June 15, 1862

A girl sits in the fields that lay just beyond the cabin she resides in with her family. The sun is warm against her skin, the harsh Texas heat causing her skin to glisten with sweat. The girl stares intently at a chain of flowers her hands were slowly weaving. A crow lands on the fence that's embedded into the ground not far from where she sits, 10 feet at the most.

She briefly glances over to it, taking a moment to admire the inky feathers of the birds wings. It pays the girl no mind, it chooses instead to hop down several paces on the fence post. It faces away and stares intently at the horizon. A grin slowly slides across her face. It to felt the shift in the air.

A storm was coming. The air was heavy on her skin, it felt as if she were submerged in the lake that wasn't to far from her family's home. It clung to her as if it were the very clothes she wore. She could almost taste the electricity in the air. She slowly begins to finish threading her flower crown and looks up. The sky in the distance, back towards Hempstead, was dark. The turbulent clouds churned from the power that it held within it. She squinted her eyes and looked towards the cattle in the north field, they clung to on another in their small herd and she sighed. It was going to be a bad one.

A steady rhythmic sound entered her ears, her head turned expectantly towards the east end of her family's farm and she waited. They didn't keep her long, the Texas Cavalry appeared soon after the sound of the horses had reached her. She watched mesmerized at the way each of the horses moved in sync. They came through at the same time each week and each week she was here to watch them. Her brother would be joining these men on their way south to the Galveston Harbor soon enough.

"Does Momma know you're out here in that dress?" Her head twisted around quickly at the sound of her brother's voice. His face held the easy smile it always did, he sure did have the ladies in town coming after him. As far as she ever knew, there was only one lady he'd ever had eyes for and that was The Confederate States of America. He would be fighting in her honor before to long.

"What Momma doesn't know isn't going to hurt her, Augustus." An easy smile curved its path along her face, her twin never did fail to make her happy even when she was desperate to wallow in self pity. Augustus places his hands on his hips and rolls his eyes.

He points his finger at her, it's a mocking gesture. One that's meant to make her feel inferior, but it fails to do so with the grin that his holds. "Jessamine, what would she say if she heard you saying that? She'd tan your hide." She climbs to her feet, flower crown still in hand, and tilts her head to the side.

"You gonna tell on me, Gus?" A dark light enters her eyes and she takes a step forward. She reaches one hand up and flicks her twins nose. "You tell on me, I tell on you. It's that simple." She places the flower crown on her head and curtsies mockingly. "Your call, brother." She teases.

"You know, I'm 12 minutes older than you. That means you're supposed to do what I say and not blackmail me." Augustus retorts, "say, what in tarnation do you have on me anyhow?"

Jessamine's laugh is one of those full-bodied laughs, the ones that shakes your entire body. Her laughter slowly resides and instead of replying, she walks around Augustus and begins the trek back to the house. Jessamine does her best at smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress, it might have been easier if she would actually wear the crinolines her mother tries to force her into. They were just far to uncomfortable for her taste.

"Don't you have something to do, Augustus?" She taunts him, she doesn't bother turning her head at all to see if he's following. She can feel his presence a mere foot from her. Perks of being a twin.

Augustus is quick to catch up to her, falling in step with her, there paces never faltering. "Come on, Jessa. You can't just not tell me what you have on me!"

"We're twins, Augustus. We know more about each other than we do about ourselves." She replies, she stops at the fences gate and begins to pull on the latches to release the bolt, "you and I both know what it is I'm referring to."

Augustus groans in frustration, he swipes a hand down the side of his face to remove some of the gathering sweat. "You ain't really gonna tell Momma about her are ya?"

"I don't know, I just might." Jessamine playfully bumps her hip against his and begins walking again. "Would it keep you from going off with the Cavalry?"

Augustus doesn't follow her, he stays where he stands and his eyes hold this emotion that she knows all to well. She comes to a stop and their eyes lock on one another, they don't move. She can feel his regret like it's her own, just like he can feel her sorrow.

Augustus has the gift of long legs, they give him the ability to reach her in three long strides. His arms are around her then and his hold is tight. She knows what he's going to say before he even says it. "I'm sorry, Jessa, but this is what I want. I'd be ashamed to die without knowing that I've fought in a battle that's a step towards a victory for us."

Jessamine's arms wrap around him and she places her cheek on his chest. The heart beating underneath her ear is a comfort. "What if you don't come back? How am I supposed to live without my other half?" She sniffs, she doesn't want to be weak when he's being so strong.

"Don't talk like that, I'll be back before you can even miss me."

"You promise?" His chest rumbles with laughter and it brings this easy feeling of warmth, he's happy.

"Yeah, Jessa, I promise." She removes herself from his arms and grins. She puts her full trust in the fact that he's going to come home.

The thing is he doesn't come home.

She feels it when he dies. It wakes her from a dead sleep, the feeling of the musket's bayonet tearing through her brothers abdomen and the absolute feeling of agony and resignation, that she knows is his, floods her body. Her hands grip the place that he's been hit and she screams.

It hurts her own ears, but she doesn't stop. She just screams, and screams, and screams. That overwhelming feeling of helplessness consumes her.

She feels it when he takes his last breath and she stops breathing with him. He takes a part of her with him when his heart stops. The feeling of emptiness that sits in the place that used to hold a part of him consumes her. That feeling spreads and it doesn't stop growing until she breathes; the wail that escapes her comes with power.

She doesn't feel it when her mother's arms hold her, she doesn't hear her frantic tone in her ears, she doesn't see her father standing at the foot of her bed.

Everything around her is just... nothing. He took a piece of her with him and she doesn't ever get it back.

Until she does.