"Okay, so what's the deal?" Ajay asked as we stood outside Banapur. "And why did you call me mascot?"

"Because you've become the big face in this war." I replied.

Ajay threw his hands ups, "Fair enough. Now, why are we here."

I start walking further away from the town, Ajay follows. "You've probably already heard, but Sabal is faking his death."

"Uh-huh."

"And we are sending people in to spy on Pagan."

"Yeah,"

"But those people are really just one person-me."

"Wait," Ajay said, walking faster to catch up to me, "You're working for the Golden Path."

"Yes, but no. Amita doesn't know, neither does any of the others, besides Sabal." I pause, "You and Sabal are the only ones who know. Pagan thinks I'm working for him because I'm the one who... killed Sabal."

Ajay reached up and adjusted his hair, "Wow."

"Yeah."

"So the training we did a while back... you didn't do that out of generosity and good spirit?"

I laugh, "Not completely. Sabal wanted me to train you, but I ended up enjoying it." I glance in his direction, "You're not who you seem to be."

"Neither are you."

The conversation dwindles out as we walk towards the forest for a more discreet location to talk. I catch Ajay staring at me, his eyes raking up and down my body. It's not very noticeable, only quick glances. Sometimes, I catch myself doing the same-trying to catch inconspicuous glances at Ajay. His slender body and muscular arms. The guns he's wearing and the homemade bags on his back.

"Like what you see?" Ajay asks, smirking.

I feel myself blush and instantly regret it, "I was just looking at those... guns you're carrying."

"Which ones? These," Ajay motions towards the ones strapped to him, "Or these." He stops to flex his arms with a grin on his face.

I shake my head and continue walking, but my face still heats up. How stupid I am being for letting him get into my mind like this! I think of Sabal and feel as though I have betrayed him.

"So," Ajay says, lingering on the word, "How do you know Sabal?"

"He was looking for me, I knew, so I found him."

"Okay,"

"What's that?" I ask, pointing to a canister on his hip.

"This?" He reaches down and pulls is off his belt, "This is my mom. She wanted me to bring her to Lakshmana-wherever that is."

I look at the urn, "Lakshmana?"

"Yeah," Ajay said, returning the ashes to his belt, "Sabal said it would be somewhere up north, possibly a shrine of some sort."

"Oh," I said, thinking. A shrine? I knew almost all of the shrines in the area, I have never heard of Lakshmana.

I take a seat on a fallen tree and have Ajay join. He sits next to me, uncomfortably close.

"I never wanted to be involved in any of this." Ajay said, putting his head in his hands.

"Me neither." I said, feeling the urge to rest my hand on his back, but refusing to.

"You know," Ajay says, "I don't know you very well, but I feel like I can be relaxed around you. Like you're never going to judge me for whatever I do or say."

I gulp and look forward. Do I feel the same way?

No, of course not. Ajay is a stranger-a friend at most.

"What about you?" Ajay asks, looking up at me, "Do you feel that way about me?"

"I... Yes." I say, mentally slapping myself for my stupidity.

"Good," Ajay said, "Then there's something I want to tell you."

I feel my heart skip. Why am I so anxious?

"I just wish my mom would have decided to be buried somewhere else. I hate being here. I never wanted to come here and well... I'm stuck here, basically."

"Why's that?" I ask, feeling my heart drop.

"I'm not technically a citizen of the US. Neither was my mother, which might explain why she wanted to be buried in this shithole. But I wasn't born in the United States and my mother would never tell me anything about Kyrat or why we weren't there."

"Maybe she just wanted to forget."

"Yeah, and I can see why. This place is living hell." Ajay said, letting out a frustrated huff. His rested his hands on the piece of log between us, I reached down and took it in my own, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"I know how you feel." I say, looking at the ground.

"Oh?" Ajay asks, looking into my eyes.

"My mother and father-both dead. My father died in a hunting accident and my mother... she died on the job, but I know that's not true."

Ajay reached up and slid a thumb across my face, wiping away a tear I didn't know was there.

"I was orphaned at a young age and thrown to a man who loved to hate me... and that hate turned into a nasty kind of love and affection towards me."

"God, no." Ajay said, scooting closer to me and pulling me in for an embrace.

"No," I said, "I don't want you to pity me. Had that not happened, I wouldn't be who I am today."

"That's a terrible thing to say." Ajay said, moving the hair from my face, his face only inches from mine. "You can't just think that's okay. You may be the person you are today but who's to say you could of had a better life, had it not happened?"

I look down, his dark brown eyes followed my gaze. I feel his right hand travel to my back while his left cupped my face. He leans closer and I feel his lips brush against mine. My stomach flutters as he connects our lips and pulls me into him. I can't help but to reach up and touch his face and soft hair. His tongue parted my lips and explored my mouth, feverishly moving around. I moan softly into the kiss, never wanting it to end. Ajay pulled away slightly, his hot breath on my face. I felt his lips connect with me again, but this time he was in he crook of my neck, the sweet sounds of his kissing and sucking making my move closer, to want to be held by him more. His right hand traveled to my lower back while his left rested just below my shoulder blades. I moved so I was no longer sitting with both legs on one side of the log, but so I was facing Ajay.

Ajay never stopped kissing me until he reached the tip of my toes-covering me in invisible kisses. Though I knew I would regret it, I let him. Never did I think of Sabal as we loved until the sun was setting.

I wanted his love, so I traded it for mine.