Another Chance to Move On

      “What’s wrong?”

           They remained silent, the only sound coming from them was their muffled breath under the helmet. Grabbing their hand and giving it a light squeeze, that managed to get their attention. They looked up at her, with that strange bronze lioness helmet.

           “What’s wrong?” she repeated.

           The armor-clad person shrugged, the clunking of bronze ringing in her ears. Squeezing their hand again, she ran her thumb over her lovers gloved knuckles.

           “Come on, you know I’m here for you.”

           Joe looked at her lover, or her armor at least. Letting go of their hand, Joe placed her hand onto her loves back. Gently rubbing up and down, as she knew they liked… regardless of if they can feel it through the armor or not.

           The world around them moved forwards. People coming and going, with baskets of fruits and vegetables or rubble from the fallen buildings. And, regardless of their epic adventure, that giant static-y tear in the sky was still there. Then it hit her.

           Joe put her hand atop her loves helmet. “Oh… Stacey you know there’s nothing you could have done.”

           Stacey looked at their army boots. The only outlier to their whole ‘sole protector’ aesthetic. They gave a grunt and folded their arms.

           “You did good- no, you did fantastic! You’re selling yourself short, love.”

           Another grunt.

           “Just because you didn’t close the rift connecting the universes doesn’t mean you didn’t help save this universe! Without us, without you that bastard would still be-” Joe stopped herself. Another chance to move on. She told herself.

           Moving her hand back onto Stacey’s back Joe lead her love through the commune. Past the people harvesting vegetables or harvesting brick. Past the gates guarding their home. And into the woods that they knew by heart. When Stacey planted their feet into the ground Joe stopped and turned around, trying not to look annoyed. “Come on, let’s go hunt something! It’s our turn anyway.”

           Stacey kicked some dirt, looked back at the commune, then to Joe. Raising their gloved hands, they took off their lioness head-shaped helmet, and held it in their hands. Joe loved looking at Stacey, at their short blond hair and scarred face. Some found it hard looking at Stacey in the eye, but Joe never had that problem. Each scar was a battle, and each battle meant one fight closer to peace. It is coming, I can feel it.

           Stacey grabbed Joe’s hand and started signing words into her palm. You were great.

           “I know I was!” Joe boasted, “But so were you!”

           They let out a noise that sounded like a chuckle. She died. They paused. She shouldn’t have died, Joline.

           Joe saw a tear form in their loves eye, and carefully wiped it away. “Shh, I know. I know. Don’t worry, she didn’t die for nothing. Look where we are!”

           Stacey looked around. The woods?

           “Alright wise-ass.”

           Only with you.

           “Stacey-” she sighed, “We both know that things won’t go back to normal after all of this. The world we knew is gone and while it doesn’t feel like it, the end of the world came at a good time.”

           Both of them were silent, the woods around them giving off little sounds of rustling leaves or the stray sound of a rabbit running by. Until Stacey signed, Do you wish the end came later? So you could get your surgery?

           Joe couldn’t just say don’t worry about that because more often than not she did worry about that. Sometimes she wondered if she could go back in time before it all ended, would she get gender reassignment surgery. In the beginning she didn’t have time to think about that, but now? With peace on the horizon? She can’t be so sure. All she could be sure of was that Stacey would never judge her, whatever she said in the next few moments.

           “I never felt like a Jerome,” she began, “and for so long I couldn’t do anything about it. And just when I figure out who I was the world ended. You’re right, sometimes I wish I could go back, just for a little while but… I wouldn’t have met you otherwise.”

           I’m sorry.

           “Don’t be. We have another chance to move forward.”

           Stacey stared at her and signed, It’s ‘Another Chance to Move On’ Joe.

           “Whatever, that SOB is dead, things are normal-ish, and you’re still alive. We have a bright future ahead; I know we do!”

           Her love let out a grunt, flashed a grin showing off some of their chipped and charred teeth, then put their helmet back on. I do too. I love you.

           Now I know why she put the helmet back on. “I love you too.”

           Joe was expecting another nice silent moment, but Stacey was already walking off further into the woods towards their little cabin. Or, a cabin they stole from a guy who tried to kill them. It was nice having their own little bungalow away from everyone else. They’re nice and everyone is basically family, but-

           “Sometimes I really wished you spoke,” Joe sighed as she bumped into her lover.

           The person in armor shrugged and gestured to the little old log cabin in front of them. Moss and vines growing up on the sides of the building. The trees around it went up to hundreds of feet in the air. There was little light getting through all the leaves from above, but it was oddly nice.

           Joe opened the door and looked around. Dust was already beginning to resettle on the furniture. Arrows were logged into the walls and old bullet holes gave brief flashbacks of gun safety and her transition to using more practical weapons. Stacey stepped in the building and stood next to her and looked around as well.

Joe took one last sweep of the building and sighed, “We’re not hunting today, are we?”

Her love took her hand and sighed, They’ll survive for a few days.