Duality

part ten

Mila had no idea what to tell Anna, so it worked out that the hut was empty when she reached it. The rising sun meant nothing to Anna's internal clock, so Mila paced the inside, walking circles around the table.

With Ashton, the answer had been obvious: she had to protect him, even from herself. In getting Ashton out of the picture, Mila had protected Anna from retaliation. Now she had to figure out how best to stop Anna's pursuit.

Footsteps crunched through grass on the other side of the window, and Mila looked out to find Anna approaching. "I thought I heard you come back," Anna said without turning her head as she passed.

Mila turned in the chair she occupied by the window to face Anna as she came in. Her woven basket was full of roots and berries; she placed them down on the table. Out of habit Mila moved out of the chair, thinking maybe Anna wanted to sit or otherwise have the space. Anna remained at the end of the table, seeming intent to sort the basket contents while standing.

She also seemed to have nothing else to say.

"I think he's gone," Mila said, testing the waters. Anna didn't look mad, but she could show her true feelings in a matter of seconds.

Sorting the berries into a pile on the table, Anna didn't immediately offer her thoughts. When Mila said nothing else, she said, "You were gone for a while." Steel edged her voice, the threat of something worse if Mila didn't answer correctly.

"I passed out," she admitted. "How long—?" She caught herself before finishing the question and fell silent.

That, at least, got Anna's attention. Her hands paused in their progress and her head turned. "How is that possible, if he's gone?" Anna's eyes narrowed; her hands stopped moving. "Did someone from the town come after you?"

"I don't know," Mila said honestly, rubbing the side of her arm. "But I have my powers back." She waited for Anna to cut in. "Things can be like they were, before." As hard as she tried to enthuse happiness into her tone, her efforts fell short. The wry smile she managed didn't help.

"I doubt that," Anna said with an uncharacteristic snort. Mila shrunk over to the wall, unsure what Anna meant. "You have his powers now, don't you?"

She'd forgotten that part of the lie in her consideration. "Not yet," she said evasively. This, she knew, would upset Anna. "I think they're taking a while to come in." Feeling the light on her back, Mila rushed, "I can control the sun."

The storm brewing in Anna subsided. "Well, that's a start."

Silently, Mila exhaled in relief. Her back leaned into the wall for support. At least she'd chosen something Anna didn't really have a way of testing.

"How do you feel, knowing it's over?" Anna asked, smiling. She'd gone back to sorting the berries. One rolled off the table. Mila plucked it up from the floor and set it down in the pile with the others. To Anna, it was like nothing had happened.

Mila wanted to answer truthfully and say she felt terrible about lying to the only two people she had any interactions with. She wanted to say the satisfaction, though false, felt wrong: Ashton didn't want to hurt her. From the way he looked at her, she knew that, and it made Anna's contempt harder to stomach.

No point trying to reason with her now, though. "I don't really know where to go from here," Mila admitted. "That's all I was trained for."

"We'll have to work on your new powers, of course," Anna said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"What then?" Mila asked.

Anna's light gaze pinned her, made her feel like a child. "Don't sulk," she chided. "We'll tackle one thing at a time." She brushed her hands off above the table and headed for her bed in the corner. "And we'll start tomorrow."