Robbin

43. His Only Fear

When he informed them that he had to leave once and for all, that a scout had spotted the wolves less than a mile out, he couldn't quite catch all that her expression contained. If he wasn't mistaken, her expression contained much more than the expected fear. If he wasn't mad, he thought it might contain guilt.

That mustn't be it. He thought, horrified, as she was a foreigner with no obligation to their coming battle. She was not responsible for it, regardless of what some bitter cowards accused, and she had not grown up waiting for one battle after the next as he had. She was not used to this form of guilt. To suggest she intended to fight was an absurd consideration.

Also, he felt horror—no, not just horror, terror—at the idea that something might go wrong to bring her danger where she sat hidden, let alone at the idea of the danger coming out of the hut would entail to her. He called her an asset to make the men who peered curiously at her hut feel less resentful of their predicament, not in order to make her feel guilty, or because he really meant what he said at all. She was an asset to them, but he never intended her to use it. She had become much more to him than that, whether he was too cowardly to express it or not.

When he turned away from the hut, finally prying hers and Jake's hands off of his arms, Robbin felt less fear for himself, or for the battle he was about to face, than he felt for the safety of those he left behind—especially for Terra.

He didn't know that his battle was about much more than the safety of those he selflessly protected, or about a stupid necklace people inaccurately named as the cause for their troubles. The wolves hadn't come just for that, or for that at all. It was about him as well. And he would know it soon enough.

He took one last look at her, her beautiful, perfect yellow eyes boring into him. Then, at Jake whose eyes must protect her. He would kill him if he didn't. And he was gone.

a/n: Just a look at Robbin's perspective for a minute. Hopefully Robbin can find it in his heart to forgive Jake for what comes next. It's not REALLY his fault... not exactly...