Work Text:
Anna is used to her partner disappearing and reappearing by now. The Entity takes her when it needs her, and does the same to Anna. It’s the way of life — at least, the way of life in The Entity’s realm.
Meg poofs away while they’re in the middle of breakfast, the berry she had been about to pop into her mouth falling back onto the plate. Anna sighs. It’s hardly the first time The Entity has had poor timing, but it never stops being disappointing. The past week had been a busy one with both of them being transferred to a trial nearly every day. Anna had been here long enough to know sometimes, it just happens that way. No one really knows if it’s random or if The Entity chooses each time, but it’s never mattered much to Anna. In the end, she’s sent back here to live in the Red Forest, frozen in time where seasons don’t change and years don’t come and go.
Anna finishes her own breakfast, leaving Meg’s on the table. A few minutes pass. Then a few more.
With a sigh, she gives up on waiting. She heads outside to get started on her chores for the day, wrapping her hair into a low bun. The sun’s rays peek through the trees on the horizon. The morning is chilly, a thin fog still clinging to the ground, resisting being burnt away by the rising sun.
She finds Meg’s hat sitting abandoned on the pile of logs stacked against the cabin. Picking it up, Anna studies it. She’d never seen a hat quite like this one before coming here. Many of the survivors had ones similar to it. Anna imagines it really is good for shading the eyes. The only hats she’d ever worn were meant to keep her warm in long winters.
Curiosity gets the better of her. She sticks it atop her head, pulling it down over her eyes like she sees Meg do. It’s definitely not for warmth, but the long bill does cast a nice shade over her eyes when she angles herself against the light. This would have saved her many sunburns growing up.
Anna gets to work, leaving the hat on, finding it practical for her work. Time passes. The sun gets higher in the sky. Every few minutes, she stops to listen, to see if Meg returned and she just didn’t hear — though that’s nearly impossible for Anna, her hearing has always been reliable — but still, Meg is gone.
The fog has burned away by the time Anna hears the telltale thump of shoes hitting the wooden floor inside. She stops her work immediately before rushing inside. Meg is standing by the table, back turned to her. Her shoulders are slumped and she leans on the chair with one hand.
“Meg?” Anna asks quietly, so as not to spook her. Meg had told her once she needed to wear a bell since she’s always so quiet.
The redhead turns, looking tired, but a soft smile appears on her face as she takes in Anna. It sends butterflies through the huntress’s stomach. She’ll never grow tired of the way Meg looks at her.
“You’re wearing my hat,” Meg points out before walking up to her, wrapping her arms around Anna’s torso. Anna follows suit naturally, leaning down to give her a kiss until the bill of the hat in question knocks against Meg’s forehead.
Meg giggles and the sound is contagious as Anna finds herself laughing with her. Meg pulls the hat off and turns it around, so it’s sitting backwards on Anna’s head.
“I don’t think that will protect my eyes,” Anna says.
“It won’t protect you from me either.” Meg rises to her toes and kisses her. Soft lips make Anna sigh. “Besides,” Meg says as she lowers back down, “you look cute this way too.”
Anna smirks and she sees the way it makes Meg blush, but still, there’s a lingering look in her eyes that makes Anna worried.
“You were gone for a while,” Anna notes.
The smile fades from the redhead’s lips and Anna already misses it.
“It was a long trial.” Meg turns and rests her head against Anna’s chest. “Stressful.”
Anna rubs her back, trying to release the tension in the other woman’s body. “I’m sorry, little fox.”
“It’s okay. I’m just glad to be home.”
Anna doesn’t miss the slight tremble in her voice. She doesn’t push, but an idea forms in her mind.
“I know you just returned, but would you like to go for a walk? There’s something I’ve been wanting to show you.”
“Sure,” Meg says, finally letting go.
Their hands clasp together. It's second nature at this point, as natural as throwing a hatchet. Meg’s hands feel comfortable in hers, like Anna’s hands were made to hold them.
The walk isn’t super far, especially now that Meg’s ankle has healed properly. The redhead has been more and more active recently and going on longer walks has been nice. The place Anna leads them now takes half an hour to get to, but she knows it will be worth it. She can feel Meg’s energy as if it’s her own, she feels the sadness coming off of her in waves — and Anna has a feeling she knows why.
Hiking down a hill, the area comes into view. Bright yellow and soft green contrasts vividly against the darkness of the forest.
“What…” Meg starts as she takes a closer look. “Are those… sunflowers?”
“Yes.”
They come up to the clearing where tall grasses start to grow, feeding on the sunlight unobstructed by the dense trees. Sunflowers sprout up from the grass, opened up and angled toward the sun. Smaller purple flowers are dusted over the field, bees buzzing between all of them.
“Wow.” Meg walks forward and Anna trails behind.
“It is beautiful, hm?”
“Very. I’ve never seen a sunflower field like this.”
Now that the trees aren’t casting a shade over them, Anna twists the hat back around. She’s decided she’ll have to procure a hat like this of her own.
“Look at this.” Meg is bent over a sunflower, looking down at the center. Anna walks to her side. In the middle of the flower, several plump bees crawl and buzz around, yellow dust coating their tiny legs. “Aren’t they adorable?”
Adorable isn’t exactly the word that comes to mind when Anna thinks about bees. She watches them closely. These bees are working hard to support their colony, paying two humans no mind as they go about their business. She supposes they are also fuzzy, and very round, and maybe that’s why Meg thinks they’re adorable.
“Yes.”
Meg turns slightly and elbows her playfully. “Not as cute as you in my hat though.”
Anna rolls her eyes and stands up again, not hiding her own blush this time.
Meg laughs. Looking around, she heads to a patch of grass, stepping carefully to avoid any stray bees. She plops down, surrounded by tall stalks of sunflowers. Anna gazes at the image. Meg’s red hair contrasts with the yellow sunflowers, making her stick out beautifully. Her blue eyes seem brighter in the direct sunlight, and when they land on Anna, she finds herself breathless.
Meg pats the space next to her.
Anna sits down with her, wrapping an arm around her lover.
“Thank you,” Meg says, leaning into Anna. “I needed this.”
Anna nods. “I thought you might like it here.”
With a sigh, Meg says, “It’s been a long week. I’ve been… pessimistic lately.”
“That is the nature of this place.” Anna realizes after she says it that blunt honesty is probably not what Meg needs. “But it isn’t always.”
“I guess.”
There’s a long pause between them.
“The Entity feeds off of us. It wants you to feel hopeless.”
“It’s working,” Meg says bitterly.
“It doesn’t always though, does it?”
The redhead only shrugs.
“Take this field,” Anna gestures around them. “Killers live in a copy of wherever they came from, yes? But this field does not exist where I’m from. I know every inch of the Red Forest. This place isn’t an exact copy.”
Meg looks up at her, eyebrows narrowed as she follows along.
“So why is it here? I don’t know,” Anna admits. “But beautiful things exist in the worst places. There will always still be good things. That is how we resist The Entity.”
Nuzzling her face into the fabric of Anna’s shirt, Meg sighs. “You’re right. It’s just hard sometimes.”
“It is,” Anna agrees. “Life was hard. Lonely. Then I met you. Now I have something to fight for. I resist The Entity because I have you.”
Meg pulls away and smiles. “Do you love me or something?”
Anna shrugs in faux disinterest. “Something like that.”
Meg climbs on top of her and starts peppering her face in kisses. The hat gets knocked off as she falls to her back in a fit of laughter. The pressure of Meg’s body on top of hers is nice and she pulls her closer.
When Meg finally pulls away, she stares into Anna’s eyes. The huntress may be stronger, bigger, but those pale blue eyes keep Anna pinned. “I resist for you too,” the redhead whispers.
Their lips meet, now as familiar as the trees Anna grew up around — or as familiar as the trees that surround her cabin now. Her life before The Entity took her is fading into distant memory, like something that happened decades ago. But Meg and the home they’ve built together is her present. Meg is as familiar to her as if they’d known each other for years, and somehow it still feels like only a week ago that she took in the survivor.
This is the good that Anna lives for. Kissing in a sunflower field. Piggy back rides to the lake. Cuddling by the fire on a rainy day. The intimate moments under the sheets.
Anna rolls to the side, her arm cushioning Meg’s head. Her other arm keeps her close. A bee buzzes between them before flying off to the next flower.
“Thank you for this,” Meg says, pressing a kiss to Anna’s neck. “You always know how to make me feel better.”
“You do the same for me, little fox.”
They settle into the grass, staring up at the cloudless sky. Its color is reflected in Meg’s eyes. A light breeze pushes against the sunflowers, making them tilt back and forth in a rhythm. Light snores beside her makes Anna realize Meg has fallen asleep. She smiles to herself, enjoying this moment of peace. A lullaby finds its way to her lips and she sings it softly.
Anna must fall asleep eventually too because she opens her eyes to the sun high in the sky and Meg tracing shapes on her chest. It’s warmer now, and she can feel beads of sweat pooling on her forehead.
“Did you enjoy your nap?” Meg asks, fingers continuing their invisible drawing.
“You fell asleep first.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Anna hums.
“We should take a few flowers back with us. Brighten up the place a bit,” Meg says, sitting up.
“You already brighten the place.”
“Sappy.” Meg rolls her eyes but can’t fight the smirk on her lips. “Knife please.”
Meg holds out her hand and Anna obliges, handing her the knife she wears on her belt. The redhead takes her time, walking through the field until she has three stems wrapped in her fist. Anna finds the hat that had fallen off earlier and walks over to Meg, peering down at the bundle.
“These ones didn’t have any bees taking naps.”
“You don’t want to take any bees home with us?” Anna jokes.
The huntress throws on the hat before snaking her hand into Meg’s and squeezing. The warmth of their morning follows them as they return to the cooler forest.