The evening of the following day, Crow awoke feeling even better than he had the day before. He was sure of it now: the medicine Hazel was using on him was finally working. He felt a rush of excitement as he managed to sit up on his bed without much trouble. It felt like his strength was finally coming back to him as well. Leaning back on the palms of his hands, he looked down at his legs and rolled his ankles thoughtfully. He wanted to try to stand on his own today. It had been a week since the last time he had been able to move without help, and the thought of being able to do so again was thrilling.

Just as he began to brace himself to try, he heard Hazel’s voice. “Still feeling better, huh?” she said with a pleased look as she made her way over to him.

“Much, actually,” he nodded. “I was going to try standing.”

“Great,” Hazel glanced back over her shoulder and gestured for Simon to come over. Turning back to Crow, she explained with a shrug, “I can’t catch you if you go down, so he agreed to make sure you don’t fall on your face for me.”

Crow nodded again, unbothered by Simon’s presence. He felt confident that he would be able to stand, but it was nice to have a backup just in case something went wrong. After all, he didn’t want to fall and risk reopening the wound in his leg. On top of being painful by itself, it would make it more difficult for him to try getting up again in the future. He didn’t need any more barriers to an already strenuous task.

Once he was ready to try, the thief braced his legs and forced himself to slowly rise from the ground. The effort was taxing, but he managed to stand up and remain on his feet without any help from Simon. His heartbeat quickened in excitement as he realized what he had just done. For the first time in a week, he could move without asking anyone to support him. That meant no more being trapped in bed, no more uncomfortable assisted walks to the bathroom, and best of all, no more being confined to the tunnels. He could finally go outside on his own to simply enjoy being out of the cavern.

“Looks like you’re doing much better,” Hazel looked him over clinically as she made notes in her journal. “I don’t see any shaking or other signs of weakness.” She looked up to meet his gaze and grinned. “If you keep up with his pace, you’ll be back to normal in no time.”

“Thank gods,” Crow sighed. “I can’t wait to be done with all of this.”

“It will be good to have you back,” Simon agreed with a shake of his head. “Trying to keep Alistair and Rikki under control is exhausting. I don’t know how you’ve managed to do it for so long.”

“Who knows?” Crow shrugged, biting back a laugh. He was sure that Alistair and Rikki were just giving Simon a hard time to mess with him, since he was such an easy target. However, in the spirit of not ruining the wily thieves’ fun, he didn’t want to tell him the truth. Glancing toward the entrance of the cave, he went on to change the subject, “Since I don’t need help walking anymore, I’m going outside.”

“Alright,” Hazel said. “Just don’t go far. You may be alright for now, but I want you to stay within shouting distance in case you need help.”

“I will,” he agreed. Tipping his head to them in a curt goodbye, he made his way to the entrance of the cave, taking the trip slowly so he wouldn’t tire himself out while also relishing the feeling of being able to walk at all.

He circled around the edge of the waterfall and headed towards a fallen tree by the edge of the riverbank. When he reached it, he sat down and closed his eyes, dangling his legs over the water serenely. It was the first time in a while that he’d had this much hope about being cured of his illness, but with a medicine that was finally working, he felt confident that he would make it.

His enthusiasm wavered slightly as the memory of his mother came suddenly to his mind. He wished he had thought to have someone try to treat her back then, but being young and naïve, the idea had never even crossed his mind. He opened his eyes again to watch the river flow over the tumbled stones below his feet. It seemed unfair that he would be the one to survive the illness that took her life. His mother had been a kind and selfless woman who cared about the people of the outer villages just as much as he did, if not more. Part of him wished there was some way he could switch places with her, to offer his life in exchange to bring her back. Having empathy and a sense of what people needed—two qualities he lacked—she probably would have done more for the peasants of Brerra than he ever did. If she had lived and he had not, the people of the outer villages probably would have been better off.

He sighed, picking absently at the moss on the tree he was sitting on. He knew that such thoughts, however wistful they may be, were pointless. His mother had been gone for over a decade now, and nothing was going to change that. Besides, even if he couldn’t help the villagers the same way she would have, it wasn’t like his life was meaningless. He had done quite a bit for them in his own way, and there was no denying that they were better off for it. He wasn’t his mother, but he would do his best to emulate her values and protect the peasants of Brerra.

Tossing a ball of moss into the river, he smiled softly to himself as Penelope’s face appeared in his mind. Putting everything to do with the villagers aside, she was the one who gave his life more purpose than anything or anyone else. She was also the reason why he had even sought Hazel out in the first place. He wanted to live, not just for himself, but also for her. He wanted the life they dreamed about when the war was over.

Crow was so caught up in his introspective thoughts that he almost didn’t notice the sound of someone moving to sit next to him on the log. He looked up and blinked in surprise to see that it was Rikki. The female thief had her dark eyes fixed on the water as she took a moment to think before finally speaking up, “Hazel told me you were doing better.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, shifting his weight slightly. Given how tense things had been between them lately, he wasn’t sure what else to say to her.

“I’m glad,” she said in a soft voice that caught him off guard. Pausing again, she tightened her lips slightly. “Look, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I’ve come to a conclusion.”

Crow glanced at her curiously. He recalled that Rikki had said she had a lot of thinking to do after she had found out about him and Penelope, but he had thought she would take much longer to approach him. Not wanting to make any assumptions, he remained quiet as he waited for her to explain what her decision was.

“I’m still hurt that you would have lied to me like that,” she said after a moment. “But I know you were just trying to handle this in your own way, and I know you weren’t trying to hurt me. I can’t stay mad at you for something you didn’t intentionally do, especially when I saw how upset you were when I told you I was hurt.” Looking up, she finally met his gaze. “I can’t promise that things will be the same between us… honestly, they probably won’t, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m not angry anymore.”

Crow stared at her as he took a moment to process everything she had just said. When he was done, he offered her a smile, “Thanks. I’m still really sorry I hurt you, love, but I’m glad we can start to move forward from this.” He reached out to wrap one arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side in a brief embrace.

“Me too,” Rikki smiled softly as well, but the expression soon disappeared, and she lowered her gaze again.

Crow frowned as he watched her. It was easy to tell that she was thinking about how he was never going to be with her the way she wanted. She had come to a conclusion in her head, but her broken heart had yet to catch up. He removed his arm from her shoulders and dropped his hand in his lap. “I may not be able to return the feelings you have for me, but I’m still your friend,” he said quietly. “That’s not going to change.”

“I know,” Rikki took a calming breath. “It’s just going to take some time for me to accept that.”

“Of course,” he nodded. “Take as much time as you need.”

“Thank you,” she murmured. Another brief moment of silence fell between them, and then she moved to stand up. “Dinner is going to be ready soon,” she said, casting him a quick glance. “If you want some, you should come back before Alistair eats your portion.”

“He’d better not try,” Crow snorted. “Now that I’m feeling better, I’ll fight him for it.”

Rikki cracked a small smile as she turned to leave, “I’ll be sure to pass along the warning. See you there, Crow.”

“See you,” he said, looking back at the river as she walked off. He spent a little while longer by the water’s edge, taking some time to relish how good of a day it had been, before he finally rose to his feet and headed back to the camp to join his companions the for dinner.