Red (Colors Sequel)

Chapter 3

Burials had never really been proper before in the camp. Usually, it was just digging a hole and putting all the soldiers that had died in there with a stone which listed all of their names.

Even with the Chief before Ethan, there hadn't been much of a ceremony. When I had asked Cry about it, he'd told me that a few words had been said by Ethan and that she had simply been buried with her partner.

But I wanted to change that. I wanted to do something more for Ethan.

And so we had decided on doing a sort of ceremony that would still end with Ethan being simply put in the ground. This would be so that everyone could say some words to them, their goodbyes mostly.

Nate, Cry and I were all sitting nearby, watching soldier after soldier, citizen after citizen walking up to the stand on which Ethan was laying. They looked peaceful like that, laying with their eyes closed on as many flowers as we could find.

I had had Nate help me dress them up as a way (or more of an attempt) of bonding with him and telling him that I respected him or something. Well, put like that, it sounded way more macabre than it actually had been. It had also seemed like the right person to choose considering the feelings that he had for Ethan.

In all honesty, we weren't much different.

We had settled for a casual outfit. Knowing Ethan, they wouldn't have wanted to be buried in soldier gear or even in a suit or a dress.

And so, here we were.

All three of us had been deathly silent all day. It just wasn't a day for words. At least not to the living.

Cry stood up and I realized that every soldier that had wanted to talk to their Chief were done.

After Cry, it would be Nate's turn, and then mine. It seemed logical that I went last since I had known them the longest and had also been their partner.

Cry sat back down and Nate got up. I had never seen Nate so quiet and... worked up.

Well, we were all quite worked up. It seemed that even the sky was in mourning. It had been gray all day, with huge clouds drifting by, threatening to spill and rain any second.

There was no wind, too. Nothing to disturb the deafening silence or to make the clouds go away. It would probably rain all night.

I stared at Nate as he spoke to Ethan. He looked run down. As if Ethan leaving him really had left a huge hole in his heart. It probably had, now that I was thinking about it. Nate put his hand on Ethan's cheek and smiled. He was crying.

We were all crying.

Well, I wasn't. Not yet at least.

But as Nate sat back down, quietly sobbing while looking down, and as I got up before making my way over to Ethan, I knew that my eyes wouldn't stay dry very long.

Just like Nate, I put my hand on Ethan's cheek. I felt a few tears coming up but I blinked them back down.

"Hey there blue..." I tried to put a smile on my face, but it didn't stay very long.

"I don't even know what I could tell you that you wouldn't already know." The tears came back and, this time, I let them fall.

"I love you." I felt myself getting choked up and allowed a few sobs to rack my throat. "You already know that, of course. But I just wanted to remind you." This was way too hard.

"I can't bear seeing you like this. It... I..." I let out a few more sobs and turned my head away from Ethan.

"You were such a great person... Such a great person. And I- I'm so glad that you were part of my life for as long as you were." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep it together. Everyone was watching and I didn't want to seem weak.