"Falling"

Forgive Me

The day rises and with it the moment Bella had been dreading all night. At some point the night before, Bella understood that no amount of begging and pleading would change what is about to happen, but that doesn't mean that she has accepted it entirely.

Bella stands on the edge of the battlefield, Josh and Jared standing on each side of her and the soldiers to their backs. Over the course of the night, from inside of Josh's private tent, she had heard the toasts and prayers for the Commander that every single man in Josh's army admired and respected.

She can see her father on the other side of the battlefield and part of her wished she knew how to shoot an arrow. If she did, she would send one straight through her father's cold, black heart.

Bella notices Logan signaling for his men to bring Jensen forward, two soldiers forcing him on his knees in front of Logan. She looks at Jensen and sees him looking back at her, tears now in her eyes, mouthing at him to forgive her.

She hears Josh's voice telling her that she shouldn't be there and that she doesn't need to see what's about to happened. Bella straightens and tells him that she isn't going anywhere, thinking that if Jensen is dying that morning then the last thing he will see is his wife and their unborn child, placing a hand on her belly.

The movement doesn't go unnoticed by Josh, who sounds surprised when he calls her name. She looks up at him and sees him looking down at her hand and where it's placed, asking her if Jensen knows.

Bella tears up, her resolve shaken, when she tells him that Jensen knows, and looks back to her husband, willing her tears away. She will not have her husband see her cry in his last moments on this Earth.

Josh's voice is a bit shaken when he tells her he is sorry, and she is sure if she looks back at him, she will see tears in his eyes as well. But her eyes stay with her husband.

Bella watches as her father smiles and signals a soldier over. The soldier approaches, his sword glinting in the morning sun, pushing Jensen's head down to expose his neck, and raises his sword in the air before letting it drop.

She looks away at the last possible second, Josh pulling her close to him, and she knows when it happened by the way his body stiffened, swearing in her ear that, one day, her father will pay for what he has done.

Bella starts crying, and Josh tells Jared to take her to his tent, anger radiating from both their bodies as they look at each other, before Jared takes her away.

Josh looks across the field one last time, to his brother's body, and swears to him that he will make sure nothing happens to Bella and their child, before leaving to check on Bella.