Chapter 7: The Glimpse

Slavica let Gwen see what caused her to wear a mask. She removed it while Gwen looked carefully and wait patiently for what Slavica was showing beneath her mask.

"I'm hideous, Gwen…" Slavica lowly said but it was clear and loud for Gwen's hearing.

"I'll be the one who's going to tell if you were or not. It's up to me, Vica. So trust me with your dark truth." Slavica felt warm to what she heard from Gwen. She knew that Gwen was kind at heart but she was going beyond that and it frightens Slavica.

When she finally removed it, Slavica's face has some cuts from her own battles while over her right eye, there was a very huge angry sword cut and acid burn that almost took off her cheek which made her partially see her right teeth. It was a total nightmare for those who have seen her face which led her to stray into the darkness and let it cloak her. She lost sight of the warm light coming from the morning star which once she called her beloved queen. But as time kept moving, things changed and her lifestyle kept changing which also led to where she was now. Slavica didn't expect anything to happen to her, she just do her assigned task if called until a fateful event happened. Meeting this young lady before, she really felt something that only Gwen was the only one could understand or even see things that she couldn't anymore.

But when made Gwen automatically covered her face just from her nose and mouth, Slavica was dejected.

"Hideous, I know that already." Slavica hid slight pain with a chuckle as she was about to cover her face again with her mask after she saw Gwen's reaction. She really hate what she was feeling if Gwen reject and leave her after seeing her face.

"No! Please, don't cover it up to me." Gwen immediately grabbed Slavica's both hands which seriously made her body move and sat on the hospital bed as if she didn't go into any surgery.

"But I looked like a monster." Slavica looked worried and embarrassed about how she looked but Gwen shook her head before she smiled gladly at her.

"Yes, you might be looking like a monster to anyone's sight but not to the heart, Vica." She cupped Slavica's face with both of her hands and looked at everything about her. She engraves those battle scars that she has to go through in her life which Gwen could guarantee that it wasn't just in her face.

Gwen kept her eyes roaming around Slavica's face till she found her eyes. They were almost the same as her silver moonlight eyes but it was much darker as if it was already black. But what she noticed was that she found herself drowning in them.

"Such a brave heart for you to face everything without falling down." Out of the blue, Gwen commented something that made Slavica chuckle lightly as a tear fell down from her right eye which it shouldn't be reacting to since it was partially blind.

"Trust me; I fall down so many times." Slavica wanted to wipe the tear from her eye but Gwen beat her to it and wiped it for her.

"I know but you keep coming back up because you never lose hope in your heart. Something was keeping you moving forward. Maybe it was indeed small baby steps but still, you're moving and I am grateful that you found me there." Gwen sincerely thanked her savior with a smile written on her lips.

"You call me and I heard you." Slavica returned it as she grabbed both of Gwen's hands and removed them from her face.

Gwen might not like that gesture but Slavica didn't let go of her hands and just stared at each other with such intensity. The heat was creeping out over Gwen's cheek and it was slowly showing off from her face.

"Don't stare at me." Gwen tried to look away from Slavica but she wasn't making it easy for her.

"I am not just staring at you. I am reading your energy." Slavica smiled as she answered her.

"Oh! What is it like?" she tried to hide her blushing from the embarrassment that she suddenly felt when she said that.

"Don't be surprised anymore if you're going to make things burn, move things, see or feel things that you can't explain…or others…" Slavica almost glared at her because she was trying to read Gwen's unique aura. She really could compare it to her longed queen but much brighter than she knew. There was something indeed around Gwen and that's what lured Slavica without her knowing about it.

"Why there are others?" Gwen curiously asked.

"Hmm, your energies were enhancer type, or let's just say they kept growing in a short period of time." Slavica went into her serious tone that caught Gwen's attention.

"Good or bad?" she wondered since she noticed the sudden seriousness, not in Slavica's voice but she noticed it as well written over her scarred face.

"Good if trained but it'll be worse if not." She replied to Gwen in her direct and frank answer which made Gwen sigh heavily.

"So, I don't really have a choice right now, aren't I?" Gwen sighs as she asked Slavica. She looked carefully at Gwen at first before she took a couple of breaths and gave some answers to her.

"Don't worry, I'll be with you." Gwen looked serious at Slavica when she just said that to her. Her heart started to beat hard and her cheeks started to turn red again.

Slavica took notice of that red cheeks of hers and she smiled genuinely. She really doesn't want Gwen to suffer like what she has been through and made a decision regardless if their higher-ups would allow her or not. All Slavica could care for was the happiness and well-being of this lady sitting before her.

"Alright, to clear my intention to what I've just said, I'll be responsible for whatever happens to you or to anything that surrounds you. I'll give you the time that you need but I just hope it won't be too late." Slavica made a decision to give Gwen some time to make a decision since it wasn't easy to change as a flash of lightning struck in the stormy sky.

"But, Vica…are sure your organization would allow that?" Gwen looked and sounded really worried about Slavica's condition regarding her work at DIP.

"Don't worry about it much. We're might be a new organization that was helping around the police, but we could be flexible in dealing with a lot of things. Plus, don't you like to have personal surveillance or a bodyguard till you make your decision? It's your privilege you know." Slavica pointed out as she reassured Gwen that things will do just fine as she gave her a teasing wink. Gwen blushed more but Slavica's arm suddenly earned a playful slap.

"Hmm, I think a knight would be better to address to you, Slavica." Gwen returned the wink which Slavica playful held her heart as if she was being pierced by an arrow. They both just laughed as if they were long friends.

But there was still something lingering behind Gwen's mind which made her compared two individuals; one was the broken knight in her dreams and the other one was Slavica. She wondered what their connection was because she was feeling the same around them but at the same time different.

"Seems like you've been occupied by something." Slavica took notice of the sudden silence around Gwen.

"Oh, nothing…it was just I am wondering if you were really that knight in my recent dream…" Gwen gave them an answer that suddenly caught her thinking deeply.

"What made you think that way?" Slavica wondered curiously.

"Based on what you've been through, the way you addressed me queen, and your protective presence around me feels like you're a real knight. Not to mention that you told me about supernatural things around the DIP." She shrugged her shoulders but she honestly answered Slavica since that's how she felt around her savior.

"If that's how you feel around me, then it will be fine. Just focus on recovering first and I will help you on learning the rest." Slavica just smiled genuinely at her.

"Vica, are you really that knight from the past?" she still pressed on knowing about their connection. Slavica sighed and looked very deep into Gwen's gaze.

"If I am, will it change something about how you know me?" she sighed again before asking Gwen directly.

No words came out from Gwen's mouth yet it was moving but there was nothing coming out. Slavica found it amusing but she didn't let Gwen know about it. They just let the silence take over once again until she started humming a melody. As Gwen was left in her deep thought, she suddenly began to hear some humming sound which made her look where it was coming from. She smiled when she saw it was coming from Slavica. She started listening to them as she tried on figuring out the title of the melody that Slavica's humming.

Look at the sky

Tell me what do you see

"It sounded familiar…" Gwen muttered which Slavica smirked at.

"Figure it out then." Slavica teased and Gwen playfully glared at her and nodded. She started on racking her mind to recall the title of the song that Slavica was humming.

Just close your eyes

And describe it to me

Slavica might not be singing the song that she was humming but somewhere within Gwen, she knew it well. She kept listening to how Slavica hummed them and even let it play through her ears.

The heavens are sparkling

With starlight tonight

That's what I see

Through your eyes

Gwen slowly smiled while listening carefully to the humming melody that Slavica was sharing with her and something began to stir within her chest. It was totally warming up until she finally recalled the title of the song which was called Looking Through Your Eyes by a familiar singer named LeAnn Rimes.

"Hah! Finally, I know the title of that song you are humming. It's Looking Through Your Eyes by LeAnn Rimes." Gwen chuckled as she finally recalled the title of the song. Slavica didn't say anything but she smiled warmly at her because she saw how innocently bright Gwen's reaction there was. It was making Slavica feel alive.

"I see the heavens

Each time that you smile

I hear your heartbeat

Just go on for miles…" Slavica suddenly sang the second part of the first stanza of the song which made Gwen suddenly look at her. Gwen have never guessed that she could sing well though she was not a singer, to begin with.

"And suddenly I know

My life is worthwhile

That's what I see

Through your eyes…" she continued which made Gwen's heart suddenly warm up and beat hard while their eyes were locked onto each other.

Gwen wasn't so sure about what she was suddenly feeling toward a stranger that she just met and a savior that she just got to know in person. She was indeed thankful and grateful to Slavica for saving her but the feeling she was feeling around her was something more. She couldn't put any words to it since there were a lot of words to describe or even named what she was feeling toward her. She doesn't know what right words to say regarding the feelings she feels toward Slavica but she knew that it was there and everything was indeed more than words.

Here in the night

I see the sun

Here in the dark

Our two hearts are one

Just by staring deeply into each other's orbs, Gwen saw a glimpse of her dream when the broken knight was badly wounded from the fight as she was defending the kingdom of her queen. She saw how worried the queen was toward her knight and even took care of her whenever she had spare time to do so. They were quite a simple couple to Gwen's sight until the knight and the queen held their hands while staring at each other.

It's out of our hands

We can't stop what we have begun

And love just took me by surprise

Looking through your eyes

Gwen's tears suddenly showed up when another scene came up between the queen and her knight. They were having an intense duel but they were having fun with which nobody could interfere. But what really made Gwen cry was the sight of their love and affection for each other. It didn't fade between them even though there were times that they needed to be apart for days and yet, still come back in each other's arms still in love.

"Love…" Gwen muttered to herself and she was suddenly snapped from the sudden glimpse when she heard herself saying that word.

I look at myself

And instead, I see us

Whoever I am now

It feels like enough

She even glanced at Slavica and she saw how genuine and lovely her savior's smile was while humming to the song again. Gwen found it astonishing for someone who looked like a monster because of the hideous part of her face but still have such a gentle and brave heart as she possessed. Gwen just can't help but to looked what lies beyond that hideous face that she suddenly felt that she has to have.

And I see a girl

Who is learning to trust

That's who I see through your eyes

"Am I trusting Slavica already even though it just happened so fast? I mean, we've just met yet, there was something pulling me to get close to her more than being just acquainted." Gwen thought deeply when she realized the second stanza of the song that was playing in her mind while Slavica was humming it.