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Silence, it was something you rarely had these past months. You had forgotten how nice it felt. It finally gave you the chance to clear your mind.

The sun was shining despite it still being cold and you were currently sitting on a bench near the headquarters with a book in your hands. The only thing that bothered you was one of the new recruits who was assigned to guard you. The guy would occasionally eye you suspiciously as if in his mind, you were just looking for a way to run away.

Which you most of the time even were.

Aside from that, the only reason why you wanted to go out in the first place, was because you were hoping to catch Floch, you knew that he should be around here.

Clearing your throat, you looked over at the guard, the tall, brunette young man had a displeased look on his face, not making it take you long to look away. You were already tired of reading this book, and your fellow comrades had nothing better to do either, they were nothing but prisoners, and the volunteers were just tools to help this island.

Your eyes started to wander around your surroundings and you immediately stopped, gaze fixating on the red-head who was making his way towards the stables with a bucket of water in each hand. Without wasting time, you immediately set your book aside and got on your feet before jogging to his direction.

"HEY!" The guard shouted from behind you, already following you with the rifle in his hands. "STOP. NOW!"

This was enough to catch the red-head's attention, making him stop in his tracks as his gaze wandered from the form of the guard to you.

"Floch!" You called out, waving at the male before stopping right in front of him, trying to catch your breath.

"(Y/N).." He muttered, wide eyed. "What are you doing he-"

"SIR!" The guard behind you shouted again from behind you. "I tried to stop her, but she didn't listen!"

You looked between him and Floch nervously, hoping they wouldn't make your restrictions worse by forbidding you from going out again.

Floch let out a sigh before coughing, he seemed drenched in sweat once again and he hadn't even started working yet. He was surely getting sick and the cold weather was just making his case worse. Aside from that, he only wore a grey T-Shirt with white pants.

"It's fine, Wim." Floch said as he nodded slightly. "You can leave for now, seems like she has something to say." Now his gaze rested on you.

Your eyes widened, surprised at his words. He may have forgiven you after all.

"Sir!" The soldier saluted, walking away after Floch dismissed him.

You turned around to face Floch again, this time a sneaky smile on your face. "Sir, huh?"

"Well," He started, flexing his fingers around the handle of the buckets as he put them on the ground. "Plenty of new recruits joined, making us veterans, aside from that, Wim is part of my new squad."

"You have your own squad now?" You asked curiously.

"Are you stupid or something? That's what I've just told you."

The eye-contact you both shared made you uncomfortable, making you look away.

"Right, I'm sorry. It's really great." You smiled, eyes landing on the buckets at his feet. "Ah, let me help you!"

Before he could interjected, you grabbed the handle of one of the buckets, trying to lift it up, but he immediately grabbed your hand to prevent you from going any further. The sudden touch made your heart skip a beat, causing you to look up at his beautiful hazel eyes.

"What are you doing?" He asked, his breath fanning your cheeks.

You immediately jerked your hand away and took a step back. "Are you stupid or something?" You started mimicking him, "What I've just told you, I'm trying to help you!"

At that he rolled his eyes, "Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt the fact that you're physically able to carry a couple of buckets, considering your peak.. military physical.. condition.." You mumbled as your eyes roamed his body, causing him to stare at you in both disbelief and disgust.

"Are you trying to flirt with me?!"

"What?" You asked, clearly shocked, "That wasn't my intention."

"Why are you even here?" His next words came out with hesitation, "Did you come here to talk to me about last time, or simply just to.. see me?"

You nodded, shamelessly telling him about your little plot. "I was hoping to find you around here." At that he let out a chuckle.

"I'm starting to think you're in love with me."

You let out a hysterical laugh, making the male flinch at your sudden outburst of emotion. "Don't be ridiculous! I'm trying to make it up to you, I don't like being in bad terms with anyone and you know that."

"There's nothing to make up for." He replied, his tone suddenly turning cold, "Damage has been dealt with."

You rolled your eyes at his childish behaviour. He didn't seem to care though as he picked up each bucket and made his way inside the barn, causing you to follow him.

"You're really one to hold a grudge." You commented.

He let out a bitter laugh. "Can you blame me, Is holding a grudge something abnormal to you?"

"No it's not." You answered him, you did understand him. "But forgiving others isn't a bad thing."

"In other words, you're asking me to be the bigger person?" He set the buckets aside and grabbed a pitchfork, and got to work, moving all the hay to the side.

"Not the bigger person, I'm just asking you to be a better man." You followed suit, taking the small broom, dipping it into the bucket full of water and started cleaning all the places he removed all the hay from.

He observed your actions and shook his head before he stopped. "Am I not a good man already?" He questioned you, it seemed like a genuine question, yet had a sarcastic undertone to it.

"I'm simply saying you could be better." You responded, "See Floch, life is about growing, it's about changing, and it's for the best not to always stay the same."

He sighed and continued his work, "I learned to forgive thanks to the people I've met on this island, and this place that I used to fear, turned out to be so beautiful, the sea alone looks heavenly from here, like a real paradise."

"Yet we never even got to see it until a couple years ago." He said bitterly, "This place, used to be.. hell on earth."

You took a glance at him, his distress was always so visible, or maybe you just had a gift for reading people perfectly. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising all the time." He raised his voice, feeling the annoyance take over him.

You nodded as you continued your work, for a few minutes, there was only silence, until his coughing caught your attention.

"You're getting sick." You muttered, feeling guilty.

"So, what's it to you?"

"It's my fault, isn't it?"

"No, it's not." He responded immediately,turning his head to face you. "Cleaning the stables was my choice."

You hummed, looking down, battling with the reluctance to ask him the next question. "Floch.." You muttered, "Can you tell me about that day?"

That was enough to trigger him.

He tried his best to not let his anger take over and consume him.

"Maybe another day." His voice sounded strained, he felt a lump in his throat.

"Alright."

He set the pitchfork aside and walked up to you, catching you by surprise. Slightly lifting your head, you looked him in the eyes. He had that intense perpetual gaze he'd so often have around you. "Why do you care so much?"

"I already told-"

"Why do you try so hard to understand me, to befriend me?" He demanded an answer and his patience was slowly running thin. "Why are you running around me all the time, trying to force yourself into my life, .. and into my mind?"

It was true and he couldn't deny it, how had you gotten in his mind in the first place? He couldn't even care less about you, and yet here he was, trying to figure you out, figure out why he started caring. It irked him, or should he say, you as a whole did? It was odd for someone to care this much, and that about him.

No one asked about that day, no one seemed to care about his suffering. It was normal after all, he was a soldier. People die, it's how nature works. Everyone has their hardships, and because of that, he'd decided to keep his feelings of distress to himself.

The affection of an enemy soldier scared him, yet in any other circumstances, maybe in another life, you'd truly be a gem.

"Because.." You muttered, "You and I are the same.."

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "We're not."

"We are."

"We're really not."

"We are."

"No, we're not."

"Yes, we are."

He let out a frustrated groan, "We're not, (Y/N). How could we possibly be the same?"

"Did you even care to know why I hated eldians?" You asked him as your eyebrows furrowed together. "My hatred was caused by one eldian poisoning my mother before she was about to give birth to me. It's a miracle that I'm even well and alive, yet.. my mother lost her life that day." Fighting the urge to weep, you tried to keep your cool and explain everything to him.

He seemed to notice your distress, causing his gaze to soften before he looked away. "Do you know why that eldian did it?" He asked hesitantly.

"My family is very wealthy, but my father always had a prejudice against eldians, it was one of the housemaids, I'm guessing that he was mistreated.."

Floch wasn't surprised as he just formed an "Ah." with his mouth.

"It just fuelled my father's hatred even more." You sighed, "I had dreams, I thought my life would be different, but my father.. he was filled with such hatred that he forced me into the military, and in the end, I became nothing but his tool for revenge."

You now avoided his gaze which was full of pity, but you didn't want his pity. You didn't want anyone's pity. "Yet, as much as I tried to hate, I was never genuinely able to, and the first time I've been captured, I was filled with fear and anger, betrayal even." You said as you thought of Yelena, "But now I've become wiser."

Your eyes met again as you managed a genuine smile and took a step forward before putting a hand on his shoulder, making him flinch ever so slightly. "So, be a better man, Floch."

His lips curled into a faint smile as he put his hand on yours that rested on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze before he removed your hand from his shoulder. "Maybe you're not so wrong after all."

"Maybe not." You grinned. "Will you tell me?"

"I will." He responded.

There was a moment of silence until he broke it. "You should leave now." His gaze wandered to the entrance, at the guard who came back to pick you up.

"Alright." You said. "When will we see each other again?"

"Next time I'll make sure to guard you, then I'll tell you what you want to know.. without interruptions." He eyed Wim again.

You nodded before you waved each other goodbye. For the first time in a while, it felt like a lot of things were going to change.

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