Privet! Sorry I haven't updated in a few weeks; homework has seriously taken up all my energy and time as of late, so it's been difficult to just sit down and write my little creative heart away. Just two and a half weeks till spring break, two and a half weeks…

But in any case, here's the fourth chapter! Woot! All of you guys have been absolutely awesome with the reviews and I love it when I hear from different people, so keep 'em coming! Oh, and just out of curiosity, I was wondering what your guy's favorite X-men character is. I've always loved Nightcrawler and Colossus myself, but I'm interested to see what everyone else thinks!

As always, have fun and enjoy! Hope you all like the chapter!

-FromRussiaWithLove

Hiding in the Shadow: I agree, Piotr is such a sweetie. I think there's a little dose of Russian sweetness in this chapter. ;) And yes, your name rocks!

Andrew Fisher15: Oooooo, a new face. Thanks for checking out my story and reviewing!

talksome.jive: Wow. That was really nice of you to say! I'm really glad that you're giving the character a second chance. Thanks so much for reviewing!

olivejuice48: Offended? Mais non! I actually think it's really cool that you mentioned that; I'll be sure to check out some of your stories soon and see for myself. And thanks for all the smiles! 

And of course, I cannot forget my promised cookies to Winter Blaze and Little Hobbit; sorry for the wait guys! XD But oh, aren't they delicious? Mmmhmm.

Thank you to everyone else who reviewed! Love you guys!

Chapter 4

Moments

Neither of us slept that first night. I think there were just too many thoughts running around in our minds for us to fully relax, or perhaps sleeping just seemed irrelevant in comparison to everything else that needed to be done. With the night's warm breath tickling our bare feet and necks, Piotr and I remained on the thick tree root, staring ahead into the darkness. I couldn't shake off the eerie feeling rippling under my skin, though I tried not to dwell on the matter. The dark had always left me out of sorts when I was little.

A while ago I had asked Piotr how old he was out of curiosity. After all, I don't remember seeing him at all around the mansion, and it's obvious from just one look at the guy that he isn't someone you'd likely forget. When I asked, he gave a low chuckle of amusement. I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction; he didn't seem like the type of person to laugh so easily.

"Guess," he had said.

So I thought about it for a while and had guessed twenty, and he had said no, only seventeen. I couldn't believe my ears at first. There was just no way he could only be two years older than me. But when I prodded him about it he had only laughed again and said it was so.

"Then how come I've never seen you in any of classes? Or even around the mansion?"

"Perhaps you were not looking in the right places," came his candid reply.

I would've liked to ask more about him, where he came from, how he ended up at the mansion, what his powers were, but I knew there were more pressing matters at hand. For the moment, I tried my best to quell some of the curiosity bubbling up inside of me.

Before, I had been completely oblivious of my surroundings, but as I paid closer attention to the scenery around me and as my eyes became adjusted to the darkness, I finally realized that we weren't all that far from the mansion at all. I thought back to that crisp autumn day when I first arrived at the mansion, and I could clearly recall the incredibly enormous and lush wooded area that completely surrounded the backside of the school, the statuesque trees seemingly stretching their willowy arms as if to protect it from any harm. Perhaps they hadn't succeeded in defending the school, but I didn't doubt their strength now. Amongst the thick brush and broad trees, I could tell it would be near impossible for any of those soldiers to find us. That is, if they were still there.

The thought was too much to keep in. So I asked Piotr.

"I don't believe they would want to stay any longer than they have already. They've already done what they came here to do." Though Piotr spoke softly, his voice was low in bitterness and pain. It was the first time the entire night I had heard him express such feeling, and I could feel my throat constrict at his words. He seemed unused to opening up in such a way, for immediately afterwards he turned away as if self-conscious, focusing on the children instead, as they slept on peacefully.

"It's alright to feel angry, Piotr," I told him gently.

"Anger cannot change what happened."

I paused. "Nothing can," I said after a while.

He finally turned to look back at me. There was a question in his eyes, yet when he opened his mouth, the words seemed to fail him. I wondered what he was struggling with but I decided not to say anything. I thought it best to wait. The whistling rustle of leaves filled the otherwise silent night as a sudden, cool breeze drifted along the clearing and through the endless trees. The brisk air left a chill down my spine.

"At the mansion, before…" Piotr began gingerly, "Did anything…did you…"

But he never had the chance to finish, for right at that moment a low, muffled sound interrupted his words, and as we simultaneously locked eyes, I realized it was coming from where the children were sleeping.

"It sounds like crying," I whispered worriedly.

In response, Piotr's eyebrows knotted, looking around the forest as if expecting something else. "Are you sure?"

I stood up from the root, wriggling my toes in the soft, packed earth. The sound was clearer now, and I knew I couldn't be wrong. "Yeah," I replied as I took a few tentative steps forward in the darkness. "Come on."

The kids weren't really a long way off, but the night's blanket seemed to smother us in every direction; it was so hard to see that at one point I stumbled upon a thick branch and would have nearly fallen flat on my face if Piotr hadn't been there to steady me. After that, he insisted to lead the way instead. As we continued forward, he often looked back every few seconds to see if I was doing alright.

When we finally arrived at the soft clearing, it wasn't difficult to trace where the sound was coming from. Curled in a sort of protective shell, with her knees pulled up firmly to her cheeks, Kara sat a few feet away from everyone else, and I could see even from where I was standing that her shoulders were trembling. My stomach danced knots. I turned too look up at Piotr, and felt the concern in his eyes as well. Giving a small sigh, I began to walk towards her.

I saw her back stiffen as my footsteps grew nearer, and when I crouched down to have a better look at her, the small girl only shied away from me. I reached out and neatly tucked some unruly ringlets behind her ear.

"Kara, what's wrong? Did something happen? Did you have a bad dream?"

She didn't say anything. Her eyes grew wide and fearful, but they remained fixed on the ground, not daring to look up at me. Her body was still shaking slightly.

"Is that why you want to stay awake? Because you had a bad dream?" I asked gently, laying a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her.

The girl was struggling to keep the problem hidden. Yet as the silence wore on, she finally gave a low nod, lips trembling fearfully.

"They were there…in my dream, they were there…" Kara's voice sounded painfully foreign to my own ears, and it was with a heavy heart that I realized it was because I had never seen her so terrified before. Her voice sounded like it would crumble any minute, much like this young, fragile girl herself.

"They're not here anymore," I said. "It's okay. They're not here anymore."

After she allowed herself to admit her fears, it didn't take much to convince her to stay with us for the night; it was obvious she was still terrified to go to sleep but was too afraid to be up in the eerie loneliness of the dark woods. Piotr carried her back to our ever faithful root, holding her with great care, like a porcelain china doll. As I watched Kara easily nestle in his strong arms, I couldn't help but think back to earlier that night, when Piotr said he had carried me himself out of the mansion and to the safety of the woods. I wondered if I had looked just as helpless as her.

Kara remained in his arms the rest of the night, fighting to stay awake even as her eyelids began to flutter downwards and her shoulders stopped trembling. Finally, the soft conversation between Piotr and I lulled her to sleep, her breaths coming slow and calm. The worry that had been etched across her features with such severity before now was nowhere to be found. She looked so serene, I almost wanted to cry.

"You're very good with children, you know," Piotr said after a while, making sure the girl was fully asleep before he opened his mouth. I turned to him, astonished.

"Me? I think you mean you." I couldn't comprehend what he was talking about, for his natural ease around children was something I definitely did not possess.

"Nyet," he spoke in his native tongue. "They are calm around you. They trust you. But me, most children take one look at me and are too afraid to even move."

"No," I disagreed, flashing a small but teasing smile, "I'm sure some run away too."

Piotr only laughed, not even pretending to be offended. In that moment, I believe we both wanted to escape for just a little while, to talk and laugh and joke before the sun rose on the cruel reality of our situation. So, as the darkness thinned out to a pale shadow and the sky became a luminous, morning masterpiece, we held those moments close and didn't let go. We had no idea as to what would await us that morning, or what would happen tomorrow, or the day after. We had no idea as to what would happen to us at all. But even so, we had those moments locked away deep inside of us, the laughter, the happiness, so if we ever found ourselves losing faith along the journey, we could easily discover it once again.