A Special Mage (Ike x OC)

Chapter 20 - Farewell

Over the next week and a half, I was able to visit Ranulf while he was in the palace's infirmary. Every day, I would check on him at least three times (usually more), just to make sure he was doing ok. On the first day, he looked and sounded absolutely awful; his injuries were honestly the worst I'd ever seen, and I was surprised he even managed to survive them. I almost couldn't bear to stay in the room with him while he was in that state, but he said my company made him feel better, so I stuck around and helped provide him with food, water, and a friendly presence. He made steady improvements as the days passed by, and by around the tenth day, I was certain he was on the road to a full recovery.

During all that time, Ike and I continued spending time with each other whenever he had a moment to spare. Not training, not fighting, but just...talking, walking around the courtyard together, learning more about each other, laughing (yes, the boy can laugh). I could feel myself beginning to fall harder and harder for him. Not that I wasn't already head over heels for him before the end of the war, but my feelings just kept snowballing each day, because there wasn't much else to focus on anymore.

And I had always thought that liking someone was supposed to feel good, but this was scarier than anything, because with every ounce of feelings that I had for him, there was a pound of fear and doubt. What were those doubts? Well, for one thing, like I said before, he never expressed anything more than what a friend would. Sure, he was kind to me and seemed to care about me, but he was like that with all of his friends from what I gathered. Also, I remembered him telling that Aimee girl that he didn't want any relationship, so there was that. Needless to say, I didn't think my chances with him were high.

"Heyyy, how's it going, Serena?" Ranulf appeared from seemingly nowhere and positioned himself beside me in one of the courtyard's gardens.

I had gone there to think and get some peaceful alone time, so his sudden arrival caught me by surprise. "Ranulf!" I gasped, jumping in my place. "You're out of the infirmary? All by yourself?!"

The cat chuckled. "Yep. All better now, girlie," he said as he flexed his arms and posed like a superhero. He had this silly grin on his face, so I assumed everything was back to normal, but his exuberant expression was quickly contaminated by a sort of sadness that seemed to consume his energy.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, immediately picking up on his change in mood.

Ranulf's eyes suddenly became shifty. "Well..." he trailed off.

"Um...everything ok?" I questioned him with more concern this time. "We can play a game or something if you want..."

Ranulf shook his head and sighed. "Yeah, about that. I don't know if we'll be able to spend as much time together anymore. I just got word that I have to be back in Gallia as soon as possible," he mumbled as the tip of his tail drooped down into the dirt below him.

Oh... I thought, feeling my heart plummet. After all this time, I never even realized he lived in Gallia. Somehow the topic of where he was from just never came up, and for some dumb reason I thought he was in Ike's group because of how close they seemed, but that assumption was clearly wrong. "But...you just got better. You're gonna go all the way back there? Like...right now? You can't wait a day or something?"

Ranulf lowered his head. "I wish I could wait, but I have extremely important business to attend to, and my injuries have already made my arrival later than it should have been. I have already sent a message informing King Caineghis that I would return by the end of today, so I just wanted to stop by and give you a proper goodbye before I left."

"Oh..." I croaked.

"Hey, come on now. This certainly isn't goodbye forever," Ranulf said as his familiar grin returned. "You can visit me in Gallia any time! Well...assuming you have the time, anyway."