“Goodnight, Collin. I love you too.” She felt warm with affection as she looked over at him as he fell asleep. The thunder gave a rumble above and now left in a silence alone, she tensed for a moment. [i]Stop that.[/i] Penelope chided herself for reacting. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep quickly she tried to focus on something else. Her mind began to drift towards the thought of their upcoming raid. Usually when she thought of it, she thought about something going wrong but this time she tried to focus on what would come after if they were to succeed. 

Penelope closed her eyes as she laid there pressed up against Crow and tried to imagine what it would be like. They’d still have troubles and uncertainty to face. Mainly being with their relationship. If she wanted to be with him longer than the mission, it would likely mean leaving behind the world and job she knew so well. [i]My family will be safe from the war though.. So it’ll be fine..[/i] She thought. It felt a bit easy to cast that life aside, though she knew it would be easier said than done. Leaving behind her job as a knight would likely cause her to feel a bit useless and she’d definitely miss her family, even if the feeling wasn’t always mutual. 

[i]I’ll figure something out.[/i] She assured herself. With another crack of thunder, she tried to focus on happier thoughts. If all went well, she’d be able to sleep in his embrace for many more nights, which was something that sparked hope and determination in the knight. She found that her personal gain from accomplishing the mission had suddenly gotten bigger since she couldn’t just abandon it to be with Crow. If all went well, it meant the safety of her family and the ability for her to figure out a life with Crow. Penelope let the sudden burst of determination build inside her. 

She soon realized that the thundering had stopped and all that was left was the light sprinkling of rain. A wave of relief washed over her and along with it came the tiredness that had been pushed back by fear. Penelope let out a quiet yawn and relaxed. With the threat of the storm gone, she was able to drift off to sleep in no time, keeping comfortable in the warmth of Crow as she remained pressed up against him. 

---

Waking up didn’t come easy for Penelope. The knight had gotten to bed late so she didn’t wake up as quickly as she usually did. It took a while but her sleeping form finally began to stir. She reluctantly opened her eyes, wishing to just continue sleeping but reminded herself that they would likely need to get moving soon. Part of her was worried she might have even over slept. 

She blinked as she noticed Crow was no longer besides her. Penelope rubbed her eyes to focus her gaze and then pushed herself up to try and locate the thief. It didn’t take long for her green gaze to land on him sitting nearby holding an arrow in his hand. She caught sight of the blood and her eyes widened in alarm. She jumped to her feet, now fully awake thanks to the alarming sight. 

“Crow! What happened?” She questioned as she hurried over to his side. For a moment, she thought that maybe he had snuck out while she was sleeping, ran into trouble and was now pulling an arrow out of his arm. However, she saw that wasn’t the case since the wound wasn’t deep and was just a cut. “Are you ok?” She added, sounding concerned and very confused as she realized he had been staring down at it. Penelope, almost instinctively, moved to put her hand over the cut so she could block it from his view, thinking he might being feeling sick by the sight.