The Protector

Chapter Ten: The Final Stretch

The road is more quiet than ever. It is now broad day and Gabriel has yet to say a single word since the encounter with Santara despite Kara's coaxing. There are so many things she has been debating saying but has held herself back. She knows what this really means. Not only will he never get to see his parents again, and not only will he ever have to leave but he will more than likely be mad at her for this. That was Kara's worst fear. " Gabriel..please talk to me" Kara pleads with him. " I know that there is not much I can say that will be able to take away the pain you are feeling inside of yourself right now. But, I'm here if you want to talk about it. " Kara's offer feels completely empty. She is almost certain he won't take her up on it and so she continues, not being able to stop herself any longer. " Just know that I'm here" she adds.
" You know what this means, don't you Kara" Gabriel finally answers and Kara immediatly turns to him. " This means that when I take you home. I am going to have to leave. I have to return to my people. I have to take my place and do what I can to fix and help my people " Kara Sighs and looks down. " I know. I understand" Kara knew this moment would come. It was something she feared but right now, all that mattered was Gabriel to her. " That can't be the worst thing going through your head right now Gabe" She takes a deep breath. " I want you to know that..even though you are going to have to leave. I am going to miss you. But for right now..we can't worry about that. We have to try and enjoy the time that we do have together" Kara nudges his shoulder. " And besides that, you won't have to deal with me anymore so on some level that has to be a relief" She jokes as she stares back at the road in front of them. Gabriel doesn't laugh though. " I'm going to miss you too Kara. And we will see one another again someday. Who knows, maybe you will be Queen by then " he is trying his best to put Kara at ease though he is feeling an immense amount of dread inside. Kara Sighs and falls back against the back of the seat. " I don't even know what goes into being a Queen. But I'm probably going to fail at it" She laughs. " When I was little. I use to want to be a princess...for all of about 3 days before I realized that was lame. Sounds like way to much work and politics. I wanted to be something cool..like an intergalactic space assassin or something. That always sounded so bad ass to me " this actually made Gabriel chuckle a little. " An assassin huh? You really think you could handle that? "
This made Kara lean back foward " Hey now, I kicked your little friend right in the face so yes. I think I could be " She snaps back at him with the confidence of knowing she made him chuckle for the first time since the encounter. " Yes, well kicking someone and being an assassin are two different things" He looks over to her, noticing her beautiful smile which always made him feel warm inside, even now, despite the pain he was feeling. " WELL MAYBE I would be the first to do it. Ya never know. " Kara shrugs and crosses her arms cockily. " You are so weird " He laughs as Kara shoves him a little. " Whatever, you have no idea what I am capable of Mister" She fires back but just like his old self, he immediatly retorts " I don't think YOU know what you are capable of. But your cockiness is cute" a gentle silence fell between them. ' Did he just call me cute?' Kara said to herself. This was the first time he had complimented her in this way and she felt so mushy in that small moment. Why did he make her feel this way? Why did he make her feel so...good. Kara tries her best to snap back to reality by shaking off the thoughts. " So who is Santara to you..if you don't mind me asking? " Kara tries to ask as politely as possible though she still has reservations about Santara. And showing that to Gabriel could possibly make him close right back up.
" Santara was more of a friend to Victoria than she was to me. But we still got along at the time. I'm assuming they are still pretty close. I wouldn't say I know all that much about her except for the fact that her parents died not too long before she found her way to our kingdom. And because Victoria took a liking to her, Santata was taken in by Victotorias parents"
This means that on some level, they are friends to some degree in Kara's opinion. And whilst they might have not been close, she was practically a sister to Victoria and that means Victoria will probably be the first to hear about Gabriel's return. And this fact was slowly beginning to eat inside of Kara. Though she couldn't entire place the reason why. " How close are we..to the Kingdom I mean " Kara Sighs as she looks off the road and stares into nothingness. " In about a day or so if we don't stop" he answers. " Which if you don't mind, I'd prefer that we don't" Gabriel's voice has changed back to a more serious tone. One that Kara knew wasn't worth fighting against anymore. " I'm fine with that" She mumbles back which ques Gabriel to snap the reigns and pick up speed down the road.