I lay still, staring at the ceiling. She never responds, so I know she’s finally fallen asleep. Her presence is so close, her warmth mere inches away, but it’s not her closeness that is making my chest tight. It’s the words she just spoke and the request she made.

Teach her to fight?

I guess I knew it was coming and I should have known the moment I laid eyes on her that she’d be a fighter. She is human and fragile, but in the last few days something has shifted inside of her, growing ...