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A large red and white checkered blanket was laying on the bright green grass, set with plates of delicious food and two glasses of bubbly champagne.
He had picked the best day for a picnic as it was your last day in America. You were being deported back to Germany, back to your family, back to a country waging war against the rest of the world.
Love had not been in your plans when you travelled across the ocean, and especially not with an American boy, with the cutest dimples, the most perfect smile on the planet, and eyes as blue as the sky.
As you finished your lunch and lay on your backs to look at the clouds forming into different shapes, putting your imaginations to the test, you were pondering if you could just capture the essence of happiness and bring it back with you.
“I can hear the gears turning in your head, beautiful,” he said and turned to lay on his side, his head resting on his palm. “Tell me what you are thinking, gorgeous?”
It was those sweet nicknames that had lured you in, but your favourite was when he called you, his sun. You had asked him why he had chosen that particular nickname, and his answer had been simple: “Because life without the sun is dull and dark, and my life without you will be meaningless.
“I am leaving tomorrow, Leon…” you force out, trying not to let your voice tremble.
“I know.”
“I won’t ever see you again,” tears start to form at the corners of your eyes, threatening to spill. Napoleon, as was his real name which only his mother was allowed to call him, tucked a loose strand of hair behind your left ear. He smiled that gorgeous smile of his, the one that melted the icy walls you had erected around your heart as to protect yourself.
“I promise, my sun, that I’ll find you again. I won’t let anything separate us. I will walk to the ends of the earth so that we can be together forever.”
With the promised words, he locked his lips with yours.
The harbour was bustling with people. You were surrounded by people from the government and military folk. They were there to ensure that travellers got on board and didn’t try to get off the ship.
Napoleon had promised you that he would be there, and during your entire fling, he had never broken a promise.
“Miss, you need to board now,” one of the officers told you sternly. You nodded slowly, but you sneaked another look through the crowd, and let out a disappointed sigh when he still wasn’t there. You picked up your bag and turned around to walk up the ramp. Tears were forming in your eyes, but you kept them back, not wanting them to see you as weak. You stepped onto the deck together with hundreds of other people going to Europe. They removed the ramp as the horn sounded for the departure of the ship.
The tears you had been holding back drenched your cheeks. The ship started to move away from the harbour. People were waving at their loved ones, wishing them a happy journey.
“My sun!” A voice you recognised screamed. You searched for where his voice came from and watched as he was running, pushing away people while following the ship.
“Leon!” you screamed back.
“I’ll find you! No matter how long it takes, I will find you!”
“I love you, Leon!” you wanted to tell him that the day before, but had been scared he wouldn’t reciprocate your feelings.
“I love you too, sunflower! Don’t forget me!”
You sent him your most sincere smile and blew him a kiss, sealing your promises to each other.
Years passed, the wall had been built, breaking the massive city of Berlin in two, keeping families apart. You had no way of getting out, but you were happy, living in an apartment with your ailing parents.
One evening, as you were about to go to sleep, you heard a commotion happening at your neighbours. You knocked and asked what had happened.
You tried your best to calm down your elderly neighbour.
What you didn’t know was that Napoleon was on the roof with Gaby. As he zip-lined towards the wagon, he looked back towards the apartment building, watching if Illya was catching up to them, but instead, his eyes caught a woman hugging an older person. The calming smile on your face was the exact same one you had given him as you sailed back to Europe; a smile that was edged into his brain, the smile he had been searching for in a very long time, a smile he dreamt of every night.
Napoleon gasped at the mere sight of you. His heart was already pumping at double the speed because of the chase form the Russian spy. He had tried to stay calm for Gaby the entire evening, as she was his last mission when he had delivered her, he would have some time to roam for himself. He felt the floor of the truck beneath his feet and let go of Gaby. He turned back to watch, not really noticing that Illya was halfway across the minefield. No, Napoleon’s entire focus was on the woman he had been searching for 20 years.
“I found you,” he whispered into the night air.