Way of the Sword (MCSM story)

7. A Super-Close Friend

One day after the injury...

Petra needed some time alone... like she always did.

Due to the major injury on Petra's Wither-scarred arm, and the absence of the Ronin, training had been paused for the both of them.  So, Petra trekked up the mountain to where the old Order's temple was. Not because of the temple, but because of the breathtaking view of the forested valley below that the ledge nearby offered, something she had discovered while she and the others were here during the Wither Storm ordeal. 

So there she sat, at the ledge in front of the Order's old temple, her legs dangling dangerously off the edge, as she gazed at the rising mountains beyond, the dense canopy of trees below.

Petra glanced down at the bandaged cut on her.  What had concerned all of them was that the wound on her left arm hadn't closed yet.  Her skin there was still weak and fragile from the Wither scar she had sustained during the Wither Storm events.

Ironic, thought Petra. I'm supposed to be the strongest... well, next to Axel... yet here I am, feeling...

What was she feeling, exactly?  Weak?  Vulnerable?  That didn't sound accurate...

Or just more open?  She was strong and independent... some say she even lived for danger.  She could take care of herself easily... yet Jesse stayed by her side as she began to recover from her sword wound.

She didn't need that support.  He didn't have to do that.  But she felt touched by that...

She had known Jesse for a long time.  Much longer than anyone knew or suspected.  Though she had her share of stress, cuts, and pains from trekking the lands as a scavenger, she had seen Jesse experience a lot of grim times during their childhood, and she could tell his stress manifested in the way he cared and treated others... sometimes, he put his own safety on the line for others.  Like to save her from the Wither Storm. Twice.  No, three times... if he hadn't destroyed the monster sooner, she would have fully succumbed to the Wither sickness.

Before the Wither Storm, they merely exchanged small "hello's" and "hi's."  Even though they weren't really friends back then, both of them saw each other as another familiar face when they met.

But throughout the whole Wither Storm ordeal, she began to see how much Jesse actually cared for her... actually saw her as a friend.

And while she encouraged Jesse to step up as a leader and comforted him over losing Reuben, she began to realize how much she felt the same way.

She knew Olivia and Axel a little with help from Jesse.  Time to time she did favors for Lukas, who often helped her get by, but only because he was nicer than the rest of his old gang.

But Jesse?  He was clumsy, but their sword training was starting to change that.  He was nice, friendly, and very caring. She felt like she could trust him. He always stepped in to help her, and he had saved her from near-death many times.  Even if he did end up telling Lukas about her Wither sickness that she intended to keep a secret, she still felt trusting of him.

...

"You know, Lukas might be kind of arrogant, but he has come through for me in tricky situations," Petra pointed out, expecting the usual backlash she heard from Jesse about Lukas and the Ocelots. "You might want to get to know him, just in case."

To her surprise, Jesse nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you might be right."

All this hate for Lukas and the Ocelots that Petra had seen from Jesse, Axel, and Olivia, and she never expected this from Jesse. It was as if his new victory revealed a new side of him, one that was more understanding and sporting of a person, keeping himself from stooping to the same kind of bullying and taunting he experienced from Lukas's building partners.