[----A FEW DAYS SINCE THE MASSACRE AT WUTAI...---]

Tyrranis reclined on one of the sofas in the living room of the house,
dozing lightly. Nearby on the table are several unclean plates,
suggesting the big man had been eating and not cleaning up after
himself for a few days now. His bat lay on the ground within reach,
and in a darkened corner lay the massive blade Kyrk had used.

It was late and the house was dark. Crossroads didn't know how much
time had passed since Kyrk died, there wasn't much in the attic to
besides a small window that gave her enough light to indicate whether
it was day or night, but she had spent much of her time up there
sleeping and the rest staring up at the ceiling replaying the events
of the fight over and over again, trying to figure out what she could
have done to prevent Kyrk’s death. And now she was hungry--Too hungry
to continue pushing thoughts of food back. The young woman slipped out
of the bathroom where the steps up into the attic were and entered the
kitchen. Digging through the cabinets for pots and pans without even
thinking about how much noise she was making.

Tyrranis cracked his eye open at the sound of clattering. His hand
dropped to his bat as the giganto stood up from is sleeping position,
and quietly he stalked into the kitchen. He studied Crossroads for a
little while as she dug through the cabinets, and after a little bit
he coughed to catch her attention. "Hello, Crossroads."

Crossroads stopped what she was doing and turned her head, looking up
at Tyrranis while clutching a pan in her hands. She was still wearing
the robe she had worn prior to transforming that night, and it as well
as her face and hair was covered in dust from being up in the attic.
Beyond that, there were still traces of Tyrranis's caked blood in her
hair and on her face, and her cheeks were streaked from where trails
of tears ran after being shed. She hadn't bothered to clean herself
and put on some fresh clothes since that night. "Hello, Tyr."
Crossroads said in a quiet voice, looking down at the pot in her hand.
"I'm hungry."

Tyrranis sighed, and stepped forward, attempting to gently take the
pot from her hands. "I imagine you are. I will make some food for you,
if you want. You could use the prep time to go take a quick shower if
you wanted." He didn't actually mind her looking like that, but he
knew normal people liked to be clean, generally.

Crossroads let the pot be taken from her. Tyrranis was probably better
off handling the food anyway. She didn't know what she was going to
make and she didn't quite care so long as it could be eaten. She
nodded and returned to the bathroom without another word, ignoring the
pains in her stomach.

Tyrranis set the pot on the stove, and pulled a small cook book out of
one of the nearby cabinets, flipping through to find a specific
recipe. After that, the giganto returned to being wordless again as
well, focusing on collecting ingredients and creating whatever he was
going for.

By the time Crossroads had finished her shower and found something to
change into that was clean the scent of food filling the house was
driving her crazy. She returned to the kitchen's doorway, skin pink
and hair wet, but otherwise completely free of the blood and dirt she
was covered in before. She watched Tyrranis silently.

Tyrranis tended to the pot on the stove for a few moments before
paying attention to another pan next to it which seemed to be full of
something red. The giganto adjusts the heat dial and checked the time
on the clock before nodding and stirring whatever was in the pot for a
little bit.

Crossroads simply stared at the cooking food for a while, watching it
boil in their pots while her stomach cramped in its demand for
sustenance. "Do you need me to help with anything?" she asked
automatically, never taking her eyes off the stove.

Tyrranis lifted the pot from the stove, and then removed the pan. "No,
just sit down and be ready to eat." He set a plate in front of her,
and then heaped a load of spaghetti noodles onto it. He then moved the
pan full of meat sauce over. "Do you want any of this on it?"

Crossroads took a seat at the table nodding to his question as he
brought over the sauce. She was certain that most of the wonderful
smells were coming from it. "Yes, please." She answered quickly.

Tyrranis coated the pasta with a more than generous helping of the
meat-infused sauce, before nodding and constructing a plate for
himself. While he did so, he looked back to Crossroads over his
shoulder. "Drink?"

Crossroads nodded, wasting no time getting started and taking hold of
her fork. She struggled a little bit with getting a small amount of
the food onto her fork before lifting a bite into her mouth.
Crossroads doesn't chew for a moment; rather she just sat there
tasting it with her eyes starting to tear up.

Tyrranis pulled drinks for the both of them from the fridge before
turning around again and raising an eyebrow. He set Crossroads' drink
next to her plate, and took a seat across from her. "I do not think I
can remember a time someone last teared up at my food. Is it that
bad?"

Crossroads chewed the bite of food in her mouth and swallowed it. She
shook her head, digging her fork into the pasta and shoving a rather
large bite into her mouth; not caring if there were noodles dangling
from her lips or not as a result. She gave a small sniff as she did
this. After everything, it was the best food she had ever tasted!

Tyrranis took comparatively small bites of food next to Crossroads. He
vaguely considered the situation finding it mildly amusing, before he
cracked open his soda and took a few sips from it.

Crossroads was over halfway finished shoveling the food into her mouth
by the time she heard the fizz of Tyrranis opening his can of soda.
She had completely forgotten about her drink and reached for hers,
opening it and downing half the can.

Tyrranis smiled as Crossroads wolfed down the food. "Remember to
breathe, Crossroads. It is an important step of the process." He dug
into his own food more now, enjoying his own creation only marginally
less than the starved Crossroads.

Not caring too much about manners at the moment, Crossroads gaves a
burp in response and goes back to shoving the remainder of food into
her mouth, making short work of it. She only paused a couple times to
wipe a stray tear running down her cheek and swallow her food. And
when she is finished she licked the meat sauce from the corners of her
mouth as well as off the plate.

Tyrranis held up the can of soda in response to Crossroads' breech in
etiquette before setting his own plate aside, not quite as well
cleaned as hers. "I will take it that you enjoyed the meal then. Are
you feeling any better?"

Crossroads finished off the remainder of her soda drinking a little
slower than she had previously and nodded to Tyrranis, "Uh-huh." She
said, getting up from her seat, looking between the empty plate and
Tyrranis. A moment later she threw her arms around the giganto,
burying her face into the crook of his neck.

Tyrranis smiled lightly as Crossroads threw her arms around him, and
hugs her tightly. "Hello Crossroads. It is good to have you back." He
closed his eyes, and rubbed her back lightly. "Thank you for what you
did before." The wound from Kyrk's blade was still scabbing over on
Tyrranis' chest, sure to form a scar he could remember.

Feeling his arms around her Crossroads started outright crying,
holding on to him tightly, nodding again. She didn't like the fact
that she had to hurt him, but at the time, it sounded like it was
something he needed. "Tyr... It was Lora's arrow. And me. Lora
wouldn't have shot if it hadn't been for me. And it was because of
that he died."

Tyrranis nodded as she cried, and continued as she began to reveal
what happened. "This is a thing that happens in battle. Sometimes
people give the wrong orders, and people end up dying." Tyrranis spoke
softly, but his voice carried experience in this matter.

"But I am still to blame for his death." Crossroads squeezed her eyes
shut, feeling her throat tighten. "Nothing I did helped. I could see
things, and every time I tried to fix it things only went in another
bad direction. If I can't use my powers to help us and better our
chances, then what good am I? I can't even protect the people I care
most about in this world." She hadn't seen Lora in a while, but she
assumed she was still suffering over this.

Tyrranis rubbed Crossroads' back some more. "The future is a beast
that lashes out more wildly than an untamed horse. Simply knowing a
path could help in one instance, but not in others. You still,
however, have worth on the battlefield. Your archery has progressed in
skill, and your ability to summon multiple versions of yourself is a
powerful one. It is easy to lay blame after a conflict, but in the
midst of one it is next to impossible." He pulled Crossroads back a
little, and kissed her on the forehead. "

Tyrranis said ' You must not be caught in the past, for none of us
can change it. Instead, look to the next battle and prepare yourself.'

Crossroads looked at him, her face wet with tears. She knew that
Tyrranis's words were wise, but with Kyrk’s death still fresh in her
memories what had happened still stung regardless of them. She wished
she could be like him and have so little affect her. It was a trait of
his she envied sometimes. Especially when she thought of how many
grief seeds she had gone through when compared to him. She nodded
regardless, finding his hand on her back and this kiss soothing. She
had almost expected him to be angry with her for her confession
earlier

Tyrranis smiled lightly as Crossroads nodded in agreement to him. He
reached up, and attempted to wipe away some of the tears that were on
her face. "We are warriors, Crossroads. We already have our orders, we
just have to wait for the signal to attack. When we are not warriors,
we shall have normal lives. Let us lead our normal lives now,
alright?"

Crossroads placed her hand on Tyrranis's while he wiped away her tears
and pressed it to her cheek, closing her eyes and feeling the warmth
of it while she tried to stop herself from crying. "Alright, Tyr."

Tyrranis pulled Crossroads back into an embrace, and sighed. "We shall
overcome these issues. I should probably apologize to Molly. She
seemed a bit scared of me."

"A lot was happening at the time." Crossroads said. She had been too
busy trying to revive Kyrk at the time to hear what was exchanged
between them but even though she hadn't she could assume everyone was
overwhelmed by what happened. And if not overwhelmed then simply
shocked. She reached up, holding one side of Tyrranis's head and
kissed the opposite cheek. "Thank you."

Tyrranis smiled at Crossroads' kiss, and squeezed her lightly. "So.
What do you want to do today? I believe we are just an hour or two
from sunrise."

Crossroads attempted to smile back at him, as she tried to think of
something. She didn't know what day it was, or if she was needed in
the cafe but she didn't care. She wanted to do something nice with
Tyrranis and spend as much time with him as she could right now.
"Maybe we could go fishing? Or there was that book we were reading
before we left. Maybe you can try showing me how to make a shelter? We
could spend the entire day out in the woods even!"

Tyrranis hummed for a moment, before grinning at Crossroads. "I do
like the idea of teaching you shelter. It is nice to spend time with
you, and this is a thing that you should learn."

Crossroads hugged him tightly, happy that it appeared as though he had
approved of her idea. There was even a little bit of excitement in her
voice as she spoke. "And you can show me which things are eatable and
which things to avoid. And teach me how to make a fire. I am sure that
you know some things the book doesn't. But we can't forget the
fishing, Tyr. Because I want fish for dinner! And I want apples when
it gets around to lunch." Crossroads said with a bit of determination,
"I want to eat everything I like as often as I can while I can. And I
want to spend more time with you and learn more things." Because she
didn't know how much longer she had until they couldn't be done
anymore. Kyrk’s passing was a grim reminder of that.

Tyrranis chuckled, happy that she seemed better, and that she was
acting better. "These are all things I can do, yes. We will make a day
of staying in the woods. You should collect some long clothing to
protect you from things that might be out there. Perhaps also some
kind of sleeping bag."

Crossroads smiled and kissed Tyrranis a couple times. "I'll be ready
to leave before you even know it." She followed up those words with a
third and final kiss before making a dash out of the kitchen.