They were never chosen to be lovers. 1
Emotion was strictly forbidden in this era of solidity and cold, and a person’s worth was measured by how little they could feel. Couples were chosen not to comfort and love one another, but to mix like mortar and water, to strengthen the other and harden into an unbreakable being. Children were no longer raised by loving or concerned parents; they were trained to be machine-like soldiers by those whose mission it was to bring them into this life.2
It was a brutally militaristic existence, more terrible then that in legendary Sparta. At least in Sparta they fought for passion, for a great cause and those they loved. Here passion was outlawed, and the only great cause was to succeed in watching the life fade from your target’s eyes. 3
Lena and Odin were the epitome of soldiers in that bleak age; they were chosen for each other to coalesce into a lethal entity, and together they struck with the deadly accuracy of a cobra. He was driven by a fierce obedience. She was driven by an emptiness that boiled somewhere deep within.4
It was on the eve of yet another war that Lena came to understand the yawning chasm within her chest, the dissatisfaction she felt with her murderous existence. Like a flower that couldn't thrive in the night, Lena’s life was waning without the presence of love to fill her. No amount of battles or deaths would revive her; she needed to be warmed by the gentle caress of a lover’s hands.5
Guilt flushed through her body as she struggled to banish sentiment from her thoughts, but even years of relentless training could not overpower her nature. As she and Odin fell into battle formation, she felt his hand brush against hers as he reached for his weapons. She grasped his hand suddenly in hers and touched it to her lips.6
“I love you,” she whispered. Her voice was choked, the words mangled from a lifetime of destroying emotion.7
Lena watched as the muscles tensed in Odin’s jaw, and she felt her stomach plummet in despair. She couldn’t expect him to return her feelings, not when she had only just found the courage to admit them to herself. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that this fight could be their last and was determined that he, her partner and companion for these many years, should know how she felt.8
To her surprise, Odin’s eyes softened and his hand tightened around hers.9
“I know,” he replied. Lena smiled at him as he gently kissed her cheek.10
“I think I may even love you too.”11
Author notes
This story has a couple of morals, even though it's supposed to have just one.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Lena couldn't exist in her empty life any longer, and by allowing herself to feel she changed the world for her and Odin.
"Always let the one you love know before its too late." -- Pretty self-explanitory.
"Nature ultimately does trump nurture." A moral only in the sense that a person's true colors will always show no matter what situation they are raised in, born into, ect.
The title is also a moral, taken from the Peace Prayer of St. Francis
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