Amana's POV

The dry leaves made a crunching sound in the forest as we got deeper into it. We were going towards the place where Roland wanted us to go, where there was the perfect view of the sunset.

I looked at the man I was supposed to protect with my life, and I felt a slight bloom of emotion within my belly as I took in his features. Jet black hair in disarray due to the winds that blew carelessly about us, green eyes that were focused ahead and a small beard that seemed to barely cover his chin.

He cast a small glance at me, smiled and looked ahead again.

After that night, after what had happened between us, the atmosphere had been different. He would act like his usual self most of the time, but if you caught him unaware, he would have a far away look, like his head was high up in the clouds, and his thoughts were anywhere but here.

When we came across some fallen trees that were obscuring our pathway, we'd go over them. He'd help me get over them sometimes, which resulted in physical contact, which always seemed to get to me.

The forest then came to an end, and a view that always brought a smile to my face whenever I had the chance to see it came to view.

The mountains were aligned together in an odd fashion, such that one was in front of the other, making up the horizon. When the sun set, it gave the mountains an ethereal appeal, one that made me think that the place was not of this world sometimes. The sky was now a kaleidoscope of colours, ranging from red to blue. I heard a slight movement beside me, and I turned to see him sit down. I remained standing.

"Sit."
I sat down next to him. No one said anything, and the silence was almost a living thing on its own when he spoke.

"Do you see the beauty of this world, and how everything seems to be put together?"

I nodded, waiting patiently to hear what he had to say.

"What do you think of its origin? Where it came from?"

I looked at the horizon again while I asked myself this question in my mind over and over, without coming across a response.

"I never really asked myself such a question."

I looked at him, and his gaze was still towards the sunset. After a short while, he spoke.

"At the beginning, there was nothing, except God, that is. He is eternal. He created this world and everything in it in six days and rested on the seventh, after he was satisfied with what he had done. During this creation process, he made us, man, in his own image, and gave us power and control over everything. That's why we are more intelligent than other animals. That's why we think the way we do, how we act and......feel the way we do. It's different from the others."

I had been paying attention to what he was saying, and I was fascinated by how he saw the world and how it came to be. I looked at him, and due to the darkening of the outside world, his eyes were a deeper shade of forest green.

"How do you know all this?"

He cast a small smile my way, then stared at the sunset that was now a dark shade of purple.

"There is a book called a Bible, where all the information about God and many different things is in. If only I wasn't attacked that night, I would've brought it here, and read it to you sometimes."

I felt an excitement rush through me, an excitement that almost surpassed that of adrenaline rushing through my veins when I was training or running in the forests. I wanted to know more, and I knew that the man sitting next to me had all the answers to my questions.

Turning to look at him, I smile slowly faded away when I saw that he wasn't happy, the deep frown on his face evidence to my observation.

"What's wrong, Roland?"

He looked at me again, and I saw that he was very sad and depressed. My eyebrows drew together, worry and concern being the dominant emotions I could feel at the moment. He let out a small sigh and looked ahead.

"Just remembering what transpired that night, makes me think of all the friends I lost. We had been on a lot of adventures together, and the idea that I actually lost them all has finally settled within me right now. It's still somewhat hard to believe."

I held onto his hand, realising that he needed comfort, and I couldn't just sit there whilst I saw that he was sad. I wanted him to smile again. He looked at me, his eyes slightly widened by my bold move, but, at this moment, I didn't care that I was holding his hand.

"I know that it is hard to lose your comrades. I go through that every time I go to fight with my fellow warriors. I want you to know how sorry I am for your loss. It is hard to go through the emotions, but it is a battle that has to be won someday."

He took my hand and gave it a squeeze, while he looked at me deep in the eyes. He took it up to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss.

"Thank you, Amana."

Suddenly, there was a rustle of bushes a couple of yards behind us, and I swiftly turned to see nothing there. I looked around us to see that the sun had almost fully set. I removed my hand from his grasp and stood up.

"We have to go now. It has gotten darker than I'd hoped for."

He stood up too, and stood in front of me.

"Amana, I-"

I quickly shook my head, silencing him to not say anything else.

"Let's go back before people get too worried of our late return."

I began to walk towards the tribe, and when I heard the crunching of leaves close behind me, I didn't turn back.

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After saying goodbye to Roland, I began to walk slowly towards my own hut. Everything that transpired in the forest came back to me, making me stop in my tracks for a second before walking again.

What was this man doing to me? He was not of our tribe, not of our kind and saw the world in a much more different and unique way than we did. He was a man of royal status while I was nothing but a warrior. I had no right to think of him in that way, in a way that a woman thought of a man they admired.

Then, why were these feelings not subsiding? They shouldn't be here. It wasn't meant to be that way.

"Amana!!"

I looked behind me to see Lakeisha running towards me from her sleeping hut. I smiled at her and waved, the joy of seeing her after so long blooming within me. When she got in front of me, she bent forward a little for a few seconds to catch her breath, then stood upright.

She was a few inches shorter than me, very lean and flexible. Her hair was short, since she didn't like how it got in her way of training.

"Sijakuona milele! Lazima tuzungumze, rafiki yangu."(I haven't seen you in forever! We have to talk, my friend.)

She suddenly took a hold of my hand and pulled me towards her hut. When we got in, she made us sit on the ground, as we usually did when we had conversations about life. The huge smile on her face made me wonder what made her feel so happy.

"Amana, Enzi alikuja kwangu, akaniambia nikuambie kuwa anataka wewe na yeye tuwe pamoja, na tuwe na familia! Sio nzuri hiyo ?!" (Amana, Enzi came to me, and told me to tell you that he wants you and him to be together, and have a family! Isn't that great?!)

The shock that ran through me was intense. I didn't think that he would do such a thing. I mean, I did see him advance towards me, but I thought he got the message during the celebrations we had for the warriors.

Lakeisha's smile slowly disappeared, and in its place a small frown.

"Amana? Anakupenda! Kwanini haufurahii?" (Amana? He loves you! Why aren't you happy?)

I looked at my hands that were rested on my laps, that had been held by Roland not a couple of hours ago in the forest.

"Je! Unampenda mtu mwingine?" (Do you like someone else?)

My gaze quickly rose to hers, and her eyebrows, that had been drawn together not a while ago, went back to their position. A huge smile grew on her face now, and I wished that I hadn't reacted like that to her question. She got a hold of my hands, and held them tightly, shaking them here and there.

"Yeye ni nani? Yuko wapi?" (Who is he? Where is he?)

I looked down again, not really sure if I should tell her. What if it was temporary? Not a feeling that went deeper than anticipated?

"Siwezi kusema chochote kwa sasa."(I can't say anything at the moment.)

I stood up and went to her window and looked outside. She came and stood next to me.

"Unajisikiaje ukiwa naye? Niambie. (How do you feel when you're with him? Tell me.)

I kept on looking outside, the stars shining bright high up there in the sky. The words just ended up coming out.

"Ni ...... tofauti, na wanaume ambao nimewaona hapo awali. Jinsi anavyoona vitu, anavyoishi, anachofanya, ni tofauti tu. Yeye ni mzuri na anayejali. Sijamjua kwa muda, lakini kwa mfupi wakati nimefanya nihisi hisia ambazo sikuwahi kujisikia hapo awali. Sijui tu ........ sijui ikiwa ninafaa kuhisi vile ninahisi." (He's...... different, from the men I've seen before. The way he sees things, how he lives, what he does, it's just so different. He is nice and caring. I haven't known him for a while, but for the short while that I have made me feel emotions I'd never felt before. I just........don't know if I should feel the way I feel though.)

"Kuna nini, Amana? Kwanini huwezi kuhisi hivyo kwake?" (What's wrong, Amana? Why can't you feel like that for him?)

Should I tell her?

"I ..... SIYAPASWI tu! Yeye ni ........... tofauti." (I..... I just SHOULDN'T! He's........... different.)

After a while of standing there, I was suddenly pulled to the ground to sit next to her.

"Usiniambie ........ Wewe ......... kama .... yeye? Mzungu unayemlinda?" (Don't tell me........ You.........like....him? The white man you're protecting?)

I just kept silent. I couldn't say no if it actually was the truth.

"Wow ....... namaanisha ....... wow! Nimeshtuka, Amana. Kwa hivyo, utafanya nini? Namaanisha, haujawahi kumpenda mtu yeyote hapo awali."(Wow....... I mean.......wow! I'm shocked, Amana. So, what are you going to do? I mean, you've never liked anyone before.)

Not knowing what to say, I rested my head on her lap. She began to play around with my hair. This was what we did when I was in deep thought, not knowing the outcome of everything. Not fully knowing if I was the only one who felt this between us.

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Translations during conversations come directly from Google translations!!🙃

Bold- English

Not bold- Swahili

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Author: Voting, commenting, sharing, adding book to reading list....anyone? Just me?.....okay then....(´;︵;')

Roland:(takes his eyes off of Amana, but just for a short while) They seriously aren't doing anything? I thought I was doing pretty good out there!

Amana: (rolls eyes, but secretly smiles on the inside)

Author: ¯\_(☯෴☯)_/¯