Light in the Darkness

Chapter 6

"Nova what was she talking about?" Lance asked for the third time since their cell door had been slammed shut. It was like he was talking to a wall. He looked at his girlfriend sitting across from him on the other side of the cell.

Her knees were curled up to her chest, arms wrapped tight around them with her head bowed. Lance didn't recognize this girl. The girl who slept in the same bed as him was not the girl who sat before him, the one who could crack a joke in any situation, who was skilled in martial arts.

His mind raced through every moment they had. We're they all lies? Had she been working for the Galra this entire time? He hated the thought even as it formed in his mind. Was their relationship even real? His stomach swirled as if he was going to vomit.

"Nova...Why?"

It was a simple question. One that required a simple explanation. However, he didn't receive an explanation, instead, he only received a flick of her brown gaze meeting him before returning to the stained floor of their cell. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. She wanted to say something, he could tell by the way she bit her lip, a once cute gesture now turned to show just how much she was holding onto.

"You can talk to me. You know that right?" He leaned forward hoping to catch her gaze. He didn't catch it. The only indication that she heard was the slight nod of her head. "So talk to me."

"I can't" Her voice was strangled. She was working to hold back tears, but also trying to put up a front. It wasn't working. When she met his gaze tears rimmed her eyes and threatened to spill, but whatever mask she had been working to build slid into place and her face moved into a neutral stare.

"If you think you can't talk to me, what does our relationship mean to you?" It was a cruel question to ask, but he was genuinely curious. There was way more that had happened in her past than what she had told the paladins. And if they planned to live through this she needed to tell him what happened in her past.

Her head shot up, surprised by the question. 'It means everything to me. So much so I cared enough not to tell you about my past so as not to draw you into a fight that wasn't yours! I love you and I don't want anything to happen to you. If that requires me to keep my mouth shut then so be it!"

"Are you protecting me, Nova, or are you just protecting yourself? Cause to me it seems like the latter. If you were doing it to protect me then. We wouldn't be in this situation." Lance huffed in an attempt to calm himself, "If you really loved me you wouldn't have kept this from me!"

It was a blow he knew he couldn't take back, one that wouldn't so easily be forgotten. But he was hurt, how could she betray his trust and lie to him this entire time? Was this apart of the Galra's plan?

"I see." Was all Nova said in response before looking into her lap her jaw clenched tightly.

At that moment the cell door opened and the guard from before was stepping in. "Luiseach, Master Aria commands your presence."

"Luisesch? Is that your name?"

Again he received no response, and Nova didn't move. She stayed frozen to the spot conflicted between going back to her past or fighting for her future. She met Lance's and he could see her heart was breaking in those brown orbs. 

The click of a safety being turned off sounded and both of them turned. Lance was staring into the barrel of a blaster and Nova was sitting too far away to be of any help quickly.

"Master Aria commands your presence." The guard repeated their voice tainted with annoyance.

They knew how to manipulate her and damn were they working that knowledge. She rose with no hesitation after that following the guard out the door.

Before she was completely out the door Lance called out to her "At Least answer me this. Do I even really know you?"

Nova gave him a pained expression telling him more then he wanted. The cell door slammed shut echoing long afterwards. The words she hadn't spoken cutting deeper than a knife ever could.

You knew the girl who I wanted to be......not the one I was trained to be.