The Garden

It had been years since I had last set foot in the garden. Yet somehow it looked just the same as it always did. Hidden away by the thickness of the forest, it wasn't really a garden. That was but a mere name I had given to the place, long ago. It was actually a clearing, tucked away by a wall of trees at the foot of the the mountains that marked the border between Kingdom territories.1

Hardly anyone used to come out here. Nowadays, since the beginning of the War, no soul set foot out here at all. The risk of running into an area where the Great River could no longer reach it's arm to seperate the two Kingdoms. The risk of running into an enemy was greater here, and whenever enemies met nowadays it always ended in a bloodbath.2

It disgusted me. The never ending carnage as my own Kingdom of Kyris sent its armies marching out to their death with the enemy Kingdom of Tinese. As many innocents were slaughtered there as the ones in our own Kingdom, but no matter how much pleading fell upon either Kings, there was no end to the dispute or bloodshed.3

Years had passed since the beginning of the War. Years since I had last stepped into what had been my childhood place of peace and comfort. I could still remember it; thought about it every single day. The last time I set foot here I was but fourteen. Now I was a young woman of nineteen. 4

Everything was the same as it had been then. Almost as if time had stood still in the Garden. The crystaline clear brook that trickled down from the mountains still glittered as it always had, the wink of sunlight against it's surface. Flowers blossomed, the beautiful colours that they always had been. Long grass tickled my legs as I bunched the lower hem of my skirt into my hands so I could overstep the rougher ground around the outside of the garden, settling down into the grass beside the brook.5

Gazing into the crystaline waters, I could almost see him again as I had years ago. My childhood friend, and at the time the captivation of my own young, immature heart. He had been a year more than my age, the brown curls and deep blue eyes already framing what even then had been a rather handsome face. We had met in this clearing years ago, after sneaking away in a pathetic attempt at an escape from our homes for at least a day. Soon enough we had become fast friends. I could still smile like I had back then every time he called me by my nickname. Rosy Posy, instead of the drab of a name Rosie. I never told him my full real name: Rosaline. Nowadays that may have been for the better. 6

We visited each other as often as we could. We'd even named this place the Garden together. It was our Garden, our special place to spend with each other.7

That was until the War started. The day I found out Will was a Tenisian was the most shocking I had ever felt, and he felt the same when he found out I was a Kyrisian. That was the day we had to seperate, at the risk of our own safety if we ever returned this far to reach the Garden. Enemies could lurk anywhere within the forests. That was also the day I felt like I'd been split in two. These five years it had taken me to return here felt like it was a lifetime ago.8

I could still see Will's face, just like I always had. Stroking my hand against the silken surface of the water, I could almost reach out and touch those brown curls again. He was there, reflected in the surface of the water by my own memories. His deep blue eyes watching me, that same twinkle of amusement and sadness like I had seen on the last day I saw him. The water warped the image though. He looked older in reflection of the ripples, the angles of his face more defined by maturity of a man than that of the boy he had been. It was strange... I remembered his hair always being cut short a few inches to his scalp, not the long brown waves that framed his face to his jaw.9

My hand snapped back from the water, and I spun in place the moment I realised that this wasn't just a reflection of my own memories. My heart battered against my ribs when my eyes fell upon the man who had silently appeared behind me, a smile playing across his lips with the amusement at my reaction.10

"Will?" I asked cautiously, rising to my feet. After all, he donned the uniform of the Tunesian soldiers, including a sword strapped to his belt. Whereas all I donned was a simple, plain brown dress that had helped me finally sneak away from my home for the first time in years. If he attacked me, like any other Tunesian would be expected to do with a Kyrisian, then I wouldn't stand a chance.11

"Rosy Posy," he grinned, "It's been a long time." 12

I didn't even stop to think. My arms were wrapped about him in a tight embrace before I could even give thought to what I was doing. I buried my face into his shoulder, "Will I've missed you so much."13

Maybe I was expecting him to pull away, or even get his sword out and ram it through my heart. The feeling of his arms pulling me closer against him was not what I expected, but my heart beat faster as he whispered against my ear, "I missed you too Rosy. Believe me, this is the last thing I expected to find here."14

I pulled myself out of his arms. "What were you expecting?" 15

He smiled, "Nothing really. I havn't returned here since the last time we were together... maybe I was hoping to find something that I missed dearly." He gently pinched my cheek, as he had used to when he teased me as a younster, "And guess what I find."16

I grinned as I rubbed my cheek, flicking him in the forehead, "I wasn't expecting to find you here either." Even as I laughed with him though, it died away when I fully took in the clothing he wore: the soldiers uniform. To me, those who wore that uniform were the murderers of my people. "How many Will?"17

His smile died away with those words. The thought of an innocent Kyrisians blood on his blade. He tilted up my chin, meeting my eyes with his. Those deep blue eyes that were so captivating, yet so haunting. "None. And there never will be by my hand."18

"When will this War end Will?" I asked. "Can neither King see fit to end this?"19

Will laughed, at what I don't know. "I've tried Rosy. Believe me, I've tried to talk to the King. Maybe one day he will listen."20

"And maybe one day my King will listen to me too..." I sighed. 21

The sounds of thudding footsteps and yells filled our ears and froze us where we stood. "Those are Tunesian soldiers," Will growled as he stared into the woods. Looking back at me, he hurriedly said, "I have to go Rosy."22

Those words filled my heart with icy dread. I grabbed his hands, "Will, are you ever going to come back? Will I ever get to see you again? Please, you can't leave me again."23

Before he even said a word to me though, I felt his lips press against mine. The feel of them surprised me, the suddenness of my old childhood friend kissing me. His arms prevented me from pulling away, but as the shock wore off I slowly melted into his grip.24

"I love you, and wouldn't ever think about leaving you again, my little Rosy Posy."25

With his arms around me tightly, I could believe that. My head against his chest, his heart thumping against mine, I could believe that. Enemies or not, I could believe anything Will told me.26

"I'll be back for you," he promised me as he left.27

Even when he was gone, I still saw his smile, and my own crept onto my face. "And I'll be waiting."28

_________29

Haha knowing me, this will soon be a modified chapter by chapter love story.... lol....30

little short, probarbly needs a run over and edit later, but meh! hope you enjoyed! if ur reading down this far, then i count that as a good thing!