Violet

The Attack

"Here is your room," a woman who introduced herself as Marna said as she opened a door leading to a grayish room with a single-sized bed on the side and a gray cabinet on the other. Another door also stood inside the room. I guessed it was for the bathroom. "You will be staying here for a long time so get yourself used here."

"Thanks Marna," I told her.

"It's Martha," she corrected patiently. 

"Oh, sorry," I smiled at here and she returned the gesture.

I decided I liked Martha. She's a good person. Maybe we could be friends?

"If you need anything, I'm just three doors away," was the last thing she told me before leaving me alone in my bedroom. Sigh.

I approached the bed and sat on it. Now what? I was not really sure where to begin. This new-found life, was it possible that I could live it? Could I really stand up again after everything? After the attack on our home, I always thought that I'd die not long after the townspeople, but then my belief was proved to be wrong. 

And the place... This fortress they call the Guild. The people who lived here. Were they to be trusted? What if they only want something from us? What if they were meant to harm us? 

There was a gentle knock on my closed door. Then another.

"Arche?" said a muffled voice from behind a door. 

My spirits rose up right then and there. That voice was Jet's. 

"Come in. It's not locked." I replied.

The door then opened, revealing an eighteen-year-old boy with black hair and smiling gray eyes. Oh, those eyes. They never seemed to show any sign of weakness; they were always strong and joyful. Even at moments like these.

"How's your new room?" he asked casually as he sat beside me on my bed. He wrapped my hand around both of his and placed it on top of his lap. He squeezed a little, like he's assuring me that everything's going to be okay. "Pretty cozy, eh?" 

Much as I appreciated his efforts to cheer me up, I was not in the mood for pep talks.

"I'm scared, Jet," I confessed honestly, like I always did to him. "I still can't believe we're going to live here for the rest of our lives. Here in this unknown, closed space--"

"Shhh..." Jet put one arm around the back of my shoulders and drew me close to him. Then all the feeling I'd been hiding inside surfaced and I cried like a baby, covering my face in his chest. 

Jet started to rub my back and wiped the tears from my eyes using the back of his other hand but I needed more than just a rub on my back and a hand to wipe my tears away. I enfolded both my arms around his neck in a hug, wanting the comfort of his body close to mine. I could slightly feel the texture of his lips as they sometimes brush gently to the back of my neck, and his hot breath... it was ticklish. 

He had just hugged me back when I started to giggle a little. 

"Now that's weird," he said.

"Your breaths are ticklish," I chuckled, and tightened my hug. 

As he returned the gesture, I couldn't help but feel the familiarity of it all--the way I felt comforted, safe, and contented whenever I was in his embrace, the way my fears and sadness got replaced with bliss and glee every time I could feel him close to me.