The American Patriot

    "We won! We're finally free!" the American Patriots rejoiced. The atmosphere surrounding you lifted. It was lively enough to wake you up.

    "Did you hear that? We won! We're finally free! I'm so happy I could cry right now! So please wake up, you're safe now." A voice told you. It was an inexplicable feeling, hearing a voice without being able to register what it sounded like or where it was coming from.

    You were numb and opening an eye was a bit of a challenge. You, however, were feeling up to a challenge. Your senses were slowly crawling back to you.

    You could feel something against your back. Your mouth felt dry but no longer tasted bitter. You smelled something good for once, fresh. You heard the soft footsteps of a stranger inch towards you. Your eyes creeped open, light seeping in and blinding you.

    Above you was another human being. A man. He was alive. His heart was pumping. You reached for yours. It softly thumped a steady beat. You looked back at the man, its pace picking up.

    He was crying. Like he had said, he was so happy that he was crying. He ran over to you and embraced you. Did you know this man? Did you hit your head?

    A spark went of in your brain, creating a circuit of observations. The good smell is coming from the man hugging me. It must be his hair. It's a dirty blonde, but it's clean and soft. His body is hard, but his hold is gentle. He's crying. He is wearing a uniform, so he must be a soldier.

    I'm wearing a big white button up dress. It's soft and smells like the man. It isn't a dress. It's the man's shirt. It's loose and goes down to the middle of your thigh. You were also wearing his underwear, which was loose and covered your knees. I'm on a bed right now, but the covers are down.

    You covered yourself and peeked out to continue observing your new surroundings.

    This blanket also smells good, but not as good as the man. I am in a house, in his house, and there is no damage. Speaking of damage, the man is hugging me too tight now and damaging my ribcage. He is also crying harder. It must be because we won.

    "We won?" you asked out loud, sitting up.

    The man got off of you, his tears disappearing into his hot face. He carelessly wiped the sides of his face and rubbed his eyes. He stopped, looking straight at you.

    Blue. His eyes were blue like the sky was before the war. They were so bright, that you almost looked away from them. Your world had been dreary for quiet some time now, but in his eyes, you saw hope.

    "Yeah! We won!" he repeated, smiling.

    This time, you had to look away. You were stunned. All at once, your world was a little clearer, brighter. It looked happy again.

    "Then, the war's over?" you asked one more time.

    His smile changed into a softer one. "Yeah, you're safe now. Don't worry. Get some rest." he reassured you.

    You scooted further down into the feathery bed. You closed your eyes, inhaling the dreamy scent once again. Sleeping would be nice.

    You sprang up. "Wait! Where am I? How did I get here? Did you bring me here? Who exactly are you? Do I know you? Are you a soldier? Wait, are the one who rescued me? Maybe that's how I got here. If you rescued me, then were you the one who changed me into these clothes? Are they your clothes? Is this your house? That's where I must be. How is it so untouched? Did you wash me? I don't smell bad or have wounds anymore. How long was I out for? Wait, why aren't you answering me?" you rambled.

    Your brain was finally fully functioning again.

    The man chucked or choked, you couldn't really tell. If he was chuckling, you thought it was kind of cute. In fact, this man was very handsome. Why did it take you so long to notice? You forgot about your questions and gazed at the man.

    The man didn't seem to mind. In fact, it looked like he was enjoying the attention you were giving him. He stretched his lips a bit before taking a seat on a cushiony char beside you.

    "Just get some rest. You need it. I'll answer your questions when you wake up." his warm voice lulled.

    You nodded. Your mind was still a bit fuzzy, probably from being unconscious. Probably. You slipped back into the bed and nuzzled your face into the sheets. You closed your eyes and started to breath deep, slow breaths.

    You shot up again. "I can't sleep around you! Did you do anything to me?" you asked. You knew he was a patriot, but you couldn't help but suspect him. You were wearing presumably his clothes after all.

    The man was about to answer, but stopped himself when he saw what you did next. You lifted up the sheets with both of your hands, removing one and sending it deeper into the bed. It touched the waistband of the underwear, then hesitantly lifted it up. It was white on the inside, too.

    You sighed in relief and let your head sink back down onto the puffy white pillow. You closed your eyes, trying to suppress your overwhelming thoughts.

    The man laughed again, but this time was a lot hardier than the last. You sat up and watched him laugh, waiting for him to stop. Did he not see the fear in your eyes when you did that? How could he be laughing? Doesn't he know there's a war going... oh.

    "Sorry," you started, shamefully, "I was just scared from the war and all. I didn't mean it like that..." you trailed off. The man slowly stopped his hysterics, his sky blue eyes shimmering at you.

    "I never thanked you for saving me, which you probably did. So thanks." you told him as you fell into his pools of pure blue.

    He stiffened up a bit, surprised at your words. He was also a bit surprised that you didn't notice the loose neck of his shirt showing off you smooth shoulder. He tore his eyes away from yours, thinking about how to tell you what happened.

    "Ah, it was nothing, really. That's what heroes do." he finally responded.

    He shifted his weight from side to side for a bit before continuing, "You probably want to know what happened, so here it goes. I was supposed to be in the battle that took place, but I was fighting with a um... redcoat I encountered. By the time the fight was over, we both returned to the front. Both sides were completely wiped out."

    He paused for a moment, looking down. "We kind of just went our own ways, too worried about our comrades. They were all gone, every single one. I looked around to see if someone, anyone at all, was still breathing. There was no way there were no survivors. There were so many bodies, I..." he trailed off, recalling the morbid scene.

    "Then, I heard something. This may sound kind of dumb, but since it was a woman's voice, I thought that maybe it was an angel or something. I looked around for a woman, and soon enough, I saw you." he continued on, finally turning his head to face you.

    "You were still living, and you gave me hope. I ran over to you to answer your question, excited to tell you about our new plan to win. Since you had given me hope, I wanted to return the favor. But when I reached you, your eyes were already closed." he paused again, shifting to a more comfortable position.

    "I'm usually pretty reckless. If it was anyone else, I would have picked them up and ran off to save them. But you, you just looked so peaceful that for once in my life, I didn't act. I was so unsure about what to do. When I saw your eyes open, I kind of felt like the right thing to do would be to walk away." he admitted, a faint smile tickling the corners of his mouth.

    His mood changed again. "Then, out of nowhere, this was this huge explosion. I jumped over you to protect you, but the shock was still too much. I was yelling at you, trying to get you to stay with me, but you couldn't hear me. There we no medics left to help you. I had to save my last hope. So I panicked and ran you all the way to my house." he explained.

    You felt the urge to question him more, but held it in. He didn't look like it, but he was a good story teller. The whole thing kind of made the war sound intense and exciting, the opposite of what it really was.

    "I put you in his room and ran off to start running the bath water. I didn't really know what to do, but I had to get you clean. After that, I ran back over to you and tried to decide what to do next. Then, I realized that I would have to undress you." he mumbled a it, once again refusing to show you his face.

    "Since it was an emergency, I did it. But don't worry, I didn't do anything to you! I promise, hero's swear!" He quickly stammered out, looking back at you for your reaction.

    "You saw?" you yelled, covering yourself up with your hands. The level of embarrassment you were feeling became evident at your face flushed. You felt so naked, even though the undergarments you were wearing fully covered you. He had seen your body without your corset to fix it. You looked down at your body, a little ashamed that he didn't find you attractive enough to take advantage of you. You immediately shook off that nasty thought.

    The soldier was also ashamed and quickly apologized, "I'm really sorry! It was only for a little bit, though. After I lifted you and put you in the bath, I-"

    "You held me?" you shrieked, cutting him off. This was just getting worse and worse.

    "Yes, but only once! Twice, actually when I took you out. After that, I quickly covered you with a towel and then dressed you without seeing anything again." He explained, doing everything he could to make you feel better.

    "Can you please get out for a moment, I'm kind of embarrassed." you told him. You were now sitting in a little ball, covering yourself.

    He sighed. "I know you're probably going to take this the wrong way, but I have to tell you this. You shouldn't be embarrassed. I think that you're really beau-" he cut himself off as he realized what he was about to say.

    "What I meant to say was that I promise I was good! Really!" he swore. His big blue eyes were so truthful, that you eased up.

    "I know. Thank you. I don't know what would have happened if anyone else found me. You know what they say, the one thing men miss most when there is a war is a woman's touch. Or so I've heard." you added, not wanting to sound weird.

    "Huh? I've never heard that before. I'd say the thing I missed the most was my mom's cooking. I still miss it." he absentmindedly told you, completely zoning out.

    This hit something in your heart that made it pang. The sting of memories surged you, all rushing at once. Warm memories about your family and friends flooded you mind. Then the painful ones washed them away.

    "Me too. I miss my mom's cooking too. The thing I miss the most is probably seeing my family smile. When the war started, they didn't smile once. But, they must be smiling now." you thought out loud, smiling a bit yourself.

    You were too busy thinking to notice the man's dark look. Hence when you were finally back to earth, the look in his eyes made your breathing stop.

    "Is it because of him? Is he still alive?" you carefully asked him.

    The intense glare in his eyes stopped very suddenly when you questioned him, wide eyes complimenting his new shocked expression. "How did you know?" he wondered, truly baffled.

    "The man you were fighting with before, was he your family? You said that you talked to him and that both of you returned to the front. You said you put me in 'his' room, so I could only assume..." you slowed down as felt a warmth secure you. This man was now gripping onto you, weeping into your chest. In any other situation, you would smack him, but there was a war.

    Some instinct in you moved your hand through his hair, trying to sooth the man before you. You cooed soft apologies and let him cry it out. He had seen the war just like you. First hand.

    "You know growing up, my best friend and I, we wanted to help others. Since both of us are women, many people told us we could never become doctors or anything great like that. That never stopped us, though. When I moved to the colonies with my family, she stayed back in England. We kept in touch. Both of us continued to study medicine, writing to each other about our hopes and dreams." you began. You almost smiled. The man's sobs slowed down a bit.

    "When the war broke out, I did everything I could to become a nurse. In order to watch over me, my father joined the war. I told him to take care of my mother, but he didn't listen. Before I left my home, I wrote to my friend and waited for her response." you continued. The man seem pretty calm now, but kept his face hidden.

    "She wrote back to me. She told me that she didn't want to become a nurse anymore because she fell in love. Apparently, the guy she fell for was pretty high profile. He was coming to the colonies to help out with the war, and she was coming with him. She told me to be a nurse for the redcoats, although she didn't call them that." you paused for a moment, the next memory haunting you. The man looked up at you, waiting for you to continue on.

    "That last battle... I saw her there. My father said he saw her with some guy. She was pregnant, too!" you exclaimed, getting into your story telling. The soldier's eyes looked curious for a second, a thought passing through his mind. He shook it off.

    "Well anyways, the battle continued and in a way, both sides were losing. My father was shot, so I tried to save him. The the same time, a canon went off. It didn't hit me, but its impact knocked me over. The other side had fallen apart, only two men still holding on to a canon. They kept firing until the bitter end. Each time I hear it, I wondered if it was my own friend, shooting at me." you stopped because tears suddenly welled up in your eyes.

    "I shouldn't care, but I hope she was the firing. I hope she's alive! I hope her baby's still alive. I think this, but if it was her, then she killed my father. I don't know what to think." you let out, finally breaking down.

    The man now sprawled out on top of you understood. He felt so alone, like nobody could ever understand what it was like to have a brother be so against you. But now you understood, and it stirred something in him.

    The boy sat up, almost in your lap. That gave him an idea. He took his weight off of you and carefully lifted you. You were crying too hard to even think to look up into those beautiful blue eyes of his. He placed you onto his lap and pulled you close to him. The boy stroked your hair, replicating your previous actions.

    "You shouldn't be crying. I saved you, remember? Well actually, I guess you don't. It's okay now, it's all over. You should get some more rest." he whispered.

    A man like this one was reckless, like he had said. Maybe acting before thinking is what made him a great hero. You wondered what he was like before the war, if he smiled a lot before the world ended. How happy was he when he was with the man he spoke about?

    "He was my brother and this was his room." he bravely told you.

    You looked up at him, stunned. You already knew, but his words seared your heart. The way he said it... they must have been close.

    His voice was shaky, but he told you, "He's older than me. I've lived here my whole life, but he remembered England. He didn't like it much here. He liked England. When he got older, he went back to England. He was very successful. He even found a beautiful woman to love. Well anyways, the war broke out, and he had to come back here. He took his wife with him because..."

    "She was pregnant." you finished, putting two and two together. This man, your hero, understood you better than anyone else.

    The room was silent, both of you soaking in the words spoken. Your crying stopped, and your breathing did as well. You were deep in thought.

    A rough hand lightly swiped a drying tear from the corner of your eye. "It must be fate. The fact that we met each other must be fate. I'm sure of it." he boldly stated, keeping his hand on your cheek.

    Out of nowhere, he pressed his lips against yours. He kissed you tenderly to convey his new belief in fate. You slowly kissed back, telling him you understood. You expected his lips to be chapped, but they were soft. Wait a minute, you weren't expecting him to do that at all.

    You pulled away and backed up against the bed frame. You kissed him back, so your brain tried to come up with an excuse, any excuse for why you did it. "I don't even know your name!" you stammered.

    "Alfred. Alfred F Jones." he told you. Then, he moved towards you again, stealing another kiss. You let it happen. This time around, he jerked away.

    "Your name," he breathed, "What's your name?" he asked.

    "_______. _______ _______." you told his beautiful blue eyes.

    "_______." he repeated. He grabbed your cheek again, diving into another kiss.

    If asked about war, you wouldn't know what you'd say. Before, you would have said something about it tearing loved ones apart. Now, you see how it can bring people together to fight for something they believe in, like saving people. If someone asked you about war now, you would say that wars happen for a reason. Everything does. And it's all because of fate.

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