Aftermath

"So! How did it go..." Fitz burst through the door of her apartment late into the evening in a good mood. When she saw Russ sitting at her kitchen table staring at the wall she trailed off. 

"Is Ona...?" 

"In bed." Russ answered the girls unspoken question. 

Adjusting to the mood of the situation, Fitz quietly took a seat next to Russ at the table. "What happened?" She spoke somberly. 

"I don't know. I don't understand it, no matter how much I want to."

Fitz looked in concern at her friend as he spoke with clenched fists and through gritted teeth. From his eyes she could tell that he had been crying. Forgoing words, she decided to wait until he continued. 

"There's something wrong. Something she needs, but I can't understand it. I can't understand her. I want to help her so badly, but I can't. There's nothing that I can do." Russ said bitterly. 

"Did something happen?" Fitz asked gently. It was then that Russ noticed that she had walked in empty handed.

"You didn't even buy anything? It really was some sort of set-up." Russ laughed in spite of himself. 

"Huh? I don't know what you are thinking, but all I did was help Ona get some alone time with you." Fitz tried to clear the situation up.

"Why?"

"Because that's what she wanted." Fitz shrugged.

"How do you even know that?" Anger showed through in Russ's voice.

"Girls know how to communicate with more than just words." Fitz said mysteriously, making it seem like she hadn't spent hours upon hours playing a giant game of twenty questions with the girl, asking her a plethora of yes or no questions to figure out what she wanted to know. 

"I'll pretend that you gave me a meaningful answer and move on. It doesn't matter anyways. She obviously didn't want to be with me. Or maybe she did, but she definitely doesn't anymore. You asked if anything happened, and well, I don't know." Russ shrugged this time. 

"Then why don't you just start from the beginning?" Fitz suggested, interlacing her fingers on the table in front of her and scooting forward in her seat. 

"I..." Russ swallowed his words, "Fine."

Russ relayed the events that played out earlier this evening as Fitz listened attentively. After he got through relaying a story that was close enough to the actual events, Fitz sat, processing for a minute. 

"Hmm." 

"That's all you've got?" Russ dropped his head into his hands in despair. 

"From what I understand, it might as well be all I've got. I don't get the whole situation, but I can see the premise well enough." She said. 

"Well, don't keep me in suspense." Russ replied. 

"I... I don't think there is anything that you can do until she brings the problem to you directly." She said with a wince. 

Russ's head dropped more. "So there really isn't anything I can do? I just have to wait for this unseen and unknowable problem to appear in front of me?"

"It's up to her whether she decides to share her problems or not. You'll just have to trust her judgement and hope that she'll do what's best." She said. 

"Trust her. Okay. I'll do it. I'll trust her. But, I am worried about this affecting our ability to work together on quests." Russ switched over to practical mode. 

"That makes sense." Fitz considered his words, "Let's just make sure not to take on any jobs that might be a threat for a while to see how things are."

"Yeah." For a split second an image flashed across Russ's mind. He imagined him and Fitz at the guild searching for a new member for Silent Voice. A member to replace Ona. The instant he had the thought he clenched his eyes and shook it away, leaving him dismayed that he allowed himself to have the thought in the first place. 

"Fitz?"

"Yeah?"

"You and Ona are who I want in my party. It's only been a few weeks, but you two have become like family to me, and that means a lot, because I didn't have anyone else left. If I'm going to have a party, then the two of you have to be in it." Russ said, resolutely. 

"Well duh." Fitz said as if it were obvious, but she averted her eyes and her cheeks got red. "I formed this party to be special. I'm not going to let you guys get away after you've become even more special."

"It's decided then. As leader of Silent Voice I, Russ Skiler, declare that as long as this party remains it will contain the names Fitz Ne Ryhnd, Ona, and Russ."

Fitz banged on the table. "Here here!" She said with a big smile.

"Oh, and one last thing." Russ added.

"What is it?"

"Thank you Fitz. Really and truly, thank you for this." Russ bowed his head to his small friend. 

The color of Fitz's cheeks turned so bright red that Russ thought he could actually see a faint glow from them in the dimly lit room.

"I'm not even doing anything!" Fitz insisted. "You are laying it on way too thick."

"No, I mean it. Please, accept my thanks." Russ pressed. 

"This is your problem!" Fitz stood up suddenly. "Don't you know anything?"

"Not anymore." Russ said sullenly.

Fitz huffed, "I'm going to bed." Then, softening her tone, "I'll see you in the morning, good night."

"Good night, Fitz." He said, watching the girl disappear into the room that she was sharing with Ona. 

Russ was left alone once more at the dining table. Knowing not what else to do, he began sulking again. 

'Urgh! What am I doing?' Russ berated himself. 'They elected me to be the leader, but I'm tearing the team apart. No matter what I want, I can't help Ona right now. Not directly. The one way that I can help her though is by being a good leader. I need to be reliable. I have to change.' Russ hardened his resolve, hammering out his future in his mind.