Like the ocean that's ::running:: dry {Axel}

Slowly I turned away from the one building that I had hoped would be some sort of safe haven for me...for us...sadly though it was just another place on a growing list of places that we were no longer welcome to. If this was what growing up and taking responsibility for your actions were like then I wasn't sure I was entirely ready for something like that. No amount of Career training prepared you for the grim reality that was the real world, I couldn't swing a sword at the troubles that were closing in on me and expect them to fall away. No, things weren't that simple and now we were dealing with the results of the choices Renn and I had made...quitting training...starting a family. We had known it would be hard, but we weren't prepared for how difficult it truly was. Today had proven that during that short time we were the only ones that knew of our child we had been happy, but there would be those out there that would not share our happiness, and that would weigh heavily on our hearts.

My pace quickened hoping to put as much distance between myself and that house as I could. Nothing lasts forever...and yet I couldn't shake the feeling that we would never be accepted by her family again...that the words Renn had spat out at me with such venom would echo around here for years to come. The faster I got away from here the better, the faster that both of us, my beautiful Renn and I, got home the better. I couldn't fine her though, my wandering eyes could not find the one person that I longed to hold in my arms, the one person that I feared I had hurt through what I had done. She couldn't have gotten that far, and I know she'd hate me for saying this, since she was pregnant, her stamina wouldn't exactly be at maximum efficiency.

That was when I saw something that made the world around me seem to come crashing down around me. The hand of the person that I hated more than anything or anyone holding the throat of the one I loved. Lifting her off of the ground with such ease, as if she weighed no more than the air itself, he pushed her frame up against a tree. Her eyes betrayed her panic, only minutes ago they had been filled with rage...now though...now she was afraid for her life. Her eyes locked on mine a moment of relief on her face as she looked at me, but I wasn't the only one that noticed. Wade turned briefly to flash me a smile that made my heart stop and my blood run cold. With his hand still around Renn's neck, lifting her off the ground, he brought his fist back and after a moments delay slammed it into her stomach. Renn let out a cry of shock and pain and I felt a stabbing pain in my heart as her body crumpled to the ground at his feet. He turned around to look at me, a crooked smile on his face, and he looked down at Renn's crumpled form giving it a kick.

Before I even realized what I was doing I found my feet pounding along the pavement towards Wade. It was like I was watching it all from a different place though, I was simply a spectator as years of training kicked in and I executed the moves that I knew were capable of killing...killing another person. I couldn't even feel Wade's blows crashing into me, his hand scraping against my face leaving a bloody gash. It seeped into my eyes, blurring my vision and ran down into my mouth, the metallic taste of my own blood making me gag. Wiping it away with the back of one of my hands I tried to focus on Wade, and with a yell more like an animal I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him from the ground just as he had done to Renn. For the first time I saw something reminiscent of fear flit across Wade's face, but I was so filled with hatred for him that I didn't even care anymore.

Repeatedly I smashed my fist into his stomach before I threw him to the ground watching him slide along the ground until he hit the wall leading into an alleyway. I didn't even give him time to get up before I was over his body slamming my fists into him, his own fists vainly struggling to land a solid blow on me. Over and over I slammed my fists into him before I grabbed his throat and squeezed, squeezing the life out of him breath by breath. I saw it again, that fear in his eyes as he looked up at me, his mouth moving, but his words falling on deaf ears. I only squeezed harder until I felt his body go slack underneath me, and I rose up and hunched over at the end of the alleyway. I looked at my blood soaked hands and reached up to run my fingers along a jagged cut that ran across my forehead dripping blood into my eyes. I didn't understand though how had it happened, what had I done, why was I hear...the last thing I could remember was...RENN.

Bolting upright I looked around in a panic until my eyes found her collapsed on the street only a few feet away from me. Neither of us had been over here before, none of this made any sense to me. Never the less I ran towards Renn scooping up her small frame in my arms and holding her close to me. I should never have let her go I had been a fool, something had happened, the blood on my hands was evidence enough of that. When at last I let her go she only ran back into me wrapping her own arms around me. I pressed my lips into hers never wanting to let her go again lest I lose the only thing that I really cared about. I didn't care what had happened to me as long as she was safe, as long as I knew that she and our baby were still alive. I didn't understand how we came to stand here now but I knew that I loved Renn and despite the confusion in my mind I knew one thing for sure...I would never leave her again.

"I don't understand what has happened Renn but I should never have left you. I'll never leave you alone again I can't lose you not now not ever. Looking at you now I know without a doubt that I can't live without you." I raised my hand and caressed her face and pressed my lips into hers again, and wiped the tears off of her face. "Are you okay Renn...the last thing I remember...the last thing I remember is Wade...hitting you."