Change

I awoke to the smell of something delicious. I leaned forward sitting up slowly on the couch. My mouth watered as I thought about how a home-cooked meal would taste after so long. I yawned and rubbed my eyes to see Ashe in the kitchen. She walked up smiling, she was wearing an apron and was carrying two plates with omelets on them.  

    "Drooling?" she said with a chuckle. "Do I really look that good in my apron?"

    She had a slight blush on her face but was still smiling. I turned my head to wiped the drool and the slight look of embarrassment off my face.

    "Anyone would be drooling over food that smells this good," I said as I took the plate from her.

    "I guess that's a compliment..," she said as she sighed and sat down next to me.

    Delicious tastes filled my mouth as I ate the omelette. I smiled and looked to see Ashe doing the same. The flavors and the happy atmosphere brought back memories of my family I had once locked away.

    My family sat at the table all enjoying a freshly cooked ham around the time of the holidays. My brother, mother, and I all smiled, Irradiating happiness into the room. However, my father stared urgently at the television. The president passed a new law that day, that would ruin our country for good. He converted the entire militia into Artificial intelligence without a vote from the outer cities. This caused the rise of the AAI(Anti Artificial Intelligence). They attacked the assembly that was passing the law and killed the president in cold blood. My mother covered my eyes so I don't know what happened next; however, I heard plenty of screaming and gunfire.

    I forced the memories away, faked a smile, and finished off the rest of the food Ashe had made for me. After she finished her food, we got up and left to start the day. We trotted down the stairs and approached the manager.

"Hope you got a good night's rest," he said with a smirk on his face. "I've got your uniform in the employee area for you to try on. You'll mostly just be following around and helping her for today. Think of it as training."

I followed him into the back room and he handed me an outfit wrapped inside of a bag. As I pulled it out of the packaging I felt its smooth wool texture. It was black with small grey stripes and came with a white button-up shirt. I changed into the outfit and looked into the mirror. My messy grown out hair and dirty skin offset the style of the outfit. I walked out with a disappointed look on my face.

"I'm sorry hahaha. It's just you can tell you need to clean up some before wearing something like that. You couldn't really tell what you normally wear."Ashe said, as she giggled and looked me up and down. "You should go clean up a little before we start. Okay?"

She pointed me to the staff room and I walked in to see a huge bath area. It was tiled top to bottom. I gently took the suit off and sat it on one of the benches. I grabbed a towel, walked under one of the showers, and turn it on. The warm water poured over me and I started to relax. I washed and dried myself and put the suit back on. I pushed my wet hair to the side to keep it out of my eyes. I walked out again, this time with confidence.

"OHH… Much better!" Ashe said as she smiled. "Alright, we had better hurry!"

She pulled me along and we headed up to the first floor of rooms. She knocked on the first door but we got no response. We slid a keycard into the lock and opened the door. We walked in to see the room destroyed. Spilled drinks, trash, and even the bedding were scattered on the floor. I cringed at the sight and began scooping the trash into a garbage bag. Ashe gathered the sheets and cleaned up the carpet. After about 20 minutes we had finally cleaned up the room.

    We went through many similar rooms, some worse and some better. We had finally finished up the last room, and I fell to the floor from exhaustion. That much activity after lying in the hospital for a week had drained my stamina. Again, Ashe seemed fine after doing most of the work for half a day straight.

    "She's got even more stamina than I normally do."

    After I caught my breath we walked back to the main area and sat at one of the dining tables. The cushioned leather felt like heaven. We ordered drinks and a snack and she began to make small talk.

    "You should really get a haircut," Ashe said after taking a drink. "I could cut it for you if you wanted"

    "That'd be great. I haven't had it cut in over a year." I replied. "Man, Can you do everything?"

    Ashe began acting a little bit nervous but her mood quickly changed back to normal when we changed topics. We talked for a while until Ashe decided to show me around town. She grabbed my hand again; but instead of pulling me with her, she walked next to me. She was a little too close for comfort, but I could tell it made her happy, so I didn't resist.

We walked down the main streets and she showed me all sorts of places. The markets were bustling with people. The stalls were covered head to toe with their products. Things like food, jewelry, and weaponry. Everything was out in the open. There were hardly any stores like there used to be.

The inner cities won the war, and with it they passed a law forbidding any technology other than basic needs to be used outside of the inner cities. With technology and energy being mandated and taken over by the government, they had no choice and devolved their businesses. Only rich corporations could afford to pay off the government kept access to power. More than just businesses had this problem though. People in the outer cities changed too.

As we walked further down the road, the area seemed to change. It had gotten darker over time, and there were fewer people around. Ashe walked up to a stall selling colorful stones. The Man's clothing was tattered, ripped and stained. The man gazed towards us, probably observing our expensive cotton uniforms. Ashe picked up a rock and the man instantly asked if she would like to buy it. She explained she was just looking but the man wouldn't take no for an answer. He kept lowering the price and talking about how 'rare' the stones were. In the corner of my eye, I spotted a cloaked figure circling behind us.

"We need to head back. Now." I stated. "It's not safe."

I pulled Ashe with me in the direction of the Inn. I wanted to get away from that area as soon as possible. Before we could even step away, the cloaked figure charged at me in a dead sprint. I let go of Ashe's hand and braced myself. As they got closer a knife shimmered in their hand under their dark sleeved jacket. They weren't anything special but I remained cautious. Just before the blade entered striking distance I lunged forward. I grabbed hold of the attacker's arm and twisted their wrist. They grunted and yelped from the pain as they dropped the knife and knelt to the ground. I heard a loud thud behind me and quickly turned around and saw the man attack her. She jumped backward, but I could tell it was a close call. I ran towards the man, and after he saw his partner was on the ground, he ran off into an alley.

I grabbed Ashe's hand and we sprinted back to the Inn. We pushed through the doors and I looked at Ashe as I breathed heavily. She was holding her hand on her arm like she had been hurt. Worried, I tried to pull her hand away from her arm to make sure she was okay.

"No. I'm okay, really. It's just a scratch." She said as she pulled away nervously. "I'm actually gonna go ahead and put a bandage on it. I'll see you at the room."

She ran up the stairs before I had the chance to say anything. I was too tired to chase after her, so I decided to rest for a bit. The manager dropped a keycard into my lap as he walked by. I realized it must have been my own room. I stood up, started making my way up the stairs. I was still a little winded and it took me a while but I managed to make it to Ashe's room. I knocked and walked in to see her sitting on the couch. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt and had a piece of cloth wrapped snug around her arm.

I sat close up next to her and looked directly into her eyes. She nudged a small distance away, but I scooted closer.

"I'm sorry you got hurt.. I should have protected you." I said regretfully. "I'm just glad it wasn't that bad."

"I'm okay.. I just didn't react in time. Thanks for worrying about me though." she said with a smile. "I'm glad you didn't get hurt.."

Just like that, she had me smiling again. I hadn't smiled for years until I had met her. She was different than anyone else I had ever met. She was special. Before I had even noticed, our faces were inches apart and her eyes were closed. Her lips looked softer the closer we got to each other. I closed my eyes and our lips touched. My body swelled with all kinds of emotions. The only thing running through my head was Ashe. No memories of my family, no memories of the war, and no worries of what was to come.

After what seemed like an eternity, the kiss ended. However, the emotions I felt didn't go away. I opened my eyes to see Ashe blushing and smiling at me. She cuddled up against me and leaned her head against my shoulder. I couldn't come up with anything to say. All I could do was smile. It felt like her warmth had entered my body and made it so I could finally relax after so long.

I dozed to sleep from the warm and fuzzy feeling. That night already felt amazing. However, that night was a special night for another reason. That night I didn't experience the nightmares of my past. Ashe filled part of the void that was inside of me.