#ledari

Outside the inn Hodari pulls Leta against the wall and kisses her, deeply, holding her face with both his hands, and she melts against him, her hands on his chest. Then she pulls away, laughing, and grabs his hand, and he lets her pull him down the road.

The moons are high and bright. The noise of the wedding party fades behind them until the only sound on the deserted street is their footsteps, their breathing, Leta’s giggling. When they reach his parents’ house Hodari stops her again to kiss her in the doorway, pressing her against the frame, and she presses herself right back up against him, her fingers already undoing a couple of his shirt buttons.

She knows she should have told him. Afterwards, that’s the thing she feels bad about. Like she was being unfair. But then, if she was honest with herself, she didn’t actually think anything would happen, so what did it matter? She didn’t know it would turn into a whole thing.

And if she had told him he’d just have acted like she was being a stupid kid. He might even have stopped her.

“There’s no such thing as ghosts, Najuma,” she mutters to herself as she places the final candle. “How many times. Now eat your dinner and stop talking nonsense.”

Finally the pin is perfect.

It’s dark, but it’s no later than they usually meet. When Hodari hurries up the cliff path, there’s no one there, so he doubles back to the wagon in case Leta’s hiding in with the toolboxes - and it’s gone. He can’t see it anywhere.

Mila and Rosara are walking by, talking.

“Where’s Leta? Have you seen her? The wagon’s gone -”

Mila’s face falls. “Oh, Hodari - didn’t you know? They’ve gone home.”

Leta feels a bit of a fraud when they go together to the main office the next morning, hand in hand. She knows the main reason Hodari’s parents are so quick to find her a job. They won’t need any more explosives work done for at least a year, so it isn’t that. They just think that if Hodari has a serious, steady girlfriend he’ll want a serious, steady job; he’ll want to be able to show Leta’s parents that he can take care of her. Running off to seek your fortune is a young, single person’s dream. A married man, a family man, needs certainty.

Everyone had been up late. Much later than them. When Hodari hears voices downstairs before it’s properly light he thinks it’s most likely the last stragglers coming home, and he turns sleepily towards Leta and wraps an arm around her waist. She barely stirs. He’s drifting back to sleep when someone bangs on his bedroom door, hard, then shouts through it.

“LETA MACOL! You in there?”

“What the fuck,” Hodari mutters. 

Leta pushes up on one elbow and rubs her eyes. “S’that Uncle Del?” she says.

“What?”

More banging on the door. “LETA! You get your clothes on and you get out here right now, girl!”

Ledari

Greater Heal

Ledari, my Draenei Priest from World of Warcraft.