One of the girls.

"I have extensive knowledge of human psychology and therapies, and I noticed one of the girls is showing signs of a trauma response" Dawn states seriously.

"I have talked with Rene a little bit already, but I hadn't considered you might be a good resource for her" you reply.

"Well, yes, Rene does seem confused and unsure about the battle, and I'd be more than happy to talk with her about it, but she isn't the one I'm referring to" Dawn replies. You tilt your head in confusion. If it wasn't Rene she meant then who else could it be? Everyone seemed happy about the result of the battle. You run through the list of girls in your head, and it hits you.

"Nadine" you state out loud.

"Yes, she seems to be having a rough time at the moment, and has withdrawn to her room. She said she wanted to take a nap, but she is just sitting there currently" Dawn explains.

"This has got to be difficult for her. There are too many similarities between Jason and I for her to just ignore them. I should go talk with her" you say getting up and putting your robe on.

"She needs reassurances John, but she is also strong and powerful, so don't treat her as if she is helpless" Dawn says offering some advice. You nod your head and head out the door towards Nadine's room. Knocking on her door you hear her call out for you to enter, and you see her sitting on the edge of her bed. Her eyes are puffy as if she had been crying, and your heart sinks. You sit down next to her and wrap an arm around her, and she leans her head against you.

"Lot of not so great memories resurfacing" you ask her gently.

"I'm sorry" she responds and your heart sinks a little lower.

"I know that is how you are feeling right now, but can you help me understand why you would need to apologize? From my point of view I can understand the parallels and similarities of the life you used to have, and the life you have right now. That's got to be bringing back some unpleasant memories for you, and that's ok, so do you want to talk about it and explain a little" you ask her.

"It's so many things" she begins. "I feel guilty. More than anything I feel so guilty. I loved Jason, and after that love faded I promised myself I'd never love anyone again, and then you came along. I love you John, and now suddenly we're fighting battles again. I know what you plan to do is right, and just like Jason you have a powerful enemy after you. I feel guilty because I want to stop it, but I know I shouldn't...and I know I can't, but I still want us to just...I don't know...run and hide somewhere. I've been down this path before and the final stop was so painful that I would have preferred ****, and that makes me feel guilty too. That I survived it and Jason didn't, and if that happens again..." she explains and then starts crying against you. You twist around and hold her tightly as she sobs into your chest.

Your owns eyes start to water as you realize the terrible situation you've put Nadine in. It was certainly not your intent to dredge up old memories, or even for her to fall in love with you, but it happened, and now you are uncertain of what you can do to help. You do know that you can't promise to not get hurt or get killed, so you didn't want to insult her with an empty promise.

"I wish there was a spell that could help make you feel better right now" you say gently as you stroke her back.

"As amazing as magic is, it can't always fix everything" Nadine replies with a half hearted chuckle. Even half hearted it felt good to hear her still have some humor.

"What I do know is that you are an amazing woman Nadine. I'm incredibly lucky to have your love, and I love you in return. I know I can't promise that I'll always be alive and with you, but I can promise that I won't stop loving you while I am" you tell her and give her a gentle kiss.

"I'll be ok eventually. It just hit me all at once is all" she replies nuzzling against you.

"And I'm really sorry to put you through that. I was never a warrior or in any military. It hasn't occurred to me to consider the mental aspect of battles...it makes me really reconsider what I want to achieve" you sadly tell her. Nadine pushes you away to arms length and quickly grabs your hands in hers with a very serious look on her face.

"You listen to me John Doe...you are this world's best chance of stopping slavery. All those people out there don't know who you are, or even that you are starting the steps to free them, but their life is absolute hell. They need you. I will be fine. We all will be fine. Yes, there will be times where our minds will be stretched to breaking, but we are all strong, and we are willing to be there, with you, to the very end. I don't regret meeting you or falling in love with you. I don't regret any of it even a little bit" she states and squeezes your hands at the end for emphasis.

"Here I was coming in to offer comfort to you, and it ends up with you offering me comfort and perspective. I have apparently at some point done very well to please the god of luck it seems" you chuckle. Nadine pulls you back into a hug and you hug her back.

"Gods of luck. There are seven actually" she chuckles at correcting you, and gives you a peck on the lips.

"One of these days I'm really going to have to learn the pantheon of gods here. I really don't want to anger any of them out of ignorance" you muse out loud.

"There are a lot of them. Best to just deal with the ones who affect you the most. Most people go their entire lives without having to worry about it actually" she tells you.

"Lucky me" you say rolling your eyes.

"And that is how the gods of luck work" she says laughing. You can't help but laugh with her even though you don't fully understand the joke, and you can't help but feel great relief hearing her laugh. Nadine pulls you into another hug when she finishes laughing.

"Thank you for coming to talk with me John. I feel a lot better. You know...there are a lot of similarities between you and Jason, but you are very different as well. Jason would have let me sort through all of this on my own with the other girls. He was very charismatic, but personal relationships with individuals he was not very good at. It was like he saw all of us as one individual instead of multiple individuals if that makes sense. I don't regret loving him...but he did make it difficult sometimes. It is...hard...to look back at your life and wonder if you made the right choices, and then further having to realize you can't change those choices. You wonder to yourself if you'd just made a different choice at a key moment in your life if things would have turned out differently, and it is hard to stop thinking about them" she says as she rubs your arm.

"Yah, I always called those the what ifs. What if I'd done this, what if I'd done that. They are very difficult to not think about, but ultimately that's what you have to do, or else they will drive you mad. For instance I made a choice a while ago that led me to this moment. I could very easily have not made that choice, but I'm so grateful that I did. I get to be with and love some very wonderful people. I get to love you and feel the love you have for me. There are many choices I made prior to that which led me to that choice too. I am...happy. Happier then I've ever been in my life, and you play a large role in that happiness. So always know I'll forever be grateful to you for your part in my happiness" you tell her. Nadine looks up at you for a moment, and then pulls you into a deep kiss. You can feel her love for you surging through the bond you share, and you somehow know she will be ok now. Breaking the kiss she holds you tightly, and you hold her tightly to you as you bask in the love and intimacy of the moment.

"Ahem" Dawn clears her throat to announce her presence. You both turn to look at her.

"I really hate to break this up as the two of you are so adorable together right now, but there is a development outside that we should all take a look at and decide what we want to do. I've already gathered the others into the dining room, and they are waiting for both of you" she says clearly sorry she interrupted a nice moment. You look down at Nadine feeling sorry for the interruption.

"It is ok Dawn. I'm feeling a lot better right now" Nadine says as she stands up. She pulls you up with her and the three of you make your way to the dining room.