(COMPLETED) The Lunar Chronicles - Winter's Summer

Part 26

It was after takeoff. They had been in the air for just ten minutes when Thorne remembered something. There was something he had been meaning to talk to Cress about that he had forgotten.

"Hey babe?" He said, turning to look at her, adoration in his eyes.

"Yeah?" Cress had been mindlessly braiding small strands of her short hair in the seat next to him. Thorne loved her short hair. She looked so pretty. It accentuated the shape of her face, the slight amount of freckles on her nose, the blue of her eyes.

She looked up at him with a smile, and he reveled in how perfect she was. Aces. He was so in love with this girl.

"Could you get Iko and Winter for me please? I want to have a word with the three of you. I think they're in the galley. The last time I saw them, they were talking about names for Winter's baby."

"Oh?" He heard the subtle roughness in Cress's voice, and Thorne could have flown the ship into the sun. Idiot. He was an idiot. She didn't like talking about Winter and her baby. He knew it made her too sad and was to be avoided as a topic of conversation at all costs.

Thorne had the opposite view. He was beyond excited for Winter to give birth, and he was prepared to give anything to be a part of Winter and Jacin's kid's life. While it still stung a little, he would rather be involved with his friend's kid's lives than just shut himself out from the world of children altogether.

Cress left the room without another word. Thorne mentally kicked himself for being so inconsiderate to her. She returned a few moments later with Winter and Iko, pushing Iko's gurney.

He hated the damn thing. It reminded Thorne too much of the one Cress was in after he had stabbed her in the stomach. Of another time he had hurt her.

"Ladies! So great of you to come. You're probably wondering why I called you here today."

"Not really," Winter answered. She had her hands resting on her stomach, and Thorne smiled at seeing her small baby bump.

He shook the smile off his face, remembering the reason he had asked them to see him. "Well, for those of you that were, it was because I just had a thought about this whole wolf-kidnapping-rescue thing."

"And?" There was a sharpness in Cress's tone. She was upset with him, at least a little. He winced, but continued with his pre prepared speech.

"And, I would prefer it if you three did not come."

There was something that filled the room. It wasn't shock, and it wasn't offense, but it was some form of mixture between the two that was suffocating. Iko and Winter seemed perfectly fine with the idea, but Cress had her brow furrowed in confusion.

She released Iko's gurney and stepped forward with her arms crossed over her chest. "What, you don't think we can protect ourselves? Or fight Lunar soldiers?"

"That wasn't what I meant. It was more along the lines of Iko can't move, Winter's pregnant, and you work better with computers than a gun. Remember?" He tried to add a teasing tone to his voice as he held up his three fingered hand.

Oh spades. He did it again. He had brought up Winter's pregnancy, and mentioned the fact Cress had shot him in one breath! It seemed like he could do no good. Cress didn't seem sad, or guilty, like she normally did when he accidentally opened wounds. (He had an unfortunate knack for it.)

No, she wasn't sad. She was angry.

"Remember when I shot you? Yeah, I do. Do you remember when you sliced my stomach open?"

"That was Levana!"

"Right, and when I shot you, I was just being a psychopath? You were going to shoot Cinder!"

Thorne had no response to that. He instantly backtracked. "I'm sorry, you're right. You can handle a gun, you are strong enough to take on a whole army of Levana's soldiers. But I'm asking you not to. Please Cress, I just want to make sure that you don't get hurt. Please."

There are many things Captain Carswell Thorne doesn't do. He doesn't wake up before ten, he doesn't take things seriously, and he doesn't beg. But he was willing to make an exception to keep Cress safe.

Because another thing Captain Carswell Thorne doesn't do is break his promises.

He had told himself, so long ago, that he would keep her safe. And he would die before breaking that promise.

He stood, taking small strides to where Cress stood. He gently took her face in his hands, and while she didn't protest, she didn't lean into his touch like she normally did. "Please, Cress. I'd be nobody without you. I need you to be here, and safe. Please."

Tears had begun to sting the back of his eyes. She had to say yes. He couldn't lose another family member.

Cress softened, just a little. She wrapped her arms around Thorne's waist and pulled him close, his hands migrating from her face to around her neck. He would hold her so tightly she would never leave. He would keep her safe.

"Ok," she whispered in his ear.

Thorne pulled back, tears now flowing down his face. He noticed that Cress also looked on the verge of sobbing, and pulled her tight against him again, giving her a kiss on the forehead. This was what he could do. He could keep her from the fight, and he could keep her away from the danger.

That was all he needed right now. The knowledge that she would be removed from the action. The fist that had been squeezing his heart loosened it's grip, however momentarily it was. She would be okay. That was enough for him.