Covert dinner; December 8th

"You wanted to see me, General Ponatoski?" I glanced up from my menu to see General Reichenbacher, for once out of his uniform. He was wearing jeans and a maroon shirt.

"Yes sir, there's not many people of similar rank that speak Polish, I hope it wasn't too impudent of me…" I spoke quickly, trying not to stumble over my words as the Colonel General slid easily into the seat across from me.

"I hate to break it to you Ponatoski, I don't actually speak Polish, it's just the system translating everything I'm saying." He replied, the waitress stopped by, which he ordered a water.

"Oh…" my reply was muted. I'd thought…

"Have you been here before? My wife loved the grilled salmon." He said while picking up his menu. I sighed a bit, looking down at the pale cream dress.

"Please just call me Regina…" my voice was soft, almost yearning.

"Hmm?" The General looked up from his menu.

"Nothing…" I said quickly, I felt my face heat as the General slowly put his menu down and carefully looked at me. I looked away, trying to think of something.

"You look great. You get your hair done?" I stared at the handsome man across from me, somewhat startled. 

"Oh… yes, I did." I stammered slowly under his intense gaze. He studied me intensely, I could feel his eyes boring little holes into my face.

"So… how many languages do you speak? I've heard you speak flawless German and Russian." I interjected, trying to broach a new topic.

"Fluently? Only English, I used to take German classes a couple years back, but I never really learned it." He replied, taking a sip from the water the waiter set down. He ordered a burger and I quickly glanced at the menu, ordering a small steak and salad.

"So the system does all that? Translate your English into our mother tongue?" I asked, trying to keep the curiosity from my voice.

He shrugged, leaning back in the booth. "Basically…"

"So for example, you've been having this whole conversation in Polish right?" I nodded, watching the animated way his hands moved as he spoke.

"Well for me, I'm speaking in English, and when you talk I hear English, even though I know you aren't speaking it." He explained. I wondered… if I learned English would it still translate to Polish for me to hear? I wondered about that until our food was brought out.

I cut into the steak, taking a few small bites before I realized the general had already polished off his burger and was working on his fries. I hadn't even finished half of my steak or touched my salad before his plate was emptied, only a few ketchup stains remained.

"Are you still hungry?" I asked, pushing the steak over to him. He politely declined as I started nibbling at my salad. He started watching the other customers. It was like he never truly stopped being alert, as if something was bothering him.

"Sir, if you wouldn't mind, might we take a walk by the sea?" I asked. His gaze snapped back to me with all its intensity. He stared at me a heartbeat longer than I was comfortable with before he sighed.

"I guess, I haven't had the time for it before…" we stood both leaving a generous tip on the table.

We walked side by side across the boardwalk and down to the sandy beach, right up to where the waves lapped against the shore. Both of us carried our shoes as we started walking along the beach, the water occasionally coming up to our feet.

The sun was just beginning to set, several people had come out, families that were trying to replicate the normalcy before the apocalypse. A breeze, striking cool blew across the harbor, out to sea on could sea a small fleet off shore. The colonel General… no, Andrew shoved his hand in his pocket as we strolled down the beach.

"You ever visit the ocean before?" Andrew asked, his eyes sweeping the dozens of kids playing around us.

"I… don't have any memories of before I was summoned and given a name." I flushed a bit, remembering Andrew's shock and surprise at seeing me, how he'd stumbled over his words when I'd presented myself as the commander of the Polska Pancera Divizia.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

"What for?" I gave him a sharp look.

"Summoning you… everyone really. These… wars and battles in this hell. Everyone I summon… I have no idea if you've all had lives previously or are just being created out of credits… but you all create moments, memories…" his shoulders dropped slightly, like a heavy weight was settling back on them.

"I wish I could let you guys all go, make your own lives as you all wish…" his voice trailed off as he stared out to sea. This was the man. The one that truly rules the Union. The weight of the lives that were lost that he carries, the knowledge he's never far from ordering thousands more to their deaths, the man that has to decide who lives and dies.

"Andrew… I'm… happy to have met you." I said quietly, watching him in profile as he turned to face the ocean. The laughter of nearby children, the calling of gulls soaring overhead.

I glanced at his hand, his fist slightly balled, his jaw clenched as I moved closer to him. I grabbed his arm, I looked at him as he seemed to tense.

"Andrew, you don't have to carry the weight alone. I'll be beside you…" my heart thundered in my chest as time seemed to slow. A look of… anger? Flashed across Andrew's face. He stepped away from me, his eyes narrowing.

d out to him, stumbling over half formed words as he took another step back.

"Andrew… I… that's not…" I stumbled over my words, a half desperate tone to them.

"Regina… I'm taken…" The words hung heavy in the air. The conflicting joy and sorrow bubbling like a roiling sea within me. I reacheHe chuckled, a dark, deprecating kind. "No? I really should have known better. Women just don't value loyalty the same way do they? You see something you want and don't care what you have to fear down to get it…"

His words were coated in venom, his eyes dark, a soft rage slowly starting to burn. I gaped, no! I… that's not what I meant! I wanted to call out to him as he turned around, and started walking away. He paused a few steps away, and though I heard him, he didn't turn around. "Maybe it's for the best if you receive your marching orders…"

His words hit me like a hammer as Andrew walked away. I wanted to fall to my knees, to let the tears welling in my eyes to fall freely as I gasped for air. I couldn't do that… later, in my own quarters… I wiped the moisture from my eyes and started the long, lonely walk back to my quarters.

The beach echoed with the playful laughter of the children, the lull of waves softly crashing into the sand. Yet my world had gone silent, shattered like thousands of shards of glass in that moment.

Andrew had long since disappeared, the pain however… lingered. Like hundreds of knives being drawn across her heart. Taken… it echoed in her ears like a gunshot, but it wasn't the word that hurt.

It was the ice in his voice, the venom and complete change of character, like he'd completely changed how he viewed me. The harsh venom cutting far deeper than I'd thought even possible.

I hadn't meant to overstep, I… I wanted to be close to him… to help him share that burden. That he didn't have to go on alone. Had I misread the situation? Everything?

The door to my room clicked shut behind me. I leaned against it, slowly sliding to the floor. My hands trembled, my face stained with a rain only I could make. I wouldn't sob… no.

That accusation, that I was some grasping gold digger, that stung. That I didn't value loyalty… weights like heavy iron chains fell on me as I brought my knees to my chest.

Was that what he thought of me? I willed the tears to stop, but more only seemed to come as soft whimpers escaped me.