We talked some more that night, and I left around nine. I really needed some fucking sleep.

The next morning, I awoke with reveille and rushed through my morning routine to get to one of the academy buses fast enough to get a seat in the back. I was walking across campus towards the four white buses parked by the armory when I heard someone holler.

"Friedrich!" The familiar voice beckoned.

I turned, continuing to walk as I saw Siegfried coming towards me. I smiled and waved, reaching out to shake his hand as he stood next to me.

"Feeling better?" He questioned.

"Yeah, my side still hurts a bit but everything else seems to be getting back to normal" I smiled.

"Good...good."

He seemed in a much better mood today; his shoulders were broad, his smile wide, and even the atmosphere around him seemed positive.

"So, you excited for the glider run? Maybe you'll actually get to ride!"

"Well yeah. Just gotta get the grenade test over with" I remarked

"Meh, it is what it is. You've never used one before?"

"Only test ones. You?"

"I've used a real one before. Its kind of scary at first but they have you use a few test ones before the real one to get the hang of it. They still blow up and all, but just in a bunch of smoke."

"Kind of scary that they use live grenades, isn't it...?"

"Meh, its not like we're going off to war. The guys in the Army do it all the time, right?"

"I guess. Just sort of nervous, you know?"

"You'll be fine. You've probably got the best arm anyway, right?"

I laughed, nodding. Within a short time, we were on one of the buses in the far back, chatting away as it started to fill up. A few more friends of Siegfried's sat around us, and after the instructor came through to do roll-call, we were off.

I didn't really get the chance to get out of the Academy, and to be honest there wasn't really a reason; with all of my money being sent home to my parents, I didn't really have anything to do. The court case was the last time I'd been out, and even then it was the first time since I'd arrived at the academy.

The city was gorgeous.

Even when a holiday parade wasn't days away, everything was bright and colorful. Flags were hung from almost every building, the streets were wide and clean, and the people all seemed happy. Like bees, they rushed from place to place, all with something important to do.

We spent most of the bus ride through the city chatting about basically everything, though they were all mostly occupied with drooling at the beautiful women the bus passed, and soon enough they were rating them.

"Damn look at her chest!" Chris hollered

"I'd give her an... eight" Siegfried replied.

"An eight? Come on, that's totally at least a nine"

"How about you, Major Fredricks? What do you think she is?" a voice yelled to our instructor

There was quiet as you could see the officer's visor cap look out the window and turn back to us with a bit of a glare. The only sounds in the bus were those that came from it, and those that came from outside.

"I'd give her a seven" He bellowed, his expression quickly changing from a serious one to one of laughter. The bus filled with the sound of laughter.

Though abnormal for instructors to have that kind of relationship with the guys, Major Fredricks was a general exception; he was much younger than the average instructor, and thus much closer to us in age, giving him the ability to relate with us. He also so happened to have graduated from the Academy itself, thus giving him a level of understanding of what it was like to go through a school like this much better than the other instructors. He was stoic and relentless in his methods, but he was human.

We spent another ten minutes driving into the city looking around at girls that our bus passed by, and I had to admit that the women were beautiful. There was something about the women in this country that was unmistakable; they were strong but agile, wholesome yet beautiful. I suppose that's the reason our people look as they do.

Suddenly, all of us were thrown forward as the bus seemed to screech to a halt. You could hear Major Fredricks yell "what the hell!" at the bus driver, before going quiet. We all raced to look out the windows.

A mass of people holdings large banners and sighs were on all sides of the street, marching past the bus and towards where we had just come from. The level of noise began to sharply increase as their shouts and screams grew more and more frequent. Though they seemed to be leaving our buses alone, this still wasn't normal.

I guess in order to understand why I think and act the way I do, I owe you an explanation of the land in which I live.

We're going through a lot right now, though we're mostly shielded by the national movements at the academy. There's this great dichotomy going on right now; there are those whom belief the practices that our nation has followed since the last great war need to remain in place for us to continue on a successful, prosperous path. We had to do a lot of things to keep ourselves stable back then. That's one of the reasons the academy was founded; to help bring up a successful, qualified generation of leaders.

The Second Great War was extremely hard on our country, but we came out on top. Unfortunately, the cost was infinitely high. Entire cities destroyed, millions of young men dead, and exponentially more civilians uprooted. Farms were salted, bridges destroyed, factories bombed.

After the war, it took a long time to fix things. Those years saw the rise of a lot of decisions that still stand today. The Youth and the Lions Guard were formed, the academy created, and more. The extreme importance of purity and responsibility to procreate was instilled in both men and women, and a lot of freedoms were erased, at least for a while. But it was all in exchange for the prosperity and success we've achieved today, right?

At least, that's what the reasons were on the surface.

There were things that were done that were unspeakable. Things that were morally reprehensible and wrong, downright evil, on every level. The culture that was built around the military and the royal family at that time was more like a cult of personality than anything else. People were fanatical, and many still are today.

I remember my Grandfather telling me, when I was younger, that "we did what we had to do to survive, and there are those today whom seek to take us back...". He was, of course, probably talking about my father, but I digress. However, this is the same front that seeks to uphold the laws that stand in the way of social progress today; blocking everything from same-sex marriage and other social programs, they are perceived as generally holding us back.

Its hard for me to express what they stand for, and I'm not sure why.

You know that stereotypical image of an "American" you grew up with? A cowboy on a horse with a pistol whose only limit was, I don't know, a fence to stop his horse? You knew it wasn't true, you knew people didn't ride around on horses with America, but that's what it felt like.

Here, our stereotype was usually true, though we didn't consider it a stereotype, more like a roll model. Always a guy, they were about six foot two, built, and a soldier. They were strong, stoic, and willing to sacrifice. Most of all, they were a great leader whom, under pressure, knew exactly what to do.

That was what we were taught to be like from an early age. Strong, stoic, brave and fearless.

The other side sought to break those teachings to pieces; that every individual should be able to choose what they want without any pressure at all. There are those who would do literally anything for change. Those marching past our buses right now.

They believe that what was done, and the results of that... unacceptable. The prosperity, the success, and the wealth, are all stained with blood. They seek to turn back the clocks and 'make right' the perceived wrongs at whatever cost. Furthermore, they seek to change our entire society: to dismantle what they perceive as obsessive violence in The Youth and the Academies, and open the floodgates. They also seek to dethrone the Emperor and replace the crown with a democratic system of government.

But they also support social changes that are more reasonable; people should be left to live their lives in their own manner, same-sex marriage should be legal, and more.

I've tried my best to stay out of it, but you could consider me in the middle. I'm proud of my heritage, of my country, and of the progress we've made, but there is room for improvement, just not at the price the reactionaries want it at. You have to give people time to change their minds, and you have to pull at their hearts to help them along.

You can't expect them to wake up one morning and suddenly support something they've been told for their entire lives was a sign of mental illness or a degenerate tendency.

At least, that's how I justified it.

I watched the group of protesters closely; some were carrying signs decrying the death of a recent protester at the hands of the military. Others held signs calling for the Emperor to be ousted. A lot of people on that side thought that he was sitting idly by as the country started to burn at the roots.

The bus lurched forward a few moments later, and within a few minutes we were out of the crowd. We passed a large group of police atop horses; between the two large mobs were a small group of people dressed in army uniforms, seemingly trying to talk to the protesters. They seemed calm.

At least someone was trying to keep things from igniting.

"Well boys" the Major yelled "Now you've seen your first protest."

There was a general chatter of laughter from the group, though a few guys didn't seem amused.

"Somethings gotta give sooner or later" Siegfried muttered, looking at me.

I sighed, nodding. I looked down the aisle of the bus and watched as the Major seemed to be discussing something with someone on the other end of his phone; he seemed reserved and tense, unlike usual. Shortly after the rest of the guys on the bust returned to rating women by their bust size, he spoke up.

"Gentlemen, we won't be having the munitions exam today" he declared as he stood up, holding the seat to keep him steady as the bus bounced with the road. "The offices and soldiers we were supposed to work with have been sent off to try and quell the protests occurring throughout the capitol, so we will have to postpone the exam."

There was quiet for awhile, before someone spoke up.

"Major, does this mean we're going back to the academy?"

"No cadet, we'll just be going to glider training earlier. You'll be paired up with some of the gentlemen in the earlier group."

Nobody seemed to complain; flying in a glider was a hell of an experience, after all. From what I was told by people who did it last year, it was a lot of fun too.

I had never had the opportunity to fly at all, not to mention in a glider. I spent my childhood looking up at planes and birds, always jealous of their freedom. I was stuck on the ground, often wandering the fields with a scythe or on a tractor.

The rest of the trip out of the city was peaceful; our bus convoy seemed to speed across the huge highways, underpasses and overpasses, until we were out of the city and heading towards the hills. I spent the two-hour long ride chatting with Siegfried, though nothing of real consequence was discussed. I think the most exciting thing was when it dawned on us all that we hadn't eaten breakfast. That realization spread through the whole bus, who promptly almost overthrew the driver.

It took the Major promising that we'd eat a big lunch during glider practice to get us to calm down, a big cracking smile on his face as he shouted across at us, getting shouts in return.

I think we arrived in the hills of the Hinterland at about nine in the morning; the sun was still steadily rising through the sky, and as I hopped off the bottom stair of the bus, the overwhelming smell of pine trees and other life filled my lungs. Being back in the relative wilderness, when compared with the city around the academy, was a welcome return. I'd spent my whole life in the countryside, enjoying the fresh air. There wasn't a factory for hundreds of miles out there in the Golderfeld.

"Damn... it really does smell different out here" Siegfried remarked, standing next to me.

"Yeah... reminds me of home."

I scanned across the horizon; our bus was parked atop one of the many high hills out here in the Hinterland; they spread for what seemed like forever, from horizon to horizon. The only thing that seemed to break the green of the grass was the deeper-green of the trees that stood atop some of the hills and in the valleys below.

There were a few shadows flying around atop other hills, and it took me a bit to realize that they were other gliders. I could just barely make out the figure of one of them; the wooden framed glider soaring through the sky on a hill a few miles away.

Siegfried and I walked across the field among the group of other guys, and we all collected by one of the instructors who was actively waving in a glider; the thin, wooden framed plane had been circling overhead when we pulled up, and was now coming down for a landing. Riding on it was someone in an officers uniform, though as the glider landed on the ground and slid across the grass on its undercarriage sled, I found myself unable to recognize who the pilot was.

There were like.. a thousand of us at the academy, after all.

I watched as the glider slid to a halt and the pilot unbuckled himself, pulling the leather pilots cap off and shaking his hair around as a group of guys started to slide the glider to the other side of the hill and reposition it for take off.

"Watch what they do carefully, because you're going to have to do what they're doing as well!" the Major bellowed, ushering us forward to watch the group of guys attaching hooked-ropes to the glider. Most of us watched carefully, examining the way in which the ropes were attached.

I watched carefully as the next two pilots hopped on the glider, securing themselves in before a group of guys got in position in front of the glider. They split into two lines, grabbing hold of the ropes and starting to pull.

It took a few feet, but the glider started to move forward. As the group picked up their pace, the glider started to bump up and down across the hill, catching short spurts of air here and there before bouncing back down. As the group of guys pulling the glider reached the edge of the hill, they stopped, dropping the ropes to the ground.

The glider rushed past them a few moments later, blowing them around.

It launched off the side of the hill, and moments later I watched as the hooks detached from the sides of the wooden frame and dropped to the ground. The glider bobbed up and down as it flew through the air for a moment, before stabilizing and soaring off into the sky. Both the group of guys dragging the glider and our group roared in excitement, a few guys throwing their fists in the air in excitement.

I was among them.

These sort of field-trips were normal for those of us whom had been in The Youth, especially when we were younger. The Youth did a lot for me; for those of us whom lived our lives in the wheat fields of Golderfeld, they took us to places we could never imagine going. We visited factories and mines, the capitol and its monuments, and the Blue Mountain. But the trip I remember most was the trip to the beach during the heat of the summer.

I had never seen the ocean before then, and hadn't for years after. It struck me how powerful the ocean was, its ability to give, then reclaim, the land every day, week after week, century after century. Mother nature was truly in charge, and she often reminded us of that fact. I still remember the smell of the ocean and how those tall things that look like corn-dogs would sway among the sand dunes, despite how long it had been since I'd been to the ocean.

I really wanted to go back there some day.

My attention from the glider was interrupted as a voice close behind me hollared "Hey Friedrich!"

Before I could turn, I could feel a set of hands on the legs of my pants, and before I could react they were at my ankles. I quickly bent over, pulling them back up, and raised my fist in anger as I turned around.

Standing behind me, chuckling heartidly, was Albrecht. He quickly raised his hands in defense, trying to hold back his laughter as he tried to get me to calm down

"Hey hey hey, It was just a joke! I didn't mean anything by it!"

I smiled, lowering my arm and just staring at him as I shoved my hands in my pockets to prevent someone else from surprising me.

"Sheesh man, I was really scared there" He joked "Thought I was about to see stars"

"Well, I don't usually have people who like me mess with me like that" I remarked, smiling.

"Well there's a first time for everything, right?" He questioned. He seemed to glow in the bright sun that shone down on us, his blond hair shimmering in the breeze.

"Well" I shrugged "I guess, just know that I'm not used to friends doing stuff like that, so I can't really promise you won't get hit"

He laughed, rolling his eyes as he walked between Siegfried and I.

The smell of his cologne was carried by the breeze and seemed to float around me as we stood there, chatting as we waiting for our turn to take a trip on the glider.

"You ever come out to a place like this?" Albrecht questioned me.

"Yeah..." I returned "I lived in the Golderfeld before I came to the academy."

"Damn, really? Thats a long ways away from the capitol!"

"Yeah... sure is. Haven't been back since."

"You haven't gone back for like, V-Day or Christmas?"

"Uh...no..." I stammered. "My parents and I... don't really get along."

"Oh" he returned, seeming a bit regretful that he'd mentioned that.

"But its alright. Just means I get to spend the holidays in quiet when everyone else goes home" I tried to take a positive spin on the subject. In truth, it did sort of hurt spending the national holidays alone. I tried to call my parents last Christmas, but they didn't answer.

I guess it was for the better.

I looked around as the breeze blew across our hill, blowing my hair all over the place as I craned my neck to watch a glider fly high over our bus. I could just barely make out two people riding on the thin, wooden framed seats, before my attention was caught by conversation between the guys nearby.

"Haven't ridden one of these since last year" a familiar voice remarked. I turned, discovering that a few of Siegfried's friends had gathered around; Drew, Christoph, Hefe and Tjaden were standing with Albrecht and Siegfried, casually waiting for the glider to come back down for their turn.

"Yeah, right? Its a hell of a lot more fun than the helicopter" Chris remarked

"Shit thats right, whens your Dad taking you to the States again?" Drew questioned.

"Not sure. He's got some thing to deal with the Polish, but I think he's gonna go meet the US President later next month, so maybe then" Chris responded. In the few weeks that I'd gotten to know the guys Siegfried hung out with, I learned that Chris's father was the foreign secretary for Alte-Koniggratz; he worked with foreign ambassadors, ministers, and often enough with the leaders of foreign countries themselves.

"Damn, that's awesome, I'll have to give you a list of stuff to bring back for me that I can't get here" Drew remarked.

"Alright. Just gotta hope my Dad doesn't get tied up with fuckin Putin and his oil games..." Chris muttered.

From what I remember reading in the news, there were problems with the Russians and Polish, something about fuel pipes that the Russians were threatening to close. Maybe we were going to build some that connected to Poland to help them further themselves away from the Russias.

They always seemed to cause problems.

"Whats your Dad say about Obama?" Tjaden questioned

"He says he's a great guy; down to earth and charismatic, but also a real family man. They've got a lot of fuckin' problems going on there, so I don't know how he does it. Especially knowing his term is almost up and they've got that fuckin' nut running..."

"Fuck man, World War Threes inbound with that guy. Who do you think we'd side with in a war between the US and Russia?"

"No way we'd go with the Russians. Remember what they did to us in the war?" Siegfried remarked.

The group went silent.

Those were hard times. My grandfather used to talk about what they went through. The fighting in the streets, the mass executions, the cities burned to the ground.

We worked for decades to reverse all that damage.

The group seemed to turn to Albrecht for an answer. He just looked at them and shrugged.

"I'm not Emperor yet" he joked.

The group laughed, and I joined in. He seemed to be pretty good at turning a down situation into a happy one.

We all looked over as a Glider swooped down, bouncing across the hill before sliding to a stop. The two pilots took a moment to unbuckle their belts before hopping off and tossing their helmets onto the empty seats, which only remained empty for a few moments before I saw Christoph and Tjaden hop on.

"Group D, your turn for launch crew!" the Major yelled. That was our bus.

Our group divided, half of us picking up one rope and the rest the other. I stood with Siegfried and Albrecht, watching as the guy at the head of the rope attached the hook to the in-part of the glider. We waited a few minutes as the Major examined the glider, making sure that it was stable, before we began the launch.

The Major yelled his countdown; 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 – GO!

Both teams took hold of their ropes and began to rush down the hill. We moved slow at first, trying to get the heavy glider to actually start moving took a lot of strength, but once it got started it really got moving. The faster we ran, the more and more the glider bounced into the air. Soon enough, we were running straight towards the end of the hill, and the person closest to the edge slammed to a halt, causing the rest of us to pile over him.

I only caught a glimpse of the glider zooming past us and into the air before I was buried under a group of guys that included Siegfried. The weight above me started to grow lighter and lighter, and soon enough I was being pulled up and set onto my feet.

I stood there watching the gliders on my own for awhile, before I was spooked by a familiar voice next to me.

"So, considering what happened the other day..." the familiar voice remarked.

I looked over to find Siegfried standing there, and gave him a bit of a surprised look.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you"

"No worries" I remarked, laughing.

"So" he repeated, starting to walk away from the group. "Based on our last conversation..."

"About the politics?" I questioned, remembering what we were talking about on the bus. It was clear he was trying to get away from the group, so I followed.

"No, last night..."

I sighed, but tried my best to hide it with a stretch. I don't think he was fooled.

"What about it?" I questioned.

"You didn't really.. talk..." he remarked.

"It was your time, not mine"

I shoved my hands in my pockets, looking around as the May breeze blew between us.

"I hope you aren't mad at me."

"Why would I be?"

"Because I hid it from you."

"Its your privacy. Like I said, everyone's entitled to some privacy."

There was quiet between us for awhile. He was sincerely confusing me, but I tried to play it off by watching the gliders fly past us.

"Are... you upset that I'm with someone?"

I quickly turned my head, looking at him confused.

"Why would I be mad?" I interrogated.

"I-"

"Are you happy with..." I sputtered, looking around to ensure no one was there. When I was confident, I finished my sentence; "him?"

"Yeah. He's great. He brings out a lot in me..."

"Then yeah I'm happy for you" I smiled, jokingly punching him in the chest.

"Cause if he mistreats you, I'll beat the shit outa him"

"Trust me, I'm the strong one in the relationship and you can kick my ass, so I don't think you'll have to worry about that".

We were quiet for awhile, and I found myself turning back to watching the gliders. Watching them took me back to watching the geese fly over the farmlands in the early to mid fall, heading to their winter homes. I had always been jealous of their ability to fly.

Siegfried broke the silence.

"Have you... ever though of, you know, finding someone else?"

I sighed heavily, looking over at him for a moment. I thought for a while, before shrugging.

"I don't know"

He didn't seem to reply, though he looked at me like he was waiting for me to finish a sentence whose answer he wasn't happy with.

"I just.. don't really want to go through what I went through again" I stammered.