Black Coffee

Chapter 12

"Chance is a fickle thing...you never know when it'll come your way"

"Hawke? H-how did you..."

"I think we've all had just about enough of you. Black Storm!"

"Aaaaahhhhhh!...H-Hawke...you...you t-trai...tor..."

"Good riddance"

"Sturm, my lord...Hawke, what have you done?"

"From this moment onwards, I am the commander-in-chief of the Black Hole Army. If you have anything to say, come forward or forever hold your peace..."

A month had passed since the war ended. Hawke took the remainder of the battered, damaged and weak forces and retreated. The other three Black Hole CO's joined him with no objection. But after a week, both Flak and Adder left, citing that they wanted a new start to their lives. A clean slate.

They were barely an army. They were more of a small battalion consisting of maybe a hundred and fifty units, all different kinds. They had no naval or air units left with them, just the infantry and whatever scraps were left from the final battle. They moved out and set up a temporary camp at the very north of the island, taking control of a dock. They weren't going to be moving until they had enough landers to carry the lot elsewhere.

Night fell, but Hawke wasn't to be found in his tent. He was elsewhere, standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down to the area where the final battle took place. Smoke still billowed from the destroyed missile platform, and the area lay in ruins, skeletons of tanks and destroyed ground decorated the area, with a few cities still standing and a defunct frame of the death ray sitting above it all.

"...Hawke?" a voice called quietly. Hawke recognized the voice and turned around. It was Lash. She walked up beside him.

"It's late...you should be sleeping" Hawke said, somewhat solemnly.

"I couldn't help...your tent was empty" she said. She then looked out towards the ruined battlefield. There was a long silence before she spoke

"...Do you think...we could've won?" she asked. Hawke closed his eyes and gave a sigh.

"...No" Hawke answered.

"What if we were to go back in time and do it all over again? We would win then, wouldn't we?" she suggested.

"...No" Hawke answered again.

"How come?"

"By the end...it had all lost purpose..." he said. "...You must have noticed, yes?"

"Noticed what?"

"...The change in me"

"Change?"

"You mentioned it once some time ago...you said I had become 'a lot nicer' through time"

"Yeah...I did say that...I meant it too, you are a nicer guy than before"

"...Then what was I before?"

"Before?...Well...you weren't the happiest bloke...and you always took things seriously...well, you still do now! Tee hee!"

"...I have come to realize it myself over the last few weeks...when they rendered the factory unusable, it finally hit me"

"What did?"

"...I am a different man"

"...You are..."

"...Before, I enjoyed war. I enjoyed invasion, and I enjoyed liberation. I enjoyed success, and I enjoyed the enemy's defeat...But these changes that have happened to me...I was a fool back then...I had slowly come to realize that there is more to life than mere personal success...that there were other people in this world who were just as interesting and compelling as I..."

"...What're you trying to say Hawke?"

"Lash...do you know why I changed like this?"

"...I...well...why?"

Hawke turned to look at Lash. His face seemed somewhat sad.

"...You" he revealed. Lash's eyes opened slightly.

"...Me?" she asked. "But...I've been around you for a long time...I knew you when you were the cold sadistic man..."

"If it wasn't for this war, then a cold sadistic man would be standing here right now" Hawke replied. "...Because of you, I feel somewhat self-revolutionized. I feel anew, refreshed...reawakened..."

"Hawke, why me?" she asked. She slowly shuffled a little closer to Hawke, still looking up.

"You were my secretary for a long time" Hawke explained. "As soon as this invasion begun and we were selected to lead its forces...we were separated. I didn't think much of it then, but...I just felt as if there was something missing in my life...the final piece of the puzzle that would make my life somewhat complete. All these times I have defended you, everything I stood for...I just wanted to be with you" he said slowly. He slowly took her hand in his and put another hand on her shoulder. She rested her head beneath his neck.

"You're only trying to make me happy now..." she said wistfully.

"This change that overcame me, I realised that there was more to life than war. I...lost interest in its whole concept...and my effort somewhat waned. Therefore, no matter how many times you go back to try again, the invasion will always fail...because I will realize how deprived my life can become without your presence, and the same erosion will occur" Hawke finished. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "Do you understand?" Lash nodded her head against his coat.

"Yeah..." she said, closing her eyes. The two stood there in the night, wrapped in each other's arms for what seemed like the millionth time. But it almost felt natural to be holding her now. He was becoming somewhat certain about his feelings. But there was plenty of time. He needn't rush things, for rushing things would only lead to bad decisions. He would give it time, and let it naturally develop and bloom.

"So...what're we gonna do now?" Lash asked. "With the Black Hole Army and stuff?" Hawke looked up and examined the stars.

"I don't know" Hawke said. "I have lost taste for war. I don't know if such taste will return to me. But for the sake of you and I, I am willing to keep this tattered and torn battalion together" Hawke explained.

"Really?" Lash asked.

"Count on it" Hawke finished. "Come, let us return to the camp. We shall be setting off tomorrow with the first of the landers" They let go of each other and gave the torn battlefield one last look before turning their backs to it. Hawke extended a hand to Lash, which she took with joy and the two walked hand in hand back towards the camp.

END OF PART 1