Bound by Destiny | COUNTRYHUMAN AU

Combat Class

"JUST A MINUTE LONGER!" my instructor encouraged me. I strained to hear his voice against the roaring of blood in my ears. Sweat dripped down my face and the room felt unbelievably hot. Just hold out a little longer, I repeated my mantra as my body shook. "5...4...3...2...1!" as soon as he had reached the last number, I flopped onto the ground as my ability died out. I gasped for air as my instructor wrote something down in his chart.

"Good job Poland! You held out much longer today," he grinned, looking pleased. I raised a thumbs up, too exhausted to speak. Ever since I had been given the all clear to do normal training, my instructor had not held back, making me train twice as hard. It was extremely tiring but I knew I needed to catch up. He scribbled some comments before looking at his watch. "Well, that's all for today. Get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow," he patted me on my back as I peeled myself off the ground. I thanked him and got ready to leave before he stopped me.

"Ah, I forgot to mention this earlier but tomorrow's lesson will be a combined class with Kazakhstan. His instructor won't be around tomorrow so I'll be taking him," he explained. I nodded, wiping the sweat off my face with a towel. I waved goodbye to him as I exited the training room. The sky was a lovely shade of pinkish orange and I could see a few birds heading back to their nests.

I wish I could be with them. I felt an ache in my chest as I watched the birds soar through the sky. If only I had my wings... I smiled sadly, as I recalled the first year post-war.

*

I was huddled next to my father as we looked out into the starry sky. He smoothed my hair back, pecking my forehead lightly. "Polska, it's time to sleep, come on, Łódź will bring you to your room," he told me gently. I shook my head, clinging onto him. "No! I want to stay with you!" I gave him a stubborn look and he chuckled softly.

"Papa will be staying up very late though. You need sleep. Tomorrow your lessons are starting aren't they? Surely you don't want to fall asleep during the classes."

"But I'm scared of the nightmares!" I cried, hugging my father tightly. He rubbed circles on my back before tapping me. "Look Polska, look, there's a meteor shower. Come on, let's make some wishes. Maybe they'll chase away those monsters!" he turned me around, clasping our hands together, "I wish..." I couldn't hear about the rest of his sentence but followed along. Shutting my eyes tightly, I thought about my wish.

'I wish to have my wings back.'

As the stars fell, I continued to make some more wishes. After a while, they subsided. The last star fell, concluding the end of the meteor shower. I turned to Papa, curiosity in my eyes. "Papa, what did you wish for?" I asked. He smiled, ruffling my hair. "Papa can't say anything otherwise the wish won't come through," he told me. I 'ohh-ed' and mimed zipping my mouth. He smiled, hugging me tightly.

He held onto me for a while longer before ruffling my hair. "Okay okay, now you really should go to bed. Łódź!" a young servant came in, bowing. "Yes, Your Majesty?" she asked politely. "Could you bring Polska to bed please? Maybe read him a bedtime story if you can?" he told her, passing me over. He pecked my forehead again as he whispered good night to me. "Behave okay?" he told me, "Don't make Łódź's life hard." I nodded, making a pinkie promise. Łódź 'awww-ed' at my actions, a fond smile on her face. She carried me out of the room and brought me to my room where she set me in my bed, tucking me in. Grabbing a book, she began to softly read out the story.

"Once upon a time, there lived a dragon and prince..."

I shook myself out of the reverie, slightly shocked that the sky was already dark. Man, I need to stop spacing out. Despite losing my wings, I still longed to be in the sky. The first few years post-war, I used to stay in my bedroom, staring out into the sky with Papa, longing to touch the clouds. I never told anyone this but whenever I saw shooting stars, I would always wish on them, praying to the heavens that my wings would regrow. Even till now, I still would make the same wish even though I knew that it would never come through.