.

“Are-chan,” he said, when he saw my armor room. Everything I used for fighting was here, as I stored it all here. “They’re amazing.”

I smiled. “They’re mostly for show, and I plan upon wearing my usual one for the finals. If I get any farther, then I’ll wear one that was made especially for that purpose. They were all forged by Extinction, and are stored here for him to use as reference. Well, all except for this one.”

I indicated the one with a chest-plate designed after a Velociraptor. The shoulder-plates were in the same design, as they lacked a lower jaw. The teeth were sharp, and the eyes were glittering. The helmet was in the fashion of my normal one, but with a different design on the back of the head. Where a wolf normally was howling in front of a moon, as that was my former standard in fighting, a Velociraptor’s head and neck were there, mouth open in a silent hiss, with fire behind it. Ito-chan smiled, and asked, “May I?”

I nodded. “You’re also known for your expertise with armor. I would only be honored.”

And so, a new friendship was forged.