Chapter 5 – An Evening of Peace
Nighttime came quickly to the newly liberated town of Bruhl, and with it, a rare chance for Squad 7 to celebrate. With the Shamrock parked in the Mill Plaza, Ted and his best friend and fellow scout Melville Young converted it into a makeshift stage. Shifting the lights of the tank to shine toward the middle, the two began to perform an impromptu comedy routine, much to the delight for most of the Squad members that had gathered around them. There were a few of those in the squad, however, that preferred to stay away from the laughter and shouting that was taking place. One of them being a sniper named Marina Wulfstan. Preferring the quiet peace of isolation, she found a spot under a tree atop a hill just outside of the town and was sitting under it when a familiar voice caught her attention.
"That's an interesting way to celebrate a victory Marina dear."
"Catherine..." Marina continued stare at the countryside as fellow sniper Catherine O'Hara approached her. "It's not nice to spy on people you know..."
Catherine gave a small chuckle and sat down next to Marina. "I know you well enough to know your hiding spots."
"So why are you here?" asked Marina. "I'm sure it's not just to make small talk with me."
"...To the point as always," sighed Catherine. "However, I just came by to see how you were doing."
"...That's all?" asked Marina. "You're not getting all mushy on me are you?"
"Well I did promise your father I'd keep an eye on you, you know," said Catherine. "It wouldn't do to deny a dying man his final wish."
"That was ten years ago," sighed Marina as she looked up at the stars. "I'm a big girl now..."
"Oh? I still see a lot of the same little girl from ten years ago," Catherine shot back. "And still the same sour attitude. I wonder what Gustav would say if he saw you now."
"He'd say 'Go away Catherine, stop bringing me up in every conversation you have with my daughter',"
"You may not like to hear it but he was an important person to me too," said Catherine.
"You fought together in the first Europan War," said Marina, still refusing to look at Catherine. "So what?"
"That's true, but that's only half the story..." said Catherine, a sad smile appearing on her face.
"...What are you saying?" asked Marina, finally looking at Catherine.
"Oho I thought you didn't care about other people's affairs!" teased Catherine.
"...You do realize that I hate you?" said Marina. "Why do you do this to me?"
Catherine shrugged. "It's fun."
"So are you going to tell me?" asked Marina.
"Another time," said Catherine as she picked up her rifle and looked through the scope at the river near the town. "Right now, I see something that might interest you at the river. Care to see?"
"..No," said Marina as she picked up her own rifle anyway and peered through the scope to see.
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What Catherine and Marina were looking at was Edy Nelson sitting at the river's edge, her bare feet in the water. In addition to her boots and socks being removed, she had also taken off her BDU jacket and her gloves, leaving only the black wool turtleneck undershirt. Once again she had removed the blue and gray ribbons from her hair and was staring at them, thinking about Ramona.
"Ah there you are Miss Edy," said a voice from behind her.
"You're becoming quite the stalker these days," said Edy, still looking at the ribbons.
"Well when you're not near the spotlight, I kinda get worried..But then again I'm sure you don't want to see Freesia dancing right now so..." said Homer as he approached Edy. When he saw the ribbons in her hand he knew why. "Still thinking about Ramona?"
"...She should have been here with us, Homer," sighed Edy as she felt tears well up in her eyes. "Because of me, she lying in a hospital bed in a coma right now."
"It's not your fault Miss Edy," assured Homer. "This is a war, people get hurt and some die. That's the way it is. Besides we took a lot of casualties at Marberry, Ramona was just one of them."
"You weren't there when it happened Homer," cried Edy. "I was too scared to run out of cover to take out a turret bunker, so she said she would go first and for me to follow. We had barely made a run for it when we were ambushed from Imperials hidden in a trench in front of the bunker. She...was shot six times. I was able to carry her away to safety but...I'll never forgive myself for my cowardice."
"But you've gotten stronger since then haven't you?" asked Homer as he sat down next to her. "Remember when you charged through a whole squad of Imperials to go rescue Corporal Stark when we were evacuating that village? And don't forget about the battle that we just won. You didn't look scared to me."
"I guess I have gotten better about that," admitted Edy. "It's just that she's my best friend and all, you know? I don't think I would have lasted as long as I have in the militia without her. I could say the same about you, I suppose."
Homer looked at Edy with a surprised look. "M-me?"
"Uh I mean..." Edy's face suddenly turned red. Unable to think of anything to say she pushed Homer forward. Losing his balance, he instinctively grabbed Edy's arm, resulting in the two of them falling into the river.
"Help! Miss Edy! Help!" shouted Homer as he floundered in the water. "I can't swim!"
"Homer....stand up," sighed Edy as she got to her feet.
"I can't sw-...oh," Homer stood up with a sheepish look on his face. "I guess this river isn't very deep, huh?"
"Obviously," said Edy as she pushed her water-soaked hair away from her face. "But you should be worried more about I'm going to do to you when I catch you!"
"But, it was you who pushed me in Miss Edy," pleaded Homer. "Please don't forget that!"
"Hey, I thought we were the only couple in the squad!" a female voice said from behind them.
Homer and Edy looked up to see Lynn and Karl looking down at them from the riverside.
"We are not a couple Lynn," fumed Edy.
"You didn't have to say it like that Miss Edy," sighed Homer.
"Oh, that's too bad," giggled Lynn. "You two look so cute together."
Edy realized she was blushing. "Don't say such silly things!"
"Lynn, please don't cause any more trouble," begged Karl as he adjusted his glasses.
"Oh come on, Karl honey, don't be such a tightwad," said Lynn. "It's good to have fun once in awhile."
"If you say so..." said Karl.
The two watched as Edy and Homer crawled out of the river and back onto the grass.
"So why were you two in the river to begin with?" asked Lynn.
"Homer fell in and dragged me in with him," Edy explained.
"That's not exactly wh-," Homer wasn't able to complete his explanation due to Edy backhanding him across the face and sending him sprawling on his back yet again.
"You were saying?" demanded Edy.
"Um, nothing," said Homer, still on his back. "That felt kinda nice actually..."
"...Wierdo," sighed Lynn. "Anyway, Edy I was looking for you because I wanted to give you this."
"A doll?" asked Edy, noticing a homemade doll in Lynn's right hand.
"It's a Darcsen good luck charm," explained Lynn. "I wanted to give it to you before the Feast, but it wasn't finished, so..."
"Wait, I thought you only gave gifts to guys you like on the Feast," said Edy.
"It's also for people that are important to you," explained Karl. "But a lot of people don't know that."
"Anyway, I'd be dead now if it weren't for you, so I'd say you're fairly important to me," said Lynn. "So..here."
"Thank you Lynn," said Edy as she accepted the charm. "I'll keep it on me from now on."
"So what do you think the Captain is going to have us do next Miss Edy?" asked Homer after a few moments of silence passed.
Edy shrugged as she looked up at the night sky. "Whatever it is, I doubt it will be that much harder than what we did today. I mean it's not like she's going to have us fight off the entire Imperial Army by ourselves right?"