saudade

cherry bomb

  The warmth of the sun kept her into a deep sleep as a thin layer of sweat dampened her skin. She was surrounded by flowers- mostly yellow -all every side of her. Some six feet other up to her ankles and in between. But, none of them were better than the other. Not only did they distract the bees and other unwanted insects from her bare arms and legs, but they smelled bitter-sweet and gave her a nostalgic feeling only this field could provide her.
  When she was younger her parents and siblings came here under the cherry tree to have picnics and play childish games until the sunset and they were too tired to move. Her siblings even competed against another to find who could tie a cherry stem with their tongue fastest or, if their parents weren't watching, who could spit the cherry's center the farthest. Doug and Ben spent their last days here before they went to the trainee camps. Life was much easier then. Back when they were young and full of life. Now Doug and Ben were tasked with keeping the streets safe from the violent gangs who oppose the Monarchy and those who demand anarchy.
  Mal sat up and brought her knees close to her chest. The Spring winds flew through her pitch-black purple hair and made her loose braid fall out; although her rolling in the grass must have had the most effect.
  "Though I'd find you here." A masculine voice spoke from her left.
  She twisted her neck to face a tall masculine soldier with unruly blue-ish hair and emerald green eyes. "I thought you were being shifted off to Fort Maria. Did something happen?"
  The man shook his head and plopped beside her. He sat slouched and his hands crossed in his crossed lap. "They decided to give the cadets a day off due to the attack on Wall Victoria. A lot of us still can't sleep after all the casualties." He shivered.
  She placed her hand on his knee, then, gave him a comforting grin. "I'm glad you and Doug made it back, Ben. It's been far too long since I've seen you two."
  He smiled and nodded in accord. "That it has, M."
  Embracing, his scent of sweat covered weakly by some form of cologne, filled her nostrils. To a normal person, this would seem unsanitary and disgusting but to her, it was effort. There was no doubt in her mind that he wasn't training all morning. Nor that the showers were broken or that his fellow heroes had to wait nights before their next bath. But the fact he purchased a bottle just so he would smell nice while meeting her made the smell almost manable. Behind his shoulder, she spotted a red fruit in the ripe green grass.
  'Want to play a game?" Mal asked him at arm's length.
  He cocked an eyebrow. "A game? What do you mean by that?"
  Motioning above her head she smirked. "Whoever can tie a cherry stem the fastest wins. Got it?"
  "Okay, you have yourself a challenge."
  Growing up she was never good at shooting the shell of cherry but she had mastered tying the stem. She wanted to impress him. After all the amazing things he'd done she wanted to feel like she was worthy of company- even if it was just tying a cherry stem.
  After the two snapped off the wood from the delicious snack the game began. With ease, she first pushed the wood against the roof of her mouth and bent its fibers into a view. Then, she placed it between her teeth and moved her tongue so it pushed one end through the created loop. Finally, she opened her mouth and plucked the stem off her tongue in triumph. Seeing that Ben had already tied it and was spinning the dampened wood between his fingers her blood boiled.
  "You cheat!" She exclaimed, tackling him. "This isn't fair! Admit it!"
  He moved his hands behind his head and chuckled. "Ms. Bridge, did you plan this game just to have an excuse to be close to me and see me tie it? And I thought I was perverted."
  Her face dropped. She slapped his chest and held back herself from harming him anymore. Although by the way he laughed it was obvious he found her attempts at inflicting pain hilarious. "Just so you know I had no intention of such a thing." She crossed her arms. "And stop laughing at me I'm not trying to hurt you."
  "You're doing so flawlessly."
  Standing to her feet she offered him a hand. "For a soldier, you're extremely childish."
  Suddenly, she was pushed to the ground. She arched her back to keep herself from possibly damaging her spine. The anger welled up in her disappeared when she saw he was laughing and smiling. Real emotion. Not the faulty kind you showed people at events, but the kinda boy would have when he was praised or chasing his buddies through the cobblestone streets of the town. And she couldn't help but giggle with him. It had been years since they'd ever played in the field. Last she remembered, Doug and he were celebrating their last night of freedom, watching the stars after a long wrestling match between the three.
  "Do you think we'll see each other again?" Doug had asked with his head on Ben's legs.
  "I think so." Ben returned with his head resting in Mal'a lap- back when she was able to sit cross-legged and she didn't wear a corset. Back when they were free-spirited preteens, unknowing of the war that awaited them outside.
  "Don't talk like that." Mal had looked to the stars and made a promise they'd never break. "As long as we're all under the same sky, we will see each other again."
  The promise seemed like ages ago now. She remembered thinking life would be easier for her when she was older, but now at age twenty-one, she still was forced to study etiquette and manners daily.
  "You're still just as naive as ever and your hair is, even more, a disaster now," Ben commented as he helped pick flowers and weeds from her long locks. "Maybe you should brush it here and then. You'll never get a rich husband like this.
Mal humphed and sat straighter. She sat between his legs and sat still as a door as he plucked each piece of nature from her hair. The sun was now setting, how long had she been out here? "Ben?"
  He hummed in response.
  "When did you leave to visit me?"
  He paused for a moment and the gentle tugs on her head stopped. "I believe maybe a quarter to six. Why?"
  "I was out here a while before that. How could I have lost track of time so badly," it was a rhetorical question of course. She already knew the answer: Ben and the fields. The worst temptations were those of the innocent after all.
She felt arms wrap around her and pull her closer to them. She now laid on Ben's chest as his breathing calmed and his eyes closed. Was he asleep? She twisted in his arms to face him and wake up the sleeping man but his grip only tightened on her corseted back.
"A little nap wouldn't harm us." She breathed and made herself comfortable.
As she looked at his pale sleeping expression and her hands threaded through his long hair, she smiled. He looked like a baby. A five' eleven baby. Nuzzling the crook of his neck, she allowed sleep to take over her body, and she drifted into a deep slumber.