Johanna screamed as His feet smashed into the roof of the building next to the bar. He had leapt with her in His arms and made it over with such ease. German men were crowding the window and looking out at them as He leapt to the next one and the next. Johanna held tight to His clothes as he moved, afraid of being dropped, where was He taking her? How did He know those men were after her?
Unbeknownst to her He was going to stop at nothing to get her out of Germany. He looked down at her frightened form and finally stopped at a roof and leapt down to the ground. He watched her close her eyes and He landed easily. He set her on her feet and took her by the hand.
"Wait! Where are you taking me?" she demanded of Him and frowned. He turned and looked at her with intense blue eyes. He didn't speak, only motioned His head in the direction of the edge of town. She looked at him with confusion. How was she to know what He meant by anything if He didn't speak? He looked frustrated and jerked His head in the direction again. Then, He finally pointed back the way they had come and drew a line across His neck with his finger. She understood that. He pulled her through town.
XxxxxX
He tugged her through a forest, near a road. He had made a point of showing her away from the road when they had begun traveling. She had voiced a protest, talking of lost ways and such. He turned to her and gave her a look with raised eyebrows. As if saying: 'Do I look like I could get lost?'. Johanna had turned from Him and made a face of apology. She felt as if she had offended Him in some grand way. He didn't stop holding her hand as they staggered into the next city and found a room for the night.
Johanna sat on the bed and looked at Him as He pulled his shirt off. It was stained with sweat and dirt. He still didn't speak. Even as He folded His shirt and made a pillow from it to sleep on it.
"You know, you could sleep up here with me," she said and removed her boots, throwing them down hard on the wooden floor. He didn't move, but rolled over and looked at her. He raised an eyebrow at her again. Johanna looked Him over. He was tall and made of sinew and bone. Not a bit of Him looked out of place on His form. She patted the spot on the bed and He, still without words, moved up and laid on it with her. She looked at Him.
"How did you know I was French?" she spoke French then, instead of German, in a whisper and He smiled at the sound of His home language. His mother's face and smile flashed in His mind's eye.
He shrugged and touched her nose. It did not explain much but it showed her enough.
"My face?" He nodded to her and she looked at Him quizzically. "How?"
He shrugged again. He did not know how He knew, only knew that He did. He stroked her nose. She had a raised bump in it, hardly noticeable. He liked it. He liked a lot of things about her, some of which He could not place. He leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose then, running a hand through her hair as He did so. She smiled at Him and spoke French to Him the rest of the evening, asking questions.
"Why don't you talk?"
He shrugged.
"Where's your family."
He shook his head.
"Dead?" He nodded. "Mine too."
"What's your name?"
This questions surprised Him. She had come to see that He could not speak and still asked a question of such importance. He sat up. She watched Him pull His boot off His foot and reach into it. He found a piece of parchment that had once been written on. It had contained His name and His mother's name, detailing in her messy peasant scrawl that if He was lost He could not speak and to return Him to her.
Johanna looked it over. She shook her head. "I can only read of few things. It's all gone now," she told him and read what she could. "Name is…Lost…His mother is named…Elizabette…" she read His mother's name and He felt a warmth inside his heart. His name was lost though. She would never know it. He took it back from her and replaced it in His boot. Johanna smiled at this and when He turned back to her she took His face in her hands and kissed Him on the mouth.