Death blanketed the village. Homes destroyed. Bellemere lay alongside her fallen comrades. Soot and blood stained her tattered uniform. This was it…this was where it all ended. She had fought the good fight.
She shut her eyes, no longer wishing to inhabit her morbid surroundings. She would die here and will never be able to return to Cocoyasi.
Images of the village people coursed through her mind and she wondered if they'd miss her. Genzo would. Despite how annoying he claimed her to be, she knew he always had a soft spot for her.
Her thoughts turned to the man she'd met on her travels as a marine. The man with the straw hat.
She had held out hope that their paths would cross again one day. That hope slowly flickered out as she lay dying on the bloody ground.
Sobs woke her from the edge of despair and she lifted her head. A small girl stumbled out of the wreckage. She appeared bruised and shaken and in her arms resided a giggling baby.
Bellemere forced her wounded body off the ground. She had to help these girls. She staggered towards them, carefully stepping over the surrounding corpses in the rubble.
"Is she your little sister?" she asked, voice hoarse.
The girl spun around in surprise, her expression relaxed upon seeing the wounded marine.
"N-no, I found her." She squeaked, shifting the bundle in her arms so that Bellemere could see the infant's face. A laughing baby girl peered back at her. A giant smile spread across the child's face.
Bellemere kneeled beside the children, gently stroking the infant's cheeks.
"How did she survive?" she asked in wonder.
"I don't know."
As the baby's laughter echoed through the battlefield, Bellemere couldn't help but smile. The child's happiness was contagious. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she giggled along with the baby. The small girl joined her, her laughter interrupted by the occasional hic up.
She squeezed the two girls close. A new drive to live filled her soul. Death was no longer in the cards tonight. She was going to live. She had to, so that they would.
The storm raged, shaking the raft Bellemere sailed. She kept the children close, tucked beneath her marine coat in attempt to shield them from the elements. They were going to make it out of this.
She could see Cocoyasi Village over the horizon. Waves rocked the boat violently and she squeezed the children tighter. The rain pelted at her cheeks forcing her to keep her face low. Her wounds stung and she bit her lip in attempt to refocus her thoughts.
They were pulling into the docks now. Genzo and the villagers greeted her in confusion. There she sat inside the rocking boat, bloody and bruised. Two children poking out from beneath her raggedy coat
"Bellemere?" Genzo stood before her, eyes wide.
"I need the doctor! They're burning up!"
The shaking girls were instantly taken from Bellemere's arms. He couldn't even begin to imagine what they had gone through.
"Come on, he needs to take a look at you too." Genzo responded, reaching over the boat to help the wounded woman stand.
"No! Them first!" she demanded, rage in her eyes.
Her vision blurred and she grasped the boat tightly. Darkness clouded the man's concerned expression as she felt herself toppling over. He reached over to steady her and her body fell limp into his arms.
What did you guys think? Does it have potential as a longer piece or should I just keep it as a one shot? Please review and let me know! =)