What's In A Name? by penny_hill
MOD NOTE: reposting due to LJ-cut fail, please pardon our dust!
Title: What’s In a Name?
Author: Penny_Hill
Summary: Names, whether taken as our own, or given to us, define who we are.
Rating: PG
Warnings: None (unless you don’t want to see a strained DG/Cain relationship?)
Remix Info: What’s In a Name? by n_e_star at http://n-e-star.livejournal.com/91574.html
Author's Note: I hope that I did this tiny little story justice and that[info]n_e_star enjoys it *cross fingers*
The old barkeep took up another glass and as he slowly dried the inside of it, his eyes wandered down to the end of the bar. A man in an off-white linen shirt and worn brown pants was sitting alone. It was very late, or very early depending on one’s perspective, and he was the last patron. As he watched him, the man grabbed the last full shot glass and downed it. He grimaced as he waited for the burn to subside, then he sat still for another moment before grabbing his hat and coat to leave.
The old barkeep whistled at him to get his attention.
“Son, “ the old barkeep said as he limped towards the end of the bar, “do you have a minute?” He voice cracked a little bit at the end and he coughed to clear his throat.
Cain stopped and slowly turned around. “It’s getting late and I really should be on my way,” he replied.
The old barkeep put both of his hands on the bar in order to steady him. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. You’ve been coming in here for awhile now and you’re always the last to go.” He coughed and cleared his throat again. “Do you have somewhere to go son?”
“I do,” was Cain’s simple and straight forward answer.
“Oh… okay,” the old barkeep said. He was clearly embarrassed at having just asked what seemed to be an intrusive question. “I’m sorry for bugging you about it.”
Cain shrugged his coat on. “In your line of work you must see a lot come thru that don’t have anywhere to go.”
The old barkeep resumed his cleaning of the bar. He nodded in agreement without looking up. “Yeah… some who know where they are but don’t have anywhere to go…” He paused to look up at Cain. “And then there’s others who remind me of my son. He had somewhere to go but was still lost.” After saying that, the old barkeep looked back down at the bar and resumed his cleaning.
The next morning Cain and DG walked side by side down one of the castle’s hallways. The light from the mid-morning suns shone through the floor length windows and gave a comforting glow to every object that the rays touched. While it warmed away the chill from the stone walls it did little to change DG’s mood. The only sounds were the soft click of her heels on the tile floor and the soft rustle from Cain’s coat.
Finally the silence was too much to bear even for Cain. He asked in a low voice, “How did you sleep last night?”
DG slowed her pace but did not answer him directly. “Fine. Az had a restful night so the rest of us did too.”
Cain nodded in agreement. “That’s good. It’s going to be another long day for you.”
“I know,” she replied as she looked at a slightly bleary eyed Cain. She then added curtly, “and just like Mother asked, I’ll give you the signal when I need to have a break.”
He did not know whether to argue and say that he did not mean it like that or to just suck it up. As he did quite often anymore, he elected the latter as he opened the chamber door for her.
From the corner of the room Cain quietly watched DG and the Queen conduct their business with various groups of constituents. Under normal circumstances he would have politely declined the assignment. Perhaps assignment was the wrong word. It was more like a personal request from the Queen herself.
Soon after the fall of the Witch, DG insisted on assuming as many duties as she could. Those close advised her to not take on so much. It would take years to rebuild the O.Z. The path would be long and hard. But DG ignored them and threw herself in to doing what she could to help those whose lives had been torn apart.
Was her unselfishness now catching up with her?
She had changed these past few months. Their conversations, once free and easy going grew increasingly short. Her voice would resound with happiness at one moment to rock hard ice at the next.
He knew that he had a hand in the change of her behavior. Ever since they had first met he had called her “kid” or “kiddo”. He never meant any harm by it. But as the days went by he could tell that it bothered her every time he said it. He made a conscious effort to remove the words from his vocabulary. However, what dismayed him was that even after he stopped saying those damning words, her behavior continued to change.
“It’s like walking on a bed of eggshells,” Glitch whispered to him one day. Cain furrowed his brows at the recollection. Poor Glitch asked DG for help on locating one of the many devices he had made when he was known as Ambrose. Unbeknownst to him, DG had spent another very long day receiving visitors and advocates for the disenfranchised. It was then that Glitch learned some colorful new words from the Other Side.
It was after that unfortunate public spectacle that the Queen pulled Cain aside and made her personal request.
“It should come as no surprise to you Wyatt that I’m worried about DG,” the Queen said. Her voice, though older, still had a special lyrical quality to it. Even for an old tin man like himself, it made him relax a little.
“We all are.” Cain paused and then added, “I may have had something to do with it.”
The Queen looked surprised. “Oh? In what way?”
He took a parting glance out the window. The twin suns were low in the sky and their fading light caused deep shadows to fall over Central City. “She didn’t like me calling her kid or kiddo,” he answered.
“I see,” she replied. The Queen rose up to look out the same window. “Wyatt, I’m sure that’s not the only reason why she’s hurting. It seems so unlike her to get upset over something like that.” She turned to look at him directly and gently placed her hand on his arm. “I’ve seen how you two have bantered.” She gave him a sad smile and turned to look back over Central City.
For a few minutes neither of them spoke. Then the Queen finally made her request. “During the day, when DG is tiring, I would like her to leave and rest. Will you be her escort?”
Cain scowled. A little gruffly, perhaps too gruffly in front of the highness, he asked, “Have you spoken about this to DG?”
The Queen gave a little smile. “Yes, I did. And judging by your scowl I can see how you believe that it is… shall I say a dubious idea?” She gently placed her hand on his arm again to emphasize that she was not offended by his response. “I told her that I was worried about her. Meeting with so many who have been wronged, it takes an emotional toll on you.” She sighed and then continued. “Even for one like myself.” She rested her hand back on the window sill. “DG was upset at first but she has accepted the proposal.”
Cain could not help but give out a little snort. “No offense your highness, but is accept the right word?”
The Queen smiled at his implication and no response was necessary.
The twin suns had set but there was no light aside from the twinkling of a few starts. It was new moon in the cycle.
The Queen looked back over the city. Somberly she noted, “It’s been without light for too long. Now that it is back, I don’t want it to be extinguished again.”
Cain wearily rubbed his eyes and turned his attention back to DG. She was sitting in a circle with a small group of women off to the side of the chamber. He rubbed his eyes again. He silently cursed himself for daydreaming as he realized that she and the Queen had been meeting all afternoon without a break. Self-doubt crept in to his mind and he wondered if he had missed her signal.
The more that he watched her the more he realized that she was smiling and actively reaching out to the women. She gave no indication that she had ever given him the signal to take her away. Cain breathed a small sigh of relief knowing that she was putting up a good appearance. But as he continued to watch her, he wondered, “DG, is it really just an appearance?” He hated himself for allowing doubt about DG’s true feelings creep into his own private thoughts but it could not be helped. After about another hour the reception ended and without any gesture, she left the chamber on her own.
Cain grabbed his coat and went out in to one of the nearby gardens. He found her sitting on one of the benches, with her knees tucked up underneath her chin.
He stood off to the side of her. He took in a deep breath. It was autumn, the days were getting shorter, and the gardens were starting to lose their summer flavor. He took his coat and gently laid it across the back of the bench. “Mind if I sit down?”
DG’s face tightened. “I came out here for some privacy.”
Cain ran his hand through his short ashen hair. “Look DG, I just wanted to make sure that you were all right.”
“I’m fine,” she replied curtly. “Just because I didn’t give you the signal…” her voice trailed off.
Cain’s patience with her was nearing the end. He knew the reaction what his next words and actions would do. But it had to be done. He placed his hands on his hips and asked, “What’s really eating at you kid?”
DG bristled at his question. She turned her head and glowered at him. “We’ve been through this before.”
“Kiddo, you know what I asked and you didn’t answer the question.” The old tin man was starting to come back out of his shell.
DG let her feet touch the ground once more and she sat up straight on the bench. Her fists clenched together in anger. “I told you before that I’m not a kid.”
In a low voice he replied, “You sure are actin’ like one though.”
DG’s eyes flashed fire at his remark. But Cain did not flinch. He hated to do it, but if this was what was needed to draw her out, then he would be the bad guy.
“Back at the old house. Without knowing what you were getting in to, you ran at a bunch of Longcoats with nothing more than a freaking stick. That showed your bravery. When we were in the Papay fields and you wanted my razor to cut Raw loose, that showed your compassion. Near the tower, when you insisted on saving your sister, that showed your loyalty.”
DG pressed her lips together and crossed her arms in order to maintain some sort of composure. “And what’s your point Mister Cain?”
He dropped his voice even lower. “Somewhere along the line the DG I knew changed. She’s nothing more than a bitch.”
Cain waited for the inevitable explosion. Never in a million annuals did he ever expect to be calling DG what he just called her.
The only sound came from the light rustling of the wind through the leaves. It was as though Mother Nature herself was trying to her breath back.
But there was no explosion.
DG turned and sat back down on the bench. Her hands were clenched together in her lap and she stared out at something far past the gardens. A flash of pain crossed her face and then it was gone. “He had three months before his discharge before a sniper took him out.”
Cain’s face softened. Did he just hear her right? “What was that DG?” He took a tentative step forward but she paid him no attention. She continued to stare ahead at some point so far away. He pulled off his gun’s holster and quietly sat down beside her, being careful not to touch her.
“I was so excited when Nick asked me out. We were close in age… he was older by only about a year and a half. But it was enough to put him two grades ahead of me.” A slight smile emerged from the corner of her mouth. “It was a big deal for a sophomore to go out with a senior.”
Cain said nothing and DG continued. “We had our first date early in the school year. And then it just happened.”
He placed his worn leather hat on his knee and stared down at it. Without turning to look at her he said, “You fell in love didn’t you?”
Cain said it perhaps a little too soon, but he did not care. It was not as much as a question but instead a confirmation.
DG replied a little quickly and bluntly as though she was clearly annoyed at him for stating the plainly obvious. “Yeah we did.”
He ignored her demeanor and asked, “Then what happened?”
“After graduation, Nick wanted to open up his own business. He was always good at fixing anything with a motor.” She looked down at her hands in her lap. It seemed like such a long time ago.
Cain could not help but let a little smile emerge. Innocently he asked, “Is that really where you learned how to fix up stuff?”
“Yeah,” DG replied. “I spent a lot of time there. Mom and Dad said too much.” She went back to staring out far past the gardens.
“I’m sure that the same thing would happen here. If kids couldn’t afford school, or couldn’t get a job they enrolled in the military… Nick joined up not only to earn money, but…” DG paused, as if debating whether to continue. “But as the result of a terror attack.”
DG saw Cain raise an eyebrow. She defiantly told him, “Why do you look so surprised? We had our share of problems in the Other Side too.”
“DG, you’ve never mentioned them before,” he softly reminded her. He then rubbed his forehead. He had a feeling where this might be going and it was not good. He reached around to his jacket and fumbled in one of the pockets. He pulled out a small flask and popped off the cap. He took two quick swigs and then put it away.
“So Nick enlisted because it was the patriotic thing he believed in and he and was stationed out east. I wanted to move out there but he told me that I should stay home and finish school. I didn’t want to listen to him but it was the right thing to do.” She paused again. After a moment she added softly, “He was always right about stuff like that.”
The suns were lower in the sky and the day was beginning to cool. DG took her shawl and wrapped it around herself.
“He was out there a long time and then it happened. Nick received his orders that he was going to be transferred overseas to the source of the conflict.”
Cain leaned back against the bench in a more comfortable position. It almost felt like old times again when him and DG would just talk. “Let me guess, after you heard the news that he was going to be sent off you went out there.”
DG let herself smile a little, “Yeah, you know me. Sometimes I can act a little impulsively.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I took some of the money I earned from waitressing and bought a bus ticket. It took a few days to get out there.”
“It sounds like it might have been a rough trip,” Cain replied.
DG nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it was. Between trying to deal with Nick going in to a war zone and just not being able to sleep on a bus period….” Her voice trailed off again.
“What happened when you finally got there?” Hearing Cain’s voice brought her back again.
DG finally turned to look at him. The blue fire that was there when he was trying to antagonize her, to get her to open up, was gone from his eyes.
A ball welled up in her throat and she had to look away. But as she did so, with one hand she reached up behind her head to hold up her hair. And then with the other hand, she gently lifted up a silver chain up from underneath her dress and out around her head.
She held her necklace out in front of Cain. Hanging at the bottom of the chain were two silver rings and they glistened in the fading sunlight.
Cain’s brow furled and he sat back up a little straighter. It could not be helped; the father came out of him. He pictured a boy named Nick trying to become a young man. A boy barely old enough to fight in whatever conflict had occurred in the Other Side. Then he pictured DG as a young girl, trying to blossom in to a woman. Back then, they were too young, for war and for marriage. He knew what usually happened when people married too young.
But the deed had already been done.
DG scowled. “I knew that would be the reaction that I would get.” She started to put the necklace back on.
It was Cain’s turn to sigh and he shook his head as he did so. “DG, what’s done is done. I’m not here to judge you now.”
She rolled her eyes and sarcastically replied, “No, correction. What wasn’t done is done.”
Cain was confused. He assumed that the rings meant the same thing in his world as in the Other Side. “What do you mean by that?”
DG leaned towards him. “We were never lawfully married.” Her eyes blazed with a renewed fire. “But that doesn’t mean anything now does it?”
“I told you already that I wasn’t going to judge you,” Cain responded in a low voice. He then said, “Since you couldn’t get lawfully married, you still went through with the ceremony anyway didn’t you?”
DG sat on the edge of the bench as though she was ready to get up to leave. “We found a pastor who was sympathetic and he performed the ceremony for us. The next morning he shipped out and I got back on the bus as Mrs. Nicolas Cooper… even if it was by promise only.” She slowly played with a small stone near her foot.
“Did you tell Hank and ‘Em?”
DG snorted at his question. “Oh yeah… after I got to get a word in edgewise. It wasn’t like they weren’t going to say anything about me getting up and leaving in the middle of the night, and then not telling them where I was going. But after awhile I guess they were somewhat relieved that we actually weren’t husband and wife… by law.” Out of annoyance, she kicked the small stone across the pathway.
“How long was he over the sea?” Cain asked.
“Nearly three years,” DG replied. She could not help but smile within herself. Over the sea. Clearly Cain’s geography was limited to the immediate Outer Zone where there were no large bodies of water. Then she frowned. She knew what his next question would be.
Dropping his voice to nearly a whisper, Cain asked, “And then Nick was killed in action wasn’t he?”
DG neither moved nor said anything for a moment. Then she smacked the seat of the bench with her hands and stood up. She looked down at her friend who was at once so near, but so far away.
“Those women this afternoon. They were a bunch of widows. I knew what they had gone through… and continue to go through. People don’t know how to treat them. They don’t know what to say, they don’t know what to do, and so they end up not doing anything at all. Except to give you that dumb awkward silence.” She took a parting glance up at the setting twin suns. “And you know what else Mr. Cain?” she asked sarcastically. “That’s how I got through so well this afternoon without giving you that signal.”
Cain dropped his hat on to the bench as he slowly stood up. He looked down at DG and said, “You were with me when we found Adora’s grave. Do you really think that you’re the only one who knows what it’s like to have lost your love?”
DG’s eyes narrowed. “At least I tried to hold on to some bit of normalness and tried to enjoy every minute of happiness, because tomorrow, memories might be all you have… You of all people should have learned that after all that time in the suit.”
Her words burned like poison in his ears. “That was a low blow DG,” Cain growled.
DG walked over to Cain and stared up at him. Her face was hard. “I know what it's like to get to be so good at hiding the pain that you even hide it from yourself.”
What she said next burned in Cain’s mind for a long time to come.
“You lost that right to call me a kid when you started drinking to deal with your pain.” Her words caused a wave of pain to cross Cain’s face.
“So who’s really the kid now?” she defiantly asked him.
With that she brushed past him and started to walk back towards the castle. “Per my mother’s orders you are to report again tomorrow at 9 o’clock,” she called out with air of authority.
Cain did not turn around to watch her go. As he reached down for his hat he whispered, “Yes ma’am.”
Title: What’s In a Name?
Author: Penny_Hill
Summary: Names, whether taken as our own, or given to us, define who we are.
Rating: PG
Warnings: None (unless you don’t want to see a strained DG/Cain relationship?)
Remix Info: What’s In a Name? by n_e_star at http://n-e-star.livejournal.com/91574.html
Author's Note: I hope that I did this tiny little story justice and that[info]n_e_star enjoys it *cross fingers*
The old barkeep took up another glass and as he slowly dried the inside of it, his eyes wandered down to the end of the bar. A man in an off-white linen shirt and worn brown pants was sitting alone. It was very late, or very early depending on one’s perspective, and he was the last patron. As he watched him, the man grabbed the last full shot glass and downed it. He grimaced as he waited for the burn to subside, then he sat still for another moment before grabbing his hat and coat to leave.
The old barkeep whistled at him to get his attention.
“Son, “ the old barkeep said as he limped towards the end of the bar, “do you have a minute?” He voice cracked a little bit at the end and he coughed to clear his throat.
Cain stopped and slowly turned around. “It’s getting late and I really should be on my way,” he replied.
The old barkeep put both of his hands on the bar in order to steady him. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. You’ve been coming in here for awhile now and you’re always the last to go.” He coughed and cleared his throat again. “Do you have somewhere to go son?”
“I do,” was Cain’s simple and straight forward answer.
“Oh… okay,” the old barkeep said. He was clearly embarrassed at having just asked what seemed to be an intrusive question. “I’m sorry for bugging you about it.”
Cain shrugged his coat on. “In your line of work you must see a lot come thru that don’t have anywhere to go.”
The old barkeep resumed his cleaning of the bar. He nodded in agreement without looking up. “Yeah… some who know where they are but don’t have anywhere to go…” He paused to look up at Cain. “And then there’s others who remind me of my son. He had somewhere to go but was still lost.” After saying that, the old barkeep looked back down at the bar and resumed his cleaning.
The next morning Cain and DG walked side by side down one of the castle’s hallways. The light from the mid-morning suns shone through the floor length windows and gave a comforting glow to every object that the rays touched. While it warmed away the chill from the stone walls it did little to change DG’s mood. The only sounds were the soft click of her heels on the tile floor and the soft rustle from Cain’s coat.
Finally the silence was too much to bear even for Cain. He asked in a low voice, “How did you sleep last night?”
DG slowed her pace but did not answer him directly. “Fine. Az had a restful night so the rest of us did too.”
Cain nodded in agreement. “That’s good. It’s going to be another long day for you.”
“I know,” she replied as she looked at a slightly bleary eyed Cain. She then added curtly, “and just like Mother asked, I’ll give you the signal when I need to have a break.”
He did not know whether to argue and say that he did not mean it like that or to just suck it up. As he did quite often anymore, he elected the latter as he opened the chamber door for her.
From the corner of the room Cain quietly watched DG and the Queen conduct their business with various groups of constituents. Under normal circumstances he would have politely declined the assignment. Perhaps assignment was the wrong word. It was more like a personal request from the Queen herself.
Soon after the fall of the Witch, DG insisted on assuming as many duties as she could. Those close advised her to not take on so much. It would take years to rebuild the O.Z. The path would be long and hard. But DG ignored them and threw herself in to doing what she could to help those whose lives had been torn apart.
Was her unselfishness now catching up with her?
She had changed these past few months. Their conversations, once free and easy going grew increasingly short. Her voice would resound with happiness at one moment to rock hard ice at the next.
He knew that he had a hand in the change of her behavior. Ever since they had first met he had called her “kid” or “kiddo”. He never meant any harm by it. But as the days went by he could tell that it bothered her every time he said it. He made a conscious effort to remove the words from his vocabulary. However, what dismayed him was that even after he stopped saying those damning words, her behavior continued to change.
“It’s like walking on a bed of eggshells,” Glitch whispered to him one day. Cain furrowed his brows at the recollection. Poor Glitch asked DG for help on locating one of the many devices he had made when he was known as Ambrose. Unbeknownst to him, DG had spent another very long day receiving visitors and advocates for the disenfranchised. It was then that Glitch learned some colorful new words from the Other Side.
It was after that unfortunate public spectacle that the Queen pulled Cain aside and made her personal request.
“It should come as no surprise to you Wyatt that I’m worried about DG,” the Queen said. Her voice, though older, still had a special lyrical quality to it. Even for an old tin man like himself, it made him relax a little.
“We all are.” Cain paused and then added, “I may have had something to do with it.”
The Queen looked surprised. “Oh? In what way?”
He took a parting glance out the window. The twin suns were low in the sky and their fading light caused deep shadows to fall over Central City. “She didn’t like me calling her kid or kiddo,” he answered.
“I see,” she replied. The Queen rose up to look out the same window. “Wyatt, I’m sure that’s not the only reason why she’s hurting. It seems so unlike her to get upset over something like that.” She turned to look at him directly and gently placed her hand on his arm. “I’ve seen how you two have bantered.” She gave him a sad smile and turned to look back over Central City.
For a few minutes neither of them spoke. Then the Queen finally made her request. “During the day, when DG is tiring, I would like her to leave and rest. Will you be her escort?”
Cain scowled. A little gruffly, perhaps too gruffly in front of the highness, he asked, “Have you spoken about this to DG?”
The Queen gave a little smile. “Yes, I did. And judging by your scowl I can see how you believe that it is… shall I say a dubious idea?” She gently placed her hand on his arm again to emphasize that she was not offended by his response. “I told her that I was worried about her. Meeting with so many who have been wronged, it takes an emotional toll on you.” She sighed and then continued. “Even for one like myself.” She rested her hand back on the window sill. “DG was upset at first but she has accepted the proposal.”
Cain could not help but give out a little snort. “No offense your highness, but is accept the right word?”
The Queen smiled at his implication and no response was necessary.
The twin suns had set but there was no light aside from the twinkling of a few starts. It was new moon in the cycle.
The Queen looked back over the city. Somberly she noted, “It’s been without light for too long. Now that it is back, I don’t want it to be extinguished again.”
Cain wearily rubbed his eyes and turned his attention back to DG. She was sitting in a circle with a small group of women off to the side of the chamber. He rubbed his eyes again. He silently cursed himself for daydreaming as he realized that she and the Queen had been meeting all afternoon without a break. Self-doubt crept in to his mind and he wondered if he had missed her signal.
The more that he watched her the more he realized that she was smiling and actively reaching out to the women. She gave no indication that she had ever given him the signal to take her away. Cain breathed a small sigh of relief knowing that she was putting up a good appearance. But as he continued to watch her, he wondered, “DG, is it really just an appearance?” He hated himself for allowing doubt about DG’s true feelings creep into his own private thoughts but it could not be helped. After about another hour the reception ended and without any gesture, she left the chamber on her own.
Cain grabbed his coat and went out in to one of the nearby gardens. He found her sitting on one of the benches, with her knees tucked up underneath her chin.
He stood off to the side of her. He took in a deep breath. It was autumn, the days were getting shorter, and the gardens were starting to lose their summer flavor. He took his coat and gently laid it across the back of the bench. “Mind if I sit down?”
DG’s face tightened. “I came out here for some privacy.”
Cain ran his hand through his short ashen hair. “Look DG, I just wanted to make sure that you were all right.”
“I’m fine,” she replied curtly. “Just because I didn’t give you the signal…” her voice trailed off.
Cain’s patience with her was nearing the end. He knew the reaction what his next words and actions would do. But it had to be done. He placed his hands on his hips and asked, “What’s really eating at you kid?”
DG bristled at his question. She turned her head and glowered at him. “We’ve been through this before.”
“Kiddo, you know what I asked and you didn’t answer the question.” The old tin man was starting to come back out of his shell.
DG let her feet touch the ground once more and she sat up straight on the bench. Her fists clenched together in anger. “I told you before that I’m not a kid.”
In a low voice he replied, “You sure are actin’ like one though.”
DG’s eyes flashed fire at his remark. But Cain did not flinch. He hated to do it, but if this was what was needed to draw her out, then he would be the bad guy.
“Back at the old house. Without knowing what you were getting in to, you ran at a bunch of Longcoats with nothing more than a freaking stick. That showed your bravery. When we were in the Papay fields and you wanted my razor to cut Raw loose, that showed your compassion. Near the tower, when you insisted on saving your sister, that showed your loyalty.”
DG pressed her lips together and crossed her arms in order to maintain some sort of composure. “And what’s your point Mister Cain?”
He dropped his voice even lower. “Somewhere along the line the DG I knew changed. She’s nothing more than a bitch.”
Cain waited for the inevitable explosion. Never in a million annuals did he ever expect to be calling DG what he just called her.
The only sound came from the light rustling of the wind through the leaves. It was as though Mother Nature herself was trying to her breath back.
But there was no explosion.
DG turned and sat back down on the bench. Her hands were clenched together in her lap and she stared out at something far past the gardens. A flash of pain crossed her face and then it was gone. “He had three months before his discharge before a sniper took him out.”
Cain’s face softened. Did he just hear her right? “What was that DG?” He took a tentative step forward but she paid him no attention. She continued to stare ahead at some point so far away. He pulled off his gun’s holster and quietly sat down beside her, being careful not to touch her.
“I was so excited when Nick asked me out. We were close in age… he was older by only about a year and a half. But it was enough to put him two grades ahead of me.” A slight smile emerged from the corner of her mouth. “It was a big deal for a sophomore to go out with a senior.”
Cain said nothing and DG continued. “We had our first date early in the school year. And then it just happened.”
He placed his worn leather hat on his knee and stared down at it. Without turning to look at her he said, “You fell in love didn’t you?”
Cain said it perhaps a little too soon, but he did not care. It was not as much as a question but instead a confirmation.
DG replied a little quickly and bluntly as though she was clearly annoyed at him for stating the plainly obvious. “Yeah we did.”
He ignored her demeanor and asked, “Then what happened?”
“After graduation, Nick wanted to open up his own business. He was always good at fixing anything with a motor.” She looked down at her hands in her lap. It seemed like such a long time ago.
Cain could not help but let a little smile emerge. Innocently he asked, “Is that really where you learned how to fix up stuff?”
“Yeah,” DG replied. “I spent a lot of time there. Mom and Dad said too much.” She went back to staring out far past the gardens.
“I’m sure that the same thing would happen here. If kids couldn’t afford school, or couldn’t get a job they enrolled in the military… Nick joined up not only to earn money, but…” DG paused, as if debating whether to continue. “But as the result of a terror attack.”
DG saw Cain raise an eyebrow. She defiantly told him, “Why do you look so surprised? We had our share of problems in the Other Side too.”
“DG, you’ve never mentioned them before,” he softly reminded her. He then rubbed his forehead. He had a feeling where this might be going and it was not good. He reached around to his jacket and fumbled in one of the pockets. He pulled out a small flask and popped off the cap. He took two quick swigs and then put it away.
“So Nick enlisted because it was the patriotic thing he believed in and he and was stationed out east. I wanted to move out there but he told me that I should stay home and finish school. I didn’t want to listen to him but it was the right thing to do.” She paused again. After a moment she added softly, “He was always right about stuff like that.”
The suns were lower in the sky and the day was beginning to cool. DG took her shawl and wrapped it around herself.
“He was out there a long time and then it happened. Nick received his orders that he was going to be transferred overseas to the source of the conflict.”
Cain leaned back against the bench in a more comfortable position. It almost felt like old times again when him and DG would just talk. “Let me guess, after you heard the news that he was going to be sent off you went out there.”
DG let herself smile a little, “Yeah, you know me. Sometimes I can act a little impulsively.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I took some of the money I earned from waitressing and bought a bus ticket. It took a few days to get out there.”
“It sounds like it might have been a rough trip,” Cain replied.
DG nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it was. Between trying to deal with Nick going in to a war zone and just not being able to sleep on a bus period….” Her voice trailed off again.
“What happened when you finally got there?” Hearing Cain’s voice brought her back again.
DG finally turned to look at him. The blue fire that was there when he was trying to antagonize her, to get her to open up, was gone from his eyes.
A ball welled up in her throat and she had to look away. But as she did so, with one hand she reached up behind her head to hold up her hair. And then with the other hand, she gently lifted up a silver chain up from underneath her dress and out around her head.
She held her necklace out in front of Cain. Hanging at the bottom of the chain were two silver rings and they glistened in the fading sunlight.
Cain’s brow furled and he sat back up a little straighter. It could not be helped; the father came out of him. He pictured a boy named Nick trying to become a young man. A boy barely old enough to fight in whatever conflict had occurred in the Other Side. Then he pictured DG as a young girl, trying to blossom in to a woman. Back then, they were too young, for war and for marriage. He knew what usually happened when people married too young.
But the deed had already been done.
DG scowled. “I knew that would be the reaction that I would get.” She started to put the necklace back on.
It was Cain’s turn to sigh and he shook his head as he did so. “DG, what’s done is done. I’m not here to judge you now.”
She rolled her eyes and sarcastically replied, “No, correction. What wasn’t done is done.”
Cain was confused. He assumed that the rings meant the same thing in his world as in the Other Side. “What do you mean by that?”
DG leaned towards him. “We were never lawfully married.” Her eyes blazed with a renewed fire. “But that doesn’t mean anything now does it?”
“I told you already that I wasn’t going to judge you,” Cain responded in a low voice. He then said, “Since you couldn’t get lawfully married, you still went through with the ceremony anyway didn’t you?”
DG sat on the edge of the bench as though she was ready to get up to leave. “We found a pastor who was sympathetic and he performed the ceremony for us. The next morning he shipped out and I got back on the bus as Mrs. Nicolas Cooper… even if it was by promise only.” She slowly played with a small stone near her foot.
“Did you tell Hank and ‘Em?”
DG snorted at his question. “Oh yeah… after I got to get a word in edgewise. It wasn’t like they weren’t going to say anything about me getting up and leaving in the middle of the night, and then not telling them where I was going. But after awhile I guess they were somewhat relieved that we actually weren’t husband and wife… by law.” Out of annoyance, she kicked the small stone across the pathway.
“How long was he over the sea?” Cain asked.
“Nearly three years,” DG replied. She could not help but smile within herself. Over the sea. Clearly Cain’s geography was limited to the immediate Outer Zone where there were no large bodies of water. Then she frowned. She knew what his next question would be.
Dropping his voice to nearly a whisper, Cain asked, “And then Nick was killed in action wasn’t he?”
DG neither moved nor said anything for a moment. Then she smacked the seat of the bench with her hands and stood up. She looked down at her friend who was at once so near, but so far away.
“Those women this afternoon. They were a bunch of widows. I knew what they had gone through… and continue to go through. People don’t know how to treat them. They don’t know what to say, they don’t know what to do, and so they end up not doing anything at all. Except to give you that dumb awkward silence.” She took a parting glance up at the setting twin suns. “And you know what else Mr. Cain?” she asked sarcastically. “That’s how I got through so well this afternoon without giving you that signal.”
Cain dropped his hat on to the bench as he slowly stood up. He looked down at DG and said, “You were with me when we found Adora’s grave. Do you really think that you’re the only one who knows what it’s like to have lost your love?”
DG’s eyes narrowed. “At least I tried to hold on to some bit of normalness and tried to enjoy every minute of happiness, because tomorrow, memories might be all you have… You of all people should have learned that after all that time in the suit.”
Her words burned like poison in his ears. “That was a low blow DG,” Cain growled.
DG walked over to Cain and stared up at him. Her face was hard. “I know what it's like to get to be so good at hiding the pain that you even hide it from yourself.”
What she said next burned in Cain’s mind for a long time to come.
“You lost that right to call me a kid when you started drinking to deal with your pain.” Her words caused a wave of pain to cross Cain’s face.
“So who’s really the kid now?” she defiantly asked him.
With that she brushed past him and started to walk back towards the castle. “Per my mother’s orders you are to report again tomorrow at 9 o’clock,” she called out with air of authority.
Cain did not turn around to watch her go. As he reached down for his hat he whispered, “Yes ma’am.”