I stir, stretching my hands above my head and arching my back in an attempt to wake up. Levi's jacket smothers me in the warmth I wasn't sure I needed before, but waking up warm and comfortable is worth more than I know. When I open my eyes, I stare into the darkness of the chamber and wonder if I had even opened them. The darkness remains as impenetrable as ever.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Levi says. He brushes a strand of hair from my face, the plait having fallen out several tunnels before.

"Have you been awake long?"

"No, about ten minutes or so. I drank the water, but it's refilling now for you." He rummages around in his satchel. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Yes, I'm starving."

"I was hoping you would say that. I've been trying not to eat something since I woke up."

Levi passes me something, but in the dark, I cannot see what it is, and the food is so misshapen and crumbly after being in his satchel that I cannot identify it through touch alone. I nibble on the edge of it, smiling slightly as the bread fills my mouth. It's a little stale than it would have been, but I'm grateful for something other than the pastries we seem to have an abundance of.

The taste of bread, butter, cheese, and ham fills my mouth and I cherish every bite of the sandwich, whilst Levi does the same beside me. I have never appreciated food as much as I do sitting in that chamber with limited options and most of it has gone stale. At home, I would complain if Mother made something I wasn't too fond of, but I'm determined to put that aside and simply enjoy the food I'm given. It could be worse, after all.

We eat in silence, the two of us savouring every bite of the sandwich as though it were the first thing we had eaten in days. Once I finish, I drink the water in the inkpot and place it back under the trip so it can be refilled before we leave again. I feel Levi shift beside me.

"This is not the picnic I imagined us having, you know," he says.

"Me neither. In my imagination, we were eating complete, non-stale sandwiches and drinking ginger beer on the grass."

"What I wouldn't give for some ginger beer. Mud water doesn't really taste the same."

"No, it has quite an earthy taste."

"It's the pieces of sand that put me on edge. I don't mind the taste of dirt. It can be quite nice at times."

"You're disgusting."

"I know."

I laugh, Levi joining in. The two of us laugh uncontrollably, unable to stop despite the ridiculousness of it all. Were we in any other situation, I'm certain I wouldn't have found it all that funny but stuck in the tunnels, cut off from everyone other than Levi, it was as though it were the funniest thing I had ever heard.

The hysterical laughter twists into a small chuckle until we both manage to calm down, Levi almost gasping for air at his own joke. I wonder if the delirium has finally set in and this is just what happens when two people are stuck in a terrible situation together. Still, I'm glad I can laugh after everything that has happened. Sometimes it's worth seeing the funny side in an otherwise horrible situation.

We return to the comfortable silence, neither of us feeling the need to speak. I wonder how long we've been down in the tunnels for. It feels like an eternity, but it might have been two days, perhaps three. Time doesn't seem to exist and I wish that either Levi or I had thought to bring a watch with us, but we hadn't. We would have used the sun to guess the time.

I wonder if the people searching for us have realised we headed into the woods rather than the village. No one would be able to claim they saw us in the village, so that would have been ruled out rather quickly. There were still other places we could have gone to, but I had to hope they were starting to check the woods. Maybe they would find the cave.

"How's your ankle?" I ask. "Does it still hurt?"

"Not really. It won't be long before it does, though, not after we get moving."

"We probably should soon if we want to cover a decent amount of ground before our next rest."

"Agreed, but I'm fine sitting here a little while longer." He tugs on another strand of my hair and I make no move to push him away, enjoying the slight intimacy of it. "How are you? How does your head feel?"

"Fine."

"You don't feel dizzy or have any sort of headache?"

"Not anymore. It seems sleeping was the right thing to do, after all."

"Good, but if it comes back, let me know. You can never be too careful."

"I will."

Levi tugs on my hair again and I drop my head on his shoulder, listening to the water falling into the inkpot. There is something calming in Levi playing with my hair, a sense of normalcy despite the chaos of where we find ourselves. I enjoy having him there, but I know that once we leave these tunnels, it will not be allowed to continue.

Mrs Edgeworth has so many strict rules about who Levi can and cannot be friends with and I know that I will never belong in that category. Despite that, I can enjoy the moment we're in and try not to think about having to leave him once we emerge above ground. That is a situation we may never find ourselves in if we have been choosing the wrong tunnels to follow.

"We should get going," I say, scraping my hand across the floor until I find the ink pot. I put the lid on it and hand it to Levi before grabbing the candle.

"Alright." He rummages in the satchel again. "Matches."

I take the matches and light the candle, blinking from the flame as it flickers. "Come on, then."

"Yes, Ma'am."

The two of us struggle to our feet. Levi swings the satchel onto his shoulder and we approach the next set of tunnels, deciding to take the right one due to the rocks that line the walls. We exchange a hopeful look in the candlelight, the two of us praying it's the right path to take. 

~~~

First Published - March 14th, 2023