Run.

She was only a faint shadow in your mind to you now. You told her to go on without you, and find an abandoned residence to reside in. You convinced her that you would find her soon, hoping yourself that your words would be true.

She didn’t want to leave you, but you insisted. Your loyalty to her outweighed your self-value for your own life, and you’d rather die than see her be taken away by them.

You closed your eyes, and allowed a sob to escape your throat, as you realized now that you really did love her.

After the first kiss with her, you just brushed it off as a sudden burst of curiosity; after all, it was just a kiss.

However, the first kiss evolved into something more, something far more dangerous than just the result of two curious lips making contact with one another. It became caressing. It became sex. It became love.

The very thought of this made your heart ache; being in love with her made things that much worse. It would make things harder it something happened to her. It would taint your soul, your very being, with guilt.

Because it would be your fault.

Out of the two of you, she was the strongest, physically and emotionally wise. Her confidence and strength always amazed you, as she was three years your junior. She was always the one that made the decisions, always the one who knew exactly what to do. Even though you knew this was so, somehow you always thought of yourself as her protector, her guide, her mentor. Her influencer.

You could have prevented this all from happening if you’d just controlled yourself a little more carefully, deny yourself the happiness that only she could give, and because you’d failed to do that, there was a huge possibility that she was dead, or would soon be dead.

You are the reason that she is in this predicament. You are the reason why the city, the only place you called home, was cast asunder to the hatred of its inhabitants. There was no doubt about it.

The question was, what would you do about it? Continue to mope and think about what could have been, or ignore your guilt for now and search for her?

You arose from your resting spot, and gathered your thoughts. You escaped the rioters, and recuperated. There was only one thing left to do.

Find her.