final round - lrh

seventy.

Lila's POV:

I can confidently say that I was in no way wrong when being deeply concerned about Declan coming out here with one arm.

Training officially went from hard to impossible.

It was filled with frustrating days, lots of falling, an overuse of curse words, and bringing myself and Luke almost to the point of tears.

We didn't let our frustrations get the best of us as Luke continued to be encouraging and would just help me get up and we'd pretend it didn't happen. We brushed it off and moved on.

I've learned that climbing is pretty much out of the question... so much for all that work going into learning how to climb the pole, huh? We've decided that I simply won't do any climbing.

And if I have to, Luke said he's going to do whatever it takes to carry both of us to wherever we need to be.

The good thing is, I can shoot better with one arm than almost anyone can here with both arms. Must've been something I taught myself in the womb because I have no idea where this talent came from. The problem is, I don't see myself going out to the battlefield and being the person in the frontline firing away for the hell of it. I'd like to think I'll be the person keeping a lookout or helping people who are injured or being people's additional set of eyes at any point.

In no universe do I see myself relishing in the death of others at my own expense.

And I think Luke understands this. I think he knows that I have no intention of being someone who's going to be killing people by the second. Unless, of course, it means life or death for someone I care about. Otherwise, I'd like to be put to use in any other way.

Sighing at the sight of myself, I think about the fact that this will be one of the last times I look at myself in a mirror for a while. Once we leave tomorrow, the only way I'll be able to see myself is through the reflection of another person's eyes. Right now, I see an overworked girl who's ready to lay in bed and attempt to sleep off the worries of tomorrow. I remember just how hard it was for me to fall asleep the night I left for this place but looking back, that was so minuscule to the demons I'll be facing tomorrow.

There's a soft knock at the bathroom door, grabbing my attention as I turn my head. I'm immediately met with the sight of Luke as he's clad in sweats, his own hair wet as it's clear he had gotten out of the shower not too long ago.

"You alright?" he doesn't fail to ask me, causing me to furrow my eyebrows.

    "Yeah, why do you ask?"

    Luke cracks a lighthearted smile, "Because you've been in here for the past twenty minutes staring at yourself in the mirror. I mean hell, I don't blame you... I'd want to stare at myself too if I looked like that but figured I should check in-"

    I shake my head, having not realized it had been that long as I blink my eyes at him. Twenty minutes? I could've sworn I just got in here.

    "No way it was twenty minutes, I just got in here."

    Luke checks his watch on his wrist before chuckling, "Hate to break it to you sweetheart but it's been twenty minutes. I was going to check in on you after ten but figured you wanted some alone time before you'll be lacking that for quite some time."

    Twenty minutes? Damn, I was really lost in my thoughts for that long?

    "I didn't even realize," I say shaking my head, making the move to step away from the mirror. The funny thing is, I don't think I really looked at myself more than twice during that whole time period. I was truly focused on everything else.