Sakura Eyes

Chapter 73

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I connected eyes with was another pair of eyes. Warm, oozing caramel eyes that reminded me strongly of—

I blinked. 

"Justin," I gasped, sitting up. I looked around and realized we were in a cave that was illuminated brightly by a woodfire sitting in front of me. "How...?"

"We both fell off the cliff," Justin said, getting up from besides me to go over to tend to the fire.

"And we survived the fall?" I said in disbelief, looking down at my body. No scratches, no wounds, nothing.

"Somehow," he shrugged. "The snow provided a great bedding. It was pretty thick."

I shook my head, still not being able to grasp the situation. Even with the snow being thick, all our bones would've cracked with that height.

Was it Nan?

Maybe...

I glanced towards the cave's entrance and realized a snowstorm was blowing up like crazy outside. As I stared at the white sheet, questions began to form in my head.

Even though Nan was probably the most sensible answer, I couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling that it wasn't her. A slap on the top of my head brought me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to see Justin glancing down at me disapprovingly.

"Stop thinking about it," Justin sighed. "Just thank the gods for protecting you."

I grumbled underneath my breath and got up. "It's just too strange. How could we have survived such a high fall?"

"Because I'm trying to figure out where we are and how we're going to get back in touch with the others," Justin snorted. 

"Rezin," I said immediately.

Justin nodded. "That's what I'm thinking as well. But the snowstorm has to stop before we can get the bird to transmit messages across."

"So...we're just going to have to wait it out?" I frowned, letting out an aggravated sigh as I watched Justin nod.

Leaning back on my arms, I stared at Justin as he tended to the fire. The bright red and orange colors illuminated against him, giving his tan skin a strange but nice glow. The dancing embers reflected off his eyes, almost making them look golden. 

As I stared at him longer, I suddenly noticed something was off.

Jacket. 

Justin wasn't wearing his jacket anymore. He only had his light black sweatshirt and white cloak on, but in this weather, it completely baffled me how he hadn't turned into an icicle yet.

Quickly running over to him, I sat next to him and huddled up against him.

Justin froze, glancing down at me in shock as he stopped tending the fire. "What...what are you doing?"

"Where's your jacket?" I demanded.

"I lost it in the snow," he said. "But—"

"Then don't just sit there with your cloak!" I snapped, looking up at him. "Are you stupid? Why would you just sit there in the freezing cold without a jacket? What if you got sick? Do you think I know how to take care of you? I don't! I'm not Catherine—"

Justin put a cold hand over my mouth and exhaled, a misty cloud blowing out from his lips. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry."

I started to unzip my jacket, but Justin reached out and stopped me. "You keep that on."