Arkangel || A Winter / Karina / WinRina Adventure

Coming Home

The day after Winter returned from work was becoming a ritual that they were getting used to. The first night together was always special, like a first date. It is said that "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." But add the high probability of dying into the mix, and absence made two people unable to stop looking at each other, unable to stop giggling, and unable to keep their hands to themselves.

But everything changed the first morning after Winter returned. By then, she was so stiff and her body ached so badly that she spent most of the day sleeping in a tub full of ice. Karina, of course, would sit beside her and stroke her hair for hours. Sometimes, though, seeing the bruises and scars and the freshly-stitched wounds made Karina run to the bedroom, close the door, and sob. She was so proud of Winter. But why did it have to be her Winter who took these beatings and stabbings and gunshots. Karina's Winter was a delicate, gentle, loving, and fragile person that Karina could never stop loving. So why did it have to be her? If she disappears I will die from love.

Karina helped Winter stand up and she toweled her off. She had been beaten so badly that Karina had to look away without Winter noticing.

But Winter noticed. "Is it that bad, Karina?"

Karina looked at the floor. "I guess it will just take time to get used to."

"I'm sorry that I've brought something into your life that you have to get used to. I love you so much. Hurting you would kill me."

"I know baby, but look at you, you're covered in injuries. Some of the skin on your back is black because you were hit so hard. It seems like each time you come back it's worse."

"I wish I could tell you that it will get better, but I can't. All I can tell you is that this will end, sooner than you think. I can't tell you exactly, but it will." Winter's voice trembled. "Just... just please, don't leave me until then."

"Don't even say that. Don't ever say anything about us leaving each other. It won't happen. For god's sake, I want to marry you eventually, so it can't happen if one of the brides is missing!"

"M-m-marry?" Winter asked.

"Yes, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. First you need to really focus on not dying. Get it? Don't die. Then, someday, I want us to make it official. That is, as long as you don't become a jerk." She kissed Winter on the cheek and gently led her back to bed so she could recover. Then Karina left for a shift at the coffee shop. The bank was along the way so she could deposit Winter's third $100,000 check.

My girlfriend's rich. Damn, she keeps getting finer! And then she screamed "Karina loves Winter!" at the top of her lungs.

. . . . .

The coffee shop closed at 10pm. By the time Karina had cleaned everything for the next day, it was 11. She locked the door and when she turned around she saw Winter, standing beneath a streetlight, holding a cheap bouquet of flowers. Instantly the tears welled up. She raced across the street and hugged, carefully trying not to hurt her delicate girlfriend.

"These are for you, Karina," she said, handing her the flowers. Karina looked at them and smiled.

"Did you steal these?" she asked.

"Steal? No!" Winter said defensively. "I just took them from someone's yard. Is that stealing?"

"Not if you do it, baby, and not if they're for me." She gave Winter a deep kiss.

"I wanted to tell you something," Winter said meekly. "I'd like... I mean, down the road... I want to maybe -"

"Just say it, my love. I already know what it is."

"Maybe someday I'd like to be your wife, too, if that's ok."

Karina smiled and held Winter's face in her hands. "I think a lot about what life must have been like for you as a homeless child. I can't imagine, Winter. But what I know is that somehow you got through it and are the most loving, forgiving, compassionate person in the world."

"That's because someone saved me," Winter said. Tears ran down her cheeks. "Karina, I miss him so bad, all the time, every day. I just need to make sure he's ok, if he's still alive. I want him to meet you. I want him to say that I was worth saving."

"Don't you see, Winter? You're my Well. You're the whole world's Well. He's alive in your heart. Now he's alive in mine, too. He taught you how to love."

"Oh, Karina, he had nothing!" she sobbed. "He gave me his only blanket. On the streets, in the cold, a blanket is the most valuable thing in the world. And he gave his to a stranger."

"He did, and you know what you did? You ran to him, and you showed him love, and together you survived. He is alive. I can feel it. Some day I have to meet this remarkable man, because I owe him everything. He gave me you."

Winter tried to remember exactly what Well looked like, but it was getting harder as time passed. What came to her with crystal-clear clarity was her crushing the throat of the elderly man on the bus. Is that what Well would want for her?

"Karina, does this mean we're engaged?"

Karina smiled. "Let's say we're engaged to be engaged. We're going at breakneck speed in this relationship and I just want to make sure that we'll be ready."

"I love you, Karina."

"Winter, I've loved you before I even met you."