Chapter 31. Book 2, Chapter 5. Flowers in the Sky

  July 20th, 2014, Okinawa Japan.

  It turned out that Hina had an uncle who rented scooters and motorcycles out to tourists. They were able to get a couple for a cheap price and zoom around the training area for a bit. Visha instantly fell in love with the feeling of being back on a motorbike and begged Tanya to requisition one for them when they got home.

  Home.

  Visha said it so naturally, so casually. Tanya had been calling her grandparents’ house home in passing for a while now, but it wasn’t until Visha said it just now that Tanya really felt what those words meant. For a long while home had been simply a word, something she used in speeches to rally the men of the 203rd. Now, it meant something else, something more, to both of them.

  Watching her best friend zoom about, hooting and laughing, Tanya had a very selfish thought invade her head, one she didn’t want to let go. She didn’t want Visha to ever leave. Tanya was stunned at the thought and the deep possessiveness, that it brought with it.

  She had always made her future plans with Visha in mind. School, college, work, house etc.… But that had been out of habit, she hadn’t really thought about what that meant for real and if such a thing even made sense. It didn’t, her mind was forced to conclude. Once the two of them became adults it was illogical to expect them to go to the same college and have the same career path. Not to mention, living situations. No, the most likely scenario would be her and Visha eventually growing up and growing apart. Splitting up and doing their own thing with their own lives, just as most teenage friends did.

  But they were comrades, wingmates, surely, they weren’t destined to drift apart like everybody else, right!

  Tanya felt a chilling claw grasp her heart and she clutched at her chest, her breaths coming in quick and short.

  Visha wanted a family, kids, children. She had heard her talking about it with Grandma. But I’m her family? Tanya pleaded/exclaimed to no one. Visha had said as much herself, on those long nights when they chased each other’s nightmares away. Visha would say it with her own lips, calling her Rodnya in Russian when she thought she was asleep.

  How! Tanya asked herself. How do I make her stay?

  “Tanya? What’s wrong? You’re shaking.”

  Momo startled Tanya out of her spiraling thoughts, but still she couldn’t shrug off the absolute dread that still gripped her heart. Panting slightly, she whispered out.

  “What…What if she leaves me, what will I do?... Everyone else is already gone. I don’t want to be all alone again. She… She’s going to leave; I don’t want her to leave. Momo what do I do?”

  Tanya knew she sounded crazy. Knew she sounded desperate and pathetic, but she couldn’t stop herself. She was gripping Momo’s arm so tightly she could see the other girl wince in pain, but she didn’t care, she needed—

  Momo hugged her suddenly, a backbreaking, breath stealing hug.

  “It will be alright Tanya! No one is going anywhere any time soon ok! We are still together; your grandparents will be here for you, and Visha is still here for you. I doubt she will ever be far enough away that she’s actually gone. Relax, it’s ok, you’re ok.”

  Tanya slowly took deep calming breaths, focusing on Momo’s words and the sounds of her heart thumping in her chest. Steady, calming. Thinking about it, Tanya knew she had been acting erratically. Visha was right there in front of her, and she wasn’t going anywhere. Tanya just needed to calm down. Maybe she had low blood sugar or sunstroke from the heat. That must be it, she just needed to get some electrolytes in her. But she stilled owed Momo an apology for startling her.

  “Momo, I’m… Thank you. I’m alright.”

  “Any time Tanya…Anytime.”

  Tanya nodded and moved off to the cooler they had brought to get herself a drink, waving to Visha as she made another loop past.

  ~

  Visha had noticed Tanya acting a little oddly the last few days. At first, she had thought it was her general shyness in being in a bathing suit most of the day, but that didn’t make sense, since Tonya’s bathing suits were more modest than most of her regular clothes. Plus, she had been very clingy, taking almost any opportunity to hold Visha’s hand or make physical contact in some way throughout the day. While during the nights, she fought furiously to always be the one who ended up next to her when they jockeyed for the best position under the A.C.

  Visha would have been more concerned, if she didn’t like the attention and affection so much. Skinship was one of the major things their relationship was lacking, and Tanya was rarely the one to initiate a hug, or handholding between the two of them. Just as she did start to get concerned, Tanya began easing up on it and relaxing from whatever had set her off.

  Pity, Visha thought. Who wouldn’t enjoy a cute little sister like friend to constantly be clinging to them and showering them with affection. Judging by how much Tanya had been developing recently. It was only a matter of time before Visha would no longer be able to easily rest her elbow on her diminutive friend’s shoulder.

  Then again, Visha was currently going through her own…Developments. Ever since her mana had capped out, it was as if her body was putting all its efforts into her chest and hips. While still not anything impressive by the standards back home, here in this country… Visha was becoming very aware of how eye catching she was becoming, and not just because of her skin and hair color.

  Although, she mused, it looked like Tanya was developing a little in that area as well. Visha chuckled evilly to herself. Tanya, get ready to welcome the joys of womanhood. Muh ha ha ha!

  ~

  It was Sunday, the last night of their trip. They would be flying out later the next day. They had wanted to stay a little longer but there had been a typhoon predicted to start forming, and they didn’t want to take any chances in getting stuck. No, it was better to plan on cutting the trip short by a day or two than have to extend it by a week.

  Still, it was a beautiful night, and her grandparents had said that this resort had a special show they put on every Sunday, so long as the weather permitted.

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  That was what they were doing now. Sitting around a rented BBQ grill and roasting meat skewers, while squishing their toes in the sand, for possibly the last time on this trip. The sun had long gone down, and Tanya had even taken a few good pictures of it…as well as Visha and her posing with the sunset as a backdrop. They had turned out surprisingly well, and one was now set as her phones wallpaper.

  Speaking of phones, Momo just returned from talking on hers. She had been off and on it throughout the whole trip. Often stepping away to take a call and sending pictures via text to someone. Tanya would have been worried, but it always seemed to be pictures of the scenery and whenever Momo returned from a phone call, she seemed brighter, happier. Maybe she should assign Visha to sniff out what was going on, later.

  Tanya currently had a skewer in each hand and was having to eat quickly as her grandfather was currently in the process of trying to hand her another one. Tanya took it, and nodded her head in appreciation, but internally she was puzzled by the old man’s antics. Can’t he see my hands are full and I’ve eaten like six of these already.

  Visha looked at her with a longing gaze that Tanya continued to ignore. Get your own damn skewers, you tramp. Still not forgiving her friend for stealing half her shaved ice from earlier in the day. Tanya had been measuring out her bites, so as to stretch out the time the icy dessert could keep her cool the longest. And Visha had ruined all her efforts!

  Suddenly, Tanya’s body tensed of its own accord, and she looked around wondering what had sent her senses off. Then she heard it.

  The subtle hiss and screech of a rocket flare being launched, signaling the start of a night battle. Tanya and Visha’s bodies tensed as they waited for the sky to be illuminated by the bright flare that had just been launched. Unconsciously moving closer together, each gripping their Type 97’s, ensuring their readiness, as they prepared for the whistle that signaled a charge.

  Then they heard the pop and bang of the explosion, and the night sky was indeed lit up. But with color.

  Beautiful colors exploded in the night sky one after another as the firework show truly got underway. The other members of their group oohed and aahed at the spectacle. However, as much as she tried to force herself to relax, her body just refused to do so, and she found herself holding Visha’s trembling hand and leaning against her, as the show continued. Unable to appreciate its beauty and color.

  No, all she could see was the flash of light from behind her eyelids, as each rocket exploded, and all she could feel was the concussion of the blasts striking her chest, over and over. The scent of the BBQ was long gone, overridden by the pervasive stench of gunpowder and sulfur.

  “Tanya…Its so pretty…why do I hate it?” Visha’s voice was small and soft, whispered in a stunned tone filled with confusion and longing.

  That night neither of them got much sleep. Eventually electing to sit up and lean against each other, to escape the dreams. Reliving times spent staying up on watch throughout the night.

  Breakfast the next day included a lot more coffee than usual. The group decided to go to the beach one final time that morning. Racing to get as much out of their time left as possible, dragging Visha and Tanya along with them.

  Tanya and Visha felt a strange need take over them as they got to the beach. Maybe it was from remembering the feeling of the explosions from last night, or maybe they just wanted to let off some steam. Either way, the two brought out their two most trusted implements and set to work in the sand.

  They were joined by their friends at first but one by one, each of the other girls got tired or bored and climbed out of the trench they had been digging. Using one of the many stairways that had been evenly spaced and carved into the trench wall for easy egress.

  Tanya continued on, carving out little dugouts and side passages for their defensive works, pacing off and making sure that every so often the trench turned, making a ninety-degree turn. She had talked it over with Visha and from the beginning they had decided that the earthwork would have to be scaled down.

  By the time lunch rolled around and it was nearing the time of their departure, the two had thrown off their strange mood from the night before and were able to enjoy the last of their vacation with smiles on their faces. Looking over the defensive work before them, that even now was drawing attention from other beach goers, Tanya let out a breath, exhaling pent up stress and emotions from the night before. Tanya had made sure that the excavated sand had been piled up around all sides of the trench, preventing anyone from accidentally falling in. The last thing she needed right now was some sort of lawsuit on her hands.

  However, she still felt proud of the work that she had done, and if the relaxed smile on Visha’s face was anything to go by, so was she.

  The others in their group were stunned by the scale and detail of the work. Which was unsurprising, the trench was nearly an exact replica of the section of trench she and Visha had defended on the Rhine for nearly a month. Including the little bench carved into the side with a bit of an overhang, that she used to take naps on. Visha had gone so far as to add the notch marks from her own mage kills on a piece of driftwood she had mounted above her own dugout.

  “Hey Visha-sama, what are those notches for?” Hina-chan asked.

  “Oh, those were just a count to keep track of how long before I got a vacation. I never did get to go on it though, I only needed twelve more to have made it at the time, but alas the rules changed by the time I got around to—” “Ahem!” Tanya interrupted. “Oh, my! Is that the time! “Hina where did we put the drinks? I sure am thirsty…” Visha recovered after Tanya’s little reminder.

  Hopping out of the trench and reaching down to pull Hina-chan out as well. Leaving the trench to be admired by the adults and passersby.

  Her grandfather was particularly impressed, as well as Reimu’s dad, who couldn’t stop taking pictures with his camera and was even pacing off sections of the trench. Reimu explained that he was a bit of a history buff and was probably “fangirling” about their re-creation.

  “Tanya, Visha! Where did you two learn to dig like that?” Momo asked. As soon as she said it, nearly everyone else nearby looked over to hear their answer.

  “From Herr Wilhelm Salomon.” Tanya answered matter-of-factly. Before brushing the sand off her shovel and leaving to go store it in her luggage, leaving everyone else stunned and confused. Visha was right, Tanya thought, these did end up coming in handy, I’m glad we brought them along. Wistling to herself Tanya was in a good mood.

  That was until it was time to go home, and Tanya was somehow seated next to Reimu’s little brother, who proceeded to moon over her throughout the whole return trip. She did her best to smile and act polite, not reacting to the snickers and giggles that she heard around her every once in a while.

  Tanya felt herself wondering when this trip would end, and if anything else was going to go wrong.

  Nevertheless, their return to Tokyo proved uneventful and Visha and her didn’t have to perform any of the emergency rescue procedures they’d planned if the plane malfunctioned and fell from the sky.

  Finally getting back to her room, Tanya was hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion and flopped herself down onto her bed. AHH! It’s good to be Home.

  ~

  Momo sent one last message, before putting her phone on airplane mode and boarding the plane. But almost immediately received a reply, so, she paused to read it first.

  >>>. YamaMomo

  Just about to board on my way home, I’ll see you tomorrow. Can’t Wait! Did you get the pictures?

  >>>. WheretheWindBlows

  I got them, you look so beautiful! Wow and your friends look so cute too! You should bring them by sometime and introduce them, I know some of the others would love to get to know some of your friends. Safe travels, see you tomorrow.

  ~

  Spoiler authors note. This part would have been how the scene played out before I cut out Momo’s thoughts.

  “Momo, I… Thank you. I’m alright.”

  “Any time Tanya…Anytime.”

  Tanya nodded and moved off to the cooler they had brought to get herself a drink, waving to Visha as she made another loop past.

  ~

  Momo watched with a small fake smile on her face as Tanya left to get some water. Part of her was very concerned about what she had just seen. But another part, a much larger, more selfish, evil part, was terribly relieved to see that she was not the only one who had those feelings.

  ~

  Authors notes: I was thinking this was too on the nose. I figured you would put together that this was an important moment for Momo without her having to tell us herself.

  ~

  Glossary

  Rodnya (родня) in Russian means "relatives," "kin," or "relations." It is a collective noun used to describe one's extended family, including cousins, in-laws, and relatives in general, rather than just the immediate family (sem'ya). It carries a warm or informal connotation, implying close, familiar

  Author’s note: In this chapter the above word was used. And in the Valentines Day chapter the word below was used. As far as I was able to research they both use the same root word but have a different meaning. It would also be really easy for a native speaker to switch between the two and have a casual learner of the language not hear the difference or not understand that there was one. Sneaky Visha.

  Rodnaya (родная) is a common Russian term of endearment that translates literally to "native" or "related," but in a romantic or affectionate context, it means "my dear," "my darling," "my beloved," or "my own"