A War Away

Chapter 7: A Date To Remember

From that point forward, I change my tone to be seem a bit more free and relaxed. If that is how Emilia felt, adjustment is in order on my part. In the past few times we talked. My sometimes serious tone was probably reminding her of her parents. Where she was locked up and treated like a precious gem, which is understandable but in the end wrong.

We arrive at Pardo church, a large church built some 60 years ago, a sight to behold in it of itself. Emilia turns to look at me while I gaze at the church, this is my second time coming here so I wanted to appreciate the church as much as possible. 

"Hey Agapito?" She tugs my shoulder while I space out.

"Agapito..." I finally come back to my senses and see her cute face pouting at me not noticing her. She is begging for attention, maybe because of a lack at attention at home? who knows.

"Sorry about that Emilia, lets go to the monastery" I pause then say "Before we go though, lets visit the church pray a bit, were already here anyway it would be nice to know God is on our side" Sure, I am not much of a super religious type ,but the teachings of the church is always in me.

"Alright lets go!" She says while dragging me by the arm to the side entrance of the church. No one is inside right now aside from a janitor doing his rounds near the altar. Emilia prays while I admire the inside of the church, the morning sun had come out and the heat is starting to annoy me. After a few minutes of walking around the inside we come out the rear of the church and start trekking our way through the hills to the monastery.

Even from the church the platform where we would be sightseeing could be seen, it is not too high up, it certainly will not be an easy climb either. The trek is long but enjoyable, every few minutes we would take some time and sit down to see the hills and sea behind us, each step taking us closer to the platform. The acacia and Narra trees shielded us from heat most of the way up, since Emilia is not the most athletic type she would sometimes need a break to catch up with me.

Gasping for air after a steep part of the trek Emilia says "Agapito, could you carry me the rest of the way up, I need some time to rest." I thought about this request, she isn't too heavy but still the same height as me.

"Alright I'll carry you until we reach the Monastery" I squat and motion for her to get on my back, this is the first time I had given someone a piggy back ride, my father and mother would do it to me during my childhood. Lots of firsts in my life are happening now, so this is what accomplishment feels like.

She slowly got on my back gasping again for air, and pointed to the monastery which is quite close. We could see the abandoned building, some of it had collapsed from neglect but some of the building is still in perfect condition. 

I steadily walked my way up stone stairs up to the monastery, careful to not accidentally trip or hurt Emilia as we went. She giggled and smiled the whole way through, I am super tired ,but her smile and gentle giggles motivated me the whole way there. She is too precious to hurt in anyway, wonder if anything is left inside the monastery...

Finally after half an hour of hiking we reach the main gate, vines grew from the stone wall surrounding the complex. The wooden gate is slightly open, so I pushed with all of my strength to no avail, it seems the door is designed to need two people to open, probably a security measure. 

"Emilia, please help me with the gate, go over to the other side and pull with me on my mark" She nods and hastily grabs on to an iron handle.

"1... 2.... 3..... PULL!" We both pull and feel the gate creaking open, but not completely we needed another round.

"1.... 2... 3.... PULL!" The gate finally swung open knocking Emilia off her feet. I ran to her side to find her elbow slightly scrapped. This is a possibility that I planned for in advance though, I take out the small first aid kit, roll back her sleeves and place a bandage on the scrape.