Niko lifted her to his chest, which was now throbbing with pain but he ignored it. He lifted her head, brought water to her lips, willing her to drink. He noticed how she trembled, and he held her closer.
''You are safe.'' He began to repeat it as he gently rocked her, hoping to ease her fear.

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He was giving her water. She drank it, gratefully, and some of her trembling stopped. She sank deeper into his arms, exhausted. She felt herself drifting off..."No!" she jerked her tired eyes open. "You...should be laying down. Resting. You are in pain." she struggled to get out of his arms so he could sleep and so that she could tend him more so he could recover.

He held tighter in his arms refusing to let her go.
''It would pain me more to see you in distress and put me above yourself.''
He lay down on the bed, pulling her down with him.
''Get some sleep. You have already helped me recover, allow me to return the favor.'' He began to caress her cheek slowly and , hoping it would give her some comfort, he put her hand on his chest as he had done earlier so she would feel assured he was well.
''Don't worry, I'm right here with you.''

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What? She thought as he laid down with her, not letting her go. Why was he doing this? She was too stunned to fight him. She felt his heartbeat, closing her eyes to the sound of it. He had been frightened of her. She must have looked like she had been cursed, the dark circles under her wide eyes...she shuddered. Then felt herself spiraling into darkness. And she slept as one who was dead, not moving, pure exhaustion taking away even her regular tossing when she was asleep.

Niko lay with her as she slept, still shocked at what happened. He wasn't even sure if he fully understood it but he couldn't shake the feeling off as he remembered the gust of wind she had brought about by just her hands.
He lay there for a while, deep in thought before falling into an uneasy sleep for a few hours. When he woke, he saw it was still dark and Nienna still slept. He began absent-mindedly stroking her cheek.

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She slept until she felt someone touching her cheek. She opened her eyes and looked at Niko, Abd sat up suddenly, her face drawn and tense. She pulled the covers up around him and moved his pillows. She was afraid to say anything. She walked to the almost out fire and began tossing some wood in. Her hands were too shaky, Abd she came too close to the flame with her hand. She didn't cry out, she just jerked her hand away and came back to sit next to where Niko was. She could tell he needed sleep. She was horrified by what had happened, he had nearly bolted out the door. "Sleep, love, please." she whispered as she held one of his hands.

Niko just shook his head. He could tell she felt bad and she was afraid of scaring him again.
''I cannot sleep, leaving you feeling like this. I panicked, that was all. It was a shock.''
He took her hand and pressed his lips to it. ''You are my wife. I am not going to run away the first chance I get. I love you, regardless of what happens.''

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She looked and saw truth and sincerity in his eyes. "Thank you." she whispered. "Niko...Im gosta...I know not what or who I am anymore." she brought his hand she held to her cheek, pressing it there for comfort. It was true. She was truly afraid. "Im gosta.."

Niko held her doing his best to comfort her ''Avo 'osto. We will sort this out. I will be here with you all the way.
Hebo estel meleth nin. ''

He was not sure how they would go about this, but he was going to help her, in what ever way she needed.

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She clutched him. "Le melon..." she just repeated over and over to him. She could say nothing else. How he was so wonderful, she had no idea. She held him, and soon began to drift off again. She fell asleep, restlessly.

Niko remained with her, comforting her until she fell asleep. He had no idea what they were going to do. But his priority for now was to look after her, as she had looked after him so many times.
He reached over and picked up a glass of water and drained it. Listening to the sound of her breathing, he began to drift off into a semi sleep, all the while his hand entwined with hers.

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She awoke, suddenly, as she felt the wind again. She sat up, her heart frozen in fear. The wind silently blew through her hair, as if caressing it, then wound around her body. She couldn't move. The wind seemed to embrace her. Her eyes got wide.

As he slept, Niko felt as if something wasn't right. His eyes snapped open and he saw Nienna sat up, and what looked like a breeze blowing through her hair.
Niko wasn't sure what was going on, dreading the worst, he slowly got up and reached for her shoulder. ''Nienna?''

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"Niko." she whispered out, then held her hand in front of her. As usual, it grew cold, and the wind blew around it. She looked at Niko, her eyes wide. "What is it...?" she choked through her terror.

Niko could find no words. Instead he put his arm around her and kissed her head. He hoped that at the very least she would be comforted that he had not run away.

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She was beyond gratefull he was there. She tentatively took his other hand and brought it to the one the wind was blowing around so he could feel it. She decided to try something. She stared at the her hand and felt the wind, and commanded it to curl up around her arm. Immediately, the wind obeyed. "Niko!" she gasped, "I'm...I'm controlling it!"