Healing
By Washi

Rating: T

Acacia chopped the onion without watching, her eyes on the TV. Cago City had been destroyed – apparently by a single well-placed bomb. No one knew who had planted it, but fingers were pointing everywhere – from terrorists to the return of the Jealous Gods, here to finish their work begun nearly a millennium ago. Footage of the explosion played again and again as talking heads voiced their personal beliefs.

“Look, see how centralized the blast is? The bomb must have been placed on the very dome! Outside! It was a terrorist group. Perhaps out of Sotam! Angry at our development!”

Chop chop chop Acacia went with the knife.

“It's the end of the world! A second reckoning! We haven't paid homage to the gods in decades, and they want to take their revenge on us – starting with Cago! We must change our ways before it is too late!”

Acacia pushed the onions into the hot oil in the wok.

“There are no terrorist cells determined to take on the Noramer Union. Not one! No one has the means to plan an all-out attack, let alone the ability to carry it out! Who would be foolish enough to stand up to us?”

The onion sizzled in the oil, quickly filling the room with its savory scent, and becoming translucent.

“I suspect the next target will be one of the major cities – Salla Valley, or Attle. Maybe even one of the New Cities – Zion or Tower City, perhaps!”

More chopping and more vegetables were pushed into the mix, to be stirred around by a wooden spoon.

“If it was me? I would attack Cago to send a message – Haven't you seen the blast footage? Cago is, was, not only one of the most well defended cities in the Noramer Union, but also one of the largest! Its destruction sends the message that anything is possible. Next I would be looking at taking out the bio-domes in Salla or Zion. Maybe even the dome at Liberty. Most of our food comes out of one of those three domes. You want to cripple the Union? Take out our food source.”

Acacia turned away from the TV and it shut off. Without really thinking about it she had begun what was starting to look like a very good stir-fry. With a shrug she turned her attention to look out the window, and let her mind wander away from her food again.

It had been three years since Acacia, Kellan, and the others had arrived on the doorstep of Salla Valley, having fled Cago in exile eighteen months before that. A 1300 mile trek, on foot with only the supplies they could find growing in the wasteland, would have killed anyone else, but the group were no ordinary travelers. Acacia suspected that she was not the only one grateful for their apparent immortality.

At Salla the group had been warmly welcomed. The city was beneath a great single dome, separated into “quarters” within itself (although those quarters were not equal, and there were nine of them). Half of those were the Jungle – an area where enough food was grown to fulfill the needs of the three million inhabitants of Salla, with plenty to spare to feed two extra equally sized cities. And, with a slightly larger dome to the south, used only for food production … Salla Valley was one of the few great producers of healthy fruit and vegetables. The people who lived within Salla Valley were united by a common goal – to help everyone live as they chose. The only requirement was that those who lived there were productive in some way (and even those who were not productive were allowed to stay). So it only came as a slight shock when the group was not turned away immediately, and not a shock at all when each of them was given an apartment and plenty of time to adjust to their new life.

But Cago had been their home long before the war, their imprisonment, and their eventual exile. Seeing it destroyed – despite all the bad that had happened there – broke Acacia's heart in a way she couldn't explain. Salla Valley was a pleasant place, a veritable utopia, but it wasn't home. Acacia was homeless now – her Village gone with the years of sun and wind and sand, and now her City gone in an instant of heat and fire.

The TV flickered on again of its own accord as Acacia wiped a tear from her eye. This startled her, but she knew that it only foretold of Kellan coming into the room.

“-alla is definitely a prime target. They should be ramping up he defenses now, and if possible – evacuating.”

“They won't be able to stop it. No matter how many troops are brought in. It'll only lead to more wasted life.”

Acacia turned to find her husband almost immediately behind her.

“Dinner is ready,” she said with a smile. “Welcome home!”

Kellan stopped her from turning away and going to the table (which she'd set in a daze). In one hand she had a bowl of rice, in the other she had the vegetable stir-fry she'd made.

“Case,” he said gently, taking the bowls from her hands and putting them on the counter. “Look at me.”

Acacia lifted her head up to look at him, but her eyes were looking down and away.

“Case,” Kellan said a little more forcefully. She forced her too-light eyes to meet his dark ones. He sighed and ran a finger over her lips – the corners turned up in a perpetual madcap smile. “How long will it be before you smile again?”

Acacia's eyes reflected confusion, “But … I always smile. I … It's how I am!”

Kellan let his hands drop with a sigh, “Yes, but when will you actually smile? How long before you don't hide your emotions behind the grin? How long will it be until you've healed?”

Acacia's eyes flooded with tears.

“I … I want to cry. I want to frown and cry and break something. Cago is gone, Kel! It's gone! And it was probably our fault! We've been gone almost five years and we still destroyed the entire city! All those lives – it was our fault! And I can't express how broken it makes me feel!”

Kellan just pulled his wife close to him, held her close, and made soothing noises as he pet her white hair gently. His question hung in the air, unanswered.

How long will it be until you've healed?