Author's Note: Please see the update on my profile for information regarding posts.

She followed two steps behind the Knight, who only stopped to check she was behind him once. Kyna eyes were trained on his back as they walked. She didn't understand this man. He'd chosen to fight beside her, defending her back again while she used her bow.

As reluctant as she was to admit it, there was at least one point that she knew of that he'd protected her and probably stopped her from being more seriously injured. Why did he keep saving her? Why had he risked his life for hers? Why did every explanation he gave to those questions only make her more confused?

Her brows drew together as she noticed the golden-haired Knight start to bend forward a little, as though he was struggling to keep going. She watched him carefully then and it wasn't long until he stumbled.

Before she realised what she was doing, Kyna moved forward and slipped under his shoulder, catching his weight enough so that Gawain stayed standing. He was breathing heavily through gritted teeth. So was she. Apparently his wound was hurting him more than he wanted to admit.

"It's not far," Gawain said, pointing the way to the infirmary.

Kyna tried to steer the Knight in the direction he had pointed her, but it was more difficult than it should have been as she could tell he was trying to keep his body from touching her as much as he was able. It soon became obvious where they were headed as they rounded a building and were met with the sight of people hurrying around. It seemed that they weren't the only people who had been injured in this fight.

As they neared the building, two men came out to help and took Gawain from Kyna. She didn't breathe properly until he was out of her hands. Why did I do that? she wondered, frowning. She could have let him fall – should have let him fall. He would have been fine and someone would have helped; she didn't need to put herself in that position... but she had.

And it hadn't hurt as much as she'd thought it would. Helping Gawain hadn't brought back any memories that she wished to forget, like she thought it would. She didn't touch anyone willingly unless she could help it, and she had never willingly put herself so close to a man she wasn't related to. It puzzled her greatly that she'd managed to help; she didn't think it was in her to do that.

Kyna heaved a deep sigh and followed after Gawain into the infirmary. She found him in a small room with the two men who had taken him standing either side of him. Gawain was sat upright on top of a pallet and he met her eyes for a moment as she entered the room. He was quickly distracted though. One of the men braced him, holding him against the wall by his upper arms, while the other pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a jerk. Gawain cursed.

"I'd almost forgotten how much that hurts," he grimaced.

The two men quickly cleaned the wound and wrapped it before leaving him with instructions to rest. Kyna watched as people moved around her, all the while remaining out of the way in the corner of the room with her back to the wall. One of the men approached her and she tensed.

"You've got blood on you," he observed, gesturing at her, "I just want to make sure that you're not bleeding."

Kyna shook her head. She was accustomed enough to pain to know that the blood was not hers. She tried to send the man off with a glare.

"She has to have her back looked at," Gawain's voice piped up and he proceeded to tell the two men about her injury.

"I'd like to take a look at the wound. It could be worse than you think," one of the men said.

Kyna ignored the man and instead shot Gawain an evil glower. He knew she didn't want anyone touching her; she was fine.

All the Knight could do was give her an exhausted smile as he answered, "Your brother would kill me if I didn't make them check you."

The other man started to approach Kyna and Gawain could see that she was getting wary, about to run again. At least running would be better than shooting them, he thought, keenly aware that she still had her bow to hand.

"Only touch her where you have to unless you want to suffer for it," he added.

Kyna weighed her options. She could run, but she knew Gawain was right - Tristan would only bring her here again when he found out what had happened. And Gawain was here. He'd been watching her back since they'd met, surely he wouldn't stop now. She hoped, at least.

"Kyna," Gawain's voice sounded, bringing her back to the present, "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

Her hands bunched into fists, one squeezing more tightly around her bow. She exhaled and nodded once. There was a sense of honesty in his voice that she couldn't ignore, even if every sense she had was telling her not to believe him. Kyna didn't intend to undress for this examination, but turned, trying very hard to control her breathing as her growing feeling of being cornered peaked.

One pair of hands pulled the ripped material of her dress back a little so they could inspect the wound. Kyna tried not to think about it, instead choosing to count in her head. One, two, three - she only made it two ten before she gave up, only aware of the hands on her and every movement they made. She stiffened as a wet cloth slid over the wound. They're only cleaning it, she told herself.

"You won't need stitches," one of the men said, "but I'd like to wrap the wound."

Kyna inhaled so sharply that they backed away, just in time for her to turn around to face them. There was a kind of panicked anger in her eyes that unnerved them so they turned to Gawain.

"Leave the bandages; one of us will help her later."

That seemed to appease the two men and they swiftly moved away from the woman to deal with someone else. Kyna remained where she was, the only other person left in the room with Gawain. It took her some time to relax enough that her breathing levelled out. When it did, she stepped away from the wall and nearer to him.

She wasn't sure if she was angry with him or grateful that he'd lessened what he could of those people touching her. He had been right that Tristan wouldn't let her get away without checking that injury, and he would be here to find her sooner or later, she knew.

Her eyes settled on the golden-haired Knight, her expression flickering with confusion. Technically she knew that he might not have been hurt if he hadn't been standing beside her. A part of her felt guilty about that - she wasn't here to cause other people harm. Gawain looked up at her, wondering at her stare, but she just shook her head and took a seat at the side of the pallet he was sat on.

"Thank you for helping me get here," he said, "I know how difficult that must have been for you."

She didn't look up, choosing to ignore the comment, and instead started writing.

You've been shot before?

He nodded.

"Most of us have at some point. Lots of people want to kill us; it comes with the position."

She nodded slowly.

"Will you stay?" he asked.

Kyna frowned for a second. She didn't know if she should stay, but eventually agreed with a nod. It seemed wrong to leave him here alone after what had just happened. It wasn't long before the Knight appeared to fall asleep, though Kyna wondered if he may have just passed out from the pain. Perhaps he'd been forcing himself to stay awake to make sure that she was okay. That couldn't be it, could it?

When Gawain's eyes opened sometime later, he was surprised that the silent woman had kept her promise. He had expected her brother to have collected her and left someone else in her stead while he slept.

"Still here?" he asked, rubbing the top of his head and wincing slightly as pain twinged through his shoulder

She nodded. She'd been waiting for him to wake up and she'd been thinking about what she wanted to ask him every moment that he slept. His actions had confused her all too much to not discuss them.

What did you do that for?

"What?"

Interfere. That arrow was headed for me and you know it.

"It wasn't."

If it had been meant for you, it would have hit you in the back. You were only turned in an archer's direction when you were defending me.

Gawain sighed, "I told you before –"

Kyna stopped him with a loud exhalation. She raised both hands and put them on her head in frustration.

Why?

He frowned, "I've told you why, Kyna."

What you said makes no sense.

He could see the frustration in her expression, but he couldn't stop it. She wouldn't listen to what he said and he couldn't explain it any differently. But she still didn't understand. She slammed her hands on the table beside them. What she wouldn't give to have a voice; arguing on paper somehow only made her even angrier.

Stop telling me that I deserve to go home. I don't have a home to go back to.

"Yes, you do, Kyna. There will always be somewhere that you are welcome."

At that, she couldn't stop a snort of derision. She shook her head at him in disagreement.

"No, Kyna, listen to me. You will always have somewhere that you are welcome."

Where? I will stay with Tristan, but where? Everything we knew is gone. Are you going to take us in?

The last part was obviously meant as sarcasm, which was why she was so surprised when Gawain quickly replied, "Yes, I would. You would both be welcome in my home."

She froze at his words. What did he just say? she thought. She just stood there staring at him, and he stared back at her for a while. Gawain let out a sigh as he got up, pushing himself off of the pallet. As he stepped towards her, she took a step backward.

"Kyna," he started.

But she turned and went for the door. She pulled at the handle but it wouldn't budge. It was locked. They two men who'd been here had probably locked it in order to stop Gawain getting up too early – like he was currently. She was supposed to be watching him and it should have been fine; she hadn't thought that she would need a reason to run though. He was almost unconscious when the men had left after all.

She turned back around slowly and saw Gawain watching her carefully. She couldn't look at him. Instead, her eyes flashed to the window, her only other exit. Gawain noticed. He could sense what she was thinking as soon as her eyes flickered behind him.

"Look, Kyna, relax," he said.

"All that I meant was that you won't ever have to be alone again. All of us Knights would have you with us and you would be welcome with any of us; we're a family."

She pressed her back against the door, a twinge of pain rolling through her. Good, she thought. It was keeping her in the present and in the room with Gawain. She stared at the floor now, unable to bring herself to look at him.

"I like knowing that you're safe."

She looked up at that admission.

Why do you keep saying these things?

"Because I mean them," he answered simply.

Apparently he didn't understand that his words were only confusing her more.

Please stop confusing me.

He frowned.

"I don't mean to," he admitted, running his palm over his beard slowly.

I don't understand you. I need to understand.

He waited patiently, but she wrote nothing else.

Still, frowning, he asked, "What is it, exactly, that you need to understand, Kyna? I'm trying to help you here and I want to give you the answers you seek."

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment.

I need to know why. I need to know

She paused, thinking.

Why do you even care? Why do you keep trying to save me? Why do you

She closed her eyes. She didn't know what else to say. In truth, everything about Gawain confused her.

"I care because you are one of us, and we all look after one another. What we've been through has been awful, but we've had each other to battle through it. I cannot begin to imagine what your life has been like. I'm just unwilling to have it continue in such a way. The others are the same."

She let out a long breath.

"I feel protective over you."

You can't save me, Gawain.

"Your past is worse than ours-"

What has happened is in the past.

He scowled.

"It isn't in the past for you. I know it bothers you constantly. I can see it in every movement you make and every time you look for the way to escape a room you enter. It's not behind you, but it will never happen to you again. You're here now, and I don't want anything else to happen to you, in the same way that your brother and the other Knights don't want that."

She hadn't realised that he'd been so observant about what she did. Were her actions so obvious?

Why?

He shrugged and pain flashed through him. He had already forgotten that he should be being careful; Tristan's sister had a habit of distracting him. Kyna saw his pain and frowned. For some reason it bothered her. Maybe it was because she knew that it was probably her fault that he was in pain anyway, but she wasn't certain about that. When he recovered, he saw that Kyna was staring at him.

"I just want to make sure that you're alright. I can't explain exactly why because I don't know. Can it not be enough that I care?"

Kyna was silent for a long time, her charcoal hovering over the paper in her hand.

In my life, caring isn't something that I'm familiar with.

He thought for a moment.

"I do understand your reaction; but this is a new chapter to your life, Kyna. Caring is something that you will become far more familiar with now that you are with us Knights."

Kyna stared. She couldn't help but feel like there was something else. He was just that bit more caring than the others - excluding her brother, that was. She might not like that reply, but she allowed herself to be satisfied with that answer because it sounded honest. He clearly didn't want to delve into why he always seemed to be there when she'd needed him though. She nodded.

He offered her a tiny smile. She didn't return it, but she did tilt her head to the side in a way that Tristan often did when he was thinking.