//------------------------------//
// chapter 20 
// Story: A Bounty to Fight 
// by NightSugar pone 
//------------------------------//

The week that followed their first day together had been filled with excitement and their want to stay together, regardless of Windbreaker’s job and the fact that Star couldn't bring in the money she wanted to support him. And although he didn't want her to worry, he had noticed that the other guards had pushed their patrols out towards the borders of the town, and if they kept getting closer and closer. It had gotten to the point where they couldn't go out and watch the sunset anymore, and the more Windbreaker insisted on her staying inside the more she got suspicious of the reason why. until one day, when he had left for work she decided to take a look outside for the reason why she wasn't supposed to leave, nothing had come into view immediately, but after sitting and looking for a little bit she had noticed the glare of armour coming closer. It had made her heart race so quickly that once she had moved away from the window she was looking out of her hooves were trembling. Her instinct was to get her things and leave but at this distance she would never get away in time, that and the fact that she didn't want Windbreaker to worry about her sudden disappearance. so instead she decided to wait for him to get back before making a final decision, he was in the guard after all, he had to have known this was happening. So like the six nights before she made dinner for them both and waited for him to get home, but she decided against waiting for him in the kitchen when he had walked in.

“I’m home, Star? are you busy?”
She walked out of their room and went to the top of the stairs, catching his attention enough for him to look up at her, noticing her somber expression as she slowly descended the steps. 

“Welcome back, forgive me if I’m not as pleased to see as I usually am, I just found something troubling about how close the guard are getting to your..our home,”
She said as she passed him, heading towards the kitchen as he followed her, choosing to listen to what she had to say before responding.
“I was so curious to know what had you so afraid to let me go out, especially at night, so I took a little peek outside while you were out, and guess what I saw,”
She said as she put his still warm plate of food on the table where he had sat down.

“you..saw the guard, didn't you?”
He said, as he hesitantly began to eat, and his eyes followed her as she sat down in front of him, her front hooves pressed together in front of her as she sat there.

“Oh, so you did know? And the thought never would have occurred to you that I would maybe need to know this...important information?”
Her question was punctuated with a wave of her hoof before she set it back down on the table.
“Do you know why I chose to stay here and wait, I stayed because I was concerned with the fact that you’d be worried about me being gone, without a word, without a single sign that I had truly wanted to stay. But this, this could have spelled danger for me and you never told me how close they were,”
She was struggling to not raise her voice as she said these words, her worry and anger covering them with such a defensive tone that it was almost threatening to him. But in an attempt to calm her down he spoke carefully and tried not to make it sound like he was calmer than he was.

“I thought that it wouldn't come this close this fast, you must know that, I wouldn't keep it from you if I knew how fast that fleet would scour the land. And if they do come, I’ll instantly be there for you, and maybe we can make our getaway tomorrow, I can help you quickly and safely go if that's what you want,”
When he had finished his sentence her expression had changed to one of confused shock, which had quickly moved into a more offended expression.

“How could you think that about me? Do you think that I wanted to leave you!? Why in Tartarus would I ever want to leave you!?”
She was barely able to control her tone at this point, and the fact that she was now reared up and leaning on the table didn't make it any less frightening for Windbreaker, he had never seen her get so mad in the time they had been together, and it worried him.

“I’m sorry for assuming that you wanted to leave, I just want you to be safe, and you have a family to go back to, I would never want you to miss out on Sapphire growing into the strong well mannered dragon I know she could be. I would put your life before mine because you still have something to live for, and if you’re alive I will too,”
Silence fell over both of them and Star had slowly sat back down, she thought hard on his words and felt bad about getting so heated when he was just trying to keep her safe. After they had sat there in silence for a while she got up and had began to head back upstairs, saying a soft goodnight to him as she had left the kitchen, and Windbreaker only watched as she quietly walk away.