Sentiment War

Chapter 17

Bella's P.O.V

December 14, 1941...

I pull my hair up in a loose ponytail, letting some hairs fall loose on the sides of my face. My dress is loose fitting, my skirt waves around me. I pull my hair over my should and walk out of the room where the rest of the group wait.

Today is the funerals and they will be held at the base. I find really hard to go, given that one sweet girl was victim of such horrible attack. I still have to go, I have to say my goodbye. I wonder how will we get her body to her family so they can bury her, her family - from what I know - doesn't have much money.

I walk with Alice and Rosalie down the crowded streets of Pearl Harbor. The people walked down to the base to pay their respect to those who lost their lives. We walked with our arms latched to each other at a very slow pace. As it was expected, Jessica and Lauren did not want to come to the funeral.

Once we got there at the large base, o stopped at the sight of thousands of wooden coffins. The majority had the American flag over them with the picture and name of the person that died.

It was such a sad setting here. It was very quiet, sobbing and whimpering was heard mostly around the entire room.

I stop at the sight of Ben, next to him are Jasper, Emmett and Edward. They're all wearing their uniforms but take off their hats when they reach a certain coffin. Immediately, I know to who's coffin they've stopped at. Ben drops to his knees and with shaky hands, he places two red roses on top of Angela's coffin. Those were her favorites.

From the distance, I see his entire body shake as he quietly whimpered in silence with his head pressed against the coffin. I make my way to him and place my hand on his shoulder. The touch makes him jump but once he noticed it was me, he let me comfort him.

We all stood around her coffin, mourning over the loss of our friend. Soon after, Ben recovers and stands up straight. He murmurs something under his breath before bending down and place a gentle kiss on the coffin.

It was time for the ceremony and the yard of the base was filled with people, all chairs were occupied immediately and majority of the people here stood during the two hour ceremony. Guns were shot in honor of the fallen, the flag rose up in the sky and the trumpets sounds at the far end as family's were given the flag in honor of their loved one.

I could barely stand my own tears when Mr. Warner, Angela's father walked up to receive his flag. Many people questioned why he received one, others saw this as an honor. The expression on his face broke my heart. He looked so sad and fragile.

Edward stood by the stage where the Colonel spoke. Often, he would look at me. Sometimes when our eyes met, he would either look away or just give me a nod before turning away again. We never spoke a word to each other during the entire day and something inside me told me we would not. He will leave in two days and I'll probably never see him again after that.

After the ceremony, Alice and I walked back home to prepare for our parents arrival. My mother was more than frighten after hearing the news of what had happened and soon after sent us a letter that her and our father will be coming here for an entire week. I wonder how would my father take the behavior of our roommates, he'd probably give them a sermon.

The house was very quiet when we came home. Jessica and Lauren were in the living room watching the daily news, Alice went on to finish sewing her jacket. I distracted myself by finishing Tess of The D'Urbevilles by Thomas Hardy. The house was pleasantly silent, neither of the two painted peacocks we have as roommates talked.

Jessica got up at some point in the day and left the room. We all continued to do what we did until Jessica ran in the room as if something was chasing her.