I've Been Torn

There she was. Asleep in his arms like she said she wouldn't. Though she couldn't say she didn't enjoy it. She felt safe there... And he'd only known her for what? A couple hours? There she was, defenseless in the arms of a man she’d just met, and for what? Melting his guard a bit? Though she was asleep, and her subconscious was swimming around in confusion.

Her steady breathing, and relaxed face looked almost as if she was hibernating, gathering energy from the living things around her for the next day, taking energy from the moon. Until she felt a pinch on her arm. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she rubbed her eyes.

Looking up at Allen, she grinned, “good evening Sir Tin Man. How are you on this lovely evening?” She patted him on the back in thanks for carrying her, and in a way… She really didn’t want him to put her down. She wanted to stay safely in his arms. But she knew that wasn’t going to happen, so she proposed the question, “I think I can walk now… Or do you wish to carry me forever?” She laughed a bit, and moved some hair out of her face.

She looked up at the sky, and the moonlight washed over her face, while the stars looked like pepper scattered over the sky. Enelya smiled, and pointed to a few constellations. “Aren’t they just beautiful?” She sighed, admiring the simple beauty. The smallest things meant the most to Enelya. She found life could be more pleasant that way.

Enelya wasn't sure if she should glare at him or blush. On one side he was joking with her, but she felt really bad for making him carry her all that way. It was carrying her that got him into the whole mess of knowing her in the first place.

Though for some reason Enelya thought maybe the ocean had something to do with that... or maybe... Some other power. She didn't know, and she couldn't as well discuss it with herself at that moment either. She simply blushed, and shrugged.

Enelya looked up at Allen as he held her shoulders, and giggled, "I'm fine, I promise." As he let go, she went up to him, and gave him a small embrace. "Thanks for carrying me... That was really sweet of you." She kissed his cheek, and went over to a tree, and sat down under it.

"I also hope you realize that you make people rethink what they know." Since she had been asleep earlier, he figured now was as good a time as any to say what he had been going to. "You've a way with making things seem real that maybe aren't, a way of changing one's opinion... but I have yet to decide whether it's a quality that's a curse or a gift."

Enelya listened to Allen talk to her, but her brain wasn't really computing what he was saying. She was changing his mind about things... But he doesn't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing? "Umm... Thank you?" She had a goofy grin, and shrugged. She wasn't sure how to respond. "I guess when you can talk to the majority of the life forces out there... You have a different appreciation of Nature."

"But don't you get tired of looking at the same sky, the same stars, and the same moon every night?"

She laughed, and shrugged. "Are you sure you don't want me to change your mind again?" Enelya patted the leaves beside her, and offered him to join her on such a lovely evening.

As Allen refused to return Enelya’s embrace, she let go of him, and raised an eyebrow. She put a hand on her hip, and she shook her head lightly, disappointed in Allen’s failure to return her hug. “Did someone forget how to hug?” She shook her head, making an tsk tsk tsk noise. “What a shame! Here, I’ll teach you.” She approached him again, and wrapped her arm around his torso. “Look, I wrap my arms around you, and you,” she took his arms, and put them around her, “put your arms around me. Then, depending on how much you like the person your hugging, is how tightly you squeeze.”

Enelya returned her own arms to Allen’s waist, and squeezed lightly. She let go of him, and grinned. “See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”She nudged him a bit, and laughed. It had been fun teaching him how to hug someone. Enelya wasn’t sure she could put up with another guy who didn’t know how to hug properly. It took Kotah awhile to come around to touching her… But she thought Allen was getting better.

Stupid Enelya! Quit comparing everything he does to what Kotah did! She thought. This was just going to run in circles. Besides, she wasn’t going to become involved with Allen anyways, she had just met him, and well, he was nice, and he needed some friendship. And that’s all it would ever be.

As she sat down at the tree, she grinned as he wiped off her kiss. It was cute seeing him all embarrassed. Cute? Ugh, she needed to stop telling herself he looked cute. Friend. Just friend. Remember? Oh dear, don’t start talking to yourself again Enelya… She thought. There were times where her sanity was doubtful… “Well, I’m sure smearing it around your face will make it all better.” She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed.

Enelya thought a moment for responding to his star question. It was a little complicated, but not all at the same time. “Well… The Earth moves… Which means the stars are never the same each night. And, if you pay attention, you can find the constellations. So even if you see the same ones again, you might find a different constellation a different night. And… The moon changes… Every night… With it’s waxing and waning, and it’s energy sources.” She bit her lip, realizing he may not understand the energy. “Well… For me it changes anyways. Plus, you have things like the harvest moon, which is always gorgeous.”

She thought for a moment, and shrugged. “I guess if you’re out here enough, you find that nothing is ever the same with Nature. It is always changing… Right before your very eyes.” She smiled, with glittering eyes. “If you know where to look.”

Enelya was slightly amused by all of Allen’s complaints. But then again, she wished he would stop being so… Tin Manish. Enelya crossed her arms, and shook her head lightly. “It was completely necessary.” She grinned widely, and poked him softly. “Someone needs to remedy you of your Tin Man habits!”

"I mean, I'm never going to actually DO that.”

Enelya smiled, unphased by his protests, “well, just in case, then. Who knows, you might find someone you actually like around here.” She wasn’t sure if she was putting ‘inferred’ material in that statement or not… So she decided to let him decipher it. Ignoring the germs statement, she looked up at the sky again.

His frustration could honestly, be quite amusing. Though she covered her mouth in a muffled laugh. He was just so easy to mess with. Especially when he made a big deal out of germs. “Be careful, I might get an angiosperm on you too.” She shook her head, and waved a dismissive hand to his hat and dance routine. “No thanks, I think I’ve made you do enough involuntary performing today.”

Sitting under the tree’s trunk, she took her pointer finger, and waved it around. A small, immature daisy sprouted from the ground, and twisted in each direction that Enelya told it to. It was small entertainment, but Enelya enjoyed it nonetheless. She looked over to the irritated Tin Man, and plucked the daisy. She smelled it, and handed it to him. “Here,” she whispered.

She listened to his counter argument for her star statements. It was really hard to explain the wonders of Nature to someone like him. Especially when a lot of it was just gut feelings… Things that mere people wouldn’t understand. She bit her lip, and nodded, while shrugging. “If you say so, Allen.”

He looked at her. "Well, then I guess I just don't know where to look, then," Allen said to her. "You'll have to show me eventually."

Enelya wondered if he really wanted to see her world, or if he just said it because ‘that’s what you’re supposed to say.’ It would be strange showing him anyways… They were simple things he probably wouldn’t appreciate that well Enelya took great pride in.

Taking care of baby birds, finding the best birthing grove for an expecting mother doe, or teaching an orphaned male how to live by himself. Or just the simplest turns of the colors in the trees, or a sprout of a new bud in a sapling... They were things that most people simply walked right over without even noticing...That a Tin Man like Allen probably wouldn’t find the same joys in as Enelya did.

“Maybe,” she responded.

What did she need to be cured of? She looked around, nervously. Wondering if she should tell him of her broken heart with Kotah… She didn’t know if she was ready to tell a story that was theirs… It was too sad for her. Especially now, by being near someone who reminded her so much of him, tore her apart. “Disappointment.” She said, while biting her lip.

It was true; she had waited endlessly for him… But he only disappeared time, and time again. Was she supposed to wait forever? His broken promise cut through her like a knife. She thought she might cry… But held back tears since she was in front of Allen. He wouldn’t appreciate them very much. She was afraid of anything that was more than friendship. That required a trust beyond having someone’s back, and taking care of them. The disappointment hurt too badly.

"The only person I pretty much don't entirely hate around here is you so far."

Enelya laughed musically. “So you only hate me partially, right? I feel really special now!” She blushed, and wondered why. Being hated partially was really an achievement with people who hated everyone completely.

She watched his reaction to her flower. Apparently, he wasn’t too fond of gifts either. No appreciation, no gifts, and definitely no hugs! Poor guy.

"What's it for?"

Enelya looked at Allen for a minute, studying his confusion, and almost laughed. What’s it for? “Your soul.” She responded. What a silly boy, she thought.

He looked forward to her showing him…? She sat back, chewing on the thought of taking him through the forest, and even the mountains, showing him her wonders. They were trivial, and naturally, she hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed.

"Does something seem... wrong, to you?"

Enelya bit her lip, and tried talking to the trees. She heard them whispering around her, but they did not answer her questions, she couldn't hear what they were saying. She turned around, still sitting, and touched the tree. She could not feel its life anymore. It was just a plant. “I… I can’t feel it anymore.” She stood, and put her ear against the tree, and could only hear the bugs rustling in its trunk.

This could only mean one thing…

Not again…

She put her hands to her mouth, and shook her head violently. “I can’t hear them! They’re here again.” She turned to Allen, and before she could warn him, or explain anything, the feeling of dread washed over Enelya, and there they were.

Men in black suits, they looked like deep sea diver’s with bug – eyed goggles, and gas masks… As if Enelya was toxic or something – as if they did get an angiosperm on them, they would die. They advanced towards Enelya, and she looked worriedly up at Allen. She grabbed him arm, and squeezed it. “Don’t let them take me…Please.” She whispered.

“Give us the experiment.” One said, with an orange sigma of a botanical laboratory. His voice was mechanical, as if he spoke through a speaker from his suit. Their breathing was loud, and it seemed to suck all the oxygen… All the life out of the air. As his voice pierced Enelya’s ears, she squeezed Allen’s arm in fear. Against these people… She was defenseless.

Her fate was in their hands. Please Allen... she thought.