Liberty kids: Henri meets Jolene

Chapter seventeen

Eventually, Henri and Jolene calmed down and Got out of the river to dry off. Jolene stayed in her slightly dried underdress while Henri put his clothes back on, only without his socks and shoes.

The two of them were sitting by a tree near the river. Mignon was busy playing with Sarah, who was trying to keep the little wolf from tugging at her dress helm.
"I must say, this little wolf is about at boisterous as Henri,", Sarah declared.
"Aw, don't worry, he won't cause you any harm," Jolene assured her.
"I know he'll cause harm to my dress for sure," Sarah side commented.
Henri giggled, but stopped when he saw a big scar on her left.
"So...this must be the scar that mean old redcoat gave you," Henri said after a moment of silence.

Jolene was silent for a few second before answering,
"Oui. I don't hide it when I'm alone, but I do when I'm around others, so that they won't ask why I have it. Telling the reason would  open up an emotional scar for me. I learned how to ignore the scar like it's not there, but sometimes I can't help but noticed that it's there, and sometimes that pain from dealing with Richard comes back to me, from what he did to my parents. That pain is much like my scar; I'm not certain if it'll ever go away."

Tears streamed from Jolene's eyes as the bad memories of Richard's abuse flooded her brain., and was clutching her scared arm. Henri felt her pain, and it felt terrible. If only there was someway he could make it go away forever, where she won't ever have to feel it again. Henri gently lifted her scared arm and lowered his lips to the scar and tenderly kissed it, as if he was sucking all the pain out of it.
Jolene was shocked, staring  at him blushing.
"Henri, why'd you do that for?"
"I'm taking all the pain away."

Henri smiled at her for a moment before he reached out and tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. He leaned in slowly until his lips gently landed on hers with a kiss. Jolene was shocked but kissed back. After they pulled away, Joleen's face was red all over, and couldn't say a single word.
She was very shocked but touched and timidly pleased at his actions, smiling slightly.
"I'll always be here for you, Jolene. Just know that," Henri said.
"Oh, Henri...."
Jolene laid her head against Henri shoulders and wrapped her arms around him.
This made Henri blush like crazy, and a wide smile spread across his face as he laid his head on hers and hugged her back.

"Henri," Sarah said but was grinning, touched by the scene. She was also getting more Aqua tied to Mignon, who was lying on her lap snoring contently. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

As Henri sat there with Jolene in his arms, he was beyond happy that he got to kiss the girl he likes, and it felt amazing. He was also happy to have at least take some of the pain away from her, ans that felt even more better.