Author's Note- I hope Feliciano's dialogue is understandable. He is not fluent in Spanish in this short tale, but he tries! A+ for effort!
The sun did not take its time to dive closer to the horizon. The trees I lumbered pass made a joke of my déjà-vu, losing myself in a strange forest once again, all too soon. The plants grew denser, and I ripped my boot from a tangle of vines for the third time that evening. Yet I kept going, creeping closer to a mass of gray on the forest floor, peeking between the mass of trees.
A large, round boulder sat in the middle of small stones, with Feliciano as the top piece. His back faced me, his face gazing at the blushing skies, and I found myself staring for a breathless moment, my seemingly aimless wandering snapping to a close.
I must have made a stupid noise, or he simply sensed my looming presence. "Ve, Lovino-" Feliciano twisted around and choked off, gawking in fright.
"Uh, hi," I grunted. Perhaps Lovino was correct, saying I was a stupid potato, but I would not give him the benefit of the doubt. Feliciano turned back around, bringing his knees to his chin, and watched the still forest floor. I hesitated. "Feli, are you mad at me?"
He did not answer.
"I did not intend to...upset you by asking sensitive questions. I just want to go back to my regiment. I have been away from them for far too long, and they could be worrying about my prolonged disappearance...yet you know how that feels, right?"
Feliciano peeked to the side before quickly looking away. He began to say something, but cut off, staring into the forest. He picked up again in Spanish this time, "It is not you scaring. I scare hot."
"You are scared of fire?"
"Yes, I scare fire." Who is not? "It was bad. Ate the maps. We have no maps. We go for long time. No home."
"You cannot find your way back home without maps," I agreed. Feliciano shifted on his perch to face me. His eyes were watering and tears streamed down his face.
"I want home," his breath caught. "Mean men come...fire...we go...here...months of trees."
I shifted forward, lingering a moment on my feet before stepping towards the rock. I pulled myself up, and Feliciano scooted over for me to sit beside him, smiling as I came closer. "Were...were you attacked?"
He nodded, his jaw trembling as more tears spilled out of his eyes. I noticed a long scratch on the back of his hand and shakily put my palm against it. "Did they hurt you?"
"Months."
"Oh, it happened months ago?" My eyebrows knitted together, brushing the pink divot across his knuckles.
"I hurt..." Feliciano used his other hand to make a spinning motion to the ground.
"You fell?"
"Yes, I fell," he admitted, giggling uneasily.
I lifted my hand to lightly pat between his shoulder blades. "Err, get well?" He laughed more now, wiping his eyes. "Feliciano, sorry for..." I struggled with words. "Sorry for you crying. I had no intention of upsetting you."
He picked up his head and drew a sleeve under his nose. "Lovino say I cry too much, but...it is bad to...not cry."
"Yes, brothers can be mean sometimes," I murmured. I would know. My hand crept over to his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I thought of crying on multiple occasions..." My ears grew hot. "When I was lost and hungry. I started to think I was going to die without seeing my dogs again."
Feliciano shook once more, but it was from giggling, not sadness. "Ve, Ludwig has dogs? Dogs...cute."
Yes, cute. I gulped. "I love my dogs. They must be missing me, being gone for so long. They are most likely thinking I left them without returning. Then again, dogs are smart animals. They must know I am coming back."
More laugher. "You speak of dogs...a lot."
"Erm, yes, I really like dogs, I guess," I scratched my cheek.
Feliciano leaned against my arm, still staring. "Ludwig not hurt?"
"Am I hurt? No, nothing of recent-"
He shook his head. "No, you not hurt...us? You are good?"
"No, I would not think of hurting you!" I said a bit too harshly. His eyes widened, and I forced myself to relax from sitting rigidly. "Erm...I would not think of hurting...anyone from the regiment."
Feliciano made a noise of content, and I was momentarily freed from his warming gaze as he looked around the trees. He grew silent, shallowly breathing as the evening breeze tossed a few loose leaves across the ground.
"We go to...hurt others. We sleep, and mean men come," he began suddenly. I blinked open my eyes I did not realized slid close. "Surprise...they hurt us...we go fast...they had big things...fire...we did not have...a lot."
I remembered the tank rushing forward on the drawing, a large billow of fire consuming their old camp. "Y-your regiment...went to fight?"
He nodded. I could not imagine him doing something...anything related to war. Maybe I am simply underestimating him. Shooting a gun and killing people is not as glorious as it is portrayed in books and the news. I once caught my brother tear up after a horrid campaign, and he was the bravest person I know.
Feliciano started to sniffle again, pressing his hands over his eyes. "Hey," I said, my hand tightening its grip on his shoulder, but not in a harsh manner. He picked up his head and looked at me expectantly, waiting what I had to say, but whatever I was planning to tell him evaporated, leaving me to gape like a beached fish.
That was weird. "Uh..." I tried again. "Don't cry?"
He made a puttering sound, glancing away. I did not know if it was more mourning or laughter. I grumbled and wiggled around on the rock, the cold surface numbing my rear. This situation was not amusing! I completely lost my thoughts! Was I mentioning my dogs? That seemed likely...
War, war. How could I forget about that? The pair of amber eyes on me was the most obvious answer. I still had yet to propose my idea about the regiments coming together! "Ludwig does not know...but it is nice to speak..."
"What?" I said stupidly for the time I lost count.
"You do not speak Italian...but I like talking...of things..."
I nodded. "It is nice to listen." After a moment of gathering what I wanted to say, I cleared my throat. "Feliciano, I have been considering this for at least a week...my regiment has maps...maps your group needs to get home."
Feliciano seemed puzzled before his eyes widened.
"Y-you see, my regiment is using these maps to meet up with another garrison down South, and if you are still looking to go back home...we could travel together...as a single regiment...for the trip."
He leaped away with an exclamation of shock, gawking at me, and spewing more Italian. I grimaced, not knowing if he was angry or happy.
"Did I...upset you...again?"
Feliciano vigorously shook his head, raising his hands. He repeatedly gestured with his palms shaking, struggling for words. "We...I...um..." He must have decided throwing his arms around my neck would convey his feelings on the matter better.
"Oh!" My legs twitched. "I take that as you like my plan?"
"Yes! Yes! Luddy save us!" Feliciano rocked us both side-to-side.
"I-I would not say save...really," I coughed, giving his back a few reassuring pats, mostly to stop the motions. "I still have to find the regiment, and even then, I have to bring up my idea of merging the two groups."
He slowly unlatched his arms to rest his hands on my shoulders. "Your men...are mean?"
"No, no! They are not...mean." Suddenly, the tree to my right looked interesting. "These are men I trained with months in the academy! They are brothers from another set of parents, but they are still men of the military. They will be expected to follow the usual procedure when they meet an unfamiliar regiment."
Feliciano did not say anything, so I turned to glance at his frightened gaze. "If the Italian regiment shows that they do not mean any harm, the interaction should go smoothly."
He slowly nodded. "You help us. I like you, so...maybe...they like you, too."
I think he meant to say he trusted me, but who knows what is running through that mind of his? I did not know, and I certainly did not expect him to press closer for another hug. How many hugs were sufficient to express gratitude? I usually thank the person and shake their hand...
"Ah, Feliciano, if you want to get home as soon as possible...we should go back to your camp right away..." I closed the eye that was being tickled from his hair.
"I like...here," he said, murmuring more in his natural language.
"Yes, but..." I trailed off, the slight scent of tomato sauce still lingering from his presence wafting into my face. My first guess was right. The pasta has mind melding abilities. That would logically explain why my thoughts were going numb as my heart hammered at the same time.
"I like here," Feliciano repeated.
"I...I like it here, too. It is bright...sunny...warm..." I backtracked when I realized I was not describing the Italian landscape. "When I left Germany, it was snowing for the third time that week."
Feliciano shook with laugher. He leaned away to look at my face. "No, no. I like it here with you!"
"I understand...we both enjoy one another's presence. That is what friends are for, right?" My voice raised an octave at the end. Friends! Feliciano could be my friend, and we could do things friends do, like talk about how mean our brothers can be, or get lost in the forest! Friends do that, right?!
"No!" No?! "Yes, yes! I say yes, friends, but..." Feliciano huffed, growing red with the mental exertion of thinking too hard. I tilted my head. Did he want to say more?
The sun was just touching the ground, and I glanced in its direction worryingly. "Really, Feli, do not strain yourself. If you do not know how to say it, then do not say it. Now, in the meantime, we should go b-back...to...uh..."
I trailed off with stupid stammers as he leaned in again and stuck his mouth to my cheek. Feliciano made a drawn out hum before releasing me with a loud puckering noise. He beamed, proud of what he done as I raised a gloved hand to the wet spot on my face.
Giggling from my turmoil, Feliciano threw his legs off the rock and jumped to the ground, landing with a crunch on the leaves. "Hey!" I called out, but he dashed into the trees.
Damn, he is fast! And what the hell was that about?! Friends do not give each other kisses! Do they?! Have I been being a friend wrongly the whole time? I wiped my cheek. If only it were only that easy to banish the hindering haze that made my face feel like it was melting!
As I leaped from the boulder, I gave my face a few concerned pats. No, it was still intact. I streaked after Feliciano, catching glimpses of blue between the trees, traveling the way back to camp. I hope the others understood the situation of the regiments as easily as Feliciano did.
Suddenly, Feliciano skittered to a halt, almost falling forward with a high cry of fright. He spun around to run in the opposite direction, barreling into me. I grasped his shoulders, earning another scream. I flinched and shouted, "It's me!"
He fell silent besides his panting from running and fright, staring at me with quiet terror. He raised an arm to point in the direction of the camp. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, but a high whiny shot out between the trees. I stiffened, not daring to breathe as other, lower noises of collective voices bounced across the forest.
"This way," I hissed, pulling Feliciano parallel to the camp. He gasped and spewed words I could only guess where questions I could not answer. "Hush, Feli!" I warned. I left my rifle in the medical tent. If we sneak in there, I would feel much safer and braver to face the intruders.
Damn it, who would go after such harmless people? There were no more than fifteen men in the Italian regiment; I forced myself to accommodate Feliciano's shorter strides when he vocally broadcasted his exertion. I led him in a wide arc, cutting to one side, to the back of the camp.
I saw the dirty white material of the medical tent ahead of us, my eyes on nothing else. Feliciano shouted something, yanking on my hand. I snapped my head to the side at the sound of drumming on the forest floor, the thundering vibrations running beneath our feet.
A white horse, of all things, charged through the trees towards me, and all I had time to do before I would be trampled was to make a sharp twist and give Feliciano the strongest shove I could muster. My boot slid on the loose leaves, and I fell forward while he tumbled away from me.
The horse's cries covered the sound of my breath flying out of my lungs from the impact, and I crunched into a ball, hands clamping over my own head instinctively as its hooves raised into the air.