I saw Roland waiting in the open gate for us. He came forward towards us, "Good to see you back in control. How are you?"
Ace nodded and seemed defensive for some reason, "I am glad to be back in control. I am uninjured."
Roland looked at Diane, "Are you okay?" He took a step forward to peer at the bandage. I glanced over as Ace tensed up and his eyes glowed more brightly. Why was he acting as if Roland was a potential threat? Roland would never harm Diane.
Roland also noticed Ace's reaction and paused as he tilted his head. He glanced between Ace and Diane a few times before he suddenly grinned. He chuckled and gave Ace a small salute as he backed up a few steps, "Good for you. I wish you two the best."
With that, Roland turned and walked away. I was shocked, how had Roland figured out what had happened? No one had been close enough to hear them talk, other than myself. Ace also looked surprised.
Diane shook her head at his reaction, "Considering you were out of control and standing so close to me for so long, it is kind of an easy conclusion that our friendship might have turned into something else."
Ace made a face, he still didn't like the subject, even if he had admitted that he also liked Diane. Diane grinned at his reaction, but dropped the topic. We headed through the gates and towards the back of the cliff where our home was located.
Kerry must have been watching for us. She intercepted us as we passed by the nursing area. Kerry eyed up the bandage on Diane's arm, "I know it is probably healed by now, but I still want to check it."
Diane sighed, "Is this really necessary?"
Kerry chuckled, "I am checking every injury and there were only a couple dozen minor ones. Everyone was fired too, so that makes it really easy."
Kerry started unwrapping the bandage as Ace watched intently. The last bit came undone and Ace inhaled slowly as his eyes once more brightened. Kerry glanced at him in slight confusion before turning back to examine the mostly closed injury.
She checked it carefully, "It is clean, so it will heal swiftly enough. I think you have the second worst injury I have seen."
Ace gritted his teeth as he exhaled slowly at that news. Kerry glanced at him before looking at Diane and raising her eyebrow. Diane shrugged, she wasn't sure why Ace was so touchy either. Kerry shrugged as well, "No sense bandaging it up since it is mostly closed up. It will take a while to completely fade though."
Diane rolled her eyes, "This isn't the first time I have been injured."
Kerry chuckled, "I know. But this is the first time you have been injured while in Sanctuary and I am the nurse in charge so I can use that as an excuse."
Diane shook her head before changing the topic, "What was the worst injury?"
"One of the women luring off those men got shot in the leg with an arrow."
I gasped. I hoped she was all right, that must have the first scream I heard. Diane looked concerned, "Is she all right?"
Kerry nodded, "She is limping a bit, but she should be fine by morning. Her running caused a bit of damage, otherwise she probably wouldn't even be limping at this point. Bruce injured himself much worse with that axe when splitting wood, so she will be fine."
Diane sighed in relief, "That is good."
We glanced over to see Todd running towards us with a grin, "We won! Can you believe it?"
Ace shifted his stance slightly so he stood partially in front of Diane in a slightly defensive position. Todd was too excited to notice the subtle warning as he skidded to stop in front of us, "In the morning, we will be releasing lots of pigeons that belong to other settlements. That way we can let them know that the bandits are gone and we didn't have a single casualty."
Diane grinned and took a step forward so she was right beside Ace instead of partially behind him. Kerry watched them with a speculative look in her eyes. I knew that word of Ace going out of control and then guarding Diane would create a lot of rumors. I wasn't sure what would shock people more, a rumor that Ace liked Diane as more than a friend, or that the rumor was true.
Roland and Amber strolled over. Roland stopped a bit further away than usual and looked at Ace, "I don't suppose you know the theory behind how we can possibly clean up that field? I am a simple trader and I have no idea how to deal with nine hundred bodies."
Ace still hadn't relaxed, but he answered Roland anyway, "According to the histories, digging huge pits and burning what you can is the best route before burying the remains in that same pit."
Roland made a face, "I will make note of that. We will be choosing a day when the smoke blows the other way. That camp stinks bad enough as it is."
Todd finally saw Diane's arm and took a step towards her, "What did you do to your arm?"
Ace tensed up and Roland snagged Todd's collar before pulling him back. Todd looked at Roland in complete confusion. Amber also wasn't sure what was going on and also watched Roland in surprise.
Roland let go of Todd and inclined his head towards Diane and Ace, "I advise keeping your distance for the time being."
Todd was dumbfounded, "Huh? Why?"
"Ace went out of control when Diane was injured and, judging from his behavior, giving those two a bit of space is the wisest course of action at the moment."
Todd's jaw dropped as he turned to stare at Diane and Ace. I was beginning to feel forgotten, but in situations like this, I preferred to be an invisible witness. Todd blinked a few times before blurting, "When did this happen?"
Diane blushed a bit. Ace narrowed his eyes, but didn't reply as he clearly did not like where this discussion was going. I was surprised he hadn't pulled a disappearing act yet.
Roland found Ace's refusal to speak amusing, "You might as well admit it Ace."
Ace gave him a sour look, but still didn't reply. Roland grinned, "If you continue with that silent treatment, someone is bound to flirt with Diane one day thinking that you don't really want to be in a relationship."
Ace stiffened and sent a glare at Roland that even had him backing up a few steps. I was surprised that Roland didn't have frostbite from that glare. I had never seen Ace look like at someone like that before, even when at Eagle Holding.
Roland chuckled and raised his hands in mock surrender, "I am happily married and I am just trying to give you some good advice."
Ace stopped glaring and nodded slowly, "Yes, we both just realized it a little while ago, so this will take some getting used to."
Roland shrugged, "Everything takes time and rushing is just a recipe for disaster. I truly am happy for you two."
Amber looked excited as she realized what was going on. Kerry grinned as her suspicion was confirmed. Diane looked faintly amused that Roland had blackmailed Ace into admitting it in front of witnesses.
Todd started laughing, "Oh, no one will have seen this coming! We were beginning to think you were scared of women."
Diane snorted, "I wouldn't tease him too much. You would have a very hard time evading both of us if we decided to get revenge."
Todd paled at that thought, "I never thought of that. You are both fighting trainers. Shit. You two are going to be a scary couple." He glanced at Ace, "Can you at least give us warning before coming after us"
Ace looked confused, "Why would I come after you?"
Todd grinned, "Well, considering your love of the dance floor, you may have not noticed that she does occasionally dance with others, and if you decide to get jealous, I need as much warning as I can get."
Ace narrowed his eyes, but Diane started chuckling, "I doubt Ace would get jealous. If he did, then he would have to dance with me."
Ace winced at that thought. I grinned. Yep, nothing had changed there. He still wanted nothing to do with that dancefloor. Todd shook his head, "I will stop teasing you. If I bother you, just tell me. There are plenty of other pretty women around who won't step on my toes while we dance."
Roland sighed and grabbed Todd's arm as he started hauling him away, "Let them get some rest. There are things that need doing and you obviously still have too much energy."
Amber followed them with an amused expression. Kerry chuckled and shook her head as she went back to the nursing area. Ace and Diane looked at each other before grinning at Roland's way of dealing with Todd. We kept heading towards the main cliff section.
Others stopped and talked to us briefly. Word must have spread since they gave us more space than normal. All had heard that Ace had gone out of control and had guarded Diane afterwards. They were happy, although they avoided actually congratulating them or touching on that subject.
Many also inquired as to Diane's injury. It had almost healed by now and just a livid red mark remained. Ace often glanced at it and the glance always made his eyes glow brighter as his Heartfire reacted. He really did not like seeing her injured, even if it had mostly healed.
We eventually made it to the deck, but even there Ace seemed a bit on edge and unable to relax. It wasn't due to Diane, or perhaps in a way it was, but it was because he was being overly protective of her. Ace slid his chair subtly closer to hers as people came and went as they visited. I didn't bother pulling out a boardgame, watching them was far more interesting.
It was as if the overprotectiveness from being out of control was still faintly present. It was more noticeable after he looked at her wound. He didn't really trust anyone enough to approach Diane. Well, other than me, of course. Diane had noticed, but didn't comment. Perhaps she was just waiting for him to relax on his own.
The sun was setting, but the cliff faced east so we never got to see the western sunset unless we went to the top of the cliff. Diane glanced at me, "Ready for a run?"
It was like life was back to normal. I grinned and jumped to my feet, "Yes!"
Ace looked amused as he also stood up. We headed down to the meadow and jogged towards the gate. Someone had managed to remove the welding on the access door, so it was working again. We headed straight for the forest and avoided the field.
Diane was taking routes that the fighters had never touched. I really didn't want to see a dead person up close anyways. This felt almost normal. Our eyes glowed easily in the dark as we ran through the silent forest.
I noticed that Ace was unusually alert and was running closer to Diane than normal. Perhaps his overprotectiveness would fade as Diane's injury disappeared. It had completely closed up, but the red marks took longer to fade, and with an injury that deep, it may take a day or so for it to completely disappear.
We continued running through the night.