a Daughter of Gotham Part 8.

    For Nadia and Bruce, their first real fight happened on Bruce's seventeenth birthday.
    The evening had begun with so much promise. A romantic dinner at their favorite place, "Candeles", inside the observation deck on the top floor of the Marsa Tower, overlooking the South Dock.
  It would be just the two of them; no other family or friends to irritate or interfere. Only the servant girls to watch; they would throw themselves at Bruce wherever they went, but that was to be expected.
   Nadia was anxious for weeks before the day arrived, and had worried about her gift for him. It was the first real present she had given him, and nothing had felt adequate for the occasion. They had celebrated her own eighteenth birthday the day before, and Bruce's gift to her was beautiful; the most precious thing she now owned. Her return gift had to be perfect, and it wasn't.
    Nadia had been forced to settle on having a pair of leather rock climbing gloves made for him, which she had designed herself. They would came down to his elbow, to protect most of his arm. On each wrist was his monogram, stitched in.
On the back of each was a raised dragon, with it's eyes and teeth pointing towards his fingers, it's long tail twisting down to the point on his elbow.
    Bruce loved dragons. Nadia suspected it was because of his love for Bruce Lee, who was called "the Little Dragon". Bruce wanted to be "the Big Dragon". He planned on getting a full dragon tattoo across one shoulder, the day he turned eighteen next year. Nadia hadn't said anything yet, but she planned to get one to match it, in the same place.
   Nadia had tried everywhere to find dragon wrapping paper, but none was to be found. Instead she had been forced to draw her own by hand, with colored ink. She knew that her drawing skills wouldn't be up for the task, but she hoped that Bruce would appreciate the extra time and effort she put into it.
    He didn't. "You shouldn't have went to all that trouble," he told her as he unceremoniously ripped open her gift to him. "Any old paper would have been fine."
    When he saw what was inside, the clear disappointment on his face broke her heart. "Oh, sweetheart, I can't use these. This is the wrong kind of leather. What I use is artificial, and is made by a company that my family has a contract with. The Vigano Family. Vigano Leather. I never use anything else for climbing.
   "The dragons are cool, though," he added. "I like the way the wings come out like a bat. You can put them on my next gift. Just make sure to choose the right kind of leather next time."
    Nadia began to cry.
   When Bruce realized how much he had hurt her with his words, he was surprised. "Oh, Nadia, don't cry. I didn't mean anything by it. They really are nice gloves. I can't use them for climbing, but I will find something to use them for. I'll start gardening, or something."
   This made Nadia cry more. "You're not going to use them for gardening," she said bitterly. "You're not going to use them for anything. They don't mean anything to you, because I don't mean anything to you!"
   "No, Nadia, don't say that. You definitely mean something to me," Bruce assured her. "I am just a selfish person. I am spoiled. I have always been fortunate, and have always had people do things for me. I guess sometimes I forget how lucky I am."
    Bruce picked up the gloves again to look at them. "These really are nice. They mean something to me, and they always will, because they come from you.
    "I just can't use them for climbing," he admitted.
    They spent the rest of the meal in uncomfortable silence.
Afterwards, Bruce drove her back to his home. Once there, he took her inside, to the shelves were he stored his climbing gear. He pulled out a pair of his own climbing gloves. "Here, now, look at these. These are Vigano. When I am 300 feet up a sheer cliff wall, my life depends on these. This is why they are so important to me."
    He pulled them both on his hands. "See how smoothly and quietly they pull on? See how nicely they fit my hands? How flexible? They are tight and loose at the same time." He wiggled his fingers for her, then made a fist. "See how much flexibility I have? How easily I can bend my fingers and wrists? You can't even hear the fabric stretch, like you would with real leather. Look at the padding on the finger tips and palms. My hands are perfectly protected, yet I could read brail with these babies on."
   Bruce gently placed the palms of each hand to each side of her face. "Feel how soft these are compared to the pair you tried to give me. Feel how smooth they are? I have climbed everything wearing these. Yet the fabric is still as soft and flawless as your skin."
  As always, Bruce's touch calmed and excited her simultaneously. Even with the sting of her hurt feelings still fresh, she wanted all that he would give.
    Bruce took his gloved hands from her face, and took her left hand between them instead. "Feel the warmth from my hands though the fabric?" Bruce asked her, now speaking in a whisper. "It's just like skin touching skin. I can feel every line on your palms. I could close my eyes and read your future, if only I knew how. "
    He brought his fingers down lower on her arm. "I can feel those small scars on your wrist. As old and faded as they are, I can still feel them."
    He moved closer to her. "I can feel your pulse speed up, the closer I get," he whispered.
   In that moment, Nadia was aware of three things. One, she would always forgive Bruce for anything he would ever do. Second, her next gift to him would need to be something extraordinary, for an extraordinary person. And third, that gift would have to be made from Vigano Leather.