Polar Opposites

11 - Sanctuary

Elora had spent her day in bed, lazing around. Zokkik had come to check on her a couple of times but did not linger. The air between them still felt awkward.

She was about to die of boredom when Shila entered her room to bring her dinner. Elora hid a smile as the girl shyly slinked through the door, balancing a small tray with one hand while opening the door with the other. Elora warmly greeted the trainee, "Hello, Shila. How are you doing this afternoon?" Shila's eyes went big, as if a startled deer. Had she not expected Elora to speak to her? Or was that just the girl's natural demeanor?

Shila mumbled a generic reply and hurried over to give Elora the tray. On it was a delightful sight – veggies. There were many vegetables of various colors and sizes mixed like a salad. Elora could count on one hand how many times she had eaten this many vegetables or fruit on the ship. She swore all they had was meat and rice, meat and soup, or meat and soup and rice. She needed greens, gosh darn it!

Elora had brought it up to Zokkik one meal, and he explained that in the South Pole there wasn't much vegetation, so it wasn't a main source in their diet. Elora understood that; however, they were not in the South Pole, and they still didn't eat them. Eora rolled her eyes at the thought – men and their love for meats.

Besides her precious vegetables, there was a small bowl of stew and a hard piece of bread. It smelled absolutely heavenly, and she couldn't wait to dig in. But something was holding her back from doing so. Elora raised her eyes up to Shila, who was still standing awkwardly by her bed. The girl squeak like a mouse, a heavy blush starting to crawl up her cheeks, "Sorry for staring. Have a nice dinner."

Before she could scurry from the room, Elora stopped her. Shila's body tensed and she slowly turned around as if she wanted to do nothing else but escape from the room. Elora knew the feeling.

Elora smiled, "Why don't you come eat with me?"

Elora used to love eating alone. She found out it wasn't as fun when there wasn't an electronic device in front of your face when you did so. She gotten so used to eating with Zokkik that the thought of eating her dinner alone made her feel – she didn't quite know. But it wasn't pleasant. However, her pride was too big for her to call for Zokkik to eat with her. If he was going to act like an annoying control freak, she wouldn't be near him.

Shila's blush only darkened at Elora's request, as if she couldn't believe that she was the one Elora wanted to eat with. Shila noticed it was taking longer than the normal period to reply, so she rushed out, "Thank you, but I'm behind on my mending. I was going to work on it through dinner."

A small pout found it's way to Elora's plump lips and guilt spread throughout Shila's body. The young girl tried to not let her voice tremble, "I'm sorry."

"I'll help you."

"Huh?"

"I'll help you mend so you won't have to work through dinner. It'll be a fun time."

"Soo said you mustn't work, so you won't hurt your leg again."

Elora let out what she thought was a comforting laugh, "Working with my hands won't injure my leg." Elora instantly knew her mistake as the young girl's face fell and a devastating look of humiliation crossed her features. If she could have, Elora would have darted out of her bed and begged for forgiveness. She obviously could not do so, so she reached out her hands to the girl, "Come, please. Sit by me." After Shila tentatively sat on the side of her bed, Elora sincerely looked at her, "I didn't mean for that to come out in a demeaning way, Shila. I was trying to make you more comfortable. It means so much to me that you are worried about my healing."