A Decisive Battle

It was not the next day, or the next week, or even the next month when it happened. I act and react strongly on my emotions and detaching myself from those during battle was an extremely difficult skill to train. I also had to accept, even embrace, something I was hiding from myself.

There was no Gerudo that could match me, not even the most battle hardened. Sparring with them was pointless. They had made me grow to hate them so well that imagining their death was simple, but killing another Gerudo was forbidden. I barely held back. Most of them still despised me because I was obviously far better than them, while others were wise enough to fear and respect me. If it wasn't for the fact my superiors couldn't accept I was better than them, I'd have been a higher rank.

I stopped by my room one night after the sun set to grab my heavy cloak. Yes, it had been a year and I was still stuck on night patrol. I slid my cloak on, but paused before turning around. I gripped the hilt of my sword. I sensed the presence of someone in my doorway. I felt the air shift, and as it wafted toward me I could smell him. I freed my sword and turned to face him. Staring straight ahead, all I could see was his wide chest. I tilted my head up and found his yellow eyes. "What class are you running away from this time?" I couldn't help myself.

"What rank are you?" he asked, avoiding my question.

I looked away from him and walked passed him, and only said,  "I don't want to talk about it." I was pretty much a moody teenager.

"That's what I thought," he said arrogantly.

I kept walking, and even sped up some. I didn't want to talk about how much everyone hated me, and how much it was his fault. He reached out and grabbed my arm, so I snapped around to him. I glared at him, and tried to rip my arm back, but he held on firmly. I wanted to keep glaring, and scream at him, and cry, but my stomach melted as he calmly peered into my soul.

"If you can defeat me, tonight, I will make you my general. You'll still be a lower rank than Nabooru, but you'll have authority over everyone else."

Hearing her name made me angry (I preferred to pretend she didn't exist), but I was filled with such happiness I could have floated away. Except, I had to defeat him."And if I lose?"

"You won't."

He was right.

Our fight was held within the main hall of the Gerudo fortress. I was distracted by my thoughts, and at first my skill proved mediocre. I was plagued by the difference. What caused me to hesitate against him? Why did I avoid obvious openings? Was I afraid to win? Did I fear how he might react, or what the others would say?  Why couldn't I overcome this emotional barrier?

Emotional barrier...

I flashed back to the first night we spent hours talking, our first match, the little meaningful encounters during the day when he was on his way from one place to another,  to every time he said my name.

It was undeniable. My mother was right! Rayne was right! It wasn't the encounters, but how my heart fluttered when he acknowledged me, the spark I felt when we touched, and even how I went out of my way to make sure I could say 'Hi' to him at least once a day. I lost count of the mornings I spent awake, rather than sleeping, because he was wandering around in my mind. It was hopeless, I was hopeless, I couldn't defeat him, no, I avoided it, because I was in love. "Shit," I whispered.

"So, you finally figured it out," he teased, a grin cracking his smug face. "It's been obvious from the start. You want me? Come and get me," he challenged.

Oh, I wanted to take him in more ways than one. I recognized my dilemma, but he had given me the answer I needed. If I wanted to be closer to him, I had to defeat him. I returned to my offensive stance, and concentrated, not on my feelings, but my goal of being at his side forever. Not even he could stand in my way of that.

So, I won't try to pretend like I wasn't wounded either, but I made sure he was too beaten to stand up without my help.