The sun shone through the windows, spilling onto the two entwined bodies. Ara opened her eyes to look into Jack's face. Last night came rushing back to her all at once, leaving her smiling to herself. He was still asleep, his breath steady. She tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear. Taking care not wake up Jack, Ara disentangled herself from him and climbed out of the bed to the bathroom where she turned on the shower. While waiting for the water to get warm she looked at herself in the mirror. 

She actually did it!

Smiling to herself, Ara stepped into the shower, letting herself be hit by thousands of water droplets. 

Jack was running, stumbling through the forest, his clothes snagging on the trees' outstretched  fingers. What was he running from? Looking behind him he couldn't see anything. Only dark shadows. But he had to keep running. Eyes stinging, lungs burning, hands sweating, legs aching. Skin bleeding. Step after step. 

"Hurry!" cried a voice. 

Ara.

Jack quickened his pace, sprinting to her. Don't be hurt, don't be hurt.. Finally there was something in the distance. It was pale and limp with red hair... 

"Ara!" He knelt next to the body of his love and drew her up against him. She was damp. Lifting his hand he saw it was covered in blood. His body began to shake and sobs escaped from his lips. 

"Ara, please no.." Tears pouring out of his eyes, he buried his face into her hair. His fist clenching a handful of material from her shirt. 

"ARIA! WAKE UP!" 

"Jack! It's okay! It's not real!" His eyes flew open. Ara was sitting next to him on the bed, wearing only a towel. Jack reached up with his hand to stroke her cheek. She was okay. Quickly he pushed himself up into a sitting position, taking his hand away from her face as he did so. She was looking at him worriedly, her delicate features twisted in an anxious expression. 

"I'm okay, Ara" he said as calmly and reassuringly as possible. She raised her eyebrows in question.

"Are you sure, you were crying out in your sleep." 

"What did I say?" 

"My name mainly," she began, "And then you were shouting 'no' a lot as well.. What was happening in your dream Jack?" He shook his head; he didn't really want to scare her. 

"It was just a nightmare. I'm fine. Seriously!" he added. Ara nodded but she didn't look convinced. She got up without looking at him, but at the door she paused and said:

"The shower is free for you to use, by the way." And then walked out. 

*****

"We should execute him!" 

"NO! We must take what he said into consideration!"

"We should release the bombs now!"

"One of our men could be over there!"

"He is no good than the women! Damn him! He can die with them!"

The leaders of the men's camp were shouting at each other about what to do next. Everyone was unsure about everything. Make peace? Bomb the women? Do nothing? Even the Colonel, his head aching and his heart weak, was at a loss. If only they would stop yelling...

"What's wrong Colonel? Ashamed that the man you trusted most has abandoned us?" It was the medic. Out of all the men here, he was the most angry of the current situation they were in. 

"Don't talk to the Colonel in that way! You forget your place Derek!" It was lieutenant Cody, who has always been so faithful to the Colonel in the past. Derek glared at him. 

"All due respect, Sir, but if you hadn't sent him into the girls' camp maybe we wouldn't be in this situation!" 

"Now that is just unfair!" protested Cody.

"The world is unfair. Take a look around you man!" The Colonel sighed to himself. They were never going to accomplish anything at this rate. All too soon, the table was in uproar again. He couldn't do anything except just sit and wait it out. As he waited he looked all around the room. It was in a dome shape, black metal for the roofs, holograms of the men's and women's camp floating in front of the walls. Paper maps of the world were stuck to the walls as well, torn and creased. Everything about this room was old as it was built and furnished when the war first came about. Everything four years old. At last the room had quietened down once again, no sound could be detected. All five men sat down.

"Gentlemen," the Colonel began, "what we do now will determine our future, so we must choose our fates carefully and wisely." A couple of men nodded in agreement. 

"We cannot just order deaths of millions of people so easily. They may have started this war, but Jack is right, it does not end with a slaughter!" Some more nods and 'mmhmm's followed. He had convinced at least three of the five other men of his point of view. Derek stood up again from his chair.

"If we do not act now then more men will die! Surely the sacrifice of the women will be worth it to save the lives of our friends!" Another man stood up in defiance.

"My daughter is over there! She is my family and you are expecting me to bomb her!" Poor man. 

"Gentlemen, gentlemen. As far as we can be sure of, Jack will be over the border with whoever young woman has convinced him of the innocence of the women and so we can only hope that he can persuade them of our desire for peace." A few cheers came from the men. The table suddenly jolted, Derek had brought his fist down onto the surface: hard. 

"YOU ARE ALL MAKING A GRAVE MISTAKE!" he shouted. Colonel winced at his words. 

"Give Jack a chance! I shall contact him on his phone. Allow him one day to get the women on our side once again." This time all men nodded, however the medic had to add one more partial detail,

"But if Jack should fail, then we are bombing the women at twelve o'clock on the dot."