Prologue: Going Home

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, watching her face carefully. They were in the living room, while everyone else was outside, tending to their own matters. They would have been outside together too, on a normal day.

She turned to glance at him, a look of aloofness hiding how torn she felt. "When was I ever not sure about what I was doing?" she questioned him curtly.

A bolt of hurt shot through him. They both knew very well that she would doubt herself forever, but now she was acting like they never knew each other. As if they had never snuck out in the middle of the night up till a few years ago, when they didn't have to worry about any duties. As if they did not spend the last few years after that working together, travelling the world and pretending that they weren't still broken. They had put each other back together and created new memories and stories. They paved a path for themselves.

It had worked. They had both felt happy and content. Never one without the other.

He had always dreamed. He had all but dreamed. 

They would save others, time and time again, until they could do it no more. Then they would settle down, and grow old together. They would show all those who ever doubted them that they were wrong. They would show everyone who had faith in them that their hope was not in vain. They would make people proud, and finally be comfortable in their own skin.

But this was something so new to him. He had seen her form the same cold, hard exterior towards others. In fact, most people knew her as one of the most intimidating, anti-social people. But he and only very few others knew otherwise. He had always been proud to know that he was her closest friend, and she was his. He had worked so hard to earn her trust, and his trust in her was not handed over on a silver platter, either.

But he didn't know who he was to her anymore. Was he just a burden to her? Had she decided that he was no longer worthy of her company? Or even worse, that she herself was the one not worthy? It was tearing him apart, little by little, as he wondered what was going on inside that mind of hers. She was taking a hammer to the foundation of the friendship they had built.

It hurt him so much, when she obviously no longer trusted him enough to tell him what she was thinking.

"I'm not leaving forever." Alina said quietly as her demeanour suddenly shifted. It hurt her too, but she had to do this. She was dragging everyone down. No matter who she met, no matter where she went, the people she loved the most always seemed to suffer in her hands. Over the years, she had learnt to trust that these people she loved would be strong enough to face any challenges that life threw at them, but now she wasn't so sure.

After all, she was the one that was too weak. And if she stayed this weak, she would let everyone who depended on her down. She couldn't afford to do that. She was already a murderer, and she would not be able to bear having the blood of even just one more person on her hands.

She had to find a new way to get stronger. If that was even possible.

Till then, she would stay away from him, and everyone else. That way, she would not be putting them at the forefront of her mistakes. Remove them from the line of fire. They won't be completely safe, but they would be safe from her. It was the least she could do for them.

She made up her mind then. A promise to herself. If she found herself not up to par, she would retire.

Yes, that's right. She would retire. She would give up and surrender. She would prove her parents right.

"It sure feels like it." He replied sharply. She was a stranger now. Before, they knew every single thing about each other. They could read each other like open books, yet to others they were a mystery.

"König-"

"It's true and you know it." he cut through. He didn't know her anymore. He knew she didn't care about him. She only ever treated people she hated with this level of hostility. He could see it in her body language. In fact, that was the only thing he knew for sure. She was really leaving him behind.

She narrowed her eyes at him, and he stared right back with his steady teal gaze.

His eyes were beautiful. They were usually shining with life, happiness, and playfulness.

Now, they were too bright as they reflected her image back at her. Tears.

She swallowed and wrapped him in a hug. "When we meet again, it'll just be like before." Alina murmured, her nose prickling as her own eyes started to become wet, the droplets threatening to spill forth. "Till then, stay alive for me."

He hugged her back, resting his lips against her forehead. "Okay." He didn't believe it, but they had to try.

He looked away as she picked her backpack up. That was where she had stored all the things that were important enough to bring along with her. There were only such few things that she had collected over the years. Everything else was replaceable.

He glanced out through the window as the door swung shut, watching as she made her way towards his brother. She sent him a genuine laugh as he said something to her, before wrapping her in his arms and swinging her around. Inside the house, he could not hear anything, but he knew that she was yelling at his brother to put her down. It was a nice sight.

He glared at the wall as his body betrayed him, sending a single drop of water down to his feet.

Everything else was replaceable.

Including him.