Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

armies. To leave the squabbling. To be free."
    Free .
    "I. . .don't know, Zane," Vin said, looking away.
    She heard him step forward. "What do you owe him, Vin? He doesn't know you. He fears you. The truth is, he was never worthy of you."
    "No," Vin said, shaking her head. "That's not it at all, Zane. You don't understand. I was never worthy of him. Elend deserves someone better. He deserves. . .someone who shares his ideals. Someone who thinks he was right to give up his throne. Someone who sees more honor—and less foolishness—in that."
    "Either way," Zane said, stopping a short distance from her. "He cannot understand you. Us."
    Vin didn't reply.
    "Where would you go, Vin?" Zane asked. "If you weren't bound to this place, bound to him? If you were free, and could do whatever you wished, where would you go?"
    The thumpings seemed louder. She glanced toward OreSeur, who sat quietly by the side wall, mostly in the dark. Why feel guilty? What did she have to prove to him?
    She turned back to Zane. "North," she said. "To Terris."
    "We can go there. Wherever you want. Location is irrelevant to me, as long as it is not this place."
    "I can't abandon them," Vin said.
    "Even if by doing so, you steal away Straff's only Mistborn?" Zane asked. "The trade is a good one. My father will know that I have disappeared, but he will not realize that you aren't still in Luthadel. He'll be even more afraid to attack. By giving yourself freedom, you'll also be leaving your allies with a precious gift."
    Zane took her hand, forcing her to look at him. He did look like Elend—like a hard version of Elend. Zane had been broken by life, just as she had been, but both had put themselves back together. Had the re-forming made them stronger, or more fragile?
    "Come," Zane whispered. "You can save me, Vin."
    A war is coming to the city , Vin thought with a chill. If I stay, I will have to kill again .
    And slowly, she let him draw her away from her desk, toward the mists and the comforting darkness beyond. She reached up, pulling out a metal vial for the journey, and the motion caused Zane to spin suspiciously.
    He has good instincts , Vin thought. Instincts like my own. Instincts that won't let him trust, but that keep him alive .
    He relaxed as he saw what she was doing, and smiled and turned away again. Vin followed him, walking again, but she felt a sudden stab of fear. This is it , she thought. After this, everything changes. The time for decisions has passed .
    And I made the wrong choice .
    Elend wouldn't have jumped like that when I took out the vial .
    She froze. Zane tugged on her wrist, but she didn't move. He turned toward her in the mists, frowning as he stood at the edge of her balcony.
    "I'm sorry," Vin whispered, slipping her hand free. "I can't go with you."
    "What?" Zane asked. "Why not?"
    Vin shook her head, turning and walking back into the room.
    "Tell me what it is!" Zane said, tone rising. "What is it about him that draws you? He isn't a great leader. He's not a warrior. He's no Allomancer or general. What is it about him? "
    The answer came to her simply and easily. Make your decisions—I'll support you in them . "He trusts me," she whispered.
    "What?" Zane asked incredulously.
    "When I attacked Cett," Vin said, "the others thought I was acting irrationally—and they were right. But Elend told them I had a good reason, even if he didn't know what it was."
    "So he's a fool," Zane said.
    "When we spoke later," Vin continued, not looking at Zane, "I was cold to him. I think he knew that I was trying to decide whether to stay with him or not. And. . .he told me that he trusted my judgment. He'd support me if I chose to leave him."
    "So he's also unappreciative," Zane said.
    Vin shook her head. "No. He just loves me."
    "I love you."
    Vin paused, looking at Zane. He looked angry. Desperate, even. "I believe you. I still can't go with you."
    "But why ?"
    "Because it would require leaving Elend," she said. "Even if I can't share his ideals, I can respect them. Even if I don't deserve him, I can be near him. I'm staying, Zane."
    Zane stood quietly for a moment, mist falling around his shoulders. "I've failed, then."
    Vin turned away from him. "No. It isn't that you've failed. You aren't flawed simply because I—"
    He slammed into her, throwing her toward the mist-covered floor. Vin turned her head, shocked, as she crashed into the wooden floor, the breath going out of her.
    Zane loomed above her, his face dark. "You were