Jack stood on a balcony looking out at the horizon of Empire City, the clouds stained red and the stars beginning to show their faces in the sky above him. His green eyes looked out at the city and saw the lights of the city begin to turn on one by one and he smiled with relief. The Rustov were gone, and the city was rebuilding, bit by bit, but it would be a long time until the Imagine Nation would heal fully, and even then there were still going to be scars left behind.

Jack grimaced at that thought and he looked down at his arm, marred by scars that the Rustov had carved into his skin while he had been a prisoner among them. He had managed to hide them from everyone else by wearing jackets but he couldn't hide them forever. Still, Jack knew that when his friends found out about all what had happened during the past year they would want to talk about it. He wasn't ready for that, it would be too much. Jack wanted to forget but he couldn't…..not really but he could push down the memories and smiled despite the nightmares. No matter how much he smiled and acted as if he was fine though, on the inside he still felt as though he was trapped.

"I've faced my future….I changed my future. I can't face the past though and I don't understand why."

A warm summer breeze drifted through the air and shook Jack from his confused thoughts and painful memories as the wind tousled his hair. It was a gentle reminder to focus on today and not the past.

Jack was so caught up in his thoughts though, that he didn't notice someone else step onto the balcony behind him until Allegra finally spoke," Jack…..w-where did those scars come from?"

He turned around, his green eyes wide and he folded his arms in front of his chest in a futile attempt to hide the scars," Allegra? What are you doing here? I thought you went home a while ago…." He couldn't look her in the eyes as he avoided answering her question.

"Don't you dare try to change the subject, Jack…"Allegra narrowed her eyes and stepped closer until she was right in front of the young hero," And don't lie to me. "

She reached out and took one his hands in her own, inspecting each scar on his arm, tracing them with her fingers. She then took his other arm and traced the scars that marred his skin, her eyes wet with tears. They stood like that for a long time until finally Jack spoke," Allegra…you know where I was for the last year….they tortured me in whatever they could. "

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes but he continued on," A lot of the ways they tortured me left scars….so many scars…." Jack's voice cracked with emotion and tears fell from his eyes as he recounted the pain of the last year. Countless scenes played out in his mind, memories that he had worked so hard to erase but would never truly go away…..just like the scars on his skin.

For so long he had refused to cry. Jack hated to cry, if only because it acknowledged the pain but he couldn't hold back the emotion anymore. He just wished Allegra couldn't seem him like this, broken and beaten.

Much to Jack's surprise though, he felt Allegra's hand entwine himself in his hair and he opened his startled, emerald eyes only to see her silver eyes staring back as she spoke softly," Don't you ever leave me again, Jack Blank. I…I was so afraid that you had left me alone….Please, don't ever leave me alone because without you…I don't think I could be brave anymore." And with that said, she pressed her lips to his as she traced his scars with her hand.

Hey ^^ sorry this is so short but i like how it turned out. this is basically focusing on jack and Allegra a few days after the rustov are defeated and they finally get to be alone and talk. Also this is a (early ) birthday present to Moonwolf121~! I hope you liked it. Anyways thanks for reading and if you have any one shot or story ideas feel free to PM me and maybe I'll write it out~