Florian looked at his watch the next morning as the gang boarded the Trans-Europa. The mensch-maschinen woke up first, as the girls slept. Noting this they packed up the belongings first, then the girls. Anneke blinked her eyes open as Karl brought her into the train.
"Karl... what's going on?" she asked sleepily.
"We're almost ready to leave for Vienna, Anneke" he whispered, smiling a bit at her. "We just have to finish making sure everything and everyone is on board safely."
"...oh" she replied, a half-smile on her face. "Carry on then."
Karl smiled a bit as his companion went right back to sleep.
Ralf meanwhile sat down, Johannes in his arms, and glanced around. The adventure was enough for an adrenalin rush, but he was, while excited for the trip, nervous that things would not go as well as hoped for. His gaze fell to his best friend Florian, who closed the doors and sat down near the front, taking Elizabeth in his arms. Finally, his gaze fixed to Johannes, who slept after an evening of conversation with him. It wasn't until 11 P.M. the night previous that the two at last went to sleep. Still, he couldn't help but look back on the conversation...
"So what do you intend to be if you ever get your sight, Fräulein Johannes?" Ralf asked as the two sat down on the roof of the Trans-Europa station. The young mensch-maschine offered to buy dinner a short while ago, and the two walked to the nearest pizzeria for some breadsticks.
"Maybe a nurse... or a writer" Johannes answered, sighing a bit. "To be honest with you, I don't have a clue."
Ralf gave her a breadstick. "I'm sure you'd make a great nurse, but that is just my opinion."
She bit a little from her breadstick, and sighed again. "The problem is, will I ever gain my sight?" She closed her pale, lifeless eyes, to hide her tears.
"I have hope that you will, Fräulein Johannes" he replied positively, looking to the beautiful Eiffel Tower that glowed with bright Neonlicht.
"I cannot say the same" she spoke. "I have more hope for the freedom and future of Eastern Europe than in my sight. It is a lot more easier to fight for freedom, to live in freedom, than to give sight to a girl who was born blind." And finally, the tears spilt.
Ralf sighed looking to her. He couldn't understand why she was so embittered about herself. Perhaps he needed to get to know her better. Finally, curiousity ensnared him, and glancing to her he spoke again.
"Fräulein Johannes... what is it like... to be blind?" he asked cautiously.
"Schwärzung" she replied after a moment of thought. "Darkness. All the time. All I can do is eat and hear and breathe and feel. I can do a lot. Just... I can't see."
He took her hand in his. "Then whose hands are holding yours?" he asked with a quirky smile.
"They are yours" she answered with a soft smile. "I've gotten used to your hands now. They have a... a certain warmth to them. It's not like Elizabeth's hands or Anneke's or Rebekah's, because those girls each have their own degree of warmth for their hands."
"How is Elizabeth's hands then?" Ralf inquired.
"She has this warmth that is familiar. She's a few degrees less warm than your hands. But I know which hands belong to Elizabeth, and which are yours, Anneke's and Rebekah's. Anyone else, I do not know, and I have a fear that grips me when I am touched by hands different from those I know" she explained.
"Ahh" he nodded. "Understood."
She smiled softly. "Heh... yeah." She then blushed, giggling.
"What is it, Fräulein Johannes??" he asked, amused by her giggling. He squeezed her hands a bit.
"I actually like your hands" she admitted. "They're nice and warm, and perhaps a little delicate. A few cuts and scrapes but... they're alright. Your hands are warmer than Elizabeth's hands. And... they're kind. I can just sense it."
Ralf blushed a little bit and hugged her with those hands, those careful arms. She rested her head, closing her eyes, upon his shoulder. Not just his hands but all of him had that certain warmth, and it only strengthened her trust on him for a kind companion as well as a dear friend. Encouraged by this she wrapped her arms around him, but her face sombered up a bit.
"Ralf..." she asked sadly, "how come you do not have a heart?"
Her friend blinked, half-shocked. His face too sombered up as he ran one of his hands through her hair.
"I once had a bicycle accident, in which I was in a coma for months. Next to dead, I opted to become a semi-human being. A mensch-maschine. My bones were turned to metal, most of my organs now computers and wires for veins. Unfortunately because of my rewiring I do not understand everything like I used to; I have to be taught something sometimes, or even retaught" he explained. "I mean, I am still able to think and function, just as any normal being, it's just that..."
"...you don't have a beating heart" she finished, a bit saddened.
"N-not really, perhaps" he answered. "I suppose one could say that, my heart still beats somehow...
"It beats inside of you, Fräulein Johannes."
Johannes blushed lightly and hugged him tighter, letting a few more tears fall down. She didn't want him to see her cry, but she only wanted to be with him all the more. Perhaps he could understand where she was coming from, and vice versa. Perhaps... perhaps they were meant for each other...
After a few more minutes of just being there, Ralf whispered her name, but she didn't respond. He realized she had fallen asleep in his arms. What time is it? He glanced around and finally to his watch.
10:57 P.M.
Quietly he carried the young woman and their now-slightly cooled dinner back down to the main floor of the station, where they rested with the rest of the gang for the night.
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Just wanted to say that someone out here is reading and enjoying this!
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