#mikasack

The words echo in Christa’s head as she wakes that morning, and they stay there as she gets dressed for school. They’d been swimming around a lot recently, though she couldn’t see why.

Her dreams had been getting progressively darker as well. She knew none of it was real, she wasn’t a soldier fighting horrifying giants to protect humanity, but that didn’t change how they affected her and left her breathless when waking.

Almost as if they were memories.

She shook the thought from her head as she ran a brush through her hair. It was her first day at this new school, and she’d hate for it to be ruined by some crazy dreams. It was probably all just stress and nerves anyway, once she got through today the dreams would stop and everything would be back to normal for Christa.

These thoughts put a smile on her face as she grabbed her back, kissed her mother’s cheek, and left the house, walking towards the bus stop. That was another new thing she’d had to learn upon moving her, the bus route to school. It had taken her a few tries, but she was sure she had it down now.

Christa arrived at the bus stop five minutes early, as she had intended. Her mother told her buses were always late, but she still preferred to be early, it saved her any mishaps. She sat down on one of the seats available and pulled out a book, reading to herself as she waited.

A couple of minutes later, laughter filtered down from above her, a laughter that sounded familiar enough to have her look up from her book in interest.

A dark-haired girl stood above her, waving to a pair of boys walking across the street, probably headed to the all-boys school nearby. Freckles dotted the skin beneath her eyes, and though Christa didn’t understand why, she knew exactly how many there were. A warm feeling coursed through her, causing a flush to colour her cheeks before she looked down at her book sharply.

It was then that Ymir looked down, noticing the new girl for the first time, “Well, hello there sweetheart. I haven’t seen you around here before, I’d remember a face as beautiful as yours anyday. The name’s Ymir.” One hand extended towards Christa as a smirk pulled at Ymir’s lips.

The compliments only had Christa’s cheeks flushing deeper, though she had the strange sense that she’d heard them before. Slowly, she looked up, taking Ymir’s hand and shaking it, hoping the taller girl didn’t notice how nervous she was all of a sudden. “I’m Christa, nice to meet you. And, you’re right, I just moved here. My father got transferred here on business.”

The simple exchange of words left Christa feeling almost breathless, or maybe that was the lingering touch of Ymir’s fingers against her skin, the fire that followed once they were gone.

Why does she affect me like this…? Who is she to me…?

“I’d ask a last name, but I intend to marry you, baby, and make your last name mine. So, I guess I’ll just be calling you Christa from now on.” As if it were second nature to her, Ymir sat beside Christa, an arm idly falling around the blonde’s shoulders. “Don’t look so scared now, I’m not gonna let anyone touch my new girl.”

Blue eyes were filled with confusion at that. Not five minutes into meeting her and Ymir had already claimed her, but as what? Were they friends, were they dating? Did Ymir actually intend to marry her? Surely not.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the bus, and Ymir’s subsequent tugging at her arm, pulling her on, “C’mon, babe, you’re gonna make sure I’m actually on time. Hell, I’ll be on time every day if it means catching the bus with you.”

Ymir sat down, pulling Christa down next to her with a laugh and throwing an arm around her again. “You’re gonna be my saving grace at school, aren’t you? Making sure I go just to see your pretty face.”

The words strike a chord in Christa, where had she heard them before? The voice filtered back to her from her dreams and she realised why Ymir’s laugh had sounded so familiar. The two were one and the same.

Images flashed before her eyes, wide grins and hollow smiles, bloody faces and tear-streaked cheeks. But it all went back to Ymir in the end, Ymir laying in her arms, bleeding, and not healing as she should have been. A soft, weak voice was uttering that phrase, followed by simply a reverent whisper of her name.

But the voice that called her name now wasn’t weak, it was quite loud indeed, “Helllooo, space cadet, anyone in there? I don’t wanna lose you to a seizure or something, Christa. Wakey-wakey, cutie.”

Blue eyes slowly blinked back into reality, a smile on her face, “Sorry, I got lost in a dream…” A memory, her mind provided, “Don’t worry, you won’t be losing me anytime soon. After all, you still have to marry me, right?”

Ymir’s worried expression quickly switched to a wide grin, and she leant over to kiss Christa’s cheek, “Right you are babe, right you are. I better hurry, you’re too cute for your own good.”

Christa understood the warm feeling in her stomach now, it was an echo of the love she’d held for Ymir, in some other life. The love she was certain she’d soon be feeling in full again.