Take Me Home

5. Communication

Freya woke up before her grandparents the next morning, changing into one of her many plain, light blue, short dresses made for farm work and slipped on her brown, worn boots. Stepping over to her mirror, she sighed at the frizzy, out of control hair and her tired face. Quickly placing her hair up in a bun on the top of her head, she splashed her face with water and headed toward the stairs.

Careful not to wake anybody up, she went to the pantry and grabbed a loaf of bread from the market. Hopefully her grandma wouldn't notice, but there were useable excuses she had in mind to cover it up. She left the house and walked across the yard toward the barn, bread in her hands. Hopefully Axel was okay. She looked cross the distance, noticing that dawn still wasn't quite here yet, she was awake before the sun. Freya thought about his leg and whatever was wrong with it. She would ask him if she could look at it and try to figure it out. She could heal a broken leg, she had nursed Cadence back to health before when she had broken her front leg after a run.

Opening the barn doors, she was greeted by the horses, who swung their long heads toward her and nickered softly, probably wondering whether she had food or not. She looked up toward the loft, hearing no movement at first, and then heard a soft whisper. She narrowed her eyes and climbed up the ladder, keeping the bread in her left hand as she used her right to support herself as she made her way up.
She arrived at the top, and immediately looked toward the haystack where Axel was left the night before. Sure enough, he was still there, laying against the haystack, wide awake as he petted Mouse, the cat laying on his lap.

Mouse swiveled her ears toward Freya as she stood up on the loft, then mewed and hopped off of Axel, causing the soldier to wince slightly as the cat jumped off his legs. Axel then noticed why Mouse had left, looking up toward Freya. Mouse brushed up against her legs, hoping for some left over food scraps and Freya looked down at the pretty cat before walking toward Axel.

Axel looked tired, as if he hadn't slept much last night. He was positioned comfortably in the hay, but his one leg was still twisted oddly. He looked up at her, hair dry now and set in short, black waves. His green eyes were tired, worn and weary as he gave her his attention. But almost as soon as he saw her, his gaze flickered down to the loaf of bread in her hand and he blinked a few times.

"Here, it's for you." She held out the loaf and he eagerly reached out, taking it from her and tearing off a small piece, bringing it to his mouth.

She watched him eat it and then she sat down a few feet away from him on the wooden floor, his eyes focused on the half eaten bread. By the way he was eating, he must have been really hungry. She hadn't been able to get him food the night before. Her grandpa most likely wouldn't have let her go back outside. He finished the loaf quite quickly, swallowing the last of it and sighing in contentment, eyed a little brighter than before as he focused his gaze back on her. Freya looked toward his leg, concern spreading across her face.

"Freya." He said softly, looking at her curiously, eyes studying her. She stayed still, unsure how to answer to her name.

"Yes." She ended up saying, waiting.

He just looked back down after a few moments, and she got the idea he also didn't know what to say. Or maybe he did want to say something, he just knew she wouldn't understand him. He wouldn't understand her.

"Y-yes?" He questioned, voice deeper and huskier than the night before, his eyes narrowing in a question she couldn't quite understand.

Maybe he wanted to know what yes meant. "Yes, it means..." she searched for the correct words to describe yes. She began nodding, then said, "Yes," As she continued nodding.

He stared at he as she gave the example, the emeralds narrowing skeptically.

"Ja." He said after a moment. "Ja, yes." He began doing the same thing she had done, nodding his head up and down as he repeated the word, "Ja."