Jonathan held Lucia in his arms, wrapped up beneath layers of thick blanket. They were sleeping on a bed of cushions in the corner of a house that belonged to one of Jonathan's fellow resisters. It was quiet in the otherwise empty building; the owner was out on service.
Lucia's warmth seemed to bleed into Jonathan's skin, soaking through him like butter into toast. He wished he could absorb her completely, so that he could carry her with him always. But then he would no longer be able to look at her or smell her or run his fingers through her hair, so perhaps it wasn't the best idea after all.
She sighed softly and he could feel the rise and fall of her breathing as they lay there silently, suspended in time and space.
Lucia broke the moment first. "What are we doing now?"
"Now?" Jonathan frowned. "What do you mean, now?"
"Now," Lucia repeated. "Now that you've swept me out of my life in order to rescue me from danger. What's step two?"
Jonathan hesitated. "I...hadn't actually thought that far ahead. I just had to get you out of there."
Lucia rolled her eyes and laughed. "Typical. The bold hero comes in to carry off the damsel in distress without the faintest idea of where the dragons might be lurking."
"When I find them, I'll slay them for you," Jonathan promised.
"I don't need you to act the knight in shining armour for me," Lucia grumbled. "I could slay a dragon."
"Really?" Jonathan sounded doubtful.
"Well, maybe not, but I could give it a damn good try."
He laughed then, kissing the curve of her neck. "I know you could slay dragons if you wanted to. But I don't want you to have to."
"You know what I wish someone had told you when you were a boy?" Lucia kissed his hair. "That you can't save everyone and only dead men are heroes. I think your life would have been easier if you'd started out knowing that."
"I don't think I can save everyone," Jonathan admitted. "But what's caring worth if you don't at least try and do something?"
"And get yourself killed?" Lucia demanded. "Your mother is dead, Jonny. Do you think that's not your fault?"
Jonathan groaned and let go of her. "You're a hard-hearted woman, Lucia."
She scowled at him. "Well, do you? Do you think it's not your fault that I'm here? Do you think that if you didn't run around trying to save the world they would still be after us?"
Jonathan sighed heavily. "No. Of course not. This is my fault. I just..."
YOU ARE READING
Awake
Science FictionWhen Jonathan Sand died one night trying to save the girl he loved, he did not expect to wake up the next morning and find that everything he had ever known was a figment of his imagination. Rising from a simulated dream, six members of the Junior...
