65 Relief And Tears

When the time of Dawn's watch rolled around, she went to get Raven and found him already up.

The cloth was still wrapped around his head, but as soon as he saw her, he smiled at her. "Hey, Dawn."

It seemed like his avoidance of her was over, but she could not keep from saying something. "No longer avoiding me?"

"Ah, about that. Sorry, Dawn." He walked past her as he continued talking, "I shouldn't have but… you know, I suddenly can see a bit, and well, um… I, well…"

"You weren't surprised to see what I looked like were you?" Dawn decided to make it easier on him.

"I was." Raven's mouth twitched a little, "Very surprised…"

"It was a bit rude to ignore me though."

"Perhaps." Raven looked down at his hands, "I'm sorry Dawn… I just… reacted badly. Forgive me, my queen?"

She patted his shoulder and let out a breath of air, "Of course. You are my best friend."

He opened his mouth as if to say something and then closed it and merely nodded.

Dawn felt relieved that it had blown over so quickly. That her best friend was back to his normal.

He kept looking around, drinking in whatever his eyes were seeing. She wondered what exactly he could see. Mem had made it sound like his sight might not be fully there as of yet.

She liked watching the expressions flit across his face. Even with his eyes hidden, the wonder and amazement were all easy to see on his face.

She looked away, smiling to herself. It was good that he was on the road to recovery.

Her smile dropped though as she remembered her own pain. She felt a little numb at the moment. And even her happiness for Raven's sake slipped away.

"What's wrong, Dawn?" He had turned to her and studied her.

"Ah, I don't want to be a downer when you just had something so wonderful happen for you."

He leaned slightly towards her, lifted his hand and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, "C'mon Dawn. I'll listen. It's more of a downer for you to push me away than to tell me whatever is bothering you."

"…I'll tell you later. Right now, just enjoy-"

He interrupted her, "I can't do that. Not when someone I care about is feeling down. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. But I can lend you my shoulder to cry on?"

She hesitated only a moment before she buried her head against his shoulder and just started crying harder than she had ever cried before. More tears than when her mother had left her. Because Arrion was worth every one of her tears.

Raven wrapped his arms around her frame, and just hugged her quietly. He did not say a word, something she was appreciative of. Instead he just gently rubbed circles on her back, giving her a sense that he was there for her.

It was not often that Dawn cried, and there were few people who she had ever been willing to cry in front of. It had been a bit strange that she had cried in front of Mem earlier but that showed how distraught she had been at the time, and it had made her feel strangely closer to her afterwards.

Raven though was different. His friendship with her made him someone she did not mind so much showing her weakness to. Because she trusted him.

The only other person she had ever been willing to cry in front of had been Arrion. Her wonderful, sweet caring husband who she would never see again.

The tears came even harder as her thoughts went there.

She was not sure how long she cried but eventually she managed to get a hold of herself. Raven helped her dry her eyes. He had a serious look on his face, "So do you wish to talk about it?"

She had already broken done, so she took a deep breath, there was no real reason to not tell him anymore, "I just had every hope I dared to harbor crushed…"

"Why?"

"I asked Mem to bring him back." She did not say who she meant but Raven seemed to understand, "She could not. And…" She could not continue, she felt her heart tighten at that dreadful thought.

"You know," Raven suddenly said softly, "I don't really know anything about Arrion. I don't even know exactly how he died. If you ever want to talk to me about him, I'm all ears."

It was a bit out of nowhere but Dawn appreciated it. She smiled weakly at Raven and then sighed, "He died from a fall. If it had just been the sword wound, deadly as that was, then he probably could have been saved."

Raven was quiet for a moment and then murmured softly, "You did not actually see him die?"

She shook her head no, but did not really say anything else. They fell quiet for the rest of their watch together.