"I am listening my dear, say what you want to say. I promise I will try to remain calm," Xiran was concerned but he didn’t want to suffocate her with it.

"Not try, I want you to remain calm. Do not threaten to come here and frisk me away on every minute dispute I share with you. I know you worry about me but today I need you as a friend," Aselia asked him. He could sense the sadness in her voice.

"I will do as you say, just talk to me," she hardly ever opened up to him so he didn’t want to scare her off. Xiran wanted to hear what she had to say.

Aselia told him about her grievances, she told him how they called her a traitor and how much it bothered her, even though she tried to not think about it. She also confided in him the fact that to some extent she believed she deserved the mistreatment because of how she had treated him. It was karma.

Xiran listened attentively to every word she uttered, although his heart panged with pain for she was hurting he remained calm and finally spoke:

"My sweet sweet Leia, if they truly believed you to be a traitor they wouldn’t be keeping you there. Deep inside they know how valuable you are to them and their cause. Try not to pay heed to their meaningless taunts, they just want to boost their egos. Time never stays still, it keeps moving and with time this will be forgotten but your services won’t."

"But I feel like they have already forgotten how I have given my life for this organization," Aselia told him with dread.

"Sadly, that’s the prevalent psyche. One wrong move and people forget years of dedication. How long have you been with them?"

Although Xiran had thoroughly studied the file Rivan had given him on her and knew she had been in the organisation since she was ten. He didn’t want Aselia to creep out, knowing he had a file on her. Hence, the reason he didn’t use her real name either, he would only use it if she would tell him herself.

"I was ten when they picked me and started my training," Aselia informed him.

"That’s a long time, you never felt like leaving?"

"It became my home, I had access to free food here in turn I just had to train. In the orphanage, we didn’t have enough food to eat so this seemed like heaven. Besides more I trained stronger I became so I felt accomplished."

This saddened Xiran, no wonder even after considering him her enemy she never wanted him to starve. For she had known hunger as a kid, just like him. There were so many similarities between them, no wonder they sought solace in each other. "Aselia, I don’t want you to ever feel hungry again, we are going to eat a lot when you will come here next month," this was music to her ears.

"Really?" She asked excitedly and he knew he had been able to divert her mind. His heart felt contented.

"For sure, tell me what else you want to do and I will plan it," Xiran asked her calmly.

"I just want us to spend some time together, however, it may suit you," Aselia wanted to tell him how much she missed him but she couldn’t bring herself to do that. She felt shy when it came down to sharing such feelings.

"Don’t worry about that, I will not be letting you out of my sight for even a millisecond," he uttered those words so seductively that she almost blushed.

"And one more thing Leia, let go of that karma shit and please stop drowning yourself in guilt because of me. I have forgiven you, forgive yourself and move on. You, me and others have inflicted enough punishments on my girl. We all need to give her a break, don’t you think?" His voice held his pleas for he understood she was being hard on herself.

"You have a mighty heart Xiran, you might be able to forgive me, but I can’t," her words caused pure anguish to clutch at his heart. He was sure she would never forgive herself for this.

"At least try, for my sake, will you?"

"No promises, I don’t want to dwell on this topic. This hurts me," Aselia told him decisively.

"Alright, I know you can take care of yourself and won’t like my intrusion on your behalf because the way I will treat your comrades will not be pretty. But, if ever a need arises where you feel like leaving, you know whom to call and where to come. I will never treat you like they do."

This truth was something that not only melted Aselia’s heart but it made her love him even more. She betrayed both him and her organization but the reactions she got were the stark opposite. His promises were not hollow and he had kept every word he had ever uttered to her.

"Xiran...what did I ever do to deserve your love," his words had left her with overwhelming emotions.

"You haven’t even seen the half of it. I always showed restraint, wasn’t sure before if you reciprocated my feelings. But now will be a different story," she could feel the deep love his voice held for her and all she wanted right at that moment was to be in his arms.

"One month, just one more month until we can meet again and..." she was interrupted by an aggressive knock on her door. "I will talk to you later, someone is here."

"Take care and call me whenever you are free," Xiran instructed before cutting the call.

"Come in," Aselia called out. The door opened and it was one of the hunters.

"Get ready you have to leave for a mission in 15 minutes, Silver Wolf is waiting for you in the weapons room, he will brief you about the mission there," he informed her before briskly leaving.

Aselia climbed down the bed and opening the cupboard, took out her black hunter’s uniform, colour of her uniform had been downgraded just like hers. She wasn’t very fond of this colour, it reminded her of death. She sighed and wore it, ready to face whatever would come.