Call Out My Name

Good At Goodbyes

He had seen her fight, by herself as an otkazat'sya.

He had seen her fire her gun and her rifle and hold her own. He had been there when she was knocked over and pushed to the ground by the large Drüskelle. And he had waited; he could have used the Cut right at this moment and save her just like he had done the very first time after they've met. But he waited instead. He wanted to see if she could manage on her own. He wanted to see how she could survive without her Grisha powers.

There was a time he had wanted her safe no matter what; he felt then that he would have done much worse had he had the time to torture the soldier who had attempted to kill her. To torture anyone who thought they could dare hurt her.

Back then, she was a literal ray of hope, the light he had been looking for, the light he needed. And then, she had appeared in front of him, injured, confused, and scared of her own powers, denying them, forcing herself to hide them from him, until he cut her to prove to her and himself that she was real. That the Sun Summoner has finally arrived.

Back then, she had been angry at one of the First Army soldiers for not doing anything to help his comrades. It should have been by then that he had realized her righteousness was strong, that her anger was just. She had tried to shield her friend with her body, risking her life to save the boy she loved, and she had saved most of them after all.

And now, he watched as the Drüskelle pushed her to the ground, but this time she did not fright; she fought instead.

Just as he was about to use the Cut, he saw her draw a knife from her boot and slice it across the man's throat. Her expression was firm; it was not her panic taking action or her fear; it was her rational anger. She was mad; he saw it in her eyes; she was angry at the way the Grisha were being treated, at the way they still saw them as lesser human beings.

She had the same look he had carried on his face once, the look he learned to hide behind a mask, behind the face of a man who played weaker than he truly was. He saw himself in her.

Alina was making things harder on him, he was so determined this was the best opportunity to say goodbye, but this side of her, this side, made him feel things he wished not to feel.

He looked as she climbed on top of the man, as she cursed at him and the way she pushed the knife into his heart.

She was indeed good at stabbing people.

He was glad she didn't need any protection or help from the others. She has proven them that she was a fighter on her own.

Aleksander had seen enough.

He has seen enough of the girl who once quivered before him and their enemies to know she would be fine. He saw enough to know it was time to say goodbye for good.

He saw as Alina approached the woods, she was looking around, maybe she felt the same pull to him as he did to her, or maybe she was looking for more soldiers to kill. It was hard to tell. He did find it odd that she had decided to separate from Nikolai and go to the quieter part of the fight.

She would occasionally stop and look around when she heard the wind blow or mistook the branches' movements for people.

"Vladim!" Alina called to the man. He was one of the new Sun Summoners, the ones who were once devoted soldiers to Alina, now bestowed with wielding her power. The power that had belonged to her alone, Aleksander thought bitterly.

"You shouldn't be here," he heard him tell her. "It is dangerous."

"A Sun Summoner is worth more than a mere soldier," she scolded him. "Go back to the others, don't separate yourself from them, okay?"