Her eyes practically glowing with determination, she again pounced on Xavier. She unleashed another barrage of attacks, moving herself with all the strength and skill she had. Like before, she was unable to land any hits on him, but her eyes and reflexes had sharpened, allowing her to at least defend against his strikes. Their movements became perfectly fluid, every action being blocked as if choreographed for a play while their speed continued to increase. She could see it on his face, the effort he was putting into this fight. Even if he was a better fighter than her, he was putting everything he had into this, truly facing her on an even playing field.
Seeing an opening, she lunged out to punch him and he caught her fist, but when he tried to mirror it, she did the same to him. They stood as reflections, each pushing against each other. They were both giving savage grins, having the best fight of their lives.
“That’s it!” exclaimed Xavier. “That’s what I wanted to see! The fiery righteousness in your eyes! Fight harder! Show me your beautiful soul! Your powerful heart!”
Helena pulled away from him and tried to deliver a roundhouse kick, but he caught her foot and shoved her back. Regaining her balance, she charged towards him. Xavier held out his hands, and in his grip, two sabers materialized. He tossed one to Helena, who caught it as she pounced, spun around, and lashed out with the blade as if she had expected it from the very beginning. Sparks flew off the colliding edges as they stared each other down.
“You knew I was in the fencing club?”
“No, I just thought I should teach you while I was here. I want my queen to be an expert at sword fighting.”
“As if!”
Disengaging, Helena crouched down and tried to deliver a slash to Xavier’s leg, but he jumped back over the blade and then charged. They collided with several showers of sparks flying off in a fraction of a second before he passed by her. Helena fell to her knees, having received half a dozen shallow cuts across her body. Xavier was so fast; she had barely seen his strikes and didn’t even feel the cuts until he had already disengaged. But she was also proud, hearing the dripping blood from the long cut she had left on his chest. She got back to her feet and turned to him. They both faced each other, panting like dogs with bloody blades and bodies, but both smiling.
Gathering together their strength, they charged.
Helena collapsed, more exhausted than ever in her life and covered head to toe in bruises and cuts. The floor had been painted with blood splatters and littered with broken weapons, created by Xavier and used until snapping. He sat behind her, his back against hers. She knew she was supposed to hate him and knew she should have immediately moved away, but this time, that contact didn’t bother her. The fight had not just drained her of strength, it helped her relieve a lot of the stress she had been carrying and at last vent her hatred of Xavier, leaving her blissfully hollow. For now, she had lost all of her anger towards him, and felt no discomfort from his touch. He was definitely in better condition than she was, but as the fight had gone on, she had delivered plenty of strikes. They sat there for a few minutes, trying to catch their breath while their cuts slowly clotted.
“What time is it?” Helena asked.
Xavier glanced at the clock. “A little bit after 2:00.”
“Well it’s a good thing tomorrow is Saturday. I get to sleep in. I really need it.”
“Well if you ever want to fight again, just tell me and we can— Helena?” Xavier chuckled, realizing she had fallen asleep against him. He snapped his fingers, using his powers to return the room to pristine condition. He then scooped her up and carried her outside. “Come on, let’s get you to the showers and clean you off.”
The hissing of the shower was the only sound in the dark locker room. Kneeling on the floor, Xavier cradled Helena in the hot downpour. The two of them were naked, the blood from their fight being washed away. With a tender smile on his face, an expression worn genuinely only a handful of times in his life, Xavier used his hand as a washcloth to gently scrub away the blood and heal her wounds. He couldn’t remember the last time he had experienced something so blissful. He had spent his life drawing amusement from the suffering of others, but seeing the blissful look on Helena’s face, so innocent and pristine, and holding her form against his, not even in a sexual manner, but simply out of care for her, it made him happy in a way he never knew possible.
Helena was mostly asleep from exhaustion, but a part of her remained awake and aware. She experienced only the physical sensations, while her emotions and thoughts remained silent. She could feel what was going on around her and what was happening to her body, but her placid mind did not know who was with her and did not have the sense to implement any feelings like surprise or discomfort.
She had one spark in her mind that held sentience beyond simple physical sensation, but it thought only of the desire for this moment to never end. The feel of the hot water on her naked body, of being held in someone’s arms, of strong but gentle hands caressing her bare flesh; it was blissful beyond words. Occasionally, she would open her eyes just a sliver, see Xavier’s face, and fall back to sleep, so comfortable in his embrace that everything negative between them, for those beautiful moments, seemed to melt away.
Finally, having healed and cleaned them both, Xavier gave a flick of his wrist and the shower turned off. But he remained there, holding Helena, her naked body against his, the cooling water dripping from their skin. He brushed back a lock of her hair and smiled. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured.
Slowly, he brought his face close to hers, their lips approaching. But just before that bond could be made, he stopped. No, he didn’t want it to be like this. Instead, he moved up and kissed her on the forehead. Getting to his feet, he carried her over to one of the benches, where there were some stacked towels. It was time to dry her off and put her to bed.
Saturday had arrived, meaning that today would be the couple’s date. Lily was stirring uncomfortably in her chair at the outdoor café. When it had been discovered that she was wearing a thong, the nuns had brought down the wrath of God on her. She had been paddled hundreds of times and her rear end was blackened with bruises, she had been forced to kneel on frozen peas until her knees bled, and she would have to write scripture for thirty hours. She wasn’t even supposed to leave the school today; she had detention, but after everything that had happened, she needed this date with Xavier desperately.
“Hello, Lily.”
She heard his voice and felt his hand on her shoulder and began nuzzling it like a cat. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Of course I’m here.”
He sat down on the other side of the table and blood drained from Lily’s face as she saw the bruises on his. It looked like someone had been using him as a punching bag.