[Presidia Outskirts, United Cascadia]
[August 20th, 432 AC]
"Aww, come on Alice, don't get all weepy for the camera. You do realize we're recording, right? I wanted it to be authentic, but you're really making a scene here."
"Ali, it's okay. You're still here with us. There's still time." Hannah reached for Alice and gave the hysterical girl a warm hug. "Let's try to end this on a happy note, alright?"
The teenage water fountain looked up with swollen red eyes and nodded reluctantly. But upon seeing the camera lens, Alice burst into uncontrollable sobs, running fresh rivers of tears through her already-wet cheeks. "I-I-I can't help, can't help it," she sobbed. "I don't want to go!"
"Shh, shh. It's alright." Hannah patted Alice's head. "Look. I'm sure that…someday…we'll…you know…" Hannah's voice started to quiver.
"At least they managed to keep it together for the music video," sighed Kat, brushing a bit of her frontal fringe away. "Alright. Looks like the upload is complete. How about we give our fans something to smile about, huh?"
"S-someday…we're all going to be b-big rockstars…together…!"
Kat rolled her eyes, unaffected by the misery. "Not you too, Hannah! And Alice, please, just wipe your nose. There's no time to edit this video, so…"
Alice compiled, though her face still reeked of sadness. Hannah took a tissue as well, letting out a comically loud exhale through the nose.
"Pfffbt," giggled Alice. "You sound like a frickin' elephant."
"Yeah? I bet you do too. Here." Hanna thrust a clean tissue onto Alice's hands. "Your turn!"
*TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT*
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"You guys, I swear…" Kat smiled, though it was less from the blowing-your-nose contest and more from seeing her friends cheer up for once. "On my count, let's send it off. One, two, three!"
All three girls gathered close and turned to face the camera, two with reddened tear-stained faces and one that kept her composure together. All were smiling the kind of dazzling smile that comes from the joy of being youthful. At least here, at this point in time, one could forget about the outside world and the war between two countries that raged on its death throes.
"Hey everyone! It's been a blast, but this is the end for us! Hope to see you all again someday. Here's our farewell music video "A Sentimental Hunch" from yours truly, the Presidian Calamity IMPACTS!"
"Ready? One, two—!"
Alice and her family left one day later. The summer sun bore down on the outskirts of Presidia, bathing everything in a nostalgic golden sepia. The perfect suburban neighborhood to make a trip down Memory Lane whenever you'd want to reminisce on the good old days. But in the present, Alice would not think so. At least, that's what it looked like to Kat and Hannah as their friend waved goodbye with a face that apparently never ceased to cry.
Hannah couldn't stop waving and crying either. Her arm was still waving as Alice's family left in their van. Her arm was still waving as Kat lowered her own and stared at the fading dot that was the van. Her arm was still waving after her friend and band mate was long gone into the distance of the road, presumably far away from Presidia.
Beep…beep….thunk.
A can of Bepsi descends from its place within the vending machine with a hearty clunk. Kat picks it up with her free hand, the other holding onto a cold can of Dr. Bepper.
"Hannah. Here."
"Oh. Thanks, Kat." Hannah rubs her eyes, blinking back more tears. She smiles as she takes the Bepsi from Kat and opens the lid with some work from her thumb. With a loud crack, the little drink is open.
They take a seat on an abandoned park bench. The once-lively meadow that showed a blue sky was now a deep purple-orange, a sign that the sun was about to set. For a while, no one speaks. Thirst gets the better of them over the want of conversation.
"It's too sweet," Hannah complains softly. "Soda's too sweet for a time like this. Black coffee would have been better."
Kat snorted. "They don't sell coffee in vending machines, you know."
And again the silence returns. Neither girl continues. Only the sound of the wind, some birdsong, and the rush of transportation crossing a nearby highway make up for the lack of ambiance.
Finally, Hannah sets down her Bepsi can. "There are so few people around, and it gets worse every day. Even Alice is gone now."
"Something's about to happen," notes Kat.
"Yeah." Hannah looks down on the ground. "Do you think…they're coming to liberate us? Are we next?"
"Seems so." Kat takes a swig of her Dr. Bepper. "As long as we don't end up like Prospero, I welcome the Cascadians who are coming to kick Feddie ass."
"Yeah," says Hannah, just a tad happier. "And then Alice can come back, and we can be a band again. Wouldn't that be great?" Her mood immediately plummets, and Hannah plops down on her part of the bench again. "If they do come here, a lot of people are going to die. Maybe we'll die, Kat. Have you ever thought about that? Some bomb from the sky, or a bunch of soldiers storming through our neck of the woods. Boom," she intones with an apathetic hand gesture. "Just like that."
Kat gently sets down her soda. "Hannah, there's something you need to know."
Hannah gives her a fearful look, and it hurts Kat right in the heart. But she has to press on. Hannah will know eventually.
"I'm sorry. I'm leaving tonight, too."
And seeing Hannah's reaction to that just made it worse. "My parents think it isn't safe here," Kat explained softly. "That we need to evacuate. We're heading to my grandma's place…for the time being."
The silence hurts a lot more than it should. Hannah's face is a mixture of anger (rightfully so), pain, and sadness. Her mouth is a thin line, a crudely made dam keeping the deluge that is her words at bay. But the words that eventually come out of her mouth seem more mature than what a sixteen-year old should say in that situation.
"I…I guess it can't be helped, huh. None of us are really that old to be making our own decisions, and it's not like we can just run away together, so yeah. There's nothing you or I can do about it. We're not…the kind of people who can do that."
Kat lowers her head, focusing on her soda can. "Like I said, I'm sorry."
With watery eyes glimmering in the sunset glow of the sky, Hannah shakes her head. "It's ok. I get it. I really do."
"But-" Hannah stands up, getting in front of Kat with a determined expression. "I want one thing. Just one thing, before you leave."
"I'm all ears."
"Kiss me."
Kat raises her head, mildly baffled. "A kiss?"
Hannah blushes, clearly out of her element. "It's just…a kiss is memorable, right? I don't want to ever forget you. And until you and Alice come back, I can think about this moment. Like a souvenir I can keep in here," she said, pointing to her head.
It's all so painfully sincere. How could Kat say no to that?
So they sit down on that bench again, gazing into each other's eyes. Just the action of looking makes them both blush harder than the reddest tomato. Kat can feel her palms start to sweat, and for some reason her heart is beating something fierce. Was it nervousness? Anxiety? Maybe even…Dust Mother forbid, the L word?
If Kat was feeling like this, Hannah was a thousand times worse. She was straight up trembling being this close and personal to her friend. "L-let's hold hands," she mumbled. "I-is that alright w-with you?"
"Fine with me." Kat's hand slowly reaches for Hannah's own, which is shaking like a seizure. For a moment Kat hesitates, but she follows through with the action. Heh. Her hand is sweaty, too. But it's warm, and that's what matters.
"L-let's close our eyes too, while we're at it," Hannah babbles awkwardly, refusing to hold on to her staring at Kat.
"Wouldn't that defeat the purpose? You won't see it happen."
"No," protests Hannah with a pout, "Closing your eyes is how they do it in the movies! Besides, it's not like I can astral project and see this from the third person-"
"How about…we just follow through." Kat leans in close, effectively shutting Hannah up. Her eyes widen as she realizes what Kat is about to do, then close as their lips meet.
They're not really sure how it happens. But they manage to close their eyes and kiss without missing their marks. And for one moment in time, two girls are caught in the tender satisfaction of a voluntary kiss.
Kat, thinks Hannah, tastes sweet. Like soda. She might have been craving bitterness once, but this sweetness is what she deserves. Yeah. She wouldn't have it any other way.
"I've been thinking," said Kat as they walked through the streets of their neighborhood for the last time together. "We're high schoolers. When we graduate, we can go anywhere we want. So why don't we all just pick the same college or university to go to? They have dorms and stuff. Worst comes to worst we all work a dead-end job and rent out an apartment together."
"Oh, Dust." Hannah's face visibly brightened, which is very hard to do when the sky is night. "I never thought about that! Kat, that's genius!"
"Heh."
"No, seriously!" Hannah walked ahead with more energy. "And then after we get that sorted out, we can start our IMPACTS gig again! We'll be smarter by then, plus with our clout from this year, we're sure to attract a crowd!" She beamed. "More importantly, we'll be back to playing together and having the time of our lives!"
"Figured you'd say that," said Kat. Hehe, Hannah's happiness was infectious.
"This changes everything!" Hannah laughed, practically skipping on the sidewalk. "We're going to all have a future together, just you wait! Ohh, won't those Cascadians hurry up and kick the Feds out of town already?"
"Easy there," chuckled Kat. "First we've got to figure out where exactly we should go, what school is more convenient for all of us."
"Mm-hmm! We can figure that out eventually. I'm just so excited!"
As the moon rose over the Presidian outskirts, another car left the neighborhood, en route to a destination far from the city. But this time, Hannah did not cry. She waved goodbye with a smile on her face and on her heart. And when she went to bed, she dreamed of her happiest memory, fresh and vibrant as the day it happened: a jam session for their last song, with Alice on the synthesizer, Kat on the bass, and Hannah herself on the guitar and vocals.
[August 23rd, 432 AC]
Presidia was caught somewhere between a ghost town and a battlefield. Soldiers of both sides ran amok, the skies rained missiles, and no one friendly was in sight.
But at one point, the radio crackled to life. Mother, Father, and Hannah leaned in close.
"The parties, participating in a neutral conference held in the land of the Republic of Albion, hosted by the United Kerneuropa Alliance, with a view of ending the war and restoring peace in relation to Cascadia on the basis of respect to the self-actualization of the Cascadian people, have agreed on the following and undertake to respect and implement them following a ceasefire."
Hannah's parents hugged their little girl, one big happy hug: everyone made it out in one piece! It was finally over! The breath that had been held for almost a year was finally released.
"I'm going out, okay?"
In their happiness, they let their daughter open the door and go out into the world outside, finally free from foreign occupation. And now, the big bright future that Kat suggested, Hannah would make reality, and Alice would see was about to become real.
In joy, Hannah craned her neck up to the sky. Her eyes reflected the heavens: past the wires of telephone poles, past the tops of the surviving buildings, all the way up to the clouds.
Two kings would fight up there, in just a moment's time. But nobody knows that yet.
None of that matters, though, because down on the earth, down in Presidia—
Hannah saw orange.
And then Hannah, her parents, her home itself, and around 3 million other people that would eventually be reported (and only reported), were no more.
They'll all fade away, all fade away
Everything will fade away, just like this view with you
It all floats away, all floats away
I get sentimental all of a sudden!
It all breaks apart, all breaks apart
Precious memories we shared, but nothing will be spared
They'll all disappear, all disappear
And that's just how I feel deep inside.
-"A Sentimental Hunch"
