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rainbowfic2021-06-29 09:55 pm
thisbluespirit) wrote in rainbowfic2021-06-29 09:55 pm
Candy Green #3 [Divide & Rule]
Name: Dusting Bluebells
Story: Divide & Rule/Heroes of the Revolution
Colors: Candy Green #3 (Gummy Bear)
Supplies and Styles: Graffiti (June Challenge) + Eraser + Pastels (also forgenprompt_bingo square “Reincarnation”) + Tapestry
Word Count: 536
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Notes: 1940s, Edward Iveson/Julia Graves; Reincarnation AU, from the giant list.
Summary: Julia’s past lives catch up with her.
***
Past lives stack up behind everyone, they say – near-identical little figures all lined up in a row across time. Sometimes patterns repeat: some people seem to find each other in all their lives, always packaged up in the same box each time.
Julia has never bothered to worry much about the subject until today. She’s running late, dashing down the London street, careless of the wartime crowds. She knocks into a stocky, elderly City worker, who barks at her before hastening on, leaving her kneeling and winded on the pavement amidst the bustle.
Someone else stops, though, holding out a hand to help her up. She straightens with a smile, taking in first the plain uniform as she rises and sees his face. He’s not a stranger. She’s never seen him with these eyes or touched him with these hands, but she’s known him a hundred times before and will know him a thousand after.
“Are you all right?” he asks, ushering her through the crowds towards the nearest open space – a small square.
Julia only shakes her head. She’s not all right – she’s standing outside a field hospital, staring over level countryside to where the smoke rises beyond the trees on the horizon. There’s a continuous low-rumbling thunder in her ears and hot tears on her cheeks she hasn’t got time for. He’s with her – he wasn’t supposed to be there –
“Hey,” he says, as she grips the khaki fabric, overwhelmed and semi-fainting against him. She knows him, but not his name. That changes each time – she hears echoes in her head of all the names they’ve called each other. “Look, can I fetch someone for you?”
Julia drags herself back into the present, but she can’t let go. “No,” she gasps, and tries to find something that won’t scare him away, but she mustn’t lose him, not before she knows how to find him again. “Some tea, please – water. I shall be fine, I promise.”
“I can manage that,” he says. He hasn’t recognised her yet. Is it like this every time?
She can’t remember that, only vivid, broken jigsaw pieces of their history across the centuries. (She’s dressed in heavy Victorian fashion and they’re on a train – She’s standing on a pew in an empty church wearing in its bright medieval colours and he’s sitting beside her, scolding – She is alone in a wood-and-plaster village full of people who hate her, and then he arrives.) It’s happened before, and before, and before.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t get you a doctor?” he asks.
She tentatively rests her hand on his arm. He glances down at her curiously, but doesn’t pull away.
“No,” she says. “Tea will do, if you don’t mind.”
That’s all she needs. Tea – and him. Her heat beats faster. How will she explain if he doesn’t remember? Will he turn away from her if she tries? There are plenty of people who dismiss this sort of thing as fantasy, despite the numerous accounts people have collected.
He looks at her again and he’s frowning. “We haven’t met before, have we?”
“Once or twice,” says Julia, her heart lifting. A tremulous smile grows across her face. “You do remember, don’t you?”
***
Story: Divide & Rule/Heroes of the Revolution
Colors: Candy Green #3 (Gummy Bear)
Supplies and Styles: Graffiti (June Challenge) + Eraser + Pastels (also for
genprompt_bingo square “Reincarnation”) + TapestryWord Count: 536
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Notes: 1940s, Edward Iveson/Julia Graves; Reincarnation AU, from the giant list.
Summary: Julia’s past lives catch up with her.
***
Past lives stack up behind everyone, they say – near-identical little figures all lined up in a row across time. Sometimes patterns repeat: some people seem to find each other in all their lives, always packaged up in the same box each time.
Julia has never bothered to worry much about the subject until today. She’s running late, dashing down the London street, careless of the wartime crowds. She knocks into a stocky, elderly City worker, who barks at her before hastening on, leaving her kneeling and winded on the pavement amidst the bustle.
Someone else stops, though, holding out a hand to help her up. She straightens with a smile, taking in first the plain uniform as she rises and sees his face. He’s not a stranger. She’s never seen him with these eyes or touched him with these hands, but she’s known him a hundred times before and will know him a thousand after.
“Are you all right?” he asks, ushering her through the crowds towards the nearest open space – a small square.
Julia only shakes her head. She’s not all right – she’s standing outside a field hospital, staring over level countryside to where the smoke rises beyond the trees on the horizon. There’s a continuous low-rumbling thunder in her ears and hot tears on her cheeks she hasn’t got time for. He’s with her – he wasn’t supposed to be there –
“Hey,” he says, as she grips the khaki fabric, overwhelmed and semi-fainting against him. She knows him, but not his name. That changes each time – she hears echoes in her head of all the names they’ve called each other. “Look, can I fetch someone for you?”
Julia drags herself back into the present, but she can’t let go. “No,” she gasps, and tries to find something that won’t scare him away, but she mustn’t lose him, not before she knows how to find him again. “Some tea, please – water. I shall be fine, I promise.”
“I can manage that,” he says. He hasn’t recognised her yet. Is it like this every time?
She can’t remember that, only vivid, broken jigsaw pieces of their history across the centuries. (She’s dressed in heavy Victorian fashion and they’re on a train – She’s standing on a pew in an empty church wearing in its bright medieval colours and he’s sitting beside her, scolding – She is alone in a wood-and-plaster village full of people who hate her, and then he arrives.) It’s happened before, and before, and before.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t get you a doctor?” he asks.
She tentatively rests her hand on his arm. He glances down at her curiously, but doesn’t pull away.
“No,” she says. “Tea will do, if you don’t mind.”
That’s all she needs. Tea – and him. Her heat beats faster. How will she explain if he doesn’t remember? Will he turn away from her if she tries? There are plenty of people who dismiss this sort of thing as fantasy, despite the numerous accounts people have collected.
He looks at her again and he’s frowning. “We haven’t met before, have we?”
“Once or twice,” says Julia, her heart lifting. A tremulous smile grows across her face. “You do remember, don’t you?”
***
no subject
I love this line so much. I also love how hopeful she is. Any chance of more of this?
no subject