The Star Children's Destiny

Chapter Seventeen

Ethan awoke and lay there, unmoving. His throat felt better and the pain in his shoulders was gone. Slowly, Ethan tried to sit up, only to find that he couldn't move his right arm. Ethan sat up enough to look down at his arm. A mass of sandy blonde and platinum hair met his view. Aletta must have come in after Cane left and stayed with him.

Ethan smiled as he lightly stroked her hair. She could be such an angel when she was sleeping. She looked so peaceful and fragile. Ethan really wished that he had a camera. Suddenly, Aletta began to stir. Ethan pushed her hair out of her face and she sat up and looked at him before blushing.

"Sorry. I guess I must have fallen asleep watching you. How do you feel, or shouldn't I ask?"

Ethan risked trying his voice. "Better," he said roughly.

His girlfriend handed him a glass of water, which he gratefully accepted. He drank it all very quickly and when he finished, he handed her back the empty glass. She refilled it and he drank his fill again. Altogether, he drank four glasses before his thirst was finally quenched. He decided to risk trying his voice once more.

"Thank you. Hey, my voice is okay."

"I would assume that it is," Aletta said, smiling. "You heal just as fast as I do when I'm in my true form."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"It's good. Very good. Be thankful that you heal fast."

Ethan looked out the window to the garden outside. "How long have I been out?"

"Not long. About a day." Aletta shrugged.

"A day." Ethan blinked. "It feels like weeks."

"Yeah. That's because it was your first time. And besides, you heal fast." Aletta's face suddenly brightened. "Wanna go outside? It's a nice day."

Ethan couldn't help but laugh. "Sure. Just let me get a shower and get dressed first, and then we can go outside."

"Can I take it with you?"

Ethan looked at her with a shocked expression, but Aletta just turned and walked out of the room, laughing. Ethan chuckled for falling into her trap and got up to get a shower. The warm water felt good on his strained muscles. He would have stayed in there for hours, but he knew that Aletta was waiting for him. After finishing his shower, he dried off and got dressed.

He pulled on a pair of pants that had both knees worn out and a shirt that was nothing but little holes. He smiled as he thought of the blush that he could possibly bring to his love's face. All he had to do was say the right thing and strike the right pose, and she would turn a lovely shade of red. After running a comb through his hair, he went outside to meet her.

Once outside, the two held hands as they walked through the blossoming plants. Occasionally, Ethan would point to a plant and Aletta would tell him all about it. She would give him the scientific name, the common name, and if it had any medicinal uses, which most of them did. When they got tired of that, the sandy-haired girl went inside and got their weapons.

Aletta showed Ethan a few basic moves, and Ethan was very eager and happy to learn them. He even went Neiku and tried his strength against her own Neiku form. She was mildly surprised that his strength nearly matched her own. Finally, after about an hour, they stopped to get their breath back.

"So how did I do?" Ethan asked.

"You did very well, Eth. You did a lot better than I thought you would," Aletta said, smiling.

"Yes, he did do better than expected, but are you worthy enough to teach him?" asked a man with blue hair and eyes. "Draw your swords, young one. I challenge you."