𝑺𝑶𝑳𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑪𝑬 [𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑹𝒀 𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹/𝑻𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻]

𝑅𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇 𝐷𝐼𝑅𝐸𝐶𝑇𝐼𝑂𝑁

In the depths of the forest, Gwen felt most at home. Perhaps that was why she had enjoyed Forks so much, it was covered purely in pine trees, moss, and felt so peaceful. It was soothing. And it reminded her of the time she spent with the Centaurs during the war.

And after the war, well, it became her sanctuary. A peaceful place to escape it all.

Though, her time with the Centaur wasn't always peaceful.

The raven-haired woman felt her heart working hard and body fill with adrenaline, as she held her fists up to her chest in order to defend herself. Though the war was over, the Centaurs, especially their leader Rhea, would not let Gwen give up on her physical training. Like every good Centaur, they needed to be physically ready for any threat.

"Even in times of peace" Rhea commanded, as the centaur physically hit Gwen with such force that it made her fall on her back. "We must be prepared. Pay attention!"

Gwen gasped as she fell back, feeling the pain from the centaurs hoof on her chest. Of course, she was not paying attention. In truth, she had only struck Rhea once before, but that was also because the centaur had been distracted. But regardless, the hours that the raven-haired woman spent with the centaurs learning how to physically combat with them, was absolutely worth it.

It was quite therapeutic.

The Centaurs had a culture that Gwen did not fully understand, but she wanted to. And through her actions in the war when she had spent time with them, they had slowly begun to trust her. And with that trust, they began to teach her their methods of healing.

When Gwen had returned from New York, she made sure to stop by the Centaur healers and ask for help in what Edward had explained was Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In truth, what she had felt out in the clearing with the Newborns had been terrifying. She had felt completely helpless and stuck in her own mind, in her own fear. Like a nightmare she could not wake up from. And she never wanted to go through anything like that again.

Though the Centaur healers did not completely call it PTSD, they had their own knowledge on it and their own ways of healing and confronting it. At least, more than wizards did.

"You're always running, you know that." Rhea commanded, not asking a question but stating a fact. "Even in your fighting, you move in defense--"

"Because I have a 7 foot Centaur coming at me" Gwen mumbled, as she forced herself up from the floor.

"You must conquer your fears. Healing is not linear. You are not going to wake up one day and find out you're better."

Gwen grinned sheepishly as she joked, "That's what I was hoping for."

But Rhea, well, most Centaurs, were not prone to understanding sarcasm so she frowned and said, "There is no quick fix for this. That is why all of you wizards make the same mistakes over and over. You move too fast. You are unwilling to see. You are unwilling to change."

The raven-haired woman opened her mouth to argue, and then closed it once more. Rhea was quite right.

"I once told you we mourned after the battle was over" Rhea stated, as she looked at Gwen with an intense glare. "And now, the battles are over. It is time to mourn, and then live with what we have done."

"But how?" Gwen asked, as she drank some water after their sparring. "You all make it look so easy."

"When was the last time you allowed yourself to mourn?"

Gwen paused as she tried to remember. It was quite an odd question, as she didn't really see it as allowing herself to mourn, rather, the pain boiling over and it just coming out of her chest uncontrollably until she made it stop. But if she was being honest with herself, it had been with Edward when they had visited Hermione's grave.