Under the Sun

What was the Inspiration?

It came together when I started an exercise of writing to songs!
This particular story was inspired by the song ‘Under the Sun’.

Why these characters?
Well, when I heard this song, I was struck by inspiration from the lyrics ‘I need one last time under the sun, before we run, let’s fall in love, under the sun’

It made me ask questions like – why are they running? Who could they be? And probably thanks to the detective series I’ve been watching recently, the reasoning ended up being they’re running from the authorities!
With the implication that one of them is a criminal of sorts, under the sun became a metaphor for being on the wrong side of the law.

Under the Sun

“You know there’s no coming back from this, right?”

Those were the words that broke the stark silence in the sunlit room. The woman, a vision in white, who these words were addressed to, looked at her reflection in the mirror as a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

“I’m surprised. You getting cold feet there Cho?”

The man harrumphed, rolled his eyes and sighed “You know what I meant Raven.”

Raven turned to the man in white who had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he leaned against the door, hunched, his brows furrowed.

“I know” she said, a soft look in her eyes as she offered the man a smile.

She turned back to the mirror and finished applying her mascara as Cho stewed in the silence. The sun’s rays caressed the curls that unfurled from the silky white bonnet she tore off, giving the woman a youthful and innocent appearance.

“After this you’ll officially be considered an accessory no matter where you go.”

Raven and Cho shared a look through the mirror. The sunny atmosphere grew cold as Raven’s eyes narrowed, giving the man a sharp look in warning as she patted powder on her ebony skin.

“Right, and up until now I could’ve argued kidnapping?”

“Well… yes. There’s been weaker defences that the authorities have accepted before.”

Cho looked uncomfortable as he stood tall, attempting to put forth his argument, when Raven gave him a smile and a shake of the head.

“For information. I don’t think I could ever go back though.”

Seeing as Raven put down her tools and seemed close to ready, Cho walked over with the veil and gently clipped the fascinator in place. Raven fluffed her hair and smiled through her reflection at the woman that entered the room with a soft knock.

“Hey”

The word came as a soft sigh from Raven as her eyes tracked the suited woman approaching her. Cho stepped out of the way, and turned to face the windows instead, offering the two women privacy.

“Hello gorgeous”

Came the reply as the woman laid her hands on Raven’s bare shoulders, offering her curls a kiss and meeting the blushing bride’s eyes in the mirror.

“You know its bad luck to see the bride in her wedding dress before actually wedding her, right?”

An amused smile came from the short haired woman as she shrugged, gently taking Raven’s hands and bringing her to her feet, before twirling her round and capturing her in a basket of their arms. Raven shivered when her bare back brushed the cold metal buttons on the other woman’s waistcoat.

“Good thing I used the last of my luck to find the right woman for me then.” She whispered into Raven’s ear, and released the bride with a nudge of her hip, extending her arm, allowing Raven to twirl outwards and away, her dress flaring around her ankles. The woman’s eyes twinkled as she smiled at Raven mischievously.

“You look beautiful.” Raven blushed at the sheer sincerity that came from the woman, and smiled.

“Can any of my family make it?”

An affirmative nod was the response as the woman stepped closer and tucked Raven’s hand into the crook of her elbow.

“Only your sister agreed, we’re getting her bundled up and brought in soon”

“Sandy!” Raven gave the woman’s arm a light smack, looking up at the short haired woman with indignance “I most certainly hope you didn’t have my sister kidnapped like some lowlife!”

“I promise nothing my dove. She won’t be manhandled regardless… unless things go awry”

Raven pouted at the woman, who, with an amused smile, kissed her in response. Just as Raven went to break the kiss, Sandy held the back of Raven’s neck tenderly, deepening the kiss. When Raven was finally allowed to catch her breath, she looked away shyly, lightly smacking the woman’s arm again.

“Don’t think your acting cute is getting you brownie points Cassandra.”

“She’ll be fine my dove. Don’t you worry.”

Cassandra kissed Raven on the forehead then, and continued to lead the way out the room, into the living area and towards the garden through the French windows. Cho trailed after them silently, nodding at Cassandra’s silent instruction when she jerked her chin to the bouquet on the coffee table.

“You like it?”

Cassandra paused as they stepped out the French windows and gave Raven a moment to soak in the view. The interior garden that was previously bare, now boasted pots of roses, bougainvillea, forget-me-nots and daises that were lining the path to a statue of a couple swans.

“It’s beautiful Sandy.”

Raven blinked back tears and gratefully took the tissue Cho passed her, that she then swapped for the bouquet.

“Ready dove?”

Raven nodded and Cassandra took a moment to grin, raising her hand and snapping her fingers. The sky exploded with a shower of petals and song in that moment, as the Bridal March was played from speakers hidden in the garden. Cassandra gently nudged Raven out of her stupor, and the two slowly made their way to the statue.

“Are these apple blossoms?”

“Well spotted Dove.”

“You remembered.”

“Of course, my love.” Raven smiled up at Cassandra, who looked down at the former with great emotion “anything for you.”

“You’ll have to forgive me though.” Cassandra continued as she smiled awkwardly.

“For?”

“I couldn’t find a priest, so we’ll be making our vows to each other.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Raven and Cassandra stood before the statue of swans and turned to face the thin crowd. Raven recognised most of the faces – while she couldn’t put names to their faces, she was intimately familiar with the men and women who stood before them, all of them subordinates to Cassandra.

She smiled to the crowd as she looked through their faces, spotting her sister a few moments later, and felt a surge of emotion. Guilt, grief and love tangled in her chest as she faced the one person she missed greatly for the last few years. Her sister smiled at her, full of love, pointing at her and placing her hands over her chest.

Raven had to blink tears away as she felt her sister’s love radiate towards her. As Raven turned to face Cassandra, the latter took Raven’s hands in hers, supporting the bouquet as she did so, and in that moment, the music petered out.

“Raven, my love, I’m fortunate to have met you – whether it was fate or pure chance, you are the greatest blessing I’ve received in this lifetime and perhaps every other lifetime I’ve lived. I promise to continue to cherish you, make you smile, and live out the rest of our lives together, whether in the light or the shadows.”

There was soft applause, immediately cut short by Cassandra’s sharp look to the crowd. Raven giggled, smiling at Cassandra’s surly expression. But Raven’s smile was infectious enough that Cassandra couldn’t help but find herself smiling as well.

“Cassandra, the sun to my stars, our life has been turbulent and trying at times, but always filled with laughter and joy. I promise to follow you wherever you go, be it in the light or in the shadows, to love and cherish you, and always make sure we have the best food.”

There was a soft ripple of polite laughter as Raven finished her vows. Not a beat later, Cho appeared by Cassandra’s side and held out an elaborately decorated walnut shell, that opened to reveal two rings – one a simple band, and the other an ornate ring made of twining vines that twisted towards cut rubies that were arranged in the shape of an iris.

With a nod to Cho, which received a smile in response, the bouquet was passed to the former as Raven took the ornate ring and held Cassandra’s left hand up. The ring slid on perfectly, and Cassandra gave her a soft smile, flipping their left hands to place the simple band on Raven’s hand. Raven grinned ear to ear and blushed when Cassandra very gently bent her head to place a tender kiss on her ring.

“With this my love, we are one.”

There was soft applause all round, and murmurs of congratulations, disturbed by a loud crackle and a couple of canisters of tear-gas that came from over the fence.

“CASSANDRA OLLICK. WE HAVE YOU AND YOUR SUBORDINATES SURROUNDED. STEP OUT OF THE GARDEN NOW.”

None of the people save Raven missed a beat drawing their guns. Bouquets were dropped to the floor revealing handguns, and a pot of bougainvillea was strewn aside to reveal several Uzis in the planter. One of the women grabbed the two tear-gas cannisters and threw it back over the fence.

“Sorry dove, looks like that was our moment under the sun”

Several members of the wedding party started to secure the corridor, and waved to Cassandra. Cho repositioned himself to the side but just ahead of Raven with an Uzi in hand and turned to acknowledge the latter with a nod.

“At least we had this before we had to run”

Raven sighed as she looked around – toppled pots with soil strewn on the ground, planters set up as temporary stands for guns, and crushed petals on the ground.

“We’ll have many moments under the sun my love. This was the first of many.”

Cassandra gently took Raven’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

“Promise?”

“I promise.”