The Old Mine

18: Growth

                    Cal entered the dojo carefully; she had slept rough last night. She kept rolling over expecting to see Recke. She was aware of the bond between them but unsure of what all of this meant. She found herself very nervous about the day's activities. Thoughts of Bret's argument that morning with his pair was running through her head causing her to see similarities with her and Giana. Cal couldn't stand the thought that Giana might possibly fight against her and walk away. While she was stressed, Bret and Giana were relaxed and chatting. Cal looked around for Recke, anxious to see him again. She spotted him at the front of the room, he and Midnight were nearly arguing. Cal sighed and tapped Giana's shoulder "I'm going to go say hi." Giana nodded and hurried off to the locker rooms with Bret. Slowly Cal walked toward Recke, memories of how cruel he was in the warning dream running through her mind. "Hey," Cal stepped up and the two went silent "Can I ask a question?" Recke looked at her with a bit of concern. Clearly, he was expecting the question to be one he couldn't answer right now. He nodded slowly and Midnight groaned. Cal brushed it off and asked her question anyway "You and Midnight were paired up, weren't you? That's why your movements are almost exactly aligned."

                    Midnights eyebrow's shot up in surprise and Recke laughed "Yes we were," he kissed Cal's forehead "Thank you," he ran his hand through her hair "You just answered a question we had that was causing an argument."

                   Cal giggled "You're welcome, I guess. Oh, Giana is staying with us. I didn't like her being at the hotel alone." Cal sighed "Why does the thought of someone being alone hurt."

                     "Trauma," Recke and Midnight said at once "And don't worry about it..." Midnight continued "It will work itself out in its own way. Now go get changed so Recke and I can keep arguing."

                    Cal gave Recke a hug and a kiss and whispered in his ear "It physically hurt last to not have you beside me last night." She pulled back scared to see his reaction and headed for her locker. Giana was sitting on the bench in front of it still in her street clothes "You didn't need to wait. I was right by the way," She took off her shoes first, one at a time "Recke and Midnight were paired up... and the horrible way I feel about someone being alone is apparently related to trauma." She opened the locker and tossed her shoes in annoyed at herself.

                    "You weren't talking to them about me?" Giana was surprised.

                    "Other than letting them know you were staying with me until your parents get here... no... why?" Cal was confused then it hit her. "Oh," She sat down beside Giana "People have played nice then dumped you, haven't they?" Giana nodded "It caused trauma like what I'm going through didn't it?" Giana nodded again. Cal put her arm around Giana's shoulders "I tell you what, you be honest about all the gory details of your trauma, and I will be honest with you about mine... we can be traumatized together."

                     "Deal," Giana laughed and threw her arms around Cal "Thank you," The hug felt good for both of them. It felt safe like something was screaming that this person would never betray her. A warmth swelled up inside Cal and overwhelmed her frame until she was crying. When Cal pushed back Giana was crying as well. "Did you feel that?" Giana smiled through the tears.

                    Cal shook her head yes "What was that?"

                   "I don't know, but I think we are ahead of schedule." Cal laughed "I think it's something we will be learning about in the future."

                    Cal laughed "We would have been learning about in the future... I want to know now." She smiled "Since I'm dating our trainer." They both giggled.