Sapphire Eyes

Chapter 3: Desert Mirage

By: Liewe

Standard disclaimers apply, Yanisha is the only personality I claim to own, and even then she is based on my late Great Aunt.

They had traveled for countless hours to the nearest town from Quatre’s desert retreat. The borrowed jeep hidden in the cool shadows of the tall sand colored buildings with their flat roves that surrounded the market place. In the back seat lay discarded layers of clothing, leaving Noin in clothing, which barely passed as decent in the desert surroundings.

Yanisha carried on, in the traditional robes, her body covered by swaths of cotton, every hair in place not a bead of sweat visible on her brow. When asked about her obvious tolerance of the heat by a perplexed Noin she had simply answered that it was genetic.

The purpose of this trip had almost been forgotten, she barely remembered it herself. It was to buy suitable clothing for the desert atmosphere, Noin gently reminded her forgetful mind, as she dutifully watched Yanisha. They were marching through the marketplace, stopping long enough to bargain with the vender’s, and acquiring the necessary items. Noin carried the purchases in her capable arms, as she watched with amusement. She had never taken to shopping, not like her younger sister, she had always only bought what she needed, nothing more nothing less.

She turned, dropping the packages as she heard Yanisha gasp, instincts kicking in as her hands went for the pistol hidden in the waistband of her borrowed trousers. Her eyes already on the lookout for trouble. She relaxed her stance as she saw the cause for the disturbance, and the reason for Yanisha’s cry of outrage.

Noin watched as Yanisha moved with purposeful strides to the child standing in the shadow of the building, the puppy whining in his grasp. She hid the smirk as the child glanced up at the towering woman, her anger flaring around her, making itself known. The smirk broke free when she saw the guilty terror spread across the child’s face as Yanisha pulled the puppy from his painfully strong grip. Her long artistic fingers soothed the whimpering animal.

“Child, would you like for someone to handle you like you are handling this animal?” Yanisha asked, her voice sickly sweet as she held the child’s gaze.

“No, ma’am,” the child mumbled, shuffling his feet, kicking up clouds of dust.

“Do you think this animal likes how you were handling it?” Yanisha asked again, a quick glance tossed towards Noin’s smiling form.

“No ma’am,” the child mumbled again, his shoulder hunching as he attempted to hide.

“Then why were you treating the puppy like that,” Yanisha asked changing the tone of her voice, drawing the child in, pulling at his confidence.

“Because he bit me,” the child sniffed holding out his arm, were three tiny punctures welled small drops of crimson liquid.

“That’s still no way to treat a living breathing animal, even if he bit you,” Yanisha whispered, her long fingers smoothing the puppy’s raised hackles.

“It’s what happens at home,” the child whispered.

“It still doesn’t make it right. And did you do anything to the puppy to provoke such an action?” Yanisha asked quietly.

“I kicked him, but it was a mistake. Honest. I didn’t mean to kick him, but I stumbled and he was in my way,” the child sniffed, tears welling in his golden eyes.

“Hush child, hush,” Yanisha crooned softly, her aqua eyes soft once more.

“I’m sorry, I really am.”

“I know, I know, now come with me, we need to get those bites cleaned, we don’t want you to get an infection,” Yanisha said with a soft chuckle as she motioned for the child to follow her back towards the jeep and Noin’s still form.

Noin watched and smiled. Yanisha had a way with people, even when scolding a vengeful child she could still earn his trust. Earn his respect and fear. She didn’t envy the older woman, Yanisha’s personality didn’t allow for envy. She was so giving, never taking anything from others but always giving.

“Noin, could you please hand me the first aid kit?” Yanisha asked softly, a gentle hand resting on the boy’s bony shoulder.

“Of course Yanisha,” Noin replied, hiding a smile as she rummaged through the contents of the jeep’s backseat, long fingers skimming over excess articles of attire, discarded due to the heat of the day.

“Thank you,” the child mumbled his head bowed as Yanisha tended to the angry puncture marks on the boys hand.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Thank you,” the child replied softly, staring adoringly into the darker eyes of her elder sister. Her pale hand entwined with the sun-bronzed hand of the older girl.

“Your welcome…” the older girl replied, her long raven hair gently brushing her shoulders. “Be careful next time, I won’t always be here to protect you.”

“Why?” the younger girl asked, tears of frustration beginning to form in her eyes.

“I can’t live here anymore, I’m needed somewhere else. Someone else needs me, but I promise I’ll be back for you, one day.” The older girl said softly, brushing a tear from the younger girls porcelain cheek.

“Lucrezia…Lucrezia…Lucrezia…”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Lucrezia?”

“Oh yes,” Noin said shaking her head, the memory flying from her grasp before the identity of her sister solidified.

“You weren’t here,” Yanisha said softly, her eyes gazing intently into Noin’s almost of if they were searching her soul for the answers to her pain.

“A memory, that’s all,” Noin replied softly, her mind trying to pull the memory back to the forefront, trying to discover her past. A past she had forsaken for Zechs, a past she desperately wanted to regain.

“You’re thinking about him again,” Yanisha, said softly, her voice soft and reassuring.

“No, not really. I was remembering the past, but the memory it was so fleeting, I can barely remember what it was about.” Noin replied, her fingers turning the ring, which adorned her right hand, a ring which had resided on the ring finger of her left hand.

“You were thinking about him, and you’re angry,” Yanisha persisted, as she used a damp checkered cloth to wipe the sweat and dust from her palms.

“I’m angry at myself, I gave up my past, who I was, all for his ungrateful hide.” Noin said kicking up a cloud of dust as she pulled herself into the drivers seat.

“Then you need to fix it,” Yanisha replied softly, the door closing with loud thump.

“How can I fix it, when my origin has been lost to me since I joined the academy. I was involved in an accident that year,” Noin explained, the engine of the Jeep purring to life as she turned the key, her voice holding it’s own against the whirring of the engine.

“What kind of accident?”

“I’d rather not relive that point in my life, it was very dark and I was very alone after the accident. Then Zechs came along, he was this light in the darkness, he helped shape my personality, he gave me a new identity. The only thing I have is my name,” Noin said with a sigh, as she turned to glance at Yanisha.

“Iria is a geneticist,” Yanisha offered, her kind face crinkling in kind of understanding.

“How does that help me, not everyone is coded yet,” Noin said, as the Jeep lurched forward, dirt devils rising in their wake as she gently eased out of the crowded market place.

~*~*~*~*~*~

- To Be Continued…