A Sky of Rain

Chapter Twenty-Three

        I release Lance, and dry my tears. Adrian was rechecking Gordon over as I clung to Lance crying, and he held me. We have spent approximately twenty minutes here, and Gordon's father has yet to arrive. I don't want to leave Gordon's body alone, but I may have to. I don't want to go anywhere right now, but I may have to.

         "We should go, Lyra." Lance softly says.

         I shake my head and try to stop myself from starting to cry again. This should not have happened to Gordon, he should not have had such a short life. As I suppress more tears, an idea comes to my mind. I wipe at the dried tears on my face one more time before bending down to the ground. I place my palm against the ground, and close my eyes.

         Relaxing my mind, I focus on my palm and it touching the ground and the earth, and all of the plants that are also touching the earth. I ask the nearest plant I take hold of, to send a message to whatever other plant is nearest to Matilda to come here. I can't leave Gordon alone.

         Rising from the ground, I avoid looking at Gordon. I look at everything that I can except Gordon. I tell Lance and Adrian what I tried to do. Adrian begins to walk towards the door to wait for Matilda.

         "Lyra..." Lance says, and I turn my head towards Lance. He puts a hand on my shoulder and pulls me into another hug.

         "It's just..." I begin to whisper, but I stop myself from spilling my feelings. I need to pull myself together and focus back on winning for Nyden, and now for Gordon.

         Lance's hand travels up to my head, and he soothingly runs a few fingers through my disheveled hair to calm me. "It is alright," Lance whispers back to me. "Say anything you need to."

         My hands form fists that crumple Lance's uniform inside them, and I shut my eyes tightly. "It is just that what happened with Raine earlier, and now this...it is sucked the fighting fire out of me. I can't let anyone else get hurt, but yet now I feel like there is nothing I can do to stop any of this. I can't lose anyone else."

         Lance drops his hand from my head to my waist and his other hand moves my head off of his chest. I groan at the loss of comfort, and begin to open my eyes. Lance's breathing quickens, something I would not have noticed if I wasn't this close to him, and I look at him after blinking a few times to adjust my eyes to the light again. I back up a step and place a hand on his chest lightly as my heartbeat accelerates. Before I can completely connect the pieces in my head of what is going on, a soft pair of lips lightly touches my own.

         I open my eyes widely, suddenly alert of what is happening. Lance's hands lightly tug me closer to him, and my hand on his chest grasps at his metal breastplate. My eyes feel heavy, edging me to close them and kiss back. So I do. Lance's soft lips move with mine, and I wrap an arm around his neck to pull him closer, intensifying the kiss that I never imagined would happen. A few moments later, we pull away from each other, breathless.

         I shyly look down, and remove my arm from around Lance's neck. Lance's hand tilts my head to look back at him, and once our eyes lock, I can't look away. "I had to do that, at least once." Lance whispers, a small smile lingering on his face. I open my mouth to protest, to tell him that this doesn't have to be the last time, but he continues before I can speak. "I suppose now would be the best time, since I just did that, to tell you that I like you. I know no one else who could go through what you have and still be as strong as you are. This is a battle, I can't promise that you won't lose anyone else, but I do know that no matter what happens, we will still care for you and protect you. We will fight for you, and I know even if it seems hard right now, that you will fight alongside us."