The Five [COMPLETED]

Part Seventeen

Give me a chance!

I woke with a start. Matthew's gaze was burned in my memory. A chance for what?  But I didn't need to ask. I knew. I felt the same tug. The same longing to be close. But how could we, after all that had happened? Yes, Matthew had betrayed me. And he had killed Violet. But a part of me still loved him. It was a strange feeling. I hated him, and yet I loved him at the same time. I thought about us. About our whole history; growing up together, training together, fighting together. I was searching for something to hang on to, some sign of the boy and girl who were chosen to become martial arts apprentices by chance and became inseparable. I'm wondering what would have happened to them if Dragon Eye was not there. If there was no prophecy. If she would have fallen in love with the boy, married him even. And sometime in the future, when they were raised up, run away and leave the Jade Valley behind them forever. Would they have been happy, out there in the world, or would the dark, twisted sadness between them have grown up even without Dragon Eye's help? I looked over at Mark and Lawrence, who were sleeping peacefully. I didn't tell them what Matthew and I had talked about. That stays between us. I swallowed. If there even is an us anymore. 

Should I go meet him?  Dawn was only just starting to creep up over the walls. I knew that there wouldn't be much time before Mark and Lawrence got up and would want to leave. I closed my eyes. "I have no choice," I whispered to no-one. "I have to go." So I got up and started creeping across to the edge of our little den. I peeked out of the bushes, half-expecting an enemy warrior to jump out.

But there was no signs of life.

I darted out of the leaves and clambered over a rock, slipping down behind it, my breath coming fast. A part of me couldn't believe what I was doing: betraying everything that had once been important to me for the sake of a lost love. I was a traitor, and not just to myself.

To my comrades.

To Sifu and Oogoway.

My heart pounded. What am I doing? I have to go back!  Peering over the rock, I saw a movement come from behind the bush. I knew there was no way I could retrace my steps now without being seen. I had to go on. 

Silently, swiftly, I raced along the ground, careful not to disturb any dead leaves or rocks along my path. The rising sun lit my way as I hurried through the Castle. 

Has he waited?  My heart rose to my throat when I reached the edge of the ivy. If I kept going, I would be compromising my loyalties to my comrades forever. I knew it with such intensity that my body seemed to freeze. But I shook the thoughts away, whispering to the last shimmering stars, "I have  to do this. Please understand. It doesn't mean that I'm not loyal to them." Then I stepped past the entrance of the ivy into the shaded hollow.

He waited!

My heart quickened as I saw Matthew silhouetted in the dim sunlight. He sat gazing at the sky, eyes shining. Leaves crunched under my feet as I approached him, echoing across the hollow. He whipped around. "You came!"

I opened my mouth, but I couldn't think of what to say. 

"I thought maybe you weren't going to . . ." He seemed to run out of words and stared at me instead.

Such softness in his eyes.

"I couldn't get away," I whispered.

"But you did."

"Yes."

Silence. 

Is that it?  Panic rose within my chest. I shouldn't have come. This was a big mistake. Were we going to stand there like idiots, searching for words until our feet froze into the ground? But then Matthew sighed. "I'm glad you came," he murmured. "There's some things I didn't end up getting to tell you last night."