The Aegis Awakens//Xenoblade Chronicles 2

XV. Umon

The Aegis Awakens

//Chapter Fifteen: Umon//

Tears dripped down her face as she hugged her knees to her chest. Malos had clearly been worried about her, and she had pushed him away. She had even called Ethan here, so he could comfort Regan. The man was insufferable, but Regan did not seem to be bothered by him at all. Then again, she had not seemed bothered by Drew's annoying personality either.

Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, Winter looked up and wiped at her eyes as she realized who it was. "What do you want?" She questioned, trying her hardest not to start a fight with him. As much as she hated him, Winter would rather not ruin her friendship with Regan more than she already had.

"Just wanna talk. Can I sit?" She motioned to the ground in front of her.

"Go ahead." Ethan looked a bit hesitant as he took note of her currently angry facial expression. Finally, he simply decided to sit down. Looking down at his lap for a moment, he contemplated what he should say. He definitely did not want to risk pissing her off since she had not told him off yet so far.

"You realize just how upset she was, right?" Her eyes narrowed a bit at that, and she looked to be having a hard time biting her tongue. To be honest, he knew he was treading on thin ice and that one wrong move would result in him being submerged in icy cold depths. Unlike Regan, she seemed to despise every single word that came out of his mouth.

"Obviously. Why else would I have called you here?"

Ethan sighed, "She's been through hell, yet you insist on treating her like this..." He put up a hand as she attempted to interrupt him, "Back after we found Raymond in that dungeon, I thought she might leave me behind in my village. After all, she had just found her older brother alive and she had only known me for a couple of weeks." Winter was just listening now, her eyes focused in his direction.

"If it was not for the two of you, I would have been buried in the ground two decades ago." He placed his hand over the currently covered x-shaped Core Crystal in the center of his chest. "Even after that, she still insisted on me coming to the castle with her..." Winter interrupted and shook her head at him.

"You have half of my life force. Of course we weren't just going to leave you behind." She made it sound so simple, yet he was fully aware that it was far more complex that she let on. As much as she seemed to hate him, he highly doubted that she wanted to bring him just due to their shared life force.

"You really want me to believe that? You could have taken back the half of your core you two gave me at any time, yet you didn't." Her eyes narrowed a bit in warning, but he ignored it. Things were clicking in his head, and he just wanted her to admit it. "You actually care about me don't you? Otherwise, you would've just-" He cut himself off abruptly when she suddenly climbed into his lap and held a hand over his mouth.

Looking up at her, he quickly took note of her agitated expression. "You really don't know when to shut up do you?" Her tone was sharp, yet there was something else in it that he was unable to figure out. He knew better than to try to fight her on this since he knew he had already tested his luck enough. Her patience was running thin, and Ethan did not want to upset her.Her eyes looked his expression over before she finally uncovered his mouth.

"Sorry to upset you, Winter." He did not sound sorry at all as he looked up at her. His expression bothered her, and she suddenly realized why. One of his hands had come up to rest on her waist. Her eyes widened, and she hurriedly got off of him and turned her back to him. "I don't mind you know?" She hesitantly looked back at him and realized what he meant. Her face turned bright red, and she walked back to him. Internally, she hoped she would not regret it.