Shifting Moon

 I woke from my nightmare to see Bella half sitting on my bead and I could feel her caressing my cheek. Her voice was low and calming, trying to soothe me as I woke up. Over her shoulder, I could see Charlie with a worried expression. Both sets of identical brown eyes were fixed on me in concern as my mind started to clear.

 My short, panicked breath started to smooth out and I started taking deeper ones. After 10 or so breaths I realized that my forearm was straining, and I looked down to see Bella's arm in my grip. Her hand was nearly blue from lack of blood flow due to my grip cutting off circulation. I quickly let go and watched as her face tried not to show the pain that hit her due to blood rushing back into her hand.

 I looked down in shame at my weakness, "I am so sorry I hurt you, Bella."

 "I know Thomas. It's not your fault. I will be fine."

 Using the heel of my hand I hit my temple. "These damn dreams need to get out of my head!!!" Every word was punctuated with a new blow to my head.

 Charlie stepped forward and grabbed my hands. "Careful kid don't hurt yourself. You went through an unimaginable ordeal. It is no wonder you have bound-up feelings over it. It may very well take the rest of your life to work it out, just never stop working at it."

 "It's ok, I am awake now." I looked at my phone, 2:20 am. "You guys really should go back to sleep; I think I will draw for a while." I didn't know if they truly wanted to go back to bed or if they just wanted to give me space, but they both left, and Bella closed my door. Before she did though she whispered a soft "I love you."

 I spent about an hour drawing random pictures before I felt tired enough to close my eyes. I don't think I ever went fully to sleep again, but just closed my eyes and zoned out until my alarm went off and I got up to start my morning workout.

 Not really caring what clothes I gathered, I just shoved a few things in my bag and zipped it up, then headed downstairs. To my surprise, I saw Charlie sitting at the table drinking his coffee. Feeling shame burn the back of my neck, "I really am sorry Charlie, that hasn't happened in a long time. You have to know that I would never hurt Bella intentionally."

 Charlie looked at me, "HU? Oh, I understand. No, I know you would never intentionally hurt her Thomas. I guess I just feel a little useless. I am trying to rack my brain on ways to help you. But I keep coming up empty."

 "You said it right in my room Charlie, I will have to work my way through it." I started my eggs as we both fell into a companionable silence.

 After I was done eating, "Well I better get moving, don't want to keep Jasper waiting. See you at the station."

 Charlie nods at me as I walk out the door.

 I walked down the steps of the porch and went to Charlie's cruiser which was unlocked as usual. This alone shows the difference between Forks and Phoenix, you can't even leave your car unlocked long enough to run into the gas station and back without fear of your car missing in Phoenix.

 "Well. If in you don't look like the wrong side of right this morning." Came the southern drawl of Jasper.

 "If that's your fancy way of saying that I look like shit, then you have a powerful way of understating things my friend." I yawned and knuckled my eyes. "I wish this place had a decent gym; I need a heavy bag to hit."

 Jasper had a thoughtful look on his face, "If you want to skip the run, how about we do a little sparring? I won't stay still like a heavy bag, but you can throw some punches."

 "I don't think I want to take the chance of hurting my only male friend in town, especially if doing so will also hurt my only female friend in town, thanks for the offer though."

 Jasper got a rye smile on his face, "Oh, I don't think that's anything to worry about. Come on, I know a clearing nearby that will be perfect. Getting there should be a warmup in itself."

 I followed Jasper as he ran off at a faster speed than normal. He must be excited at the idea of us sparring, he has a lot more spring in his step than normal. I was a little winded by the time we came to a clearing that looked big enough. I noticed that Jasper wasn't even panting from the run, I never realized he had so much stamina before. As my suspicion began to rise Jasper looked over at me and suddenly, I didn't care. I felt my body settle down and for the first time today my muscles started to relax. 

 I started to stretch my arms out, this must really be what I need if I am able to feel so much better so quickly. Normally after a night like I had, it takes days to feel normal again. I started to look around at the clearing and was happy to see there were no rocks or tree limbs on the ground to cause issues. I kicked at the ground and found it was cold but not frozen solid. It will be a little rougher than landing on a mat but not too bad.

 "Good thing you know to check the ground, you will be spending a lot of time on it." Jasper taunts me.

 I look up to see him circling me at a distance trying to get a feel for my balance and awareness. "Well, like I said. I can't go hurting both of my friends at the same time." I crouch down and put both my legs slightly farther apart than normal. Giving myself a solid base to work from. 

 After a few moments of his circling, I grew impatient and started to move towards him on my own. But as soon as I started my charge, he started his, so I drew up short and steadied myself to accept his charge. However, just like me, Jasper pulled back and started to circle me again.

 This same thing happened two more times before I realized that he was doing it on purpose. His speed gave him the ability to react quickly enough to my charge that it looked like we were in sync. This time, when I started my charge, I did so with no intent to stop. With my strength, I just needed to get ahold of him, and it would be over.

 Jasper just moved to the side out of my reach and tripped me to the ground. "You telegraphed that one with your eyes. You should have kept the surprised look in them when I started forward."

 I picked myself up off the ground and noticed he was within arm's reach, so I shot a jab at him.

 He moved his head just enough that my fist was close enough to graze his ear. "Nice! You didn't waste the opportunity to strike, but you kept it slow so you could stop it if I didn't react."

 I didn't say anything, just got into a stance I liked, and proceeded to throw punches when I saw the opportunity. Jasper was true to his word about me not being able to hit him. Mostly he dodged my blows but occasionally he used his hands to redirect my fists to miss him.

 I tried keeping my pace slow, so I didn't get winded, but Jasper kept tricking me with fake openings. I was frustrated, but surprisingly I wasn't getting angry. I tried to alternate my pace with a few quick blows then resting for a bit by just throwing occasional jabs to keep him aware of me. I tried to shorten my jab length to trick his depth perception at a crucial time. 

 After about 15 minutes of this, fatigue started to set in, and my posture got sloppy. Jasper reached out and gave me a shot to the ribs that surprised me completely. 

 "Keep those elbows tucked to protect the ribs, don't be afraid to move the body for protection. Don't just use the body to strengthen a punch, learn what part can take damage and keep going and what is debilitating if damaged." To prove his point, Jasper started to strike me with open palms when he had an opening.

 After another 10 minutes, Jasper stepped back "OK let's rest a few minutes, you're starting to sound like a rusty bellows in a bad blacksmith shop."

 I sat down on a nearby tree that had fallen years ago so I could catch my breath. Once I did, I stared at Jasper "Where did you learn so much about fighting man? You're only a year or so older than me."

 He smiled at me with a bit of a scary look in his eyes. "It's the miles more than the years, my friend. besides, this isn't fighting, this is just sport. True fights don't last this long. The movies have people convinced that it is only a good fight if both people are standing and slugging it out with each other. That they can take damage and just shrug it off, then come back later and win it all."

 "It's only recently that people are starting to realize that in a no-hold-barred match, nearly every time the match goes past the first few punches, it goes down to the ground for wrestling and Judo. Media and false expectations along with sports, have brought about some damn stupid fighting styles."

 I smiled at him, this being one of the few times I saw him serious. "So, what style do you focus on? Jeet Kune Do, with your speed it should fit nicely." 

 "Ahh, the One Inch Punch. That is a great style, but I subscribe to a different way of thinking. A specific style passed down to a group, should only be a foundation. Your own likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses should help you form your own style past that. A person's instinct mixed into a comfortable style of their own making is a frightening thing."

 He smiled at me, "But there is no better style than one you perfect in battle. Get up, time for round 2."