guarding the heart

Chapter 16: Words of Others

"She's here! She's here!"

Rachel turned suddenly from where she was cleaning up the synagogue's room where her day camp had taken place to see an excited Kale Omeasoo running into the room. She grinned at young boy as he bounded over and then gave him a short, friendly hug. After pulling away, she regarded the Native boy fondly. "How are you, Kale? Did you have a good weekend? Are you ready for school tomorrow?"

Kale shrugged a bit. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, have to go no matter what anyway, right?" He turned suddenly and gestured behind him to a large, powerfully built young Native man standing in the doorway with short hair, gentle eyes and hands in his pockets, leaning against the door frame. "I brought my brother Travis! I told him you and I were talking about missing people who joined the National Guard and that you wanted to meet him when he got back." He turned to his brother. "This is Miss Berry. She ran the music day camp."

She smiled a bit at Kale's enthusiasm but nodded and walked over to where his older brother stood. "Hi…Travis, correct?" When the young man nodded, Rachel extended her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you. Kale told me a lot about you this summer. I'm Rachel Berry."

Travis's eyes shifted between Kale and her quickly and they widened as he took her hand gently. "Rachel Berry?" He smiled gently and Rachel was surprised when he didn't let go of her hand after a brief formal handshake. "Rachel Berry from…McKinley High School? New Directions, right?"

The beam of a smile appeared on her face before she could even stop it from appearing. "Why, yes! I can't believe you recognize my name or know about that. How did…" Suddenly everything became clear for her as her mind quickly connected the dots; National Guard, summer job, and a certain tall, lumbering, quarterback who had also gone away all summer. The brief confusion that must have registered on her face lifted and her suspicions were confirmed when Travis's smile widened slightly. "You know Finn, don't you?"

"I have the honour and privilege to call him a close friend, yes." Travis nodded to her, finally releasing her hand but his eyes not leaving her face. "He speaks very highly of you. Has all summer."

"All sum…" Rachel's words caught in her throat as the implications of such a profound admission rocked through her core. "Has he been talking about me all summer."

"In between other things." Travis admitted, his hands going into his pockets again as he stood there, relaxed and watching without reservation. The casualness with which he was able to just be in a stranger's presence almost unnerved her, but there was something calming about this tall, quiet Native man. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Please be strong. He'll need you."

"Need me?" Rachel asked, bewildered by the strange words? "How? Why?"

"That's not my story to tell." Travis said evasively, but nodded. "But Finn will when he's ready, if you're willing to listen."

She swallowed and sniffed a bit, blinking back a sudden desire to shed tears for unknown reasons. "I'd do almost anything for Finn." She said softly. "Was...is he okay?"

Travis regarded her seriously. "He will be, with time."

"Time?" Rachel's confusion was only getting deeper from the mysteriously elusive responses. "What-"

Suddenly Kale called from across the room, some crafts of his in his hands along with a copy of some sheet music. "Travis, I wanted to show you what I was working on with Hannah. C'mere."

"Be right there, Mini-Me." Travis called to him, a playful smirk on his lips as he regarded his brother. He turned back to Rachel and smiled a bit. "I can see why Finn loves you. Take care of him, please." He squeezed her shoulder gently as he passed by her to move to where is brother was gathering his crafts.