"They stood there pretending, not knowing they were each other."
She could still feel the smell of blood, the cold of that night and the pain of her dismembered arms hanging, the memory of the desperate screams escaping from Gilbert, begging him for the mercy of a death without her.
When she opened her eyes, Dietfried had led her to his office on the second floor, it was a huge, dark room with a fireplace and a large window overlooking the garden, the huge wine-shell-colored curtains fell like rivers of blood to the banks of the enormous desk where huge piles of documents stood, the deep blue walls were decorated with photographs of his navy and on the coffee table near the fireplace a miniature of his best ship, the pride of the navy, and on the wall next to a beautiful dark green chair stood a huge bookshelf filled with books.
Violet let go of Dietfried's hand, and walked over to sit on the seat, even he could tell she was attracted to anything the same color as her brooch, the one Gilbert had once given her in the past. Violet's fingers, insensitive to touch, walked along the velvety softness of the seat, and it even seemed for an instant that, although through the metal, her jointed fingers could somehow feel, or that's what Dietfried seemed to perceive when he saw her.
But the reality was that she felt nothing in her hands, acted as if she could, but touch was impossible. Dietfried found her pupil dodging him, like a wild deer finding the pupil of its hunter, awaiting imminent death. the captain's lips moved, creating words to which she wished she could give some kind of meaning, but she heard him so far away that even if she forced herself she heard no sound.
And no sound was perfect enough for her, she got up from her seat and walked along the bookshelf, Dietfried followed her with his eyes, he had started that game of cat and mouse that for him was a familiar enough game. The captain returned to his large desk to sit down, he crossed his legs one over the other and leaned his elbow against the wood and resting his chin against the palm of his hand he stood watching her play with his books, something inside him since Gilbert's disappearance made him unable to even try to feel hatred for her.
Violet was now Gilbert's last breath, he had to protect her in any way he could as he knew his superiors would go after the ultimate weapon she represented, and he knew the enemy would go after her as well, the naval navy's position was in a delicate position.
"When winter passes, spring comes."
They appeared in the harbor, he carried her in the midst of huge ships and at the bottom of the shipyard stood proud and campy the bouganvillea brothers' ship. Violet's eager gaze enraptured Dietfried in ways he would never have allowed himself.
The young older brother reached out his hand to Violet to help her up the stairs, the sea breeze made its move, toying with the captain's unruly hair, Violet stared at him and from her mouth escaped a few words, "it was blue too", Dietfried held Violet's hand supporting her weight as she climbed the stairs.
Dietfried guided her through the ship, they entered a small room full of toys, Violet's playful eyes went through every corner of the room, when she approached to observe a picture on the wall, something hit the ship making Violet lose her balance, Dietfried took her by the waist and inevitably they were facing each other, without spaces in between, pupil over pupil.
Violet felt the pressure of the older man's hand against her small waist, Dietfried couldn't help the warmth of Violet's hands against his chest and her eyes couldn't feel more trapped in his as in this instant. violet's cheeks were tinged with a pinkish hue, Dietfried pressed his hand against her waist and such an action only made the color of her cheeks become even more intense... "what are you up to!" were the words that came out of the captain's mouth before releasing her.
