The Winds Continue: Young Justice, Zephyr Book 2

Chapter 36: Forgiving

I'm gonna be honest with y'all...this is probably one of the hardest chapters I've had to write. ANGST AND EMOTIONS

My stunt with Klarion's fire-snake had cost me a large first-degree burn on my upper left arm. The adrenaline from the battle had blocked out the pain, but the minute we loaded back onto the bio-ship and started our trip home: the pain kicked in and didn't go away the whole ride back. Maia had applied a treatment to my arm to try to ease the burn, but it didn't do much in the short-term.

I looked at the clock the moment I walked through the door of my apartment. 00: 46, everyone should be home by now seeing as I was the last one to head home out of a need to make sure everyone got to their Zeta-stop alright. Well, everyone save for Nightwing and Kaldur; they had gone to the Watchtower, probably to smooth things over with the league.

It wasn't over yet, that much was for certain. As much as I wanted it to be finished, the Reach were still on Earth (for now) and the Light was still standing, although disabled. I needed to stay in the fight, at least until The Reach get the hell of our planet. There was still a war to fight, and I needed to help fight it.

I stripped off my gloves and boots as I walked to my room, slowly beginning to feel the effects of my medication run dry. Speaking of which, I should probably stop by Wayne tech and refill my prescription, I'm pretty sure I'm running out of syringes. Shaking my head and putting the item on my internal to-do list, I continued to strip out of my uniform and into my sleep clothing; unfortunately as soon as I slid into a sports bra and fluffy sweater, a strong knock at my door caught my attention.

Who the hell could it be at th-oh...

My body froze slightly, already knowing who would be at the other side of the door. I wasn't really that surprised to be honest, just a little dumbfounded that it didn't come to mind sooner. As I snapped out of my momentary shock, I grabbed a pair of jeans and quickly slid them on (thank you preforming for training me in the art of changing outfits quickly) and grabbed a syringe on my medication, injecting it into my arm as quickly as I could while still being safe and healthy. As the last of the serum was injected into my veins, I paused for a moment to let it sink in before getting up to get the door, yanking my hair out of its braid and ran my finger through it,trying to smoothen it out. Not exactly the ideal outfit to wear while having this discussion, but it was too late now.

Another knock was heard from the door as I quickly walked over to it. Part of me wanted to ignore him and just go to bed, avoid the awkwardness of the conversation that was to come; but I owed it to myself to get this closure.

"I'm coming, hold on." I exclaimed, a moment before getting to the door. My hand paused on the doorknob, the cool metal bringing me the sudden realization of what was about to unfold. The next few minutes had the possibility to change my life forever...
It was to late to be timid. I gripped the knob tightly and opened the door, revealing the man on the other side. He was wearing a large, blue sweater-more like a hoodie than his old fleece-and a pair of jeans. I guessed he had worn the hood up on the way here, as to hide his gills. His eyes looked at me, almost in surprise as I opened the door and made eye contact with him.

"...hey Kaldur." I said, hand still holding the door. My other hand brushed my hair behind my ear, and I wiggled my toes wiggled in the soft carpeting, trying to release some of the anxiety flooding into me.

"Hello Lina." He said in a way that sounded so formal, like we were meeting for the first time. "May I...come in?"

I swallowed a lump in my throat before nodding and moving aside and letting him in. He stepped in and I noticed that his body was practically radiating nervousness and confusion, and it was nice to know that I wasn't the only one with those feelings. The tension in the air was almost suffocating and so thick you could probably cut it with a knife. I felt the winds in my apartment stir slightly but I fought to maintain control.