I opened my eyes, and I was lying down with Listenia tucked into me. There were tears coming from my eyes, but I had no idea where they had come from.
I pulled one of my hands back to wipe my eyes, and Listenia moaned in my arms.
"Go back to sleep; the sun isn't even trying to burn the light away yet," Listenia said and turned to kiss me. "Why do you have glassy eyes? Did you have a bad dream?"
"Not sure. I only remember passing out with you in my arms," I said and kissed her lips, cheek, and neck, wrapping my arms tighter around her.
I felt like something momentous had just happened, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. All I knew was that I wanted Listenia close to me as my heartbeat hard.
"Close your eyes, and I am sure you will be fine. Don't leave until the sun is here. I want to enjoy the moments that I have with you," Listenia said as she pulled the blankets tighter.
I buried my face into her neck, kissing it and closing my eyes.
Today was a new day, and like we had talked about, I was going to try my damnedest to stop being so pushy. Yesterday had been a wake-up call, and I still felt terrible about how I acted, but I would do better.
I drifted off again and awoke to Listenia turning in my arms to face and kiss me. I returned the kiss and ran a hand through her long blonde hair, the other dragging the tips of my fingers up and down her naked back.
"As much as I want to keep you here in bed and have fun, both of us have things to do. I have a store to get ready to open, and I think that you have training with O'lee, if I am not mistaken. Don't forget that you told Trina and Senna that you are coming back for lunch and to help them with their ritual," Listenia said with a smirk, and I rolled my eyes, kissing her again.
"Nothing gets past any of you. Do you all have telepathic powers that I don't know about?!" I complained with a smile, and Listenia gave me a quick kiss, pulled back from me, and got out of bed.
"All women talk, and all women listen. That is just an unspoken rule. If you don't want someone to know about something, I suggest that you don't do it," Listenia smirked as I sat up and swung my legs over the bed to stand up.
"That is helpful but a bit grating that everyone knows my business, but I guess it is what it is," I said as I stood up and got dressed.
"Just another thing is this world that you can't change, so don't even try to," Listenia said as she came up behind me as I buttoned up my shirt.
She hugged me and kissed my back but then broke away from me as I tucked my shirt into my pants. I had thought of saying a smart comment about how we would see about that, but I didn't.
I had been filled with thoughts of dread and knowing that I could do better. It had only been for the briefest of moments, but it had been there, and the feeling was prolific.
"Are you okay? Are you still bothered about your dream?" Listenia asked, and I shook my head.
"Just keeping my thoughts in line with what I want to do and who I want to be. I want to do better than I have, as we talked about. Let's just say that I am pulling my ducks in a row," I said with a smile, shaking that horrible feeling off.
The two of us headed down to Listenia's shop, and I quickly helped her sweep the armor side of the shop before I left. I was awarded a long kiss before I left, and I told her I would stop by to say hi after I was done training.
After leaving the shop, I ran to the Barracks, hoping that O'lee would still be there, but it was Penny waiting for me. I jogged up to the smiling Red Healer and returned the smile.
"Good morning, Beautiful! Feels like ages since we played in the back yards, even if it was only two days ago!" I laughed, and Penny's smile brightened.
"I asked O'lee if I could spend some time with you this morning. We haven't seen each other since then, and I have been missing you," Penny said shyly, and I walked over to give her a hug.
"Hanging out with you all morning sounds like a good plan. Do you want to train like O'lee?" I asked as Penny looked up at me with a cute smile.
"Sort of. Have you been to the south wall yet?" Penny asked, and I shook my head.
"That is the one that holds all the undead, right?" I asked, and she nodded.
"Yes, I like going down there to train in the mornings. Most of the biggest ones don't try to attack the wall until the afternoon because the morning is when Morgana sings. There are still tough undead monsters to fight, but it is much safer. The girls on duty don't mind because it just makes less work for them," Penny explained.
"Hey! Now that sounds like fun! We will just have to stop by Listenia's shop, and I will grab my weapon," I said, but Penny frowned at me.
"What do you need a weapon for? I have fought with you, and you held back, so I think you will be fine without it. You are also going to have to get the Captain of the South Walls approval to go to Morgana," Penny explained.
I was about to say that I didn't need anyone's permission to help someone, but again, I was hit with an almost paralyzing wave of dread like before.