The Armor (Prince Harry fanfic #1)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Class finished up for the day. Harry taught all day, and he was tired. He couldn't understand how Lucy couldn't be so tired after teaching. Maybe it was practice, he decided. Or maybe she never got tired like that. She was never exhausted with whatever was around her. She was calm with that, always liking school. That was it, he decided.

"You did good," Lucy complimented.

"I did good?"

"Yes."

"I don't get a better compliment than that?" Harry asked, stepping forward, getting almost too close to her when someone could walk in. This was theirs, a secret, and they never told anyone. "Can't you say I did great? Or I was awesome?"

"I'm amazing, so I guess I can say you're awesome, enough," she added. "Not as good as me, I'd say."

"Really?" It was all done with a smile.

"Yeah." A smile tugged at her lips, which she grinned. "I think most people would say that."

"I would agree."

His lips touched hers, reaching out and bringing him to her. However, Lucy was the one who decided to take the step forward. Her hands reached around his neck, placing him close. Harry went. His lips were warm, and Lucy somehow still managed to be cold. She had gotten wet last night, and undoubtedly was still feeling the chill. He didn't edge forward and he didn't hesitate. He waited patiently for Lucy to make the next move. Though desperation slowly started to sink in, he was patient. He would always be patient.

"Later," she whispered, ending it there.

They both stepped back, with no hard feelings in the air. Heat hung in the thick air, making it hard to swallow. Harry still tasted her on his lips, a sad desperation to kiss her again. Though, he stopped. She stopped.

Sighing, she started to clean up the schoolhouse, and after ten seconds, Harry started to clean up too. Though the schoolhouse wasn't constantly dirty, she found it easier to clean up later. They also always had time now. Harry wiped off of some of the tables while Lucy cleaned the board.

"Lucy?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you teach tomorrow?"

"The goal is by the time I leave that you will teach fully." Lucy cleared her throat. "So, you'll teach until I leave. If you need help, I'll be there. However, you need to be the leader, and we can't be leaders together."

"We can be leaders together," he corrected.

"Hopefully out there." She shrugged. "But in here, people come and go, and the students have to be constantly used to people changing roles. The earlier you get used to the teacher, the more accepting they'll be of the teacher and the teachers coming in."

"So, I'll teach."

She touched his shoulder. "Don't be scared. I'll help."

Harry winked at her and whispered, "Thank you." Raising her hand, he kissed there, leaving a warm mark. His thumb ran over the tingling skin, before Lucy pulled away and started cleaning again. He left lonely again, but he continued to clean.

"Lucy?"

"Hmm?"

Harry felt rude for interrupting, but he continued, "The military, I haven't seen them here before?"

"They don't come often," she admitted, "only when there is a big fight. It must've been planned or something, a territorial fight, and the military knew it was going to happen. Usually the military is at a bigger slum really." Lucy laughed to herself. "It takes them forever to get here, really, so I'm surprised they showed up. There is bigger stuff going around this country."

Knowing the answer was no, but he still asked, "Are you scared?"

"No." Her eyes met his. "Are you?"

"No."

When they finished, walking back to the slum was easy, but Harry found it difficult not to fall straight to sleep. She laughed at him, which he giggled into his pillow. Mocking continued from her as he couldn't move. His mind was frayed, and he realized she was so used to this. He hadn't been to school in such a long time, and the work teachers had to do almost destroyed him. He groaned as he faced her. He just smiled.

"You're such a wimp," she whispered.

Rolling his eyes, he pretended to sleep.

Lucy pulled out her beautiful journal and started writing in it. Harry peeked out from his eyelashes, watching her write. Her strokes were a little bit shorter, just to fit within the lines. Her eyes traveled along her writing, looking what she used to have. Sometimes Lucy looked back at what she used to be, before the shooting, during the shooting and now, and she couldn't understand how she had come so far. She wouldn't do this now. So she wrote what was around her, and she knew Harry watched.

She smirked at him. "Yes?"

"What is inside the journal?"

"You are quite confidence in yourself, Harry."

"Should I tone it down?"

"Probably." She shrugged. "But I don't think you will."

"I won't? Why not?" he questioned.

Lucy set down her black pen and her eyes rested on Harry. "I would like to say I know you well, like I would like to say that you know me well, but neither of us have even scratched the surface of the other. We are strangers who act like we aren't."

Harry sat up. "How do we become more than strangers?"

As much as she hated to say it, it was truth. "Maybe we never will be."

They tried, but still, there was an awkwardness. They liked each other enough, with the kisses and the sleeping, but there was a world out there. This world held them back. They couldn't live in the moment, and it wasn't bad. It was how they were trained. Yet, both of the participants wanted this. If Harry wasn't royal, if Lucy wasn't normal, somehow they would work together. They would fit together like puzzle pieces.

"Is that what you want?"

"No."

There was no protection that could save them both, giving each other up to their cause with a desperate end. Their hearts were free now, wandering without a leash to hold them back. Their minds were free spirits.

Back in their worlds, they were meant to be strict and polite, smiling constantly but considerate. They had no opinions, and they wore blank stares without judgment. Harry was trained well by his public image, throughout his whole life. Lucy taught herself well, just recently. Their backs were meant to be straight and their eyes forward. Even if Harry didn't realize it, Lucy was trained better than him; he never had the chance to see it.

Harry hopped off his bed and sat beside Lucy. "I wish to be something more with you, Lucy." His fingers intertwined with hers.

She laughed. "Oh, Harry, if only the world was made of wishes."