by T. Isilwath
The nurse sighed. “All right then. I’ll leave it here just in case you’re able to eat more later, but I’ll need to know so I can give you insulin coverage.”
“I will. What time is it?”
“It’s 1320 hours,” Nurse Nancy answered in military time.
‘That translates to 1:20pm. Sunset is hours away…’ she determined. She wanted to see Akihiro and warn him of the danger, but she wasn’t about to call him without the cover of darkness.
“Thanks.”
“Do you need to use the bedside commode?”
She looked over at the plastic toilet and shook her head. “If I do, I can get to it myself, but I think I’ll just take a nap. I’m still kinda tired.” The nurse gave her a thin smile. “Okay. Well, there’ll be a solider stationed outside the tent so if you need anything just call him and let him know. He’ll tell either Dr. Haskell or myself.”
‘So they’re putting me under guard. That does complicate things, but… Aki is very strong and very fast.’ She’d figure something out.
The nurse left her alone in the tent with the promise to check on her in a couple of hours, and she had no doubt that they would be doing frequent glucose tests to make sure her sugars were under control.
She hadn’t lied; she really was tired, and, since she had nothing better to do until it was dark, she might as well get some sleep. She pulled the thin blanket up to her shoulders and closed her eyes, but sleep was elusive. She wondered if Akihiro was close, waiting for her to call him, and she stretched her awareness out to feel for him. Her mind touched the telltale tingle of his energy, and she smiled, comforted in knowing that he was nearby.
‘Just be patient and wait for me, Aki. I’ll call you after dark…’
She reached out a little more and touched the trees. She felt their mental caress as they sent wordless welcome.
:Tree-sister lives,: they said, their voices slow from the coming winter.
‘Yes,’ she answered.
Their calming energy was soothing, and she let it lull her as she listened to the wind in the autumn leaves: a sound that was only muffled by the tent walls and not completely silenced. Somewhere in those trees Akihiro waited, probably from somewhere high up where he could see but not be seen himself. She imagined him perched in a high branch, looking down upon the camp with his large eyes, peering through the sparsely populated branches. He’d probably chosen a tree with leaves turned red to match his hair…
‘Dark, my fox. I’ll call you after dark.’
She fell asleep.
********
The remainder of the afternoon and early evening were broken up into periods of light sleep and wakefulness when someone entered the tent. The nurse came in twice to check her blood sugar, then she brought in dinner around five o’clock. At some point the lunch tray had been taken away, but whoever had done it hadn’t woken her. Dinner was about as appetizing as lunch, but this time they’d left off the jell-o. She ate sparsely, nibbling at the boiled chicken and green beans, until she pronounced herself full and pushed the tray away.
Nurse Nancy tried to engage her in conversation, but she kept her answers short and did not invite further questions. For the most part she just waited for sunset, waited for the dark to come so she could call her fox.
She knew she had to see him. Not only to warn him, but also to say goodbye. No matter what happened, she would be leaving in the morning, and he would be staying there in the time where he belonged. She’d always known that their time together would be limited, but at least they could both take comfort in knowing that the other was alive and safe.
One small, crazy part of her heart still held onto the impossibility of him coming through the Gate with her into her time, but she knew that such a thing would be a terrible disaster. Even if he could escape from whatever military base they would be Gating into, he would have no idea how to function or live in her world. No matter how much she didn’t want to lose him, she knew that there was no choice. She couldn’t stay and he couldn’t leave. All they had left was this one night, and she was going to make it count.
She waited as the tent grew darker with the coming night. Small lamps run off cords strung from a generator kept it illuminated, but it lost the brightness of the daylight. She stayed quiet, pretending to sleep, until Nurse Nancy came in to check her blood sugar at 7:30pm. When the woman opened the tent flap, she could see that it was now completely dark.
“110. How are you feeling?” the nurse asked.
“I’m fine. Still tired, but doing okay.”
“NKHS causes extreme fatigue. You should come out of it in a few days.”
“That’s good to know.”
“We haven’t seen your friend at all.”
The statement was leading, open ended. She tightened her jaw.
“He won’t come until I call him,” she stated guardedly.
“Are you? Going to call him? You’re leaving in the morning. Don’t you want to say goodbye?”
‘And lead him right into your trap? Not a chance, bitch.’
“I’ll call him before we leave. He deserves that much. And he can bring my things here too,” she said, trying to deflect any further questions.
“Yes… the men were unable to find your camp. They have specific orders not to leave anything of yours behind where it could be discovered.”
“Don’t want to contaminate the timeline any more than it already has been,” she observed.
“Exactly.”
“I’ll call Aki in the morning.”
“Why not tell the men where your camp is now, and they’ll go get your things?”
She shook her head. “No. The forest isn’t safe after dark. It’s best that the men stay here.”
“More of those big monster things like they killed this morning?” Nurse Nancy asked. There was a definite edge of fear in her voice.
“Or worse,” she warned. ‘Some of them have eight legs…’
The nurse gave her a nervous smile and finished up quickly, leaving her alone once again. She waited a few minutes, then slipped silently out of the hospital bed, keeping the blanket wrapped around her because all she was wearing was a thin hospital gown with ties in the back. Her knees were weak and her legs wobbly, but she managed to get her balance. She crept to the rear of the tent and hooted softly, using an owl-call that she and Akihiro had once used to communicate with each other after dark. She hooted twice and waited.
‘Please, please, please hear me and know what it means…’
She heard movement outside, then the tent flap parted and a soldier in camouflage came in carrying a rifle.
‘No. Oh no… they were listening for me…’
She pressed herself against the tent wall as the man advanced, frantically looking for anything she could use as a weapon. The soldier dropped the gun and reached for her. She shrank back, staring into his eyes… eyes that suddenly flashed amber…
“Joanna-sama,” he whispered in Akihiro’s voice.
She gasped and took the offered hand. “Akihiro? How?…”
“Shhh. I caught the man when he went to urinate. He is sleeping under some bushes now,” he explained quietly.
He pulled her to her feet and she hugged him, but their reunion was brief.
“We have to get out of here. Can you get us out of here?” she asked urgently, looking him in the eye and fisting her hands into his collar.
“There are many guards, but I think so,” he answered, his voice calm and confident. He looked closely at the wall of the tent and brandished his sharp nails. “We can sneak out through here and from there I can use a shadow illusion to conceal us until we can get to the forest.”
“A shadow illusion?” she repeated, confused. She’d never heard him use the term before.
“Yes. It is an illusion where others cannot see you.”
“Like a spell of invisibility?” she asked.
“No. We will not be invisible. We simply… won’t be seen. The illusion is ve
ry hard to cast and it takes a lot of energy. It will take almost all of my power.”
“How does it work?” she questioned, intrigued.
“We will blend in with whatever we are passing.”
“Like a chameleon,” she offered curiously.
“A what?”
“It’s a lizard. It can change its color to match its surroundings.”
“Ah. Yes, we will be like… chameleons,” he replied, repeating the word.
“But it takes a lot of energy?”
“Yes. I… I’ve only cast it twice, and I can only hold it for a very short time, but I should have enough power for us to get into the forest if you don’t mind my carrying you.”
“No, I don’t mind,” she answered, shaking her head.
“Then climb onto my back and hold tightly. This will happen very fast.” She wrapped the blanket around her like a towel and did as he asked, hitching her legs around his hips and balancing on his back with her hands on his shoulders. Then he dropped the illusion he was currently casting and carefully ripped a hole in the back of the tent as quietly as possible. When the opening was wide enough, he grabbed her under her thighs and leapt out of the hole.
Fast wasn’t even close to describing how swiftly Akihiro moved. The camp was a blur, the lights streaks of white, as he all but flew for the trees. She doubted his shadow illusion was even necessary because surely they were moving too fast for any normal person to see.
The forest closed ranks around them and Akihiro staggered to a halt. She slid off his back as he released her and slumped to his knees.
“Akihiro? Aki, are you all right?” she asked, crouching down beside him with one hand on his shoulder.
He was breathing hard and shaking, but he nodded between gasps. While he recovered, she took a moment to listen carefully and try to figure out if their escape had been noticed. No shouts of alarm or cries of anger could be heard coming from the camp so she guessed that they hadn’t been seen.
‘Good. Nurse Nancy won’t check on me for at least another hour so we’ve got a good head start.’
“Doesn’t sound like they’re on to us,” she commented.
“No. It’s all quiet,” he confirmed.
“We should get out of here, head for the grove.”
He nodded in agreement and beckoned her to get on his back again.
“I will take us up. If we will through the trees we won’t leave any tracks.”
“Are you up to it?” she asked worriedly. He didn’t look up to it. He looked drained and about to fall over.
“Yes. It’s not too far.”
She reluctantly climbed onto his back again and pressed close, tucking her cheek against the side of his neck as he jumped up into the limbs of the closest tree. She knew he could leap from tree to tree almost as easily as a monkey, but
she still tried to make herself as small as possible so nothing would get snagged on the passing branches. She felt his muscles tensing and releasing as he carried her, then the weightlessness of freefall when he brought them down just outside the sacred grove. They passed through the invisible boundary into the blessed space, and the sense of welcome was almost overwhelming.
:Tree-sister lives.: the ancient Sugis greeted happily.
‘Hello, tree-brothers. I am glad to be back.’
“I don’t think they’ll find us here. The nurse told me that the soldiers hadn’t been able to locate my camp,” she said.
“This place is sacred. Only those who are supposed to find it will be able to cross the threshold,” Akihiro explained. “We are safe here.” He set her down and turned to face her. It was dark so she could barely see him, but his eyes glittered with their own light. Looking into those eyes, all of the guilt and regret she had felt earlier returned, and she choked back a sob.
“Akihiro.”
“Joanna-sama…”
She threw her arms around him. “Oh, Akihiro. I’m so sorry!” The answering embrace nearly crushed her and she could feel him shaking.
“Joanna-sama.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
He pulled back, cupping her face in his hands.
“You ran away,” he said, his voice broken and nearly breaking her. “I returned from my search for the maitake, but you had gone. I searched and searched for you, but I could not find you. All day and all night, I searched, and I was certain that you were dead, that the river had taken you, and I would never see you again.”
The pain in his voice choked her and she couldn’t look at him. “I’m sorry.
I never meant to hurt you. I was just trying to get away. How did you find me?”
“I found your blanket shawl in the rapids and threw myself into the water. I let the current take me down until I washed into the delta you had been swept into. I had lost all hope, for I was sure that no one could have survived being swept down the river,” he explained. “I collapsed on the bank, weeping. I did not want to go on.”
He fell silent, his face pensive and sad. She waited for him to continue, but he did not. She finally couldn’t bear it any longer and she urged him to go on.
“But something made you go up the stream. How did you know I had traveled upstream?” she prompted.
“I didn’t,” he answered simply, looking up to the trees and smiling softly.
“But the trees did. They called to me. They told me to follow the stream until I found the waterfall where you were hiding.”
She gasped, her guilt momentarily pushed back by the joy she felt. “You... you heard the trees?”
“Yes. I was so tired, so weak. I barely had the strength to lift my head, but then I heard them. I heard them whispering, calling me. I followed and they guided me up the stream.” He took her arms by the elbows, his long fingers curling around her limbs. “But there is more, Joanna-sama. When I got to the waterfall, I did not know that you were behind it. I did not know where you could be, and the trees no longer guided me. I began to call, and to pray, but you did not answer. And then I saw it.”
“What did you see?” she pressed.
“Your totem. I saw Cougar.”
“You saw a cougar? But there are no cougars in Japan.”
“Neither was this one, for I could see right through it. But I heard it growl and it appeared beside the waterfall. It showed me the cave and led me to you.” Her legs went limp and Akihiro caught her as she slumped to the ground.
“My totem appeared to you?” she asked, her voice as unsteady as her legs.
He knelt next to her, his hands still holding her arms. “You were not meant to die, Joanna-sama. The trees and your totem led me to you so I could save you. I brought you back here and cared for you until your people found you.” She stared at him. “You kept me alive for six days…” He bowed his head. “I could not let you die.”
“You found me. You saved me,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Akihiro, I…”
His grip tightened and he forced her to look at him, his expression angry.
“Joanna-sama, how could you run away like that?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m sorry. I wanted to spare you the worst of it. I didn’t want you to have to watch me die. You shouldn’t have had to suffer through watching another person you loved waste away.”
“My place is at your side, Joanna-sama. You should have trusted me. You should have had faith in me and waited until I returned. You made it so much worse by running away. I almost died from grief myself.”
“I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you like that. I was trying to protect you.”
“I know and I forgive you.”
He said it so honestly that she had to believe him. “Akihiro…” His hands slid down to her palms, and he raised her fingers to his lips.
“Joanna-sama,” he breathed, and the feel of his breath made her tremble.
She slipped her hands from his grasp and reached up to cup his face. Then she leaned forward a
nd pressed her lips to his in a tender kiss that he eventually returned.
“Will you be all right now?” he asked her when the kiss ended. “Did your people have the right medicine?”
“My blood sugar is under control, yes, but they have to do more tests to see how badly I was hurt,” she said, shifting to sit on her hip.
He nodded. “Yes. I understood a little of what you were saying. You think that something else might be wrong.”
“Yes, side-effects of what happened to me. There are many other things that could have been damaged while I was sick.”
“But they can heal you? Your people can make you better?” he asked, an odd tremor in his voice.
She shrugged. “As much as they can. You know what I have isn’t curable.” Something flickered in his eyes for a second, but then it was gone. Instead he bowed his head and nodded, and she got the distinct impression that he didn’t want her to look him in the eye.
‘Is he afraid of what I’ll see in them or of what he thinks he’ll see in mine?’ she wondered.
“I am glad,” he finally said, his voice tight.
“But… but in order for them to make me better…” she began, her own throat closing as she said the words.
“You will have to go back to your time,” he finished for her.
She wet her lips and nodded. “Yeah.”
“And me? I will have to stay here.”
She nodded again, this time losing the battle to keep the tears at bay. “My world is too dangerous. They’re already asking questions, wanting to know more about you. You need to stay away from the camp.”
“If they catch me what will happen? Will they bring me with you to your time?”
His voice was half-hopeful and that scared her most of all. He couldn’t possibly be thinking of letting them catch him. He had to know that they would never let him stay with her. He’d be taken, experimented on, maybe even killed.
‘He’d be their lab rat until they got all the answers they could while he’s alive.’
“We would be separated and they’d lock you up. They would do horrible things to you while they tried to figure out how your powers worked. And even if you did get away from them, they would know that you would come looking for me. You’d never be safe,” she warned.