Trapped : The Island of Torment

Chapter 16 : Head Over Heart?

The cold wind swirled in the night skies as the wild boar was roasted, suspended on a stick above the bonfire. Philip and Candice are reunited and are whispering sweet conversations with one another, while Oliver and Laurel are talking. I concentrated on the roasting wild boar, as Richard and Barbara whispered hush conversations between them. I have been trained not to express emotions during times like this, even though I know my husband is here. "The heart knows what it wants Mariko." said my sensei during tea. "But the key is whether can you put your head above your heart." 

As the revelation is still hurtful towards me I have decided to not show my emotions, no matter how much I had wanted to. Once the boar is cooked I set to work, using the hunting knife already sterilised by the fire to cut the cooked meat into edible portions. "Damn West Point." Kate remarked. "MREs didn't suit your palette?"

"You need to blend in while working for black ops, going undercover that is." I say, my hands busy cutting the boar meat into edible portions. "My grandmother taught me how to cook, while my granduncle taught me how to hunt wild animals like this." 

"MREs can be the worst meal you have ever had according to the American soldiers." Philip approached. "Smelled nice." 

"Give me a few minutes, then we're done." I say. "Why didn't Uncle Liam get help from Yongsan or Yokosuka?" I asked. 

"He did." Philip said. "Like I have told Candice just now, the Americans weren't convinced that you're kidnapped." 

"I'll have a conversation with the current defence secretary when this is over." I say. "Here, one for you and one for Candice." I added, handing him two sticks of roasted boar meat. 

"Thank you Isa." he said. With that he went off to give the dinner to his wife. 

"You're still not talking to Bruce?" this time, it was Oliver. 

"Thank you for coming Oliver." I say, handing him three sticks of meat this time. "I'm not sure. There's a lot of things in my mind now." 

"You should you know." he said. "He's worried about your safety." 

"Yeah." Kate said. "They can believe whatever dumb lies Selina told them, but anybody with a functioning pair of eyes can see clearly that you and Bruce cared for one another." 

"And what dumb lies was that?" Oliver asked. 

"I can tell you, but not here." Kate said. "Might as well tell your wife and sister-in-law about it." 

Later

I sat alone by the still-burning bonfire, keeping watch as the others went to rest for the journey ahead. Kate, Oliver, Laurel and Sara conversed after dinner and the trio had mixed reactions, ranging from disbelief to sympathy. For me it only reminded me of the grief I felt after losing my children with Bruce to a miscarriage, as I was still grieving over my biological father's death due to liver cancer when the news reached me. I wasn't born yet when my aunts suffered miscarriages, so I can only imagine the grief they felt. But this time... I feel their pain now, as I now wept over the loss of the children while seated by the fire. Tears trickled down my cheek as someone enveloped a cloth over my shoulder. Batman sat down next to me, his helmet-like cowl removed, revealing to me the face of Bruce Wayne beneath it. 

"You'll feel cold, even though there's a bonfire burning here." he said. Bruce pulled the cloth, which was his cape, around my shoulder as I looked away so that he could not see my tears. He held my hand in his while I looked at the bonfire, the tears already wiped from my face. "Sorry that I'm late." he said. "I would've found you earlier if not..."

"Don't be hard on yourself Bruce." I say. "You already did your best when you located our location here on Lian Yu." 

"I'll handle the issue of the fractured trust." Bruce said. "She's gone too far this time." 

"Bruce," I say. "Don't make this issue even harder by intervening." 

"It is no longer your issue when the news reached me." he said. "It's our issue now." I sighed, drawing the folds of his cape around me to keep warm, as I began to feel the cold. "As Philip said, I'm not taking this insult lying down. You're my wife and my partner, you don't deserve this." 

"But you know that my faith in your children is shaken to the core." I say. "I might not fully trust them from now."

"I know." Bruce said. "And I can't force you to trust them back." 

"Don't break your bond with the family because of me." I say. "You guys have been through a lot before I came along." 

"The trust is still there Elizabeth." he said. "But after what happened... it might have been shaken." 

"I'll replenish the firewood." I say, getting up and handing him his cape to fetch the firewood we have gathered on our way back. After placing the firewood on the still-burning bonfire I noticed the cut on Bruce's arm, which had stopped bleeding but could be at risk of infection. Ripping off a long strip of cloth from my jacket I proceeded to scoop up a small portion of ash. "Get something to resist the pain, this will be nasty." I say. "Your wound needed to be disinfected." Bruce glanced at the cut on his arm, before giving me a glance to go ahead. Taking a deep breath I smeared the ash on the wound, and Bruce gritted his teeth in pain. "Sorry about hurting your arm with the arrow." I say, wrapping the cloth around his wound. 

"It's nothing." Bruce said. I tied the cloth around his wound while he watched, but I couldn't help but feel that he had the urge to kiss me. "Should be enough to disinfect the wound, but not enough for a cure." 

"You need this for the night." Bruce said, draping the cape on my shoulders. I felt the heat flushing on my cheeks as he did so. He leaned forward, pressing his lips against mine. I gently nudged at him for him to let go, but... he didn't care. His gloved hand brushed against my cheek, gently wiping away the strand of tears running down my cheek. 

"We shouldn't do this." I say, gently pushing for him to let go. 

"I know you wanted that Isa." Bruce said. "You only restrain yourself when Dick and Barbara are with us now." 

"Even though I missed you and wanted to kiss you... I don't want to give out the image that I was faking it." 

"We didn't fake it." Bruce shook his head. "My love for you, and your love for me... it has always been clear as day." I showed a brief smile, while Bruce looked in the direction of the tents, discovering that Richard and Barbara had been eavesdropping on our conversation from the beginning. 

"I... I'd better go." I say. Candice and Philip emerged from the tent as well. Giving them a nod I scurried off to an unoccupied tent and pulled the zipper shut. I leaned against the tent flap in silence, thinking back on what happened just now. I know I should remain stoic and restrain my feelings when Bruce is around, but it failed when he kissed me.