Reenactment

A/N: Happy Birthday, TheDoctor! We hope you had a wonderful day, and that you’ll enjoy this belated present.

As ever, we do not own Twilight - it owns us.

ooOoo

Crickets

Lying flat on my back in the cool grass, I stare at the worn canvas of my tent and listen to the song of the crickets in the field. A knot of nervous anticipation twists in my gut, and I let out a long whoosh of air, wondering what tomorrow will bring.

I know my rifle is clean and ready, propped against my boots, but I mentally go through my list again, making sure I’m as prepared as possible.

I try to stay still so I won’t disturb the soldier sharing my tent, and I jump when he suddenly speaks.


Nerves

“You awake?” His whisper sounds like a shotgun blast on my frayed nerves.

“Yeah,” I manage, swallowing hard.

Jasper shifts, tucking both his hands behind his head. “What do you think it’s going to be like?”

“I don’t know,” I say honestly. The long pause, filled only by a gust of wind and the relentless chirruping of the crickets, is broken when I admit, “It’s my first time.”

“Mine, too,” he answers.

He’s quiet for so long that I think he’s fallen asleep, but then he says, “I hope I don’t die.”

Fear dries my mouth. “Me, too,” I whisper.


Heavy

The air in the tent is stifling, and I long to feel the breeze that rustles the thin canvas. I can’t just jump up and bust out of the tent like a madman, though, so I close my eyes and focus so closely on my breathing that I nearly miss what Jasper says next.

“What made you decide to do this?”

His question catches me off guard, and I blink. “Oh, ahh… well, I sort of had to, I guess. I couldn’t let my cousin go alone.”

“Where’s he?”

“The river. We got split up right after we got here.”


Share

“What about you?” I ask curiously.

“I don’t know, really. I just always felt…” He sighs, a frustrated sound. “Curious, I guess. I always wondered what it would be like, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess.” I barely keep the disbelief from my voice, but he gives a low chuckle anyway.

An uneasy silence descends, broken from time to time by questions and short answers. We seem suspended between wanting to talk and not wanting to disturb the hush of the night.

By the time we drift off, I’m more relaxed and strangely feel like I’ve known Jasper all my life.



Wake

The bugle calls jolts me from a surprisingly deep sleep, leaving me sitting upright and dizzy. By the time I get my bearings, Jasper’s wide awake and smiling beside me.

“Ready for this?” he asks. I groan, and he laughs, patting me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, man. Just stay close. We’ll be fine.”

Shaking my head in amusement, I say thickly, “Time’s it?”

“Time to get out of bed before those damn Yankees show up.” He grins broadly and ducks out of the tent.

Maybe this reenactment stuff isn’t so bad after all.

Chuckling, I go to follow him.