Eight Steps to Bravery

Chapter Eight

"Come on." He prodded my shoulder. "You must trust me, right? I mean, you decided to come sleep with me after only knowing me for less than two weeks." My face flushed in embarrassment when he snickered, but continued nonetheless. "You can tell me anything."

Sighing, I pursed my lips. He'll probably think I'm weird or creepy if I tell him how I actually feel.

"Narcissus, tell me about your family."

"What?" He seemed taken aback.

"I wanna know more about you." I flipped over again, staring at him intently. I giggled at his confused expression, with his face twisted and eyebrows raised slightly.

"You can't avoid my question with more questions," he retorted.

I pressed a finger to his lips. "I'm getting to that. I just wanna know this first."

His puzzled expression remained, but he hesitantly accepted my request. "Okay, fine, but you have to tell me your story as well, along with what's bothering you."

"Fine."

Fate raised his arms in a stretch, silent for a few moments as he rustled around to get comfortable. "Well, I was born in a pretty small town. My father was enlisted as a soldier when I was a baby, and left my family. We haven't heard from him since." Judging by his curt tone of voice, he wasn't particularly bothered by this. "My mother payed more attention to alcohol than her children, so I was essentially raised by my older sister instead. Eventually my mom just left us as well with this other guy a couple years ago. After that, my sister and I decided to leave our town since it was so poor, and that's how I ended up here. We discovered all of our living needs would be provided if we joined the military, so now I'm a trainee soldier and she's a medic." He shrugged. "It's been a good enough life so far. I mean, it could be worse."

I was appalled at his positivity and lack of care. "Oh, Fate, I'm so sorry."

He met my gaze with a puzzled expression. "Huh?"

"You've had a pretty rough childhood. Aren't you upset over that?"

A faint smile crossed his face. "I don't think you understand, Vee. If I spent my life being negative and dwelling on how sucky my life has been so far, I wouldn't be able to live in the life I have now; it just wouldn't make it any better. Sometimes you just have to stand up and move on."

I acknowledged his words with a nod, reflecting over them repeatedly. What Fate said was true, but how strong must a person be to let go of so much negativity and move on?

I came to admire his strength, both mentally and in Pokémon battling.

"Alright, I've spilled my story, now you answer my question." His amber eyes were wide and full of curiosity, glowing in the early morning sunlight that shone through the windows.

I sighed, turning away. If I started crying, or getting emotional, I didn't want Fate to see it. "Well, I guess I'll start with this. My family was small, consisting of only myself and my parents, but we were happy and supported one another. My father was one of the lead military captains of our town, and my mother was the most badass soldiers I've ever met. I had a very privileged life during such a chaotic time, but we always lived in this fear that we would one day be taken over by outside forces." I huffed, slightly amused. "Sure enough we were, just a few weeks ago. My entire town was slaughtered, and all I have left is Lugia." I turned back to Fate, who's expression had grown serious. "So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've spent my whole life around family, and now that's gone. So, when I became friends with you, I felt like maybe I could fill that hole. I hope you forgive me for wanting to be around you a lot, and if you think I'm a creep and want me to leave you alone, I won't blame you." I turned away, expecting Fate to be disgusted or angered with me.