Scars

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira let out a soft moan. "Darn you! Yes! It's true. I like him. Oh no. Oh no, Madeleine... what do I do?!"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine grinned, sitting up properly on the bed. "Well, there's not a lot you can do. You just have to live with it. Or you could ask him out..."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira started. "I can't do that!"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Why not?" Madeleine exclaimed.
Ouch, she sounded like such a guy-obsessed teenager there. "I mean... if you like him..."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"But he might not like me..." muttered Kira, blushing furiously. "And then... god, how embarrassing!"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine couldn't help but feel sympathy towards Kira - that doubt, she knew what it felt like, and it was embarrassing if you were turned down.
But then, didn't guys have to face that all the time?
"That's what I thought about Lee," she said. "And why wouldn't he like you?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira shrugged feebly. She didn't want to talk anymore. She should've just kept her big mouth shut.
Why wouldn't he like her? Oh, a million reasons. Kira was- and she really meant this- pretty much content with the way she was; the way she looked. She wasn't drop-dead gorgeous, but she wasn't exactly ugly either. She was... average. She could make a joke. She could do a couple of water tricks. She was a Head... that was pretty big, she guessed.
But she wasn't anything special. Not really.
Wouldn't Deron want someone special?
If that made sense. If there was any grain of sense left in the world.
She looked at Madeleine, and just shook her head. How could Madeleine understand anyway? Madeleine had Lee. That made Madeleine special. Madeleine was pretty. Madeleine was talented. Madeleine could hold her own. She was brave, and strong.
Kira got Lee by mere chance of birth. Madeleine earned him.
Look at that scar- so red against Madeleine's pale, creamy skin. Was that from battle? It was only fitting. Madeleine's scars showed who she was, and what she was capable of.
Kira didn't have any.
"Where'd you get that?" she asked softly, hoping for a change of subject. She still had not discussed the battle with Madeleine in detail.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"That was subtle," Madeleine said gently, frowning. Clearly Kira wanted to change the subject.
She looked at the scar and winced again at the redness of it. "I did it. Someone with earth powers brought roots and vines out of the ground, and I got trapped. They kept tightening and I had to get out, but I wasn't very cafeful. I was pretty desperate to get out before they strangled me, or something... I've got some marks on my legs and chest from the vines, but they should fade better than this thing does," she added.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira frowned. "Was that in the battle?"
Well, obviously it must be. Maybe she wasn't thinking straight. Maybe she should just go back a few steps, and just say what had been going through her head. Move back to Deron and-
No, listen to Madeleine now.
It's Madeleine's turn.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Yeah," Madeleine answered. "Where else? I'm lucky though, I only got a few cuts and bruises. Ollie Saunders is about to have his leg amputated."
Everyone told Madeleine that it wasn't her fault, but she still felt guilty. Even Levi was telling her it wasn't her fault... well, not exactly in those words, but still...

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira's hand moved automatically to her own leg; wincing. She'd heard all about that, and although she hadn't actually seen it, her imagination was pretty graphic. Deron was a much, much nicer topic.
"It could be worse," she reasoned. "He could be dead."
As if that made it any better.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine shook her head. "If it were me, I'd rather be dead," she said, without realising it, then blushed slightly.
Awful, maybe, but she was a Warrior. If she lost her leg, she'd lose the ability to fight. While people without a leg can live a normal everyday life with a prosthetic limb - hell, people even ran marathons with prosthetic legs - but Madeleine didn't live a normal everyday life.
"I know that's awful," she said, hesitating. "But they wouldn't let me fight if I lost a leg. I know you probably don't get why I love the battles, but it's in my blood. Combat is a big part of me, and if I lost it..."
That sounded bad, but she couldn't find the words to make Kira understand. Shaun would know what she was talking about.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira looked at Madeleine with a kind of strange, renewed respect.
"I'd be too scared," she said softly. "Good, huh?"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine looked away from the window and turned to face Kira.
"It's okay to be scared," she said gently. "I get scared too. I just don't admit it."
She'd never admit it. She was the 'tough' one; the girl who would always be strong.
And to her, admitting fear was like admitting...defeat, nearly.
"Before we went into battle, I was terrified," she said, staring at her hands. "When we were in the crypt, I was so scared that I'd die. That I'd end up like all of those people in there, stone cold. And I'd never see my friends, my parents, Lee..."
She tailed off, and glanced up. "But when you get there, there's this... adrenaline rush, I guess. It just... you forget everything. You live for the fight, and the fight alone." Suddenly, she smiled. "My brother told me that, and I never believed him until I got out there. But it's true. It's so true."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"No... there wouldn't be one for me," Kira said softly. "There's Warrior in my family; I just didn't get that fair share of it. In battle, I'd freeze. I'd panic. I'd..."
Die.
"Your brother must be a true Warrior to be able to say something like that," Kira said softly, meeting Madeleine's gaze. "I didn't know you had a brother... Bet he was Head of the Warriors too, right?"
She'd never thought about that before; Madeleine's family, Madeleine's past. She'd never asked. She'd never thought to. Madeleine was presented to her as totally independant, and she'd always admired that about her.
She admired a million things about Madeleine.
And Macy.
And Will.
They were all fighters- it wasn't just Madeleine.
Macy had been through so much, and yet here she was; back in school- alive, alive... There must be will left in her; and that thirst for revenge.
And Will was in hospital too- but she was ok. She was already throwing ideas about- itching to get out there, and do some good. She wanted to bring the dead back to them...
That was amazing. They were amazing.
Makes you feel small, huh?