As the final day of the school session winded down, Lexi found herself waiting outside of Cross's classroom. As the last few students trickled out, she made her way inside. She found him with his head resting against the cool wood of his desk, his arms hanging limply at his side. On his desk was an assortment of gifts and cards that various students had left him. Reaching out, Lexi snagged one of the cards and gave it a brief reading before her cheeks lit up with a crimson blush. With trembling hands, she crushed the card between her fists and tossed it into the wastebasket.

Honestly, how could anyone write, or even think up, such lewd things… and to their professor no less? She couldn't even imagine what would compel someone to…

"S'wrong with you?" Cross asked, tilting his head to the side to look up at Lexi. "You're all red."

"I…I came to check on you. I assume you managed to finish all of your grading?" Lexi stammered.

"Yeah, yeah." Cross blindly reached out and tapped on a stack of papers. "I got them all done last night, no thanks to Makina. She spent half the night trying to get some money out of me to go out with Lara."

"You are to cover her expenses," Lexi said. Her eyes lingered on the graded papers. This was not lost on Cross.

"You did well," Cross said as he sat up. "You could have expanded on the historical significance of the prophets. Your short essay on the effectiveness of clairvoyance was pretty good, though. If a little critical."

Lexi tilted her head and smiled. "Well, that couldn't be helped. I was using real life examples for my criticism."

Cross rolled his eyes. "Can we go home now? I'm sick of this place. I miss the guild.”

"We should be able to soon, though Makina is requesting that we stay one more night."

"Why?" Cross groaned. "I'm already all packed up."

"She wishes to attend the Academy's after session celebration. Apparently they have different event to mark the end of every session. This session will be a formal ball with the Trident Academy for young men."

Cross furrowed his brow. "That name sounds familiar."

"There is an envelope on your desk with that name on it," Lexi ventured, lifting a finger.

Cross picked up the envelope. Lexi was right. Printed on the front were the names of both academies. He tore the envelope open and began to read the message. After only a few lines, he placed the letter down and stared straight ahead, unblinking. Taking in a deep breath, he returned his head to his desk with a loud thunk.

Curious, Lexi picked up the letter and read aloud.

"Dear Christian,

I'm sure by now news has reached you that a member of our faculty has recently departed. While this will in no way impede the ability of our academy to function, it has left us rather shorthanded for the upcoming festivities. While I understand it is terribly short notice, I must ask you to act as a chaperone for the ball in place of Eliza.

I thank you ahead of time for your cooperation,

Sincerely,

Headmistress Jaclyn Windsford"

"No," Cross moaned. "I'm going home. I'm not doing it."

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

"Yes, you are.”

“But…”

“That’s an order.”

"I'm going to die here. This place is going to be my coffin."

Lexi patted Cross lightly on the back of the head. "Makina is going to be thrilled to hear you'll be staying as well. I'm sure she will need a new dress, be sure to give her some money to spend."

"You're the devil," Cross muttered.

xXx

"I can really see why they needed an extra chaperones for this," Cross sighed to himself as he reached up and tugged at his tie. He had found a quiet alcove on the second floor of the ballroom from which he could watch the student's mill about. The ball was in full swing, if full swing meant absolutely no one was dancing. Despite the upbeat music, not one student had yet dared to cross the divide that separated the population of the girl's academy from the boy’s. Cross leaned on the railing and suppressed a yawn. If this kept up, it was going to be a long night.

Actually, it was going to be a long night either way.

It didn't take long for boredom to overcome Cross's miniscule sense of duty and he soon found himself on one of the academy's many balconies that overlooked the school's impressive grounds. He took in a deep breath of the crisp night air, but it failed to rejuvenate his lethargic spirit. The hand that suddenly landed on his shoulder, however, did manage to send his heart racing as he nearly leapt from his skin.

"Damnit Lex, we talked about this!" Cross hissed as he grabbed at his chest.

It wasn't necessary for him to even bother checking to make sure it was her, but he did anyways, just for the satisfaction of glaring at her. The glare only lasted a moment, however, as the young Hunter came fully into focus.

"Oh."

Clad in a long black dress and with her raven hair set in light curls, Lexi returned his glare with one her own. "What?"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Nothing… You just, look nice," Cross said, tilting his head. "No scarf tonight.

"Oh. Well, thank you." Lexi reached up and toyed with a lock of her hair. "I did not think to pack more than one, and Eliza destroyed it beyond repair."

"You don't seem too upset." A tinge of surprise was layered his voice.

"It was replaceable. I don't wear the one you… I don't wear any of the important ones on our missions…." Lexi trailed off before fixing Cross with a scowl as he continued to stare at her, a small smile forming on his face. "What?"

Cross shook his head. "It's just been a long time since I've seen you dressed up. I forgot how much it suits you, Princess.”

A faint pink appeared on Lexi's cheeks and she looked back towards the academy. "You're avoiding your job, you know, being out here."

"I think they can survive without me. Besides, I'm not the only person that's supposed to be watching them," Cross said as he leaned against the railing of the balcony. He could hear the music gently slipping out from where Lexi had left the door cracked open. The song sounded familiar and his finger lightly tapped to the rhythm.

"Do you remember this song?" Lexi said, as though reading his mind. She turned back towards Cross and held out her hand.

He stared at it with a blank expression before lifting his eyes up to meet Lexi's.

He blinked.

She blinked.

He blinked.

She blinked.

Cross finally shook his head and slowly reached out to take her hand.

"Yeah, I remember," Cross said as he moved his other hand to her waist. "I remember that when the Mistress was teaching us how to dance to it, you didn't understand why you couldn't lead every time."

"I was taller than you and I was stronger than you. It made sense that I should lead," Lexi said smugly.

Cross looked down at her, a smirk on his face. "I'm taller than you now."

"But I'm still stronger than you." Lexi smirked right back. She held Cross's eye before they both broke into a laugh and Lexi rested her head lightly on his shoulder.

It was somewhat amazing, how soft she felt in his arms, so light. If he didn’t know, he would almost say fragile… But Cross knew far better. Lexi wasn’t glass…

She was diamond.

And she was waiting.

Even though she said nothing as they swayed back and forth, he knew she was waiting. He could feel it in the way she gripped his hand, slightly tighter than she needed to. How her breathing was too steady, too even. How she kept her head firmly placed on his shoulder, like she was scared he might fall away.

"I'm sorry, Lex." Cross said, letting his cheek rest against Lexi’s hair. "That I didn't tell you. About the Void Walking… about everything."

"I know," Lexi said quietly. Her grip on his hand tightened. "I went to the academy's library after that lesson. I read some… things. There wasn’t much but still….”

“Heh… Guess this place is more impressive than I thought.”

“Do I need to be worried about you?"

Cross shook his head ever so slightly. "Not any more than usual."

"Are you… are you still Walking?"

“I… I only ever did it once. It was before you joined the guild.” His voice was soft. Lexi pulled him tighter against her as he sucked in a reedy breath. "It was… a mistake. Everyone thought I was in a coma, but I wasn't. It was… something else...

“Two weeks. I was only gone for two weeks to everyone else, but for me… For me it felt like years that I was lost, wandering. The things I saw… Life. Death. Hundreds, thousands, of people. Maybe more. I saw them all, saw every path they did and did not take. I watched them live and love, and I saw them despair and die. I saw cities crumble and the world burn. I was lost and I was scared… terrified. It was so much knowledge that I felt like my mind was unraveling. I looked for something familiar to hold on to, something to keep my afloat in the nothingness. I reached for the people I cared about." His voice broke. "Watching nameless people dying is terrible… but watching your friends, your family… I barely survived. If I walked again and lost myself… I'd know find you this time Lex. You, and Makina. Banksy and Romeo. I couldn’t survive it. Not that. Not again.”

"That's why,” Lexi said after a moment of silence. “That’s why you don’t like your magic, isn’t it?”

"Yeah, that's why," Cross sighed. "The things I saw, that I learned. It’s not fair to you, I know that, but I can't…"

He went silent as Lexi’s hand traveled up to rest against the back of his head, her fingers stroking his hair. "You don’t have to, I understand. As long as you're not in danger, I don't need to know. Not yet, at least." She allowed them to dance for a while longer before asking a question that had been burning on the tip of her tongue for what felt like eons. "The Void. It still calls to you, doesn't it?"

"You really did do your research. Maybe I should have given you a higher grade." Cross said with a wry smile. " It does. It's been getting worse since we saved the Spirit Gods. I can manage it though."

"If you ever can't, will you tell me?"

"Yeah, I will."

Lexi pulled her head back to look at him. "Promise?"

"I promise," Cross replied without a trace of hesitation.

"You know, if you break that promise, I'll beak your fingers," Lexi said with a slow blink.

"Of course," Cross said as he spun her around slowly. "I wouldn't expect anything less from my Leader."

Lexi missed a step and the pair came to a stop. Cross looked down at Lexi, but she did not meet his eye.

"I don't know if I will be your Leader for long," she said quietly.

"What are you talking about?"

"This mission… I was supposed to Lead you, and Banksy, and Makina. Instead, I let my personal emotions get the better of me, allowed Banksy to get hurt, myself to get captured, and nearly allowed Eliza to kill you."

"You're leaving out the fact that you completed the mission with no casualties to the academy staff, student body or your team."

"You and Banksy still got hurt."

"We're going to get hurt," Cross said with a small shrug. "That is a given. We'll get hurt even if we don't take a request. It’s who we are."

"It doesn't matter. It was still my duty to stop it from happening."

Cross sighed and pulled his hand free from hers for a moment to reach up and give her a gentle flick on the forehead. "Do you remember the first time we fought?"

Lexi finally looked at him. "Why?"

"You lost. Badly."

"As I remember it, the fight left you with a black eye."

"And you were left lying on the ground crying," Cross said, with a small hint of amusement in his voice.

The corner of Lexi's mouth turned down. "What is your point?"

"How about our second fight?"

"Cross…"

"Third? Fourth? Tenth? You lost, every time. It wasn't even close. At first." Cross began to move them again. "Then you got better. Your strikes got quicker, your footwork got cleaner. Then one day, you beat me. Well actually, you broke my arm then kicked me into unconsciousness, but the point is, you got better." He twirled her around and gently dipped her as the song came to an end. "You don't get better if you quit. I'm pretty sure you told me that once."

"You're right.” Lexi laughed softly as Cross slowly pulled them back up. “Thank you Cross. Though, if I remember correctly, I was telling you that when you refused to spar with me."

Cross made a face. "You were knocking me unconscious on a regular basis. That's not healthy."

"But Cross," Lexi smirked. "You wouldn't have gotten better if I had let you quit."

Before Cross could answer, the door to the balcony was forcefully blown open by a gust of frigid wind. The pair quickly leapt away from one another as Makina stormed onto the balcony.

"What are you two doing?" Makina snapped, pointing at them accusingly. "A student and professor should not be… be doing whatever it is you are doing. It is not proper."

Cross glanced at Lexi who gave him a small smile and nodded her head. Returning the smile, Cross walked up to Makina and dropped down one knee. She glared at him warily.

"May I have this dance?" Cross said, extending his hand.

Makina stared at him for a long time before turning her head to the side and thrust out her hand to grab his. "F-fine. I suppose I can honor you with just one dance. I am a generous master, after all."

Behind the pair, Lexi hid a smile behind her hand.