I get up, give the pair a glare, and go looking for my friend. Unfortunately, most everyone I ask calls her a weak coward when they spot the tail in my hands. Eventually I find her crying behind a warehouse. I drop the tail next to her and crouch down, asking what just happened. She looks up at me, trying to dry her tears.
"I... you... it..." She shudders, taking a deep breath. "You pulled my tail off when you fell. It's a major dishonour to lose one’s tail in a duel. Now everyone thinks I'm a coward." She glares at me for a moment. "This is all your fault!" She then shoves passed me and takes off again.
With a sigh, I go to her house. Either she'll be there, or she'll turn up there. When I arrive her mother gives me a glare.
"What have you done?" She growls. I explain exactly what happened, and how I didn't mean to grab her tail, let alone pull it off. She listens to my explanation, then sighs, nodding.
"Okay. But still, she can't even bring herself to leave her room now, let alone the house." After the reactions I saw, I'm not surprised. I ask if I can go talk to her.
"I... don't think that'd be a good idea. She's really upset, and especially with you." I need to make it up to her somehow. Her mother smiles at me. "There's nothing you can do now, though if you come back next week, I may have an idea." Nodding I get a time from her.
A week later I knock on the door, and her father greets me this time, sword over his shoulder and sweat beading over his face.
"Glad you came, follow me." I follow him into the backyard, where my friend is carving through some training dummies. I'm relieved to spot her tail's grown back, but when she turns to look at us, all relief vanishes with the look on her face.
Her father hands me a sword, and pushes me into the yard, where I stand alone with her. "Time to prove yourself." She growls and comes charging at me. I bring my sword up just in time to block, and after a few clumsy moves get into stance.
We're a good match when we're both calm, but her fury makes it hard for me to counter. She pummels me down without mercy, and when she finally has me backed up against the fence she goes for the kill. I close my eyes and drop my sword, surrendering as I feel the blade tap my shoulder, resting on my throat.
"What will you never do again?" She growls. It was an accident, I didn't mean to... the blade pushes harder at my neck and I sigh. I'll never pull her tail again. Opening my eyes, I see her smiling at me. It's not a nice smile, but it's something.
"Good. Now that that's done with. What will you do?" I raise an eyebrow, fearing giving the wrong answer. "You're going to kiss me." Without waiting for me to process this she presses her lips to mine, and when I finally get my brain to catch up, she's already pulling away.
She separates herself from me and sheathes her sword. She smiles at me and grabs my hand. "Come on, let’s get something to eat." I'm surprised by the immediate change in temperament. I ask what the hell's going on right now. She turns back and smiles.
"I've been sitting and thinking all week about what happened. I needed a good fight to calm down, what do you think this was about?" Okay, but why's she acting all lovey now when she was trying to gut me not five minutes ago?
"Like I said, I needed to cool off. And now I'm feeling really good. My tail's back, I beat you to a pulp, what's not to be happy about?" With a sigh, I decide to just go with it. We go back inside where her mothers made lunch for the two of us. She sits there watching the two of us with a silly grin on her face.
"Mum, you're acting a bit weird." My friend says, and her mother chuckles.
"Oh, sorry, I'm just picturing what the two of you look like when you have your duel." My friend all but chokes, coughing hard.
"MUM!" I know enough about the family to know what they're talking about. I blush and say that I don't think I'm a good enough fighter to beat her.
"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself." Her mother laughs, punching me in the shoulder. "I saw you out there, you weren't even ready for it, but you still managed to fight for a while, and with a different weapon no less. I think the two of you would be a perfect match. And a cute couple." Now the both of us are blushing, and we look at each other.
Maybe she has a point. I guess only time will tell.