Okay, this may be premature, but I believe this story is quickly on its way to being my favorite one that I write. It's difficult to write in the frame of time, but to write jasper in his natural element is freeing. and to write his mate is so fun because with her personality being a cross of Katerine from ToTS and Katherine from Vampire Diaries, she could be anyone. Someone PMed me and asked for me to reveal to them who my lovely woman is, but that's no fun! We'll meet her soon enough. It's okay, I'm friend with her, so it won't awkward for any of you!
Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and William Shakespear owns Taming of the Shrew.
I knew I wouldn't able to return to sleep, so I ran the perimeter of the clearing a few times before sitting beside a fire pit. This was where I had first seen her last night. I could remember her chestnut hair as she passed this very spot. I reached forward, forgetting that she wasn't really here. Women weren't allowed to join the war unless we desperately needed them. I sighed and looked up from the vacant pit. It wasn't cold enough to need a fire and it wasn't nearly time for breakfast. I rose to my feet.
"Major Whitlock? What are you doing up this early? You're not an early riser like I am," a deep voice asked behind me. I turned and saw the tousled blonde hair of Lieutenant Riley Biers. I smiled. He was a strong leader. "Lieutenant. Good morning. No, I am not an early riser. A dream bothered me and I have not been able to fall back asleep. I saw someone," I explained. He nodded. "Yankee?" he asked. I shook my head. "No, a woman. She had long chestnut colored hair. She had on a dark blue evening gown. She had beautiful chocolate eyes," I recalled. He snickered. "A girl you knew from home?" he asked. "No. I've never seen her before. She appeared to me in a dream. I wondered if she exists, but I found it frustrating when I can't find a name for her," I admitted. He grinned softly at me. "I'm sorry. It must be difficult to see her. Do you think that you may find her if you get home?" he asked. I shrugged. "Que sera sera," I answered simply before getting up and walking away.
I returned to my bunk, more confused than before. Could it true that she was from Houston? I understand how big the area is, but surely I would have seen her around. I shook my head. No, she would have looked familiar to me, but she had not, although my heart had reached out to her. I could not deny the urge I felt to hold her, to keep her in my arms and never let go. I sighed. All of these overwhelming feelings for a woman I did not know, someone I did not have a name for. I was almost certain that I would never see her again, but I decided that Riley was essentially correct: if I made it home, I would try to find her.
The recruits woke about a half an hour later. Riley took them out and ran through drills with them. Despite the fact that most of them have been with us for a little over a week, not even half could load their weapon. I shook my head. They were pathetic. The only recruit that showed any promise was a young boy with dark curly hair and excited green eyes. Every time he smiled at his musket when he did something right, dimples appeared. For some reason, he made me remember Rose. She seemed to radiate happiness, but she didn't seem like herself the day I left.
"Jasper!" she called the hall to my room. I looked up from my bed where I was packing to my doorway which featured a skinny girl with her long blonde hair tied back in a scarlett Robin that matched her knee length dress. I smiled and she flashed me one before pushing off of the balls of her feet and threw herself into my arms and sobbing violently into my shirt. "Jazz, I do not want you to go! Go in a year. I can handle a year. I can prepare. You just spring this on me and I have to just go along with this because your my older brother, but I need you to come home. I need someone to protect me! I'm only fourteen. I cannot take care of myself. Please come home," she begged. Her pleads had tears running down my face as well. I placed my hands on her delicate shoulders and she's looked up at me. I kneeled down and smiled, looking into her shappire eyes. "Rosalie Lillian, I will return to you if it is the last thing I do. I will never leave you here to defend yourself. Keep me in your memories and your prayers. If you do not let me die here, then I will not die there. I need you to help bring me home. When I get back, I will even let you help me find my wife," I promised. Her eyes brightened and I laughed. She nodded vigorously. I hugged her again before closing my bag and leaving my room.
I smiled at the last memory I made with my younger sister. I had made her a promise she would love to fulfill before I got home. If I know our sweet Rose, sh is probably already looking for my wife.
A tap on my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts. I turned and saw my brother. "Peter," I greeted. He nodded. "Brother, are we going to play now?" he asked," I smiled. I had promised Peter I would play checkers with him after drill today. I led him to the small card table and pulled out our makeshift board and our handmade pieces. We had gotten into the routine of the game fairly quickly. It was a game we had played often at home with our sister. After some heavy silence, Peter spoke. "I saw you out there watching McCarthy out in drill today. You know you two are a lot alike. He's only sixteen, a year older than Rosalie," he pointed out. I shook my head. "Rose is fourteen," I corrected. Peter laughed. "Her birthday was a month and a half ago. This war had messed with your head. You are lucky I came when I did. Rosalie said she misses you and that you had better make good on your promise," he repeated. I laughed. "She knows that I will. I do not understand why she has to remind me. I... We.. Will return home, me to our sister and you to your darling Charlotte," I reassured him with a smile. He smiled, returned his focus to the game, jumped my last piece, rose from his seat, and left.
I smiled and turned. Private McCarthy lay on his bunk, eyes closed, but I could tell he was too tense to find sleep. I rose to my feet and walked to his side. He heard my steps, but could not place them to me, because he shot me a dirty look before wiping it away. "Major," he studdered out before raising to his feet. I laughed, and I knew the ease of it put him on edge. "Sit down and relax, soldier," I told him. He grinned and returned to his bunk. "Peter has told me about you. Sixteen, right? You know you cannot legally join until you are eighteen," I jested. His face fell. "Major, I am sorry, but this is the only way to support my family back in Houston," he explained. I laughed again. I glanced around me, found no one listening, and leaned close to him. "It is okay. Your secret is safe with me, as long as mine is safe with you," I offered. He cocked his head. "Major?" he asked. I smiled. "I am only seventeen," I admitted. He smiled. "I will not tell a soul, sir," he promised. I smirked. "When it is just us, I want you to feel as if we are friends. Please, when we are alone, call me Jasper," I asked. He nodded. "I am Emmett," he said. I shook his hand. I noticed his eyes dropped. "Do you want to talk of your family? It may help," I offered. He smiled.
"It was only my mother, my older sister, and I. My father died ten years back. I was six at the time, so I do not really remember too well, but mother says that I look alike him at this age. My sister looks like her. She has her chestnut hair and her chocolate brown eyes. She looks sweet and innocent, but she is a firey and fierce woman. We have had trouble finding a suitor who could handle her. She is your age," he recalled. I froze as I was reminded of the sweet shrew from my dream. If he had noticed a change in my demeanor, he did not remark on it. "I recall once she found one of our mother's old deep blue dresses with a hooped skirt with ruffles on the underside. It made her skin glow," he continued. I sighed. It was her, my sweet Katherine. She did, indeed, exist and she resided in Houston. A smiled stretched crossed my lips. Ms. McCarthy, I will find you.
An afterthought hit me then. No man could handle her. She was currently not being courted. I had not noticed that Emmett had asked me a question. "Pardon me?" I asked. He chuckled. "I said, do you have any family at home?" he repeated. I smiled. "Yes. I have a sister waiting for me, along with my mother and father. My brother is here. Peter is my younger brother. His fiancee is back home in Houston. He misses Charlotte dearly," he cocked his head again. "Charlotte? What is her surname. I feel I may know her," he asked. "Charlotte Thompson. She has lived in Houston her entire life," I explained. I saw his eyes widened in recognition. "I know her. She has been a good friend of my family for many years. It is nice to have that connection," he said with a shy smiled. I nodded.
"I have a younger sister waiting for me to fulfill my promise to her and return so she can plan my wedding to a woman of her choice. I told her she could help me find a wife. She has blonde hair like Peter and myself, along with our blue eyes. She is fifteen, if I can take what Peter tells me seriously. She is a fun little thing and loves to wreck havoc if she can get away with it. She is very creative. she loves to paint and plays the piano often," I told him. He smiled. "She sounds like a gem. Do you have a picture of your family with you?" he asked. I smiled, but got up and walked to my bunk. I grabbed my journal and removed the pictures I had stashed there. I nearly ran back to him, eager to share my past with someone who has not lived it with me.
I smiled as I sat back and pulled out the stack. I pointed out the first one. "That is Peter with Charlotte," I flipped to the next one. "My mother and I at Rosalie's first recital," I told him. I flipped to another. "Peter, Rose, and I," I captioned. The next picture stuck out to him. It was Rose the last day I saw her: her blonde hair tied up in that scarlette ribbon, her matching dress blowing around her legs, her little black heels clean and shining. It was the last time I saw a genuine smile from her. The sky was a perfect blue with a light dusting of clouds in the horizon. Her blue eyes gleamed with unshed tears. Emmett eyes remained fixated on her. I smiled. He looked up at me. "Jasper, would you mind if I courted your sister? She seems perfect for me," he asked. I laughed, but handed him the picture. "If we make it out of here, I will give you the address," I allowed. He smiled. He reached beside him and pulled out a pile about the size of mine. He pointed out pictures of his mother and him, but when he got to a picture of his sister, I nearly fell over. That was the girl from my dream, from her flowing dark tresses to the perfect shade of blue on her pale skin. Emmett laughed. "Are you considering courting her? You should know that as many man that have tried have failed. What would make you stand out amongst the others?" he asked, honestly curious. I smiled at him. "I made it into a Major in the Texas Calvary. I think I can handle a woman," I answered. He laughed. "Okay, I will allow you my sister since you have allowed me yours, but the same condition applies. If we can go home, you will get the address," he told me with a laugh. I slapped his back, but returned to my bunk, the picture of Rose replaced with the one of Emmett's sister, the woman who has been haunting my dreams.
Sitting quickly, I opened my journal, grabbed my pen, and wrote, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure my thoughts were causing.
October 2, 1861 - 4:18 p.m.
Ms. McCarthy has been filling my head. With her radiant skin and simple beauty, it's hard to believe she has not been wed, yet with what he brother tells me, her sharp tongue and wise words keep her for me. I just hope that she does not hurt me. I have already fallen for this shrewish angel. I feel as if I need her to survive, although I have no given name for he, nor has she graced me with the pleasure of meeting her in person before I had left. I am almost certain, were I met her before she had left, I would have stayed in Houston, to court her and hopefully marry the woman. She would have been everything I was searching for and now, I may never get the pleasure to meet this divine angel. Life and love are cruel, cruel masters , yet I remain a faithful lap dog, begging for at least scraps of unwanted or unneeded things. I am pathetic, yet I do not change, for I am terrified. I would much rather be pathetic than face the unknown.
So? What do you think? Yay, nay? Quit while youre ahead? I need some feedback people! Haha, review for a preview!