Titan's Heart

Chapter 10: Movie Night

After what seemed like forever, he let go of my arm. I could hear the creak of a large, heavy door opening, and the warm, humid air tumbled out onto my face and into the hallway. I knew that we were in my favorite place: the garden. As he lead me in, with my eyes still shut, I could feel my shoes sinking into the soft turf.

"Open your eyes."

The garden was dark, like it would be outside in the night. There was a little picnic set up, with a blanket over the grass. And lo and behold, and old-fashioned projector and screen. Like the kind your teacher used to show something on the ELMO, or on the computer, like a video. I was touched that he would get out this old, dusty technology for me. I walked towards the big, thin blanket and sat down. Joziah fumbled with the projector, and asked me what movie I wanted to watch.

"Beauty and the Beast. It's my favorite Disney Princess movie," I replied, the title bringing back memories. I remembered when I was thirteen, I did a musical theatre camp for two weeks. We put on the Broadway musical "Beauty and the Beast Jr." in two weeks. I had so much fun with some of my other friends there. I was carefree, and had felt like it was the first time I could let loose. Although, the production for me went a little bumpy. My dress broke in the back, and I had to go on with the zipper broken. We got it fixed, and the rest of it went smoothly. I was very proud of myself afterward, and Scarlet can attest to that. She watched the final production.

Anyway, once he got the movie started, he sat down and brought out the food. It smelled delicious. Not that the hospital food wasn't bad, but this was the real stuff. Like with salt and pepper and acutal seasoning. My mouth was watering. The whole movie we ate popcorn, candy, and some of my favorite bar foods. I watched intently. I remembered every swish of a dress, every story the songs told. It made me feel good that I could at least remember this small thing from my past. I loved every moment of At the end Joziah spoke up.

"That is one of the most beautiful stories I have seen," he said, mouth gaping. I could tell that his awe was legit.

"I love Belle, because I can relate to her so much. She is so real, and doesn't mind speaking up against the popular views. And Prince Adam has flaws, which I like. It makes the story a lot easier to relate to," I remarked. He nodded his head in agreement, and then started packing up the picnic. He put everything back in the big wicker basket he brought, and started towards those big heavy glass doors.

I hesitated. Even though I had everything here, I wanted to go back. I wanted to be a girl, not a subject or patient, on a normal date in a park, or backyard. I needed to know what I was, and that whole piece of me was missing. I wanted, needed to think that this was just a normal date, a normal movie night and us a normal couple. But I knew that once I walked through those doors, I would become Patient Number 1102 to most of the staff here. Just another experiment. And Joziah would be my doctor again. Not my boyfriend, or one of my best friends. And I couldn't let that happen. Not yet, at least.

"Wait," I called. "Can we stay here just a bit more?" I pleaded, trying to cover these painful thoughts with cuteness.

He rolled his eyes. Joziah knew me too well to not know something was up, but he played along and didn't ask questions. "Alright. Fine, but I guess that means we are still on a date. And I still have to impress you..." His thought faded off with a mysterious tone, and a smirk to match it. He turned away and said something into his little walky-talky type thing. I heard the walls of the garden groan, and rumble. The whole room echoed the sound. When it stopped, I looked up.

There they were. As beautiful and precious as suspended diamonds, the stars dazzled in the inky black night. I could see the moon, and it was one of those really big, cream-colored, full moons. I almost cried. It took me back to when I would lay down on my trampoline, when I was little, and stare up there for hours. I took off my heels, and twirled around, having a look at every angle. I hadn't seen the stars in over one hundred years. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I was reminded of them.

As I gazed in wonder, I felt a set of hands on my shoulders. "They're beautiful, aren't they?" he asked, looking up with me. It was sort of a silent answer, because I was too busy looking at everything. When we say down on the blanket again, he touched my cheek.

I looked down from the constellations. I looked into his eyes, those eyes that I could just pour my soul into. He cupped my face in his hands, and we leaned in. And at that moment we kissed. And at that moment, I loved him, and was sure he loves me even more.