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[butcivilization]

In the week preceding, Henri had sometimes wondered what he would think when he woke up on Saturday morning. Would he forget what day it was - somehow, miraculously, even for an hour or two? Would a few comforting moments pass in which he would think of something other than the significance of this day

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[stirthingsapart]

Thom murmured wordlessly and shifted closer to him, still half-asleep. She'd been staying up later than she intended to lately, working on one project or another, and it made her want to linger in the mornings. Though to be honest, the simple fact that she woke up each morning with Henri was enough to make getting up and out of bed difficult. Now, feeling him press close to her was about the only enticement that could have coaxed her from sleep.

She turned within the circle of his arms and put her own about his waist, pulling him close and smiling sleepily as the sunlight washed over them. "Morning," she murmured, brushing her nose against his before kissing him softly. Thom was still waiting to see if waking up beside him would, at any point, begin to feel ordinary - thus far, it didn't seem likely.

[butcivilization]

"Good morning." Henri smiled softly in return, but it did not quite reach his eyes. "Did you sleep well? I had not planned to stay abed quite so long, but even if I had woken earlier, I don't think I would have had the heart to disturb you." His smile grew a little firmer as he softly teased.

[stirthingsapart]

"I did," Thom answered with a soft smile and kissed him again, but as close as they were and knowing Henri as well as she did, she could not miss the fact that something troubled him this morning. She thought it was likely the same thing that had caused him to be a bit distant all week; she hadn't failed to note that he was more thoughtful than usual - distracted, even. Thom had not yet asked him about it, thinking that he would come to her when he was ready, but perhaps on this quiet morning in bed the time had come for her to pry a little.

"What is on your mind?" she asked quietly, bunching the pillow beneath her cheek as she brushed the hair from his forehead with a tender touch. Her tone was tender but serious; there was no way he could miss the fact that she was inquiring about something other than his plans for the day.

[butcivilization]

Henri hadn't wanted to burden her with the source of his distance, not when Thom had so recently discovered the circumstances of her own death and felt its hand uncomfortably close by. But neither was me one to put up a cheerful face when his mood was otherwise or hide some part of his soul from her.

But what to say to her? That he had died today, an event he had not yet lived through, but that he had been told had happened? That he had seen his friends die? That this was the day, by the real world's calendar if not the island's, that he had left the life he had known behind and had been granted a new one? All were true, and all filled with a mix of emotions that had become more difficult to sort out with distance, not less.

He finally kissed her softly, his arms tightening around her, and simply said, "This would be the day the barricades fell."