To Be A Warrior

Chapter 44: Happy

I let out a small wince that echoes in the quiet room. This building usually is quiet, since it's the place most people in Abel come if they want to work on certain crafts or various things that require a more peaceful atmosphere.

My wince came from pricking my finger with my needle again. A few people asked me to sew up some clothing for them in exchange for various things-dry shampoo, perfume, candy, and other things. Many people in Abel know how to sew, but I've been trying to learn more advanced stitches since I can't knit to save my life, even with Jody's patient instructions. I'm hoping I'll become well versed in sewing soon enough to be able to actually make my own clothing. Of course, it will be a while before that happens, so no one will be getting a handmade shirt or blouse this Christmas.

I look over to Phineas and Adora off in the corner. Adora is working on one of those foam ABC boards while Phineas is making his origami animals. He doesn't seem too keen on showing them, so I can only guess he's making some to give as gifts for Christmas. Thankfully Adora isn't interested in taking them. I'm sure he'd get very upset if she messed up his hard work.

I only took Adora with me today because Sam is busy disassembling the crib and moving it to the other building that's finally built, so now people don't have to be worried about being cramped for space. It will be nice to have room back in the coms shack, since most of the time that crib was just empty space since Adora usually slept with Sarah. Maxine and Paula never seemed to mind, since the girls keep each other asleep during the night. But having that bit of extra space will be nice.

Of course, we're still keeping some of her toys-the ones she hasn't grown out of-since she'll still be spending a lot of time in there.

I hum to myself as I continue to sew. Adora pays no mind to it, and Phineas can't hear it in the first place. It's nice having the quiet, but usually when I sew, I have someone to talk to. Sam or Maxine or Jody always like to talk to me while I patch clothing up, and it helps pass the time since this can become tedious after a while.

But it's probably best that they're not here, not because they're busy, although that would be a good reason not to disturb them, but also because they may bring up my words from a few days ago.

Word travels fast around Abel, even when it comes to less important missions. Also Phil and Zoe have never been the best secret keepers. Of course, Sam doesn't really oppose my words. I don't think anyone in Abel thinks what I said was wrong, but they always try to talk about it, as if they're not sure if they need to dig deeper and find out why I said what I said.

I know my words towards Lizzie were harsh, and some may find it ironic that I say she deserves punishment considering that I've done worse than her when I was a Torrencer. Nicole actually brought that up yesterday, not to accuse, but to make a mockery of what I said. I quickly shut her down.

The difference between me and Lizzie is that I didn't willingly choose to be a Torrencer; she chose to be a Last Rider. I didn't know about the horrible things Torrencers did when I was forced to join; Lizzie knew what the Last Riders did and joined anyway. I knew what I was doing was wrong; Lizzie just thought her wrongdoings were chaos.

I believed I deserved to be punished for what I did. For a long time I thought everything was my fault in some way, that I was in need of punishment to make up for what I did. It wouldn't change my actions, but at least justice would have been served. I thought I deserved it, and any repercussions from bad actions I did I took because I deserved it. Lizzie didn't feel that. She didn't feel remorse. I don't even know if she feels it now. She decided she wanted to live instead of die.

I know people who have done bad things, but they got punished for it and accepted it. That's how life works. That's how justice works. That's why I said what I said.