He peeked out, slowly. His head peered wearily between the leafy drapes, while his hands held a towel tightly. He looked ahead first, to the dense vegetation that surrounded the clearing. Then, he glanced to his left, to the green garden. Lastly, right. The only blue he could see was the water, the soft current that fell from his waterfall.

The angel fidgeted there at the mouth of the cave, like every single day. He doubted to get out… but he eventually took the first step towards the river. He looked nervously around him, while he walked near the rocky wall of the cliff.

He needed to go to the waterfall. He needed to sit under it, on the rocks. There was enough space to do it, because the cliff arched inwards in front of the river. There was a small hidden cavity behind the waterfall. It was the perfect place for him, shadowed and unknown.

Alexis gave a last glance around him, wearily, because he did not want to be seen. He was covering his torso with the towel he carried. He let out a sigh, because there was no sight of the relentless hunter today. At least for now.

Ayako had visited a lot, multiple days. And she always asked for herbs. She always gave him more useless metal in exchange; or maybe food. Sometimes, she came without any intention of trading, with the excuse that she was looking for plants. She also kept trying to make him go to her village; she wouldn’t stop asking, every single time. Luckily, he usually managed to avoid the matter. Last time, Abiel demanded food, just in time to cut short their conversation.

Thank god for the clever and cute rascal…

He coped. But Ayako always returned. It seemed that she could remember something: that she loved to annoy him. And annoy him she did. To make matters worse, he felt watched. And not by her.

He needed peace. The shadows and flow of the waterfall were the perfect place where he could get some. It soothed his anxiousness, more than the isolation of his cave.

Alexis walked up the small ledge that led to the small cavity, parallel to the cliff. He halted in front of the water that brushed the rocks, and stared at it without emotion. He unfolded the towel and glanced at what he had hidden in it.

He never gave Ayako all the herbs he had.

He decided to get to work. He left the towel near him on the ground, and then sat cross-legged. He gave his back to the water calmly, without minding how the humid rocks damped the pants he wore. He grabbed the herb he had and slowly leaned back. He bowed his head forward, in order to not soak his hair when he brushed the water that fell. He felt how the cold water collided against his shoulders, and how it ran down his back. It brushed his scars, softly. The current was not strong; it was only a soft trail that fell from above.

His grimace turned into a relieved expression, slowly. With the water, his pain faded. He opened his eyes again and began to rip the leafs of the herb. He broke and pressured them, and then brushed his fingers to take their sap. At last, he raised his hand towards his scars.

A long sigh escaped the angel, now calmer. He let the sap mix with the water on his skin. After a while, he let his hand fall down onto his lap. He stayed there, sitting patiently. His mind and body felt better; it was thanks to the pressure of the water on his back, the relaxing sounds he could hear, the sensation of the medicine against his wounds, the cold, the dim light, and the faint sun rays reflecting through the waterfall.

He closed his eyes and just… rested. He let his head lie onto his hand, elbow against his lap.

While he dreamed awake, Abiel munched remains of an acorn. He was pushing it forwards from time to time, to chase it and grab it again between his paws. He ended up pushing it out the cave. And so he bounced behind it without hesitation.

He chased it around the clearing for a while, like if it was his favorite toy.

A little small smirk grew on his snout when he pounced onto it. He kept it still under his paws, and then curled down near the garden. He stayed like that, until his pointy ears rose up when he heard steps behind him.

Abiel leaned his head sideways to look back and let out an annoyed growl when he saw her crouch at his side, smiling down at him.

Ayako petted the back of the rabbit, and laughed silently when he gave her a grumpy nudge with a paw. She could not see the same aggressiveness in the animal. Abiel limited himself to huff with his usual bad temper and brushed himself against her hand.

The animal whined when she took him in her arms, carefully. She stood slowly and looked around, without paying mind to how the rabbit munched her leather armor. She wondered where Alexis was, and for that reason she neared the cave, respectfully and cautiously.

He was not there. It made her frown and eye the clearing again.

“Alexis?”

She called. But the blond did not hear her. His eyes were closed. He was lying on his side, in the cavity behind the waterfall, in the shadows. He had fallen asleep; he had arched his body on the ground, so that the water only brushed his back a little. He had let himself rest and sleep, having found a moment of peace.

Sadly, his peaceful rest would soon end.

Near the cave, Ayako blinked and looked down at her arms. Abiel’s whiskers shook while he stared intensely ahead. She followed the animal’s glance and looked towards what he was seeing: the waterfall. The hunter’s eyes filled with curiosity, because she noticed the space between the rocky wall and the pouring water. It was a small cavity, but it was enough for someone to be there. She began to walk towards it, because there was indeed someone resting on the flat rocks, concealed.

Abiel began to wiggle nervously in Ayako’s hold, when she snorted but covered her mouth to not make noise. She could only laugh when she saw how Alexis snored; the noise made an echo against the cliff and water. Still, she could not see him well, because she had not neared all the way.

Abiel decided that he hated to dangle from the hunter’s arms. He squirmed more grumpily and began to free himself from her hold. Ayako blinked when the rabbit jumped down to the ground from her arms, without a single scratch when he landed with his stilts.

Alexis’ eyebrows shook; he frowned when he felt something brush his nose.

“Nghh…” He cracked one eye open, a little groggily. “…?”

He saw a snout, two small black eyes looking at him, right in front of his face. He let out a groan and tried to move a little, to make the rabbit stop pawing at him.

“Abby, whyyy? I was-” His eyes shot open. He spied more blue than what he should have. “…!”

Ayako gasped when Alexis let out a faint scream and sat sharply. He began to panic more when he saw her take a worried step towards him, reacting to his surprise. She did not know if to chuckle or feel slightly sorry when he began to stumble. She saw how he let himself lean into the water to hide from her eyes, and how he ended up slamming his arms around his chest. His next yell was even more erratic, full of alarm.

“Ayako?!”

She smiled and held her hands up with an apologetic look. She averted her gaze a little, but still tried to chat with a laugh. She did not realize it would be a mistake.

“Sorry! Hey, there’s no need to-”

“There is!” Alexis snarled under his breath with a fearful expression. A fear she thought to be embarrassment. “Please, stop looking!”

Ayako thought his unrest to be exaggerated, but she ultimately nodded and stepped a little away, noticing how anxious he was. Even she knew when to back off. However, before she left, she halted to try to excuse her blunder. With any other person, in any other circumstance, that would have been ordinary, inoffensive, and even sensitive.

But it was not fine; it was not any person, and the circumstances were too complex for her to thread safely. Her next smile and words breached a limit she could not see in time.

“Ok, my bad. But you are only shirtless! I’m used to seeing-”

Alexis did not want to listen to her. He could not let her see. He breathed out, seeing he still had that towel nearby on the ground. His blind fear did not help him at all. It only allowed her to spy what he had wanted to hide. When he dashed forward to grab the towel in hopes of covering his back… he got out of the trail of water. He moved away from the only thing that had prevented her from seeing.

Ayako was a hunter, someone who had grown used to the shadows. She could see faster in them than others. As Alexis leaned forward, she got a glimpse of his shoulders. Even if one of his hands still clutched them painfully, it could do nothing to cover it all. She saw the huge and deep scars, red and black, which ran down all his back from his shoulders. She saw the horrible burns that marked his fair skin.

She saw clearly.

Alexis winced, his hand grasping the towel far too late. He trembled as she called, in worry.

“Wait.” He heard her take yet another step, closer. “Are those…?!”

Alexis growled and closed his eyes shut. He covered himself with the cloth, even if he knew it was pointless. He could not hide it anymore. He just sat there, shivering with anger; his mind screamed, because she was now at his side. She dared get closer, not realizing it made things worse, not better. He heard her whisper, with a tone that was kind, and yet terrifying.

“Let me see that.”

Ayako grimaced when he began to shake his head strongly, to refuse. He was hugging himself, yelling like if something horrible was going to happen.

“N-no, go away!”

Abiel let out a fearful growl. Ayako dared raise a hand.

“Those scars are-”

She tried to it on his shoulder, to try to reason. And it proved to be a critical mistake. She gasped when his hand whipped up and slapped hers away, suddenly and strongly.

“Don’t touch me!”

The cloth fell down; his shaky hands were unable to keep holding it as he lashed out. His amber eyes lost focus, because they saw hers for a second, shocked. His scream brought silence, to both of them.

Neither dared move; their figures kept deadly still in the shadows, for different reasons.

Ayako stood there, looking down at him with surprised impotence. She saw how he was in a daze, unmoving; as well, how his chest moved erratically with his unstable breathing. Soon, she looked away with her eyes narrowed, feeling ashamed and guilty.

“…” Realization sunk in; she gave him her back, apologizing. “I’m sorry.”

The only way in which she felt she could mend her wrongs was by leaving. But as soon as she took a first step away, she heard a cry.

Ayako looked back slowly, and saw that he was looking towards her. However, he did not seem to recognize she was there. He was staring numbly, like if seeing her leave was something ghastly. Alexis was incapable of reacting to reality.

He was seeing her leave. She was leaving without looking back… with his wings.

She just left…

The sight pounded in his mind, painfully. However, the memory slowly faded. His eyes cleared slightly when he saw her move, not like he remembered. Instead of walking away, Ayako sat onto her knees slowly, not daring to leave. She was not daring to near all the way either. She just sat there at his side, silent.

Alexis raised a hand to his head, slowly. He clenched his teeth and tried to understand that he was far from the sea. He tried to realize that he was not bleeding, that there wasn’t a single bloodstained feather in the hunter’s hands. Her hands were lying on her lap, open. There were no daggers, no crossbow to take him down.

He fought against the vision that outlined her, struggling to understand she was not cornering him by the ocean. What he felt was a phantom pain, not her weapons on his skin.

Abiel… Abby is pawing at me. I’m not hearing waves, but the river…

Alexis raised his gaze a little, this time with some recognition. He looked at her icy eyes fearfully. Ayako was giving him the most kind and worried glance she could. Her icy eyes were full of the warmth she always showed, with no trace of the hate he once saw.

But that did not matter. It could not matter, not when he heard her next dejected words.

“What did this to you?”

There were no violet glows. There was no guilt in her eyes. There was no recognition. There was nothing. Ayako knew nothing.

His breaths slowed down slightly. All his body felt numb. His amber eyes looked at her tiredly, full of awareness. And he could only lament deep inside.

You did.

He could not say the truth, he could not voice it; no words would escape him. And yet, he could not stop looking at her either. He could see her kindness, her worry. But he could see as well her hateful stare, in the shadows. He would never stop seeing her lack of compassion, the blood on her cheek. And in both visions, there was no trace of remorse for the torment she once inflicted on him.

He couldn’t forget what she had done.

A loud trembling sigh escaped him, and he finally freed himself from his trance; he was able to stop looking at her. He refused to cry when he let out a resigned whisper.

“It does not matter…”

It did not, not this time. No one would hear it.

Ayako looked down to a side and spoke with a soft guilty reminder.

“You needed the herbs.”

Alexis did not try to deny it or lie this time. He only shrugged and stared at the towel on the ground. It made little sense to pick it up again, but it was the only thing he could look or focus at.

In the end, he grabbed Abiel and moved him onto his lap; he began to pet him with his shaky hands. That kept him grounded, clear minded. He was able to speak once more.

“I don’t need them that much. Not with the water.”

Ayako breathed and dared to glance at his scars again, disbelieving. She had never seen something like that. It looked like if he had been mauled and torn apart by a bear. But the scars were slightly burnt, something no animal could do.

“The water only helps if you stay in it. The soothing cold does not last.” She clenched her fists and spoke with impotence. “Is this why you are hiding here? Is this why you refuse to follow me and leave this place? You are not scared of the woods and wildlife; what crime did you commit for someone to-?”

“Stop.” Alexis glared, but he was too tired to raise his voice. “Just stop.”

The angel snorted silently and laid his head onto his knees. His voice had laughter, but it was bitter and resentful.

“My crime… was being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.”

That was enough to end her questions. Ayako nodded slowly and exhaled in self-directed frustration. She knew that he was not hiding due to any foul reason; she knew she was wrong to ever have implied it. Whatever had brought him here, she was not one to enquire.

“I understand.”

You don’t.

He buried his resent and sorrow again, keeping it all to himself. He refused to scream at her, even if he wanted to do so. No matter how much she hurt him, how much it lasted, he could not hate her.

He just did not understand why he could not hate her. It would be so easy to do so. He would stop feeling guilty for fearing her, for wanting her away. But he could not bring himself to do it. He couldn’t even yell at her. She would not understand the significance of his words. And if she did, it would only be worse for both.

The angel swallowed his anger, and then tried to see the good side of all of this: she did not remember a thing. So he did not have a reason to hide his pain and sorrow, not anymore.

“Would you mind…?” He nodded to the waterfall, as his eyes trailed to his scars. He really did not think it would be wise to treat them in front of her. “I would like to-”

“Can I help you?” Alexis frowned when she held her hands together, with a worried look in her eyes. He noticed how her tone was pleading as well, caring. “The water will only hide the pain. You really should use the herbs.”

Alexis raised his eyebrows and moved his head to glance sideways. Both stared at the herb that lied torn on the rocks. It had no more sap that could be ripped out.

“That was the last one.”

The angel flinched when her hands outstretched towards him. He braced himself a little, for just a moment, because he still remembered being knifed, subconsciously. Ayako was quick to back away, as soon as she saw him react like that. Both blushed, ashamed; Ayako regretted moving so impulsively, while Alexis lamented thinking she would hurt him. She had only taken and handed out a small bag tied on her belt; she meant no real harm. But she did not blame him for his demeanor.

Ayako stuttered, red with guilt and worry.

“I have some more here…!”

Alexis had given her all that he had, even if he had needed it. And again now, he showed reluctance in considering his own necessities. He was staring at the bag with a frown. She was offering it to him, gently, but he was not taking it.

“You paid me for them. I won’t-”

“Fuck if I care!” She cursed mentally, because she saw him flinch again, this time more subtly. She tried to control her outbursts and energetic voice. “Look, you will not use the money, won’t you? You will not leave this place.”

He shook his head with a sad expression. It confirmed something that did not make her feel any better.

“You gave them to me in exchange of nothing. The coins are worthless to you.”

Alexis could do nothing but watch as she opened the bag and took out an herb. She handed it to him slowly with both hands, mindful of his anxiousness. She knew now that he had to be neared calmly. She waited patiently, because he was silent, thoughtful. Only two things broke the silence, the water and Abiel’s faint curious breaths.

Ayako smiled when Alexis’ hand moved up, doubtfully. He ended up taking the herb. He felt a shiver when his fingers brushed hers, because the last time they had touched, he had only felt pain.

The human kept her distance and let him rip the leafs on his own. When he began to apply the sap on his shoulders, she pleaded again, when he saw him wince at the touch.

“Alexis, I do not know what happened to you…” He stopped and looked up to her for a moment. Her voice had hope, something that he could not ignore, no matter how much he wanted to. “It had to be something horrible, and I know you probably won’t tell me, not any time soon. But I want to help you.”

His heart could have very well stopped beating when she said the next words.

“Would you let me? I know how to sooth almost any ailment; I have done it for years. I can give you a hand. I am sure that it would be easier for you, given that you cannot see all the scars on your own. I would like to help you, if you let me.”

You can’t help. Not even if I want you to.

“…” Alexis closed his eyes and surrendered to the irony. “Do I even have a say in the matter?”

Her mouth opened, ready to retort. But before she could, he raised a hand and stopped her from disagreeing. He had been joking. Though he did not know how he felt about the fact that he could.

“I know, I know. You don’t have to say it: you would leave if I told you right now.” He laughed cynically and bowed his head. “Let’s admit it; you would let me be, but only for a short while. You are stubborn. So just save your arguments and do what you want. I am tired.”

It took her a moment to answer back. He did not laugh when she did softly. The playfulness he knew came back, even if slightly hesitant.

“Well, if you are tired…” Ayako took one herb herself, while she smiled with determination. “Leave this to me. I never tire.”

She is making that damn stupid face… Like all those times.

Alexis glanced over his shoulder, doubting as she asked.

“Would you let me?”

The angel could feel how Abiel was lying at his side peacefully, without a single growl. There was no fear or hate.

Ayako’s icy eyes turned even brighter when Alexis shrugged uncaringly. It was a clear sign that he was letting her near him, not prone to voice things like that directly.

Two violet eyes narrowed in the shadows, on the top of a tall tree. His tail was swaying sadly, because he was seeing his angel shiver and flinch a little. He could notice the apprehension, while she inspected slowly and carefully his scars. Those marks would forever stay there on his skin. No matter how anxious his angel was, he was not moving away or cowering while the human tried to help him heal.

The demon was not moving a muscle. He was not daring to climb down from his hiding spot. Because he could not see a single violet glow in those blue eyes; there was only care. So he stayed put and lowered a little more the sword with runes he carried. Like the armor had done, he only watched, for now.