Rogue. (IN REVISION)

26

Venner couldn't say a word in reply, Fallon had lost hope? That didn't make any sense.

"That's a lie." He told her flat. She looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed in irritation before shaking her head. "You had enough hope to come with us and leave Desolate. I know you had hope in finding your parents." His voice seemed to pierce her chest.

"Have you forgotten how hard it was for you to persuade me to leave?" She asked.

"Doesn't mean that you didn't have hope." He continued. "You don't like being wrong, do you?" He asked. He half expected it, he could already tell that she was stubborn and hard to convince.

Fallon took one look at him and felt offended, "Who said I was wrong?"

Venner smirked seeing her face, "You are." He watched her face contort lividly and she sprang up. There it was, her actions confirmed his suspicions, she was stubborn indeed.

"How dare you say something like that! You don't know if I am right or wrong, you don't even know me that well!" She exclaimed. Venner didn't say anything, he just let her rant on, for some reason it was entertaining to see her react so extremely to his words. "I am allowed to believe in what I like, if I choose to not have hope in things that I know won't come true then that is my business! Why should I believe in some stupid fairy tale about some man who saved the world once by dying? Apparently, he didn't do a good job of that since we are still suffering now!" The rise and fall of her chest were rapid and stung with rage.

Venner started laughing at her, clearly entertained by her little speech. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "What is so funny?"

"It's just so easy to push your buttons."

Fallon tucked in her lips to hide a smile, "You're awful."

"See, you want to laugh at yourself!" He pointed to the ghost of a smile that threatened to creep upon her face. "Of course, you are allowed to believe in what you like, that wasn't what I was getting at." He sat up straight. "Hope is natural, we were designed for it."

"If you say so." She watched the sun rise into the heavens and paint the sky with fiery yellows and oranges. It cast a glow upon both of their faces as their eyes met. "What were you going to say?" She asked. Venner looked over at her in confusion. "What?"

"The prophet, what did he once say?" Her gaze softened; her green eyes gleaming. He was suddenly reminded of what he was going to say before Fallon had her little tirade and he chuckled, "A forest still sees moonlight, at dusk the sun shines on dew. A good thing in the midst of bad times is a sign that someone loves you."

"Poetic." Her gaze went back to the sun coloring the sky. "Does that mean that this sunrise is a sign that the Divine loves me?" She asked.

"It can be interpreted that way." He looked at the sky too, the sun's yellow rays casting a golden glow upon everything. "I think it also means that people love you too."

Fallon pondered the words and then shrugged, "I guess that one isn't too far from the truth."

They both fell silent watching the sky and the birds singing happily in the trees, "Was your family the good thing in the midst of bad times?" she asked, breaking the quiet.

"Yes, they were." He replied. "They were my heaven." The corners of his eyes wrinkled slightly as he recalled the joyful times he had had with his beloved wife and daughter.

"How old were you when You married Indra?" She asked.

"Twenty-two."

"You were married quite young."

"I was in love." He smiled at her. "I wish you could've met Indra and Clara."

"I wish I could've met her too. Can you tell me about them? If it's not too much trouble?" she asked curiously.

"Sure." Venner's throat suddenly went dry before he spoke. "When I met her, she was in college studying to be a doctor. We went to the same University in my senior year, she was in the same class as me. I don't think I've ever had such a hard time paying attention." He chuckled. "I tried so hard not to stare at her from across the classroom, but she was so beautiful, she had blonde hair that caught the light in such a way that it shined like gold and her bright blue eyes always left me speechless." Fallon listened to him like a gleaming eyed child, the way he described her was so effortless and loving.

"I remember when we were partnered up for a project and I felt like such an idiot for not knowing any of the information. She practically did the whole presentation."

"When was the first time you knew you were in love?" She asked.

Venner's eyes shined with tears as he recalled the moment.

"We were dating for a while, and she just graduated from the University after me. I took her out to dinner and when we finally left the restaurant, it started raining and I took her under an awning so she wouldn't get wet. She protested and took off her shoes and ran out into the rain. She had her arms open, and her head lifted to the thundering sky."

Fallon smiled at the picture she painted in her head of Indra; she inched closer to him as she continued listening to his story. "Her pale lavender gown was getting soaked, and it seemed to glow in the moonlight above her. She looked like a goddess commanding the sky to bow to her. She pulled me out into the rain to dance with her, not minding that everyone was staring. Then, there was a moment that we looked at each other and we knew, it was like a tether knitting our spirits together. I took her in my arms, and I kissed her."

He looked over at Fallon whose head landed on his shoulder during his tale. He smiled and hugged her shoulders, "You had a beautiful life, Venner. You of all people do not deserve to get the misfortune you have received." She said lifting her head from his shoulder.

"Bad things happen to good people all of the time, Fallon."

"There's one thing I'd like to ask."

"Sure."

"What happened to Clara?" She asked.

Venner's heart felt a stab as her name was mentioned, reminding him of his beloved daughter. "Her body was never found. We assumed she was executed too."

"Have you ever tried finding her?"

"Why do you think I left Desolate?"

"What do you think?" She asked. "Does your heart say that she's alive?"

Venner looked at her and gave her that same convicting expression he had in the forest, "I know in my soul she's still out there somewhere."

"I think so too, you need her." She told him.

Venner fought the tears that had stung his eyes, "Yeah I do."