((OOC: Sorry it's a bit short. And I know the title is lame but I couldn't think of anything better))

Soraya had never left the classroom this quickly before, unless it was to hide her embarrassment. The excitement kept flowing through her veins like electricity, as if she had just been struck by lightning. She had a power, a talent, something she would reach a mastery in she promised herself. In her mind she could already see her father crumble to a dry crisp. Soraya looked at her hands, the good one as well as the damaged one and closed her fists. She had finally found her worth, her reason for living. She wished dearly she could practice the new weaves she had learned today, but here, on the tower grounds she could not even risk drying a butterfly. Out here somebody could notice what she was doing, so she had to be sneaky, and find a place where she could practice her channeling in private. She smiled a rare and sweet smile, knowing everything was going to be alright now.

When she slowed her pace to make herself calm down a little, Soraya heard footsteps behind her. She stopped and turned around to see Zaide approaching. She blinked at first, a bit surprised and wondering if he had been following her, or if he had just left class going in the same direction. Then she smiled faintly, letting him approach her. She had been surprised to see the soldier in that class. She had lost track of him for quite a long time and had perhaps forgotten about him, too busy learning. Before she had gotten all excited about the new weaves however she had planned on meeting him after class, perhaps he had thought the same? She made eye contact to make sure he wouldn’t just pass her by. This was the guy who had been nice to her a long time ago, someone who had cared that she felt so bad. Caring was something relative of course. One helps another person in expectance of something in return. Lurciella Sedai had made that very clear, and Soraya understood the order of things now. Zaide, in this case was a mystery however. Soraya still wasn’t sure how he had benefited from helping her. His aid being selfless was out of the question of course. There had to be something he had gained, or perhaps he still expected something from her? Maybe he had come her way to collect that debt?

Soraya curiously searched his face. Now that she looked at his hard facial features she thought he didn’t really look like a ‘nice guy’, even though there was something kind in his blue eyes at this moment. She didn’t remember him to be this tall either, he literally towered above her. Just when he stood right before her she turned into her shy self again, uncertain of what to say. This man had seen her at her weakest, sobbing in desperation. Even if she had changed now she couldn’t erase that memory. He must think she was weak. She cast her eyes down and curled her lips in a smile again. “I was surprised to see you again,” she said a little nervous.

((OOC: Don't worry, mine's short too))

As the class finished, the students filed out of the class. It had certainly given Zaide a lot to think about. About the cruelty of the Shadow, something he already knew, but had never really experienced before. The biggest surprise, though, had been one of his fellow classmates. Soraya. He had not seen, or really even thought of her for years, had not even been sure that she was still in the Tower. And yet she had showed up in the same class. A Shadow class. Zaide had been surprised, but as he thought back on the day he met her, maybe he should not have been. That day, Zaide had sent Soraya to help from the only Black Sister he knew of, Eithne, of the Brown Ajah, as he had learned much later. He had thought, at the time, that perhaps the Aes Sedai could bring Soraya around to the Shadow- had, at the time, concidered it a large contribution to the Shadow. But since then, he had never really thought about it. And yet, here she was, a member of the Shadow. Zaide stepped out of the classroom and looked down the hall. Soraya was ahead of him, a short way down the hall, and he turned to follow her. He honestly had no idea what he would say to her, but he wanted to talk to her. He wondered if she had changed as much over the years as he had, he was certainly not the same man she had met years ago.

He followed her for a short while longer, before she turned around and saw him. She smiled slightly, one that Zaide did not return, but he met her eyes. Why smile? To show that he was willing to talk to her? Well, one thing that had not changed about Zaide was certainly how little desire he had to be as social as everyone else apparently was. He would talk to Soraya, of course, but he would reserve smiles until he saw what she was like now. Not that he knew what she was ever like really. He walked to where she was, and stopped opposite her. "Hello," he said evenly. But that was where he got stuck. Where he always got stuck. What was he supposed to say next? Should he chat with her for a little while, or should he say something about the class, or....There's a reason I don't talk much, conversations are so bloody confusing! Zaide had had very little experience with actual conversations as a child, he had lived with his parents, and did what they made him do, but that was it. He almost never talked to someone outside of his family, it was unnecessary, living on a farm. Finally, he decided he was tired of being so frustrated, he would just say what he thought. Maybe that would not work for Aes Sedai and Asha'man, but he saw no harm in it right now. "I was surprised to see you in that class," he said simply. "How have you been?" It seemed a harmless enough question, and he really was curious as to how she had passed the last few years. And how he had managed to not see her at all, both of them living in the Towers. True, novices and soldiers were not supposed to be together much, but it still seemed odd they had not been in a class together or anything. Ah well, that could not be changed, now he knew she was here, and that was the important thing right now.

((If you think Zaide reactcs differently to what Soraya says, let me know, I'll fix it))

"Hello," the soldier said, and then he seemed at loss for words. "I was surprised to see you in that class. How have you been?" Soraya blinked at his casual greeting. She nodded. “Fine, I guess. I’m still here.” He talks as if he knows me, while really he doesn’t. But then again he knows that I am part of the shadow, so he knows more about me than most people here. He has seen me weak, years ago, and today he has seen me strong, channeling. Soraya relaxed. It doesn’t matter. She thought it was nice he still remembered her after all this time, he even showed interest by asking how she had been. She had not been fine, but she was now, after today. The channeling class had made her confidence grow a little again.

A lot of people passed them by while the stood there, and they had to move aside for a class of novices passing them. At the same time Zaide and Soraya moved toward the door, and they started walking toward the park. She didn’t feel obligated to talk and Zaide didn’t seem to be much of a talker either. Soraya wondered why were they walking side by side, if they did not have anything to say to each other. She then again wondered if she was in his debt. He was not speaking. Perhaps he wanted something, something like some men from the village. A creepy feeling took a hold of her for a second. Maybe he planned on dragging her into the bushes when nobody was looking and then…. She looked at him to catch him on a stare that would give his plans away. He just seemed a bit surprised at her sudden gaze. She cast her eyes down. He wouldn’t do that. And if he would she would dry him to a crisp. Perhaps she should speak now, and ask if he thought she owed him something? After all it was thanks to him she was now in Lurciella Sedai’s care, she was now able to live up to her full potential, thanks to him she was confident she would one day return to her village and have her revenge. And that wasn’t all she planned to do with her power. She would personally stab her creator in the back if she could, and whatever she were to accomplish, it was part thanks to what this soldier once had said to her.

“Am I still in your debt?” she broke the long silence. Zaide reacted a little startled, as if he had no idea what she was talking about. “For sending me to Eithne Sedai,” Soraya explained, “she sent me through to….” She stopped when she realized she was giving names without confirming whether her assumptions were right. Maybe it all had been a coincidence! She could not just name the members of the Black ajah! How horribly foolish of her. She already started to feel a little embarrased and her heart started beating faster. “I just figured, when I saw you in class just now…”

Soraya said that she was fine, she was still here. Zaide was not certain whether that was supposed to be a good thing or bad, going by their last meeting, bad certainly, but maybe she had changed her mind since then. They walked in silence for a little while, which Zaide was fine with. If she wanted to talk, he would, otherwise he could wait. At least she had not said that she wanted him to leave, so Zaide walked beside her. After a few moments, she suddenly asked if she was still in his debt. Zaide could not hide his surprise, and Soraya explained. For sending her to Eithne and indirectly, Zaide supposed, to whoever it was that eventually led her to the Shadow. Or maybe that was about telling her someone who could teach her to read and write. Either way, it made no difference. In his debt? Where had she gotten that idea from? He had not seen her in years, and the first thing she asked about was whether she was in his debt? If Zaide had wanted something in return he would have asked for it long ago. "You were never in my debt," he said a little uncertainly. As he said it, he thought about it. He knew very well that no one in the Shadow did anything without expecting something in return. Well, he truly had expected nothing from Soraya, but in the future, he would have to keep that in mind. Part of him wanted to tell Soraya that he had simply felt sorry for a young girl he found crying. The other, more rational, part of him told him that that was not a good idea. He may have had little experience with people, but he knew better than to say that.

He looked at Soraya again, wondering whether she was going to come up with another unexpected question. He did not want to be caught so off guard again, but he had no idea what else she would ask. He wondered momentarily how much Soraya had worried about being in his debt since they had last met, surely it was quite a bit, to make that the first thing she asked. Then again, maybe she had forgotten all about him, and that was the first thing she thought of. Not that it mattered, of course, there was no use wondering about that. Maybe he should surprise her with a question instead. Of course, that required thinking of a question, and Zaide really had nothing to ask. He wanted to talk to Soraya, but did not know what to talk about, or even why he had any real need to speak to her. He supposed it was simply because of their one former meeting. It would have seemed wrong to just walk away without even saying hello. And so here they were, and Zaide with no real idea what to do next. All they had in common was a chance meeting one day, and that they had both, at one point, hated this place. Zaide no longer hated it, though, and had no idea how Soraya felt. He did not even know what she thought of him. For all he knew, he could hate her for having found her that day, she could blame him for the fact that she was still in the Tower. But that brought him back to the fact that she had not told him to go away, of course, that could have been because she thought she was in his debt. Ah, why were things always so confusing? It would be so much easier if he never had to have contact with people. But that was not possible, even if he were Asha'man, he could not work for the Shadow if he had no contact with the world, and that would make his Oaths pointless. They had been too painful for that, he was not going to waste them.