Disclaimer: In my semi-long absence from Advance Wars fiction, I have purchased the copyrights to the series. I have also developed a compulsive lying habit, so if I told you the previous statement was indeed true, would you believe me? No? Good.
Author's Notes: Jake/Sasha is a rather cute pairing. Plus, Jake did invite Sasha to come back to that hill later, so… Yeah. Here ya go. Mild spoilers for the ending by the way.
Of Flowers and Kisses
"And when this hill's totally hot again, I promise I'll give you something rad to look at."
Over a year—make that almost two—had passed since the ending of the last war with Black Hole, and Sasha still remembered that sentence. She'd caught up with Jake before returning to Blue Moon, and the headphone-clad CO had seemed genuinely excited at the thought of being able to show Sasha the view from that hilltop. After all, it had overlooked his hometown, or at least what was left of it, and Sasha imagined that it had indeed been amazing before it had withered.
Of course, since there had been very little word of Black Hole and no more wars or invasions had erupted, that meant Sasha had had very little time to actually see Jake. The Allied Nations, while still remaining close, rarely had time to talk to each other outside of the occasional briefings. She'd spoken to Jake just a few times since then; usually, these briefings were only between the commanders-in-chief of each nation.
Wishing for a war just so she could see Jake again would be a horrible, and very selfish, wish to make. And yet, Sasha missed him more than she'd expected.
"Hey, there, darlin'."
Sasha jumped at the sound of Grit's voice. She'd been checking over the simulators in the training room, and the lanky marksman was grinning at her from the somewhat short doorway.
"Oh, hello, Commander Grit."
Grit ducked slightly to enter, pulling off his trademark yellow trench coat and draping it over a chair. He tugged at the too-short sleeves of his yellow t-shirt, and then looked back at Sasha.
"Aw, ya don't need to be so formal all the time," he drawled. "Anyway, ol' Colin wanted me to find ya and tell ya you've got a message from Jake in the mail office—he's on duty there, remember?"
"J-Jake?" Sasha repeated.
"'S what he said," Grit shrugged. "I'll stay here a minute and tell Frosty ya went to look for a tool or somethin' if ya want me too."
"Oh, thank you, Com—I mean, Grit," Sasha replied, smiling in relief as she left the room.
As she hurried through the winding hallways of the vaguely castle-styled HQ, Sasha hoped that the message was the one she'd been waiting for. She hoped for both her and Jake's sakes that life had returned to his hill, even if only a little, and that she'd be able to go see it with him.
Sasha jiggled the somewhat loose doorknob of the mail room when she arrived, and when she entered, she saw Colin typing away furiously at one of the e-mail-set computers. He looked up and grinned at his sister when he noticed her entrance.
"Hey, Sis!" he said. "I guess you saw Commander Grit—here, I set your message up on that monitor next to me, it's a video mail, and—"
"Thank you, Colin," Sasha interrupted, trying to at least not sound so excited and impatient.
She then approached the monitor and shakily clicked on the screen's pop-up message. Colin moved a respectable number of computers down as the screen went into static, and then blinked to life.
Jake's face appeared on the screen, and Sasha smiled at how little his features had changed. His hair was a bit longer, but it was still the same sandy blonde color, and he also still donned his headphones and torn white jacket.
"Hey, Sash, 'sup?" Jake's image said, flashing his trademark grin. "How're things rollin' over in Blue Moon? I'm still over in Omega Land with Rach. Anyway, I wanted to let you know some totally awesome news."
The picture then crackled a bit and flashed to a hill Sasha remembered well. Instead of the sandy soil and dried, dead plants, it was now mostly covered in grass and a few sparse bushes. There were still a few patches of dry soil from place to place, but Sasha could also spot a few more of the white flowers they'd managed to find. In the distance, at the bottom of the hill, more mossy grass and sparse shrubs could be seen.
"My hill still ain't that much to look at, but it's much better than before," Jake's disembodied voice went on. "And let me tell you, the view's way cooler in person than on video."
Jake's face then flashed back onto the screen. "Well, Sash, I'm supposed to be going over some rules and regs with some newbies, so I gotta let you go for now. Gimme a ring if you can swing by, 'kay?"
The screen then fizzled out, leaving Sasha with the pop-up message again. She blinked slowly, and then one of her rare genuine smiles spread over her face.
"Colin?"
"Yeah, Sis?"
"Could you help me get Commander Olaf to get me a T-copter to Omega Land?"
"Of course!"
- - -
The blue T-copter slowly descended in front of Orange Star's tower-shaped Omega Land HQ. Turning around in his seat, the soldier who'd flown the vehicle looked over at Sasha.
"Would you like me to escort you in, Commander?" he offered.
"No, I'm all right," Sasha replied, undoing her seatbelt. She reached for the passenger door and smiled. "But thank you."
Sasha carefully stepped down from the T-copter, and after she backed away a bit, the soldier waved at her to go on in. She nodded and headed up the flag-lined path. Although she hadn't been quite sure how long she'd be staying, the pilot had agreed to wait for her at the landing strip.
Before Sasha reached the steel doors of the building, they burst open, revealing a broadly grinning Jake. He eagerly jogged down to meet her, and Rachel waved from the front of the HQ before she turned to go back in.
"Hey, Sash, 'sup?" Jake cried, putting an arm around her shoulder in greeting. "I haven't seen you in, like, forever!"
Sasha laughed. "Oh, I'm fine, Jake. I'm so glad your hill is growing back."
"Yeah," Jake replied, his smile turning somewhat distant. "Yo, Sash? You want me to go on and show it to you? We can totally catch up on the way."
"That sounds marvelous."
"Rad!" Jake cheered.
His hand dropped to Sasha's, and however unconscious the gesture was, Sasha felt her fingers tingle slightly. Jake looked back at her over his shoulder and winked.
"You remember it's not way far from here, right? Just, like, a half-hour's walk."
Sasha nodded absently, and Jake looked back towards the path as he started leading her. As with the path leading directly to the HQ, it was lined with small orange flags, and eventually, the flags spread out farther and farther, and then dispersed. Sasha had a feeling that the area they were in had once been a forest, and seeing the tiny, far apart saplings was both reassuring and saddening in a way.
"Say, Sash?"
"Yes?"
"You remember those flowers we found, right?"
Sasha smiled faintly as she recalled the memory. The two of them had been overlooking the hilltop, and by some miracle, Sasha had spotted a small cluster of white flowers. As tempting as it had been to pick them, both she and Jake had known better.
"Of course."
"Good, 'cause the hill's practically covered in 'em now. You can pick a few of them this time."
Sasha tried not to blush as Jake winked back at her. Thankfully, a few minutes later, the pair arrived at the replenishing hilltop. A wave of nostalgia ran over Sasha, and the amount of progress the hill had made in just less than two years was awe-inspiring.
"See? What'd I tell you? Isn't it awesome?"
Jake grinned widely again as he carefully sat down. He quickly wove his fingers through the grass beside him, as in ensuring there were no flowers there, before indicating for Sasha to sit as well. She did, and she once again found herself unconsciously reaching for Jake's hand.
"It is," she answered.
"Give it another year and it'll so rock," Jake replied, staring into the distance. "Well, more than it does now, you know?"
"I know."
The pair gazed into the distance silently for a few moments. Sasha then felt Jake shift slightly beside her, and he looked down at the Blue Moon CO.
"You know what else, Sash? Every time I've looked out here… The view reminds me of you."
"Me?" Sasha repeated incredulously.
"Yes, you," Jake replied, teasingly poking her shoulder. "You remember when we first met? You had trouble with Fog of War, and you took a while getting used to being in command… But in the end, you totally ended up owning some of those Black Hole chumps."
"It's only because you helped me so much, Jake."
Sasha quickly looked away from the blonde CO, trying to digest everything he'd just said. However, Jake chuckled and went on.
"Nah, Sash, you started doin' all that on your own after a while. 'Sides… I've really missed you since you left. Everything's so crazy around here, and you were always the calm one, you know?"
"I… I don't know what to say, Jake."
Sasha rested her hand in her lap and stared down at it for a moment. Should she tell him that she'd missed him too? Or would that sound strange?
"'Sokay," Jake chuckled. "Bet I sounded a bit whacked out, huh?"
"N-no," Sasha instantly insisted.
Jake went silent for a moment, and then carefully reached for a white flower near his thigh. He then slowly tucked it behind Sasha's ear.
"Guess I'll go on then. I always thought these flowers would rock on you, and they do."
"Thank you, Jake," Sasha smiled faintly. "You know… I've missed you a lot too. Things have been more uptight in Blue Moon than you might think."
"Even with ol' Grit and Colin out there? I don't believe you," Jake replied. "Can't be that bad."
"I suppose you're right," Sasha admitted, looking down at her hand once more.
"Sasha, can you look at me? I want to see that flower on you again…"
"Huh?"
With that rather undignified response, Sasha looked up at Jake in surprise. He grinned, and with a quick movement of his wrist, he'd caught her chin in his hand and drawn her face forward. After a quick, light kiss, he winked at her again.
"You're way cute when you blush, too."
"H-hey! Jake!" Sasha said weakly. "What…"
"Come on," Jake replied. "It's true."
Sasha then smiled. "Well… Thank you, then, I suppose."
"Totally welcome, Sash."
The two quietly gazed back across the hill, absorbing the view. Sasha slowly picked one of the small white flowers, and when she placed it in Jake's lap, his hand rested comfortably over hers.
Thank you again, Jake, Sasha thought. I don't know what I'd be doing without you.