The Knight and the Paladin - A series of Oneshots

11 The wish for a better future

A/N: Sorry for not updating regularly. Just like everywhere else it's so freaking hot here in Germany. My brain is lacking in having good ideas. 
This one came up when I forced myself to sleep on the balcony, watching the night sky...

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The night was warm and clear. They had to bivouac in the middle of nowhere because it got too dark to travel any further. They laid beside each other in their bedrolls, backpacks used as pillows. Both were awake but silent. Kathryn looked up at the starry night and listened to the soft chirping of the crickets. She thought about the past and wondered if it was like this all this time before the bombs fell. She was even able to hear the distant humming of an interstate close by, the laughing voices in the night as young people had a party at a beach. She also heard the sound of a highly lighted bonfire. She smiled to herself while thinking about the peaceful scenery in her head.

Danse silently shifted and looked at her. It was a long time since he saw her this peaceful and it put a smile on his face. He didn't have to know what she was thinking about. It was fine for him just to know that she was in a good mood. "The stars are beautiful, aren't they?", she suddenly whispered. Danse's face reddened and he also looked up in the sky. He had to admit that Kathryn was right, the stars were beautiful. He hummed in agreement.

"When was the last time you had the time to look at them?", Kathryn asked him. He was wondering that, too. "It's been too long ago...", he sighed. His world always only contained fighting and war. No matter if it was fighting for his own life to survive in the harsh environment around him, or standing side by side with his brothers and sisters at the war for a greater cause. Somehow this saddened him.

Now it was Kathryn's turn to look at him. She saw him frowning and he fidgeted with his fingers. She crawled closer to him, her shoulder softly bumping into his and put a hand on his unsteady ones. He tensed a little under her touch but when he glanced at her she smiled. They intertwined their fingers and both looked up. "I wish it could be like this all the time." The warm and soft skin of her thumb, rubbing circles between his thumb and index finger, gave him a little shower of goosebumps.

"Oh, look a shooting star. Let's make a wish.", Kathryn said. She closed her eyes, squeezed his hand and mumbled something. He was fascinated by her innocence in acting so childlike. He studied her face a little longer and tried to count the freckles on her nose and cheeks. Fine lines at the sides of her eyes deepened as her grin grew wider. "What did you wish for?", he eventually asked. Kathryn chuckled "Secret." "Oh..." He didn't know if he was sad about it or not. He didn't know about those old pre-war things and if he didn't know that Kathryn read almost every book on the Prydwen he'd think she was pre-war. She knew so much about the time before the great war and he adored her for it.

The grip of her hand on his loosened and he knew she fell asleep smiling. He didn't know if he was able to sleep exposed in the open. He just stared into the sky. The stars reminded him of her freckles and the bright shine in her eyes. He blushed. Another shooting star flew by and he closed his eyes to make a wish of his own. He opened his eyes and looked to his side. She was still there and he smiled. Half of his dream already had come true. He knew that he had to fight for the other half. Living in peace. But he also was afraid of it. Before he could think more about it, sleep catched him.

Both woke up in the morning, well rested. A small breakfast in silence followed and it was time to leave. The street they found soon led them to a settlement. One of the settlers came running towards them, hands in the air waving frantically. "Help me, please.", he cried out, stumbling and falling to the ground panting. Gunshots were audible and shortly after dark smoke rose in spirals. Women screamed and children cried. Danse didn't hesitate to draw his rifle, flicked the safety off and ran up to the settlement, Kathryn right behind on his heels, Righteous Authority in hand.

Several shacks were on fire, men tried to defend their families and the farmland behind them. The Raiders falling in were high in numbers and shouting vulgarities at the female settlers. Just in one blink the whole place was filled with the sound of more gunshots and laser fire. The settlers crawling behind any kind of safety looked in awe as two armed persons ran into the battle decimating the thread ahead in quick and accurate shots.

Inspired by the two strangers, the settlers with guns in their hands soon started to join the fight again defending their home. Minutes passed and the settlement was littered with dead Raiders. "Take care of the fire!", the woman shouted and she herself ran with a bucket full of water to the next burning shack and tried to extinguish the flames. The man she came with even carried a full Brahmin water trough and a good majority of a burning shack soon was covered in water. The settlers who weren't injured helped to stop the flames spread any further.

When the fires were finally out Kathryn took care of the wounded men and women while Danse began to drag the corpses of the Raiders out of the settlement and stacked them up to a pile. The men helped him. "Take anything you need from those bastards.", he said. The men nodded and found quite an amount of guns and ammo, stimpaks, chems and food. The women looked after the children, some of them still crying. Hushed words tried to soothe little sniffles and hands wiped away strains of tears.

The majority of the settlement was saved. Three smoking ruins stood next to each other, but the fields were untouched. Only two or three settlers had serious injuries the others minor ones. But it was sure that everyone was shocked. It took a while for everyone to calm down again and feel halfway normal. Until then Kathryn and Danse walked around and gave out bottles of purified water. The men and women nodded their thanks and drank in silence.

"Seems like we should stay here for a while, help them rebuild and set up some safety.", Kathryn thought out loud. Danse looked at her like he wanted to argue. But then he thought back at the night before. He wanted everyone to live in peace. He agreed and started to gather supplies to build defenses. He worked for hours to build a turret and was at the final wiring. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead as the sun shone bright over the midday sky. A hand gently touched his shoulder and he looked up. "You should take a break and drink something." Kathryn held out a bottle to him. He took it with gratitude.

Later that day Danse and Kathryn still were at the settlement sitting in a shadowy place. Danse stared into the distance and Kat knew he was thinking about something. "What's the matter?", she asked him. First he didn't answer. His eyebrows knitted together as he tried to express himself. "You know...", he started. "...a second shooting star flew across the sky last night. And..." he looked down onto his hands. "Yes Danse?" He sighed. "I made a wish." Her eyes widened and at the same time a smile crept onto her face. "I hope it'll come true one day.", Kat said. He looked up into her face. "The first half already did. The second on the other hand..." he rubbed the back of his neck. It clearly was a struggle for him to find the right words. He never was good at expressing himself without feeling completely embarrassed.

Kat took his hand like the night before, squeezing it in reassurance. His heartbeat rose and his cheeks flushed in a pink shade. He had to swallow a lump which was building up in his throat. His free hand ran through his hair, another sigh escaping his mouth. "I know that we have to fight for the other half. I wished for people to live free and in peace. I wished for us to live like that..." Again he felt sad and frightened. Kat's eyes glistened with tears. She never thought that her Paladin would think about such things. The squeeze of her hand grew a bit stronger.

He shook his head. "When I saw your peaceful face last night I wished that it would become a permanent look one day. I wished that we would live in peace... together-" Her free hand caressed his cheek, soft pressure forced him to turn to her. Her lips softly brushed his cheek, then the corner of his mouth until they were completely on his own lips. Her eyes were closed as his were wide open. But only after a second he was melting into her touch and he closed his eyes. His free hand found it's way into her curly hair.

It felt like an eternity before they parted. Kat's eyes were still closed and she took her lower lip between her teeth, a soft smile caressed it.

"Let's go and finish building this turret, shall we?"