Second instalment for today! Hope you enjoy, and again, reviews welcome.

The days of safety seemed to fly past Toshiko, until the 7th of December, 1941. Jack always introduced her as a genius, but in reality, that term was anything but correct. Jack was out at work, should have been home an hour ago, and the one thing on Toshiko's mind, was his safety. They didn't have a wireless, or have the paper delivered, nor did they have a calendar. So the date curiously seemed to by-pass Toshiko, as she slipped on her shoes, coat and hat, and made her way outside. She first noticed something was odd, when the occupants of the quaint little Welsh village she and Jack had moved to, seemed to ignore her, instead of waving, a greeting or even stopping for a conversation like they did normally. Then she met the group of young boys in the town centre, whom she and Jack had played soccer with one day. Usually, she was met with a smile, and a wolf whistle from the cheekiest of the group, but today she was met with a glare. And then she remembered. She tried to turn and leave, but the boys grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her back roughly, making her stumble, and fall to the ground.

"Filthy Jap," One of them, Tommy, she recalled, hissed, and kicked her in the side. She cried out, and tried to stand, but they pushed her back down. The other boys soon joined in, laughing with joy as they beat the strength out of her.

"That's for our country!" They shouted.

"Please," Toshiko begged, "I didn't blow it up, the soldiers did! Please stop." Her voice was weak, but only to receive a slap and a smack over the temple with a piece of wood.

"Shut it, you slag!" they cried gleefully. The maths teacher from the school, and elderly man of about fifty, with a limp and fuzzy grey beard, whom Toshiko had befriended, walked past.

"Geoffrey!" She cried, reaching out to him for help, but to be met with a glare, and he did nothing to stop the brutal beating. After what seemed like an eternity, the blows finally stopped, and she slowly un-curled herself from the ball on the ground which she had become. She looked up into the faces of her attackers, one of which leered down at her,

"Now think next time, before you go and blow up our allies, Japan." And he walked away with the rest of his mates, who were all laughing and jeering at each other, as they always did, as though nothing was out of the ordinary. She lay on the ground for a moment, before she decided to move. Slowly she sat up, pain arching through her shoulder, stomach, neck and face. Her hands ached dully, and her legs were covered with battered bruised and cuts. She groped around her blindly for her handbag, only to realize that it must have been stolen at some point. She stood up, and stumbled away from the glares of the villagers, and onto the main road. The ten minute walk to the cottage had never seemed longer, as she stumbled and fell numerous times, rolling into ditches on the side of the road covering herself in mud. Finally, she collapsed against the steps up to their small cottage, covered in mud, grass, twigs and blood. She drifted in and out of consciousness as she waited for Jack, when she was awake, she'd try and distract herself from the pain by studying the majestic garden around her. This hurt more than being shot or stabbed, and she should know. She didn't try to go inside the house. She had no key, or strength to break the door down. She tried to make herself more comfortable, and received a stab of pain from her belly for her troubles. From this new position, she could see her had. This hand was once delicate and smooth skinned, where now it was slightly calloused, and covered with a ruby red coating of blood. She drifted out of consciousness again, and when she woke up, she was in the bed she shared with Jack, free of bloody, mud, grass and twigs. She moaned in discomfort slightly, and wriggled her body so it was more comfortable. Immediately, hands were helping her, and she shrieked loudly, and started to cry.

"Sh, sh, sh... Toshiko, it's me, Jack. It's okay, you're safe now." She looked up into his face, and buried hers in his chest, sobbing for all her worth.

"I want to go home, Jack. I hate this place, I hate my life, and I want to go home."

"I know sweet heart," he whispered comfortingly, rubbing small circles gently on her back. "I know."

2 months later...

"Come on Tosh! I've got a good feeling about today!"

He stood on the door step, of the cottage, the blood stains still not quite gone yet. He held his hand out to Tosh, who was just inside the door, looking at him doubtfully.

"Jack, I really don't think it's a good idea!"

"It's just the grocer's Tosh! And we've been saving our rations now, we'll be able to get some proper meat for a change!"

"Jack I-"

"Haven't stepped out of this door in two months!" Jack offered, spinning around with his arms out stretched. "It's a beautiful day, the first one we've had in ages! Come on, I'll look after you!" She sighed in defeat, and stepped out of the door, closing it behind her. Jack smiled, victorious, and offered her his arm, which she accepted. The whole walk to the village, she clung onto his arm nervously, her face pale with worry.

"Relax darling," Jack said, putting on their usual husband and wife front. "You've got nothing to worry about." As they entered the town centre, Jack flashed a charming smile at some of the villagers who he had befriended over the few months they had been there, and finally she heard the familiar tinkle of the bell over the grocer's door as they stepped over the threshold. Immediately, the warm, comfortable atmosphere evaporated, and she could feel the judging gazes of the occupants of the room staring at her. Jack said nothing, but handed her the basket which he'd carried the way down here, and began to fill it up with their allotted food rations. They were half way through, when she felt her arm slip out of his, and she looked at him, her face full of fear, to be met with his re-assuring smile. He was just taking out the money from his pocket to pay, when the grinding of engines filled the room. The money fell from his hands, and fluttered to the ground, as he stood there in shock for a moment, before sprinting with full force from the shop.

"Jack!" She called after him, fear washing over her. She smiled apologetically at the people in the line behind her, as she bent down to collect the money, when the first blow came.