We were moving swift over the surface, placed each piece with utterly precision and deep thought. Nothing was made unnecessarily and everything was planned. Every action made stirred the next and continued in an endless motion until someone lost.
We liked to intertwine our brains like this, as we knew each other just like the paws. You could say we did know the other at some point, but after you lost the one you thought you knew, everything fell apart.
But even so, here we were; sitting merely a meter apart, absorbed in thoughts. His next move was a bit foolish and it cost him a piece he tried to protect. The irritated frown that came after the discovery of his wrongdoing was like music to my ears. Never could he admit that a small mistake could cost him something much bigger. Always tried to cover it up by scarifying something else, something he could afford to lose.
Oh how wrong he was, had always been.
You think he should have learned by now, should have seen his mistake before it was too late. But alas, never does he learn.
I reached out and shed his ego by force, poked through his defense with ease and as he fell; that precious pride he valued fell with him. He would have to build it up once again, to prove he could beat me, prove he deserved my trust.
Once again.
The next time he did a fairly better job, still some mistakes that he would have to regret but overall good. The third time he was too reckless and lost almost everyone on the field, whit no one to protect himself left, he was all alone out there against the army.
Somewhere along the way, it looked like he knew what he was doing. Every move was made with consideration and nothing was thrown away. No recklessness gave me a dead opening to poke a hole in, it was almost as we danced. Helped each other out and created something more that was before.
Suddenly, he made a swift move I hadn't expected, and took out all my pieces. I stared blankly for a moment, wrecking my brain for a plan that could still save me. But it was already too late.
With a triumphing smile he took control of the situation and I clearly was defeated. A soft smile gazed over my lips as I accepted my loss, he truly had learned; wasn't the same ha used to be and I was grateful for it. I couldn't see his eyes under the shade of white hood, but I knew those glistering orbs in victory.
For a moment we just sat there, seemingly quiet and just soaking in each other presence. I didn't know where to look, his whole being just radiated calm and trust, but I could quite submit to it. Not really wanted to believe, but I knew I should. After all this time he only wanted to redeem himself, pay for his mistakes. And in the end I let him.
To speak was to break the spell; I didn't want to go back to reality. Just being there was enough, with him in the dying rays of Jerusalem.
Just the two of us.
I felt something pull in my stomach as he raised his gaze and caught mine; his honey colored orbs was so bright and cheerful with that smile still playing on his lips. For the moment he didn't look like the man everyone thought he was, the role he played for them; but like the man I knew.
The one I finally had come to respect and love; after all these years.
He reached out his hand for me, just like so long ago; but now I finally had the courage to take it. With a silent question in his eyes, I understood that it was time to leave. I squeezed his hand lightly before I took off with a mocking smile, jumping away over the roofs in the dusk of Jerusalem;
and with a knowing smirk, he followed.
