Ghost of the Past-Ranger's Apprentice Fanfic *Working Progress*

Chapter 12

The days dragged by slowly as the two of them worked on bringing back the feeling and movement in the rest of her body. They knew Will and Alyss would be back the following day and they wanted her to be able to walk, although they were far away from that they were full of confidence and optimism.

"You ready?" He asked with an almost childish grin on his face. she smiled broadly at him which was in a way her equivalent of nodding. With a small nod he carefully scoped her into his arms and carried her outside.

She smiled as she felt the fresh air on her face and the wind sweeping through her Auburn hair. Halt glanced down at her and couldn't help but smile at the indescribable joy on her face.

"Oaky, I'm going to lower you to your feet and you have to trust me to catch you."

"I trust you" she replied confidently with a smile. He smiled back at her and slowly lowered her so her feet touched the ground. There was a weird sensation in her feet as they came into contact with the once familiar surface, she couldn't call it a feeling as such bit it was something, and something was better than nothing.

Halt held her waist gently as he stepped in front of her before taking her arms over his shoulders. He held onto her and took a small step forward glancing over his shoulder to make sure she was okay and not in pain. She was too busy looking at everything around her to notice that he'd stopped moving and was watching her with a smile. The world seemed more beautiful than she had imagined, everything seemed brighter and more colourful than she remembered. The sounds were heavenly, the birds chirping in the trees, the gently sound of rustling as the wind rustled the trees and bushes surrounding the Cabin. With a smile Halt set off at a slow and steady pace walking around the Cabin so she could see everything she'd missed so much.

He had no idea if this was going to work and help her to be able to walk again but he could tell that it was helping her emotionally, and if that's all it was doing then he'd be happy because it was amazing to see her happy and cheerful without a care in the World. It seemed that all the pain she had felt since she woke had faded into the wind. In a way he was happy she had been injured because it meant that she had to stay with him. He only got to see for a couple of hours every couple of months, if that because it was too dangerous for her to be seen with a Ranger and she didn't want Gilan to know she was alive making it even harder for him to see her, it was hard enough keeping track of her movements let alone then getting to her without anyone suspecting anything. This was the longest he had ever spent with her and he loved it, this was the life he wished he had. He loved being a Ranger but he loved this more, if he could go back he would have kept Will and raised him as his own with Lady Pauline at his side. In a horrible sense he wished she'd never get better so she'd never be able to leave and then he'd be able to spend the rest of his life with her and Lady Pauline and he couldn't imagine anything better than that, but he knew that she was meant to be out in the World and when she got better he wasn't going to stop her, no matter how hard that would be because her needs came first, always.

From the small room she was cooped up in Ayla could hear any sound made inside or outside due to the deathly silence created when herself and Halt weren't talking. Even when he was walking around the Cabin he was silent due to his training and it wasn't as though she was making much noise lying in bed. As such it wasn't really of any surprise to Halt when she knew that Will and Alyss had arrived before he did. He'd been wandering around the Cabin doing odd jobs, having fragments of conversation with Ayla in between jobs to try and stop her from dying of boredom. He wished he could give her something to occupy herself with but there was nothing she could do, and it wasn't as if he was handy or smart enough to create something that she'd be able to do something with the limited movement she had regained.