Xander and Sammy walked in silence.. He shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned deeply. He glanced over at Sammy but she refused to return his gaze. She stared off into the distance as she walked by his side and a faint flush rose to her cheeks.
His stomach churned as his emotions rolled between sadness for his loss, anger at Patrick, and sympathy for the displaced Fire Warrior.
“I’m sorry about what he said back there,” he said, reaching out for her hand. She slipped it into his. “He was way out of line.”
Sammy shook her head and sighed. “We both know he wasn’t. I don’t really belong here. No one actually likes me here. Giovanni and Alicia only tolerate me because of you.”
She squeezed his hand and looked over with tears in her eyes. “Maybe I should just go.”
Xander’s heart dropped in his chest. “No.”
Sammy arched an eyebrow as she waited for him to say more.
Xander stopped walked and turned her toward him. “Sammy, I made the mistake of letting you go once before. I’m not going to do that again.”
He pulled her close and slid his arms around her waist. She leaned in closer and rested her head against his chest.
“Everything that’s happened,” he continued, “has been some crazy whirlwind ride.”
Sammy chortled at his unintentional pun. He felt her shoulders shake with suppressed laughter and forced a smile.
“Laugh if you want but very little about all this makes sense to me. I barely understand my powers. I barely know my aunts and uncles but they all look to me like I’m some prodigy... like I’m supposed to change the world. Right now, you’re the only thing in my life that makes sense. You’re the only thing I actually understand. I can’t do this without you. If you leave, so do I.”
“It’s sad that I’m the only thing that makes sense to you,” she replied, “since I’m the only one here that’s tried to kill you.”
Xander sighed. “Yeah, but at least I know where I stand with you.”
Sammy laughed weakly again. He could still feel the tension in her body and the obvious sadness and indecision that coursed through her.
“Don’t you worry about ‘us’, though?” she asked.
Xander stepped back from her so he could look into her eyes. “What do you mean?”
Sammy tried to smile but the mirth fell far short of her eyes. “Patrick was right about us, too.”
“No, he wasn’t—”
“You just don’t want to admit it to yourself, Xander, but he was,” she replied adamantly. “Think about it. We’re from opposing castes. For God’s sake, I tried to kill you.”
“What do you want me to say?” Xander asked angrily. He didn’t understand where all this was coming from or why she would chose this painful day to bring it all up, but he just wanted the conversation to end.
“I want you to admit that something is off about our relationship,” she said. “I don’t think it’s wrong, exactly, just strange. I spent my entire life training for the sole purpose of eliminating the Wind Warriors and razing the Earth. Yet the second I meet you, I’m willing to throw away the life I knew. And you, you immediately forgave me for attempted murder. I don’t know about you but when we were apart, you were all I thought about; all I thought about after only a couple weeks of knowing each other. I was trained to be physically tough and emotionally distant. You broke through nineteen years of training in an hour.”
“Maybe love makes us do strange things,” he replied flatly.
“Is that it, Xander?” Sammy grabbed his hand and squeezed it, the entire time her eyes never leaving his. “Can you honestly tell me right now that you love me?”
He wanted to tell her he did but those words had never come easily for him. He finally shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s really love or not. But I do know that Patrick isn’t right. We have something special. Call it an infatuation or an obsession. Call it whatever you want. I don’t really care what we call it, so long as we’re together.”
Sammy looked away and turned toward the sea wall surrounding the island. He stood behind her and lost himself in the wave of curls that fell from her pinned-up hair.
Xander was surprised when he heard Sammy laugh. It was a nervous laugh. “God, we’re so messed up. What kind of future can we possibly have together?”
He hadn’t lied to her when he said he didn’t know if it was love between them. What he did know was that now that she was in his life, he couldn’t imagine how he survived without her. Maybe that made him blind to the truth. At this point, with so much loss, he just didn’t care if he was blind, just so long as he didn’t lose her as well.
Xander slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She rested her back against his chest and they stared at the glistening waterspout.
“Whatever future we want,” he finally replied. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy but the feelings I have for you aren’t suddenly going to go away.
“Patrick wasn’t right, no matter what doubts you might have in your mind,” he reiterated. “If he wants to force you off the island, he needs to be ready for me to go as well. You’re stuck with me. Where you go, I go.”
Sammy turned back to him, her face streaked with tears. “You’re a good man, Xander Sirocco. I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“We’re going to find out… together.”
She stepped into him and buried her face in his chest once more. Xander smiled and leaned forward, kissing her softly on her perfectly coifed hair.
“Do you have plans for the rest of the day?” he asked.
“You’re stuck with me, too,” she replied. “I go where you go.”