In the River

He didn't speak. Sometimes he would say a word or two. He hardly ever looked at her. He was just standing on the dock with his fishing pole. Other times he would go to another part of the river and let the water come to his knees as the stream caressed him. And so he stayed for hours. Waiting. Observing. Thinking. Maybe having memories.

Or imagining.

And she stayed by his side. She was talking to him. What a talkative girl she was. And she was smiling; dreamy. In that way perhaps they both were alike. However, Will always wore a sad expression. And for some reason to the adolescent he seemed like a limpid crystal: beautiful, but with several cracks that were about to be shattered. For this reason, despite the fact that he rarely spoke to her, she kept with him. She had challenged herself to catch at least one fish with her hands. Without fishing pole. Just for fun. Because standing still and waiting for some fish to get hooked on the hook of a fishing pole wasn't her thing. She wasn't someone patient. And she liked to move. And since she was clumsy, many times she fell and she gave a little cry of pain. At those moments Will gave a long sigh of resignation and walked over to her to take her hand and help her to stand up. Those gestures captivated her. And she was smiling with great joy. He was a good guy. And apparently life had mistreated him in ways she couldn't even imagine.

Well, she didn't need it to.

But she wanted, from the bottom of her heart, that he could tell her himself. Perhaps even if it is to share what seemed to always torment him.

"Thanks, Will," Kagome said, as he took her hand. It was already the third time in less than an hour. He just nodded as he avoided eye contact with the girl. He had the urge to adjust his glasses, but in his other hand he had the fishing pole. He felt anxious. And the idea of being there was to be calm.

Free himself. Heal. To imagine.

"Will, I like you very much..." she kept talking. Her eyes were bright, "I mean, I want you to feel comfortable with me."

Now he was able to adjust his glasses once the girl was on her feet.

"It's not something I can control myself," he finally spoke. "Eye contact distracts me."

"Oh, okay, but you don't need to have everything under control. Here, in this place, allow yourself to be free... from whatever you need..."

That was true. That's why he was there, but when there were people around him that was difficult. Much more with the job he had. Because the corpses continued to haunt him with their empty stares. Jack was a good man. But the presence of him interrupting his classroom always meant one more day without being able to sleep.

"You can vent to me if you want to," she offered affable and sincere. Will smiled. He found absurd and hilarious that a young woman who couldn't be older than fifteen would offer him such a thing. That was supposed to be adult work.

"Maybe the one who should vent herself is you," he declared, always looking at the distance of the beautiful landscape.

"I'm fine. Don't you see?" She blinked. "Maybe I could tell you about school, but I think that would be boring." She laughed amused.

"Maybe you could tell me why you suddenly started coming here. Why do you follow me everywhere?"

"Easy, cos you're alone." Her grin widened causing her to show her almost gleaming teeth.

"In fact, that's why I'm here."

"I think what happens to you is that you don't know how to be with people. But you do want the company."

Will didn't say anything. But the young girl could swear that his countenance had grown gloomier and more downcast. She felt a pang of sadness.

"Actually," she continued, trying to change the subject, "I've been here for almost a year, but one day I saw you and wanted to keep you company."

"Why?"

"I already told you, I like you. Isn't that reason enough?" But he knew there was something else. Not for nothing he still was an FBI special agent. And she knew it. Somehow. For one reason or another. Maybe both. I wait for a person… "she finally revealed. Not that she wanted to hide that last thing she said to him. Only it didn't have to be said. Besides, how would she do it? How would she explain who she was, or what? "I know at some point he will come here. To this lake. And I yearn to see him with all my heart," she said with a longing expression. And she slightly lowered her head, as if she suddenly felt ashamed, because her cheeks had been dyed a slight shade of crimson. But at the same time, a small smile spread across her face. Will was surprised to see her that way. Because the young woman was always boisterous, reckless, someone who always said what she thought without shame. Not shy at all. And yet now it seemed that she was suddenly embarrassed to reveal something very precious to her.

A pink secret.

"And are you sure he will come?"

Kagome raised her face in bewilderment and looked at him.

"How do you know it's a he?"

"I assumed it was obvious," he said. And again he adjusted his glasses. Kagome's eyes widened. Now her face was completely scarlet. Will laughed for the first time. And that really surprised the brunette. So much so that she didn't realize that her arms and hands had moved on their own towards the fisherman's face. She took him by the cheeks and made him look at her. Then she gazed at him in amazement, as if she had found something incredibly valuable, something tender, sweet. Broken. And that it made her want to protect him forever. He was dumbfounded. Stiff. He had a hard time looking at people. And such contact was unimaginable.

"Wow! You have very deep blue eyes Will! They are deep blue in color! And your smile! You should smile more, you look much more handsome," she declared excited and dazzled. And he was still like a stone. Kagome noticed it. And when she realized that the man was looking at her as if his eyes were going to go out of their sockets, she also noticed the new impulse that had taken over her. And that she probably made him feel too uncomfortable. She immediately wanted to stop touching him. Yet just as she was about to do it, a succession of images came up to her: devastating and bloody.

Sickness, death, and the red colour predominated in Will Graham's experiences.

And also…

"No…" she whispered. Will immediately noticed the sudden change of expression in the young woman. Her hands still on his face began to tremble. Her eyes were moistened. Then he brought a hand to Kagome's wrist. In an instinctive act, he even let go of her fishing pole to push the brunette's contact away from him with both hands.

And she started crying.

"Gon…" The name, pronounced so thin and brittle, made Will's look of surprise renew. A cold, visceral anguish seized the pit of his stomach.

"How do you know Gon?" He quickly asked – because Gon used to be his best friend, but unfortunately he died due to a serious disease. But actually he had a million other questions that popped out into his head. Yet the disconcerting fact that the smiling, energetic young woman was gone, predominated in his mind. Like to go from white to black in the blink of an eye. Now she looked as if she had been reduced to someone who was suddenly in pieces.

"Gon…"

Will didn't understand anything.

"Gon…"

And maybe he never would.

THE END.