Chapter 2-The First Light

Francesca continued to bounce around Shirley's feet as the two witches speed walked through the corridors of the 501st's Romagnan air base. The young witch sprung about on the balls of her feet as she walked with Shirley, making circles around the Liberion witch as she walked along. Each time she jumped Shirley would switch the hand that was holding her package over her head. When Francesca would jump at Shirley's left side, Shirley would switch it to her right hand. And when Francesca went after Shirley's right arm, she simply switched the package to her left hand. Francesca remained every persistent

Shirley kept this game up until Francesca and herself reached her personal quarters on the base. When they arrived in her room Shirley shoved aside the nuts, bolts, wrenches, screwdrivers, and other tools that were scattered about her desk. She picked up a small Romagnan knife that Francesca had given her and used it to tear the twine that had tied up the package tightly. Francesca looked on with bountiful anticipation. She wanted the package to be opened already. Shirley was taking too long.

"Come on, Shirley," Francesca whined. Shirley could hear the anticipation on her voice. "Open it up already!"

Shirley held up her right hand in Francesca's face and smiled. "Slow down, Lucchini. We have plenty of time. There's no need to rush things."

"But Shirley," Francesca sighed. "We haven't got any of this stuff in forever!"

"Hence why we should savor it," Shirley said. She winked at the younger witch. Francesca gave her a blank look.

Shirley removed the envelope attached to the package and tore it open with her finger. She reached into the vanilla colored envelope and pulled out a white piece of paper laden with small but just legible enough hand held it up in to the light and began to read it out loud. The letter read:

Shirley,
It is so good to be able to hear from you again. My family wondered if I would ever hear from you again, but I knew that you would always keep contact with me no matter what. I am very glad you did. It makes me so happy to know that you are okay and able to stay in touch in the thick of fighting the neuroi.
I still wonder when you will be able to visit Nueva Hispania again. It has been almost two years since you last were able to visit and I really would like to see you again. Mi madre would love to be able to cook for you again, and she would love to meet all your amigas that you've made overseas. She thinks she has a dish that could please each of them! When you come again your amigas, yourself, and I should try to rent a villa on the beach in Cabo San Lucas. Mi amigo Josue thinks he can get us a great deal on a place. You remember Josue, right? Gosh, he never stops talking about you, your amigas from Liberion, and that night we had in Tijuana! It is a night I will never forget either.
I hope I have sent you enough marijuana for you and all your amigas in Europe to enjoy. I'd hate to know that you smoked all that good stuff by yourself! Please keep in touch and write back as much as you can. And above all, stay safe and come back soon. We all miss you very much.
Your friend,
Rodrigo Guerrero

Francesca continued to give Shirley a blank stare, as if to suggest that she didn't understand why the package remained sealed. "Piece of advice for you, Lucchini. Whenever you receive a package and there is a letter attached to it, always read the letter first. Its the polite, considerate thing to do."

"Agh why are you acting like Four Eyes, Shirley?" Lucchini asked. "Just open the damn package already. I wanna take a hit!"

Shirley sighed lightly and rolled her eyes. Francesca never failed to be impatient when she wanted to be. She cut open the package with her knife and spread apart the package wrapping. Inside the parcel were two other small packages; a linen bag and a small package of cigarette papers. Shirley picked up the bag and sniffed it again. The smell was unmistakable, a strong odor that she found far more pleasant then Minna did. And then she opened up the package and put it up to Lucchini's eyes.

Francesca ogled the contents of the bag. Inside were the buds, leaves, and stems of cannabis. She took a long whiff of the scent emerging from the bag and smiled. Like Shirley she had eagerly awaited receiving the package from New Hispania, and being able to get a whiff of its contents was incredibly pleasing to her. The smell made her sigh in bliss as she handed it back to Shirley.

Shirley then took the package and emptied some of its contents onto her desk. She took a piece of cigarette paper and licked the adhesive on the other side, ensuring that both sides of the cigarette would stay attached. She then took some of the marijuana and placed it in the cigarette paper. She then rolled up the cigarette paper tightly to make a joint, sweeping up all the excess marijuana pieces that had fallen out of the cigarette and putting them back in the bag. She took another whiff of the bag and smiled again. The smell made her grin ear to ear.

Francesca reached onto one of the shelves under Shirley's desk and grabbed a metal ammo box. She opened it up to reveal Shirley's massive collection of lighters. The lights were all lined up evenly in the box and their metallic sheen glistened in the light of the room. Shirley reached in and pulled out one of her favorite lighters, a custom made Zippo which had been machined with the image of a cottontail rabbit into the metal. Shirley smiled at the small contraption in her hands and didn't notice Francesca reach over and take the joint Shirley had rolled from Shirley's desk and put it between her lips.

"Come on, light me up already!" the younger witch begged. "Please?"

Shirley giggled and bent down in front of Francesca. "As you wish, Signorina Lucchini." She flicked the metal wheel lock on the lighter and watched it strike the flint and produce a spark. A flame jumped from the lighter and caught the cigarette in Francesca's mouth. Francesca began to puff as Shirley held the lighter against the cigarette for a moment until it was lit. She moved her cheeks in and out while inhaling until she felt she had taken in too much smoke. When she stopped, she coughed violently and exhaled, inhaling some clean air before she again took another hit and coughed more.

Shirley smirked as the younger witch took another drags from the joint. The younger witch was taking longer drags then she expected. "You alright, Lucchini?" Shirley asked. Francesca coughed for a few more seconds before she handed the joint back to Shirley.

"That stuff is strong!" Francesca exclaimed. She took a few deep breaths of clean air. "Your friend from Nueva Hispania outdid himself this time."

"Isn't it great to have international friends, Lucchini?" Shirley remarked. She took the joint from Francesca's hands and put it between her lips before taking a hit from the joint herself.

"And you will have all those tasks done by supper," Gertrude Barkhorn demanded. "Do you understand, Lieutenant Hartmann?"

Erica smiled and gave her compatriot a playful salute. "Javol, Trude!" Gertrud raised her left eyebrow yet still smirked. She may have demanded more respect watched Erica stretch her arms out and dance away. Gertrude couldn't help but smirk as she watched Erica skip away. She felt like she had gotten through to Erica for once.

Erica continued to skip and run through the hall with a smile and let the piece of paper that Trude had put in her hand slip away into the halls. She paid no attention as the list of chores that Gertrude had given her and did not bother looking back as the list fluttered through the air. Chores were the last thing on her mind to do on a day like today. On a day when the 501st Joint Fighter Wing was not expecting any neuroi attacks and she was not required to do any training Erica figured she would take time to relax. Maybe she would draw doodles in her sketchbook or read comics the whole day. Even more importantly was the time afforded by a quiet day to get some sleep in. That was what Erica looked forward to the most.

As she glided through the hallways toward her room in a fleet footed manner Erica noticed something peculiar. A pungent smell began to permeate throughout the hallway, a smell which she had never smelled before. She sniffed the air again and raised her eyebrows. It was a strong scent, one that burned her nostrils slightly, but not one she felt was all that unpleasant. She sniffed the air a few more times and wondered where it could be coming from.

She continued to sniff the air and eventually, with the same skill that she could use to detect neuroi in the sky, determined the direction of the scent and began to follow it. Her arms remaining outstretched and her movement ever flighty, Erica moved down the hall and continue to sniff the air as the scent grew stronger and stronger. And after a couple minutes of walking down the hall, she not only was getting the smell of the scent in her nose, but was beginning to hear the chatter of two of her squadron-mates in her ears. And in a few short moments of walking she came upon the source of the smell and noise.

"And so that...that story...is how I met Senor Guerrero, Lucchini," Shirley stated. She took another hit from the joint and blew out the smoke. "Shiiiiiiiiiiiitt...that was a good time."

Francesca did not respond. The witch from Liberion looked up at the rafters in her room with her arms spread out.
Her left leg was hanging off the bed and her Liberion officer's uniform was unbuttoned to reveal her white blouse, a blouse which bulged due to the mass of her large breasts. In her right hand, she held the joint she had rolled in her fingers. She took a drag from it and blew out the smoke through her nose before was sitting up on the rafters in her typical fashion atop a Romagnan blanket. The two witches had been smoking the joint for about half an hour and the effects of the cannabis were already in full swing.

"How you feeling..., Lucchini?"

"I'm doing alright," the young witch replied. She coughed twice and then exhaled. "Feeling just...molto...buono." She paused and then hung herself by her legs upside down from the rafters, giggling with glee as she swung back and forth. As she swung back and forth from the rafters though she began to notice something in her eyes, the image of a person standing in the doorway. She was not sure of it was actually a person at first and continued to swing about until the figure of the person did not move. "Shirley?"

"Yeah?"

"I think someone is...in...I mean...at..the door."

"Ha, funny," Shirley giggled.

"Seriously...I think someone is in the doorway looking at us..."

Shirley took another hit from the joint and blew the smoke out of her nose before giggling again. "The door is shut, Lucchini...No one is there." She began to roll over on her side to face the door. "Stop bullshitting me..."

When she finished rolling over and settling in on her side Shirley got a good look at the doorway. When she saw the doorway her jaw fell open and the joint she had rolled fell from her fingers to the floor. Standing in the doorway, with a sly look on her face and wearing her black and silver Karlsland military jacket was the Black Devil of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. Shirley let out a few vocalizations before she could ever utter a word. Francesca beat her to the chance.

"H-H-H-Har-Har-Harrrrrt-Hart-t-t-t-t-mannn..." Lucchini stammered. Erica smirked at Francesca's stuttering.

Shirley felt her face begin to turn red and put her left hand onto her forehead. Erica began to giggle and her smirk grew wider. "Wiener Dog," Shirley said slowly. She felt her face flush itself. "Oh...fuck..."