This and That

You're Dismissed

Leaning against the wall, he now slid down till he could feel the cold of the marble seeping through his cornflower-blue cloak. Was it really so long ago? Could that be the voice he now heard bouncing off the walls, or his imagination....?

His hand squeezed harder as he felt hers start to relax. With her armor dented in most places, her face bloodied and bruised, gnarled strands of flaxen hair splayed across the red tile beneath her--only a miracle had kept her alive this long. Pulling out the two arrows had helped nothing. Even her name badge had almost completely fallen off, a quiet picture of the soldier herself. He could barely make out the two s's of 'Cypress.' Her eyes, though, contradicted everything else around her. What a greeness, such that it could stir the very rocks to life! But alas, her condition offered no relief. Those eyes continued to stare right back at him, lending him some of their energy.

"Status report, Captain?" The faintest of whispers.

"I-" He choked back the lump rising in his throat. She wasn't crying; why should he? "Job well done, soldier. Enemy vanquished. Excellent blocking technique, by the way."

"Captain Cypress? They need you in the tent, Sir."

"I'll be there-"

He turned back only to find her hand had dropped lifelessly to the ground. The smile frozen on her face accepted the sole tear making its way down her cheek.

"--soon."

You made me choose. Why did you make me choose?

I made a mistake, please forgive me.