Part 30 (1/2)
”May I ask why you are up here?” he said. ”Isabelle is searching for you. She asked me where you were, and I did not know.”
”We fought. It was horrible and . . . and I just needed to find somewhere to think.”
”So you climbed to the top of a tree?”
”I wanted to escape.”
He sat beside her on the limb, one of his hands coming to rest on her leg while he held a branch with the other. A gust of wind penetrated the jungle, and he felt the tree lean to the side. ”May I inquire as to why you fought?”
She looked at his face, finding solace in his eyes and lips. ”Isabelle was just being my big sister,” she answered, gently touching her foot against his.
”She was worried for you, yes?”
”Yes.”
”Because . . . because of me?”
”She isn't one to take chances. She has a plan for everything.”
”And I am a . . . chance?”
Annie wasn't sure if she detected a new expression on his face. Was it pain? Disappointment? ”You're not a chance,” she said, turning to kiss him. She had a sudden desire to crawl into his arms, but being unable to do so, she rested her head against his shoulder. Through a thin opening in the canopy before her, she watched the sky. ”Thank you for finding me,” she said quietly.
”I was missing you.”
She smiled at these words, happy to have been missed. ”A part of me is afraid, Akira,” she admitted, wanting to tell him everything.
”Of the future?”
”Of what might happen to us.”
He kissed the top of her head. ”You do not have to be afraid.”
”But why not? Our countries are at war, and we have no idea what the future might bring.”
”We control what happens to us.”
”You can't say that.”
He nodded, wis.h.i.+ng that he could kiss the scratches on her legs. ”Some things I can say,” he replied. ”I can say that . . . that if you want me by your side, I will be by your side. I can say that every war has an end, and that every day has a new beginning.”
A bird landed in the tree next to them. The wind blew again, and both trees swayed in tandem. ”I'm afraid of losing you,” she said, watching the bird, for the briefest of moments avoiding Akira's eyes. ”Now that I've finally found you, I can't imagine losing you.”
”See how the trees move together?”
”They're beautiful.”
”But we cannot see them dance from below. How wonderful it is to see them dance from so high.” Akira turned his head so that he could inhale the scent of her.
”Why do you like to do that?” she asked. ”To smell me?”
”Because I want . . . each of my senses to feel you. And because I think . . . I think I like the smell of you the best.”
”But why?”
”Because . . . that way I can bring you into me.”
She kissed his shoulder. ”I love you,” she said quietly. ”Those three words . . . have always been a mystery to me. Like some language I couldn't speak. But now I finally know what they mean.”
He smiled, moving on the branch so that he was even closer to her. ”I like it here, in these dancing trees. Thank you for showing them to me.”
”You're welcome.”
The tree continued to sway. The sky darkened. ”Your sister is worried,” he said. ”You should go to her, yes?”
”I'm angry at her.”
Akira watched a small green beetle climb across his leg. ”I am an only child. So I have never fought with a brother or a sister.”
”Sisters fight a lot.”
”I think it would be wonderful to have a sister. Or a brother.”
She shrugged. ”It can be.”
”A sibling would be the one person in the whole world who . . . who would be with you from birth until death. At every step, she or he would be there.”
”That's true. I've never thought of it like that.”
”It would be a beautiful thing, I am sure.”
”Are you trying to tell me something?” she asked, familiar with how he liked to give advice through his stories and musings.
He smiled, stroking the skin of her leg. ”Tonight, after the others have gone to sleep, will you join me for a swim? The moon is almost full, and I discovered a place where there are no rocks or waves. Just sand and water.”
Annie took his free hand within hers. ”I have a price.”
”A price?”
”I want you to write a poem. In j.a.panese. In the sand.”
He found her eyes. ”May I ask why in j.a.panese?”
”Because that's who you are. And I'd like to watch as you write it. And to listen as you speak it.” She kissed him and then carefully moved toward the tree's trunk. She started to descend.
As Akira followed her, he thought about what he would write. He watched the trees sway, wondering how he could bring life to their dance while simultaneously describing his love for her.