Der Tag in der Stadt

Der Tag in der Stadt - The day in town



It's been a while since we last went out together, but today we finally found some time.
Sure, since we live together now, both of us have our work to do. Housekeeping, earning money, work on the field, reap the roses to sell them later.
It sure is a lot to do, but I can tell, that we're both happy living this way.

Taki hadn't abandoned his man out of free will. The war against the Western Alliance had ended. Now, Eurote was the absolute winner. Seeing as Taki's territory had been taken in by the mighty land, he decided to leave.
'I'd rather cast them aside, than watch as Eurote enslaves us' he said. So we ran away.

We sure had hard times. Just reaching the national border was almost deadly. Then we have been traveling trough the No man's land that still didn't belong to anyone.
Now that the Eastern Country had lost, it would have been taken in by Eurote, but since the land is completely destroyed, Eurote's government decided to ignore the little piece of land.
That was our salvation.
Like this we had a chance.

So now we're in a land, that hadn't taken part in the great war.


I take a moment to look at Taki, who silently walks beside me.
Now, our clothes are rather plain, a little ragged. Taki's hair has grown a bit, we don't often leave our little estate. And when we do, it's for work.
Since I dislike my hair getting too long, I have Taki cut it for me. But it somehow suits him.
Usually he ties it together, especially when he's cooking.
He's still very quiet, but he has improved, ever since we had left his homeland.

“Hey, Taki. Let's eat a little snack in a cafe.” I offer.
He immediately tilts his head to look at me. Somehow, he seems a little shocked, but that may be my imagination.
“Hm, sure.” he answers, lowering his gaze again.
I walk up closer to him and put my arm around his waist. I know he's not going to push me away.
Since we got here he has always accepted my touches, even in public.
It's most likely due to his personal freedom of not being the 'Sakone no Daishou' or 'Shinka' anymore.
As much as any other person here, he's now allowed to have feelings.

Yeah, feelings. Our feelings have changed.
Being constantly ripped apart and put back together by the cruelty of war, our relationship had suffered. But now, living our own life in peace and freedom, we more and more have started to melt together.
It's a good thing.

As we walk, Taki rests his hand on my back, leaning onto me a little. It's almost as if he was provoking the others.
Or rather those, who he had left, saying 'Look what I do, when I'm not guarded by you!'
It's hard to tell, why exactly he does it. Is it him, being just the way he would have been, if he had never been born as his land's Shinka?
Or is it due to all this pent-up desire to have emotions?

I can't tell.

But I sure wouldn't want it to be any other way.


We have reached a little coffee shop, with a nice little terrace. I lead him towards a free table and let him go, so he can sit down.
As we both are sitting, we take a moment.

It's a sunny day, faraway from bloody combat and smoky explosions.
The sky is blue and the air smells like dust, mixed with the sweet fragrance of the food, that's served next to us.
I take a deep breath.
Yes. And there is that unimaginably sweet hint of flowers, that Taki always has around himself.
Actually I had thought, it would disappear as soon as he would live the way he does now. But it's still around him.

“Would you like to order?” a young waitress asks. She wears plain clothes just like us.
This land isn't rich. It's a land of work.
The most of the people who are out here are clothed like us.
In loose shirts and dark, ragged trousers.
“I'd like some french bread and a cup of coffee, please.” Taki orders politely. The waitress turns my way.
“Do you have Quiche?” I ask. The waitress nods.
“Yes, would you like a slice?”
“Yes please and also a cup of coffee.” The waitress quickly notes our orders, then gives us a smile and walks away.

A group of seven or eight children walk past the little cafe we're sitting in.
I smile.
Though they hardly ever live in luxury, they are happy. They enjoy their life as long as it's possible. Kids from the countryside never get to go to school. Their education is, what their parents teach them.
How to reap food and how to earn money. How to tell if the meat from the market is good or not, which fabric is good for clothes, how to feed the animals, how to cook, how to keep the house and so on.
It's all they need.

The hint of a smile flashes across Takis face.

“Here's the coffee, your food will come in a moment.” our waitress said, while pouring us our cups of coffee.
“Milk or sugar?” she asks. I shake my head.
“A little bit of milk, please.” Taki asks. Smiling the waitress pours him some of the white liquid and then walks away again.

Now Taki faces me.
He smiles to himself. It's like a deja-vu. I've seen him this way before. It was back then at Luckenwalde, when it was me who cooked for him.



“How much?” Taki asks, looking at the waitress. With a little old fashioned calculator she calculates our expenses.
She hands Taki the bill and he gives her the money.
Since it's usually Taki who does the shopping it's him who carries the money.
“Thank you, have a nice day!” she wishes us and waves. I give her a quick nod and Taki shortly waves back at her.

We walk a little further, to the center of the little town.
There's a little fountain. Benches are set around it and some people sit there to watch the sparkling water and relax.
“That child looks lost.” Taki notes.
I look up and follow his eyes.
He's quite right.

A little girl stands there, crying an clutching something that seems to be a little plushie.
Before I can say something Taki approaches the girl. I follow him.

“Hello, are you lost?” he asks nicely. With wet eyes the girl looks at him and sobs. She nods, gripping the teddy a little tighter.
“Do you know where's your mother?” Taki asks and the girl nods again.
“I dunno 'ere mommy's gone...”, she cries. I hand Taki a tissue as he looks at me. Gently he removes the tears and snot from the little girl's face.
“Mommy said, she' go to the market, but I dunno da way...”, her eyes tear up again, but Taki quickly pats her head.
“Don't cry. We'll lead you to the market, there we can look for your mother.” he offers. The girl sobs, but after a while nods hesitantly.
Taki holds out a hand to her and she grabs it, then we get going to the market.
As we walk, the girl keeps clinging to Takis hand. I chuckle.
“What were your mother and you doing, before you got lost?” he asks nicely, to take the child's fear.
“Us were goin' to buy things.” the girl answers, looking up to Taki with big, light green eyes.
“Food-things.” she adds.
I can see Taki's smile.
“Food for a good meal?”
“Yeah! Like meat and ham and potatoes and tomatoes!” the girl really started to cheer up. She still clings to Taki's hand and to her teddy but now she has stopped crying.
We finally get to the market. It's easy to spot the girl's mother.

The middle aged woman stands there and calls her child's name.
“Julie! JULIE!” she screams.
“Mommy!” immediately the girl lets go Takis hand and runs towards her mother, “Mommy!”
I put my arm around Taki.

“Julie, good grief, where have you been?” the girl points at us, “I got lost in da crowd...” she answers. Her mother shakes her head and chokes down her tears.
“Mommy. Mommy, that Mister helped me!” the girl – Julie – says. Finally her mother follows her eyes and finds Taki and me standing there.
She walks up to us.
“Did you help my daughter?” she asks and wipes away some tears.
Taki smiles at her and nods.
“Thank you so much! Thank you. I hope it didn't trouble you too much...”, she stammers between sobs and hics.
“Ah, don't worry. I'm glad I was able to help!” Taki appeases, “Well, we shall leave now. Have a good day and take good care of the girl!” he wishes, before he turns around and we leave here.

“You're still the good and polite aristocrat you were when we first met.” I whisper. He turns my way and shoots me a glare.
“Sorry, but it's true.” I soothe.
“Anyway, let's go home. It's getting late.” Taki murmurs.
I smirk and pull him a little closer.

Neither one of us has ever confessed his love towards the other. We have never had that intense phase of amorousness. We were friends.
Caring friends. Loving friends.

I have craved for his love for so long. But I wouldn't say, that I was madly in love with him. I simply loved him.
I cared for him, had the urge to protect him, to spoil and claim him.
Maybe my possessive behavior was because of that. Because we never swore our love to each other.

We didn't need to say it out loud. It was clear by the look in the others eyes. It hasn't changed.


As we get home, I close the wooden door behind us and push him against the wall. He gasps.
“Wha...?!” I cut him off as I ravish his soft lips.
His hands clutch my shoulders, I feel his knees trembling.
It hasn't changed.
As we finally part, I grab his chin so he looks me in the eyes.
“Taki... I love you.” I exclaim.

He stares at me. Slowly he starts shaking his head, before he closes his eyes and pulls me into a gentle hug.
“I do... love you... too...” he breathes. He hides his face at my shoulder and I bury my nose in his hair.

We're fine. We're happy.

We're together.