Fire in Her Eyes - Charlie Weasley

Chapter 15 - Training

Kai showed up to work the next morning at 9 am on the dot. She nodded to Charlie as she walked into her office to look over some more patient files. She drank her coffee as she poured over the documents until she heard a knock.

She looked up to see him standing in the doorway, casually dressed in his usual jeans and flannel with work boots. You could take the trainer out of the field, but you couldn't take the field out of the trainer.

"Your training starts today," his quiet confidence still intimidated her.

She just nodded, waiting for him to clarify.

"After lunch, change into something more comfortable, and meet me here," he nodded to her clothes and then abruptly left to return to his office.

Kai sighed. She had thought they would be more friendly to each other after yesterday. They had casually talked about light and easy things while they ate lunch. It had been surprisingly comfortable. They discussed dragons mostly, the only subject that Charlie was completely open about. She thought they had found a simple truce, but apparently he was back to his old self.

She busied herself with work and then grabbed lunch at the mess hall with Chelsea and Cooper. They had come back from their trip all smiles and she loved seeing the two of them together. They chatted about their adventures and Kai smiled and nodded. She talked about how she spent most of her Sunday hanging out, keeping the knowledge of her and Charlie's day together to herself. She didn't know why she wasn't ready to part with the information yet.

After lunch, she headed back to her cabin to change. She changed into a pair of leggings, running shoes, and a lightweight long sleeve, throwing a puffy jacket over top to keep the cold away. She had no idea if they were going to be inside or outside.

She headed back to the office and saw Charlie waiting for her outside. She followed him down the road to the first building at the entrance of the village. It simply said "GYM" at the top in faded writing. He paced back and forth a few times as she watched him confused. Then they walked in and she noticed that it was charmed to be bigger inside than it looked from the outside. It was open and airy with a clock on one end to know the time.

"Wow," she looked around. They were standing on a tennis court. "How did I not know this was here?"

"It's only for the trainers, but you're in training so you can use it. Pace back and forth outside the front entrance and think of whatever type of training you might need. The building will provide it. It's a nifty little trick I figured out from a room when I was in school," he popped an eyebrow up, as if the information was a secret, a hint of a smile on his lips. God what she wouldn't give for him to just tell his stories.

"What does tennis have to do with learning about dragons?" She crossed her arms, arching her eyebrow, and stared him down.

Charlie's face instantly transformed into a devilish smirk, "Reflexes. I want to see how quick you are on your feet. You've got to be able to dodge dragon fire if you're going to work with them."

Kai did her best to keep her eyes from rolling to the back of her head. She knew she wouldn't ever have a need to dodge dragon fire. But unless she wanted that to be what Charlie asked her about today, she had to keep it to herself.

"And how does tennis train for reflexes?" She sighed heavily. She did agree to do things his way. All she could do was just prove to him that she wouldn't quit, no matter what he threw at her.

"Oh we're not playing tennis," his tone threatening as he walked to the center of the court near a mound of bright yellow balls. "You're only goal, is to not get hit by a tennis ball."

Kai barely had time to react before Charlie had charmed a dozen tennis balls to speed her way. Her eyes widened as she tried to move to the right, avoiding the first tennis ball. But she hadn't been paying attention to the second, and it caught her squarely in the thigh.

"Oh fuck that hurts!" She groaned out as she took hits from the third and fourth balls as well. The first hit had surprised her and knocked her concentration out of focus.

"FOCUS LEE," Charlie's loud, authoritative voice carried over the distance of the court.

Shaking her head, Kai pulled her focus away from the bruises that were forming on her thighs and shoulder. She should make a bruise balm for the sanctuary, she absent-mindedly thought, before directing her attention to the balls shooting her way.

Remembering that there were multiple balls that she needed to pay attention to, she tried to dodge out of the way, with a very small amount of success.

She was breathing heavily by the time the last of the balls stopped moving. She bent over, heaving, placing her hands on her knees. She usually wasn't too out of shape, but she definitely wasn't termed as "athletic" when she was growing up.

Charlie slowly walked up to her, his face an unreadable scowl. "Nine out of twelve hit you, Lee," he almost sounded bored. "Again." He waved his wand and walked back off the court, letting the tennis balls swarm at her.

"What!?" She yelped as the tennis balls took to the air again. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him dead.

They did five more rounds of Kai getting abused by demon yellow balls, before Charlie let her take a break.

"You couldn't get me to quit; so you're trying to kill me, aren't you?" She fell down to the ground and laid on her back, gasping for air.

"You need to start working out regularly," he shrugged. "You can't outrun dragon fire if you get winded after 45 minutes."

Kai bit the inside of her cheek, keeping her retort to herself about how she didn't need this kind of training. A deal was a deal. He would teach her how he saw fit. If that meant getting abused by balls, then so be it.

Charlie sat down next to her, "I work out every morning at 6 am, meet me here. Strength and cardio training will help."

Kai groaned. She was NEVER someone to workout five days a week, but she wasn't going to let him win. She might not be athletic, but she was damn stubborn. She would prove to him that she belonged here.