I told you so
Druig’s voice still resonated in her head. The fight was unequal. One side carried guns while the other had to resort to poisoned spears. They had already won. The massacre of an entire population would only slow down Tiamut, Ajak had to intervene one way or another.
When the men with guns retreated, she rushed towards the forest to go help the people that had fallen under the shots. Upon arriving next to them, she froze. A woman with dark hair was sitting next to a man with a wound in her chest, a wound that would have been fatal if untreated, and yet she knew exactly what to do. Her hands worked in a way that seemed almost magic, crushing leaves to make a thick paste with it that she soon applied on the open wound.
“Don’t stay here, come.”
It took the leader of the Eternals a moment before realising she was addressing her. She tied her hair in her back, sitting beside the woman.
“Give me this branch next to you.”
She obliged, observing every movement that the woman made, trying to learn. She would only be able to use her powers when no one was looking to remain incognito. Who knows what might happen to her if the armed men came up to her without Druig or Ikaris to save her.
The brown haired woman had moved on to a second person, then a third, soon, every person near them were back on their feet.
“Who are you?”
This is when she realised she had been quiet this whole time. “I am Ajak. You?”
The woman approached the river nearby, washing her hands in the stream. “Anacaona. The healer. I have never seen you before.”
“I was in Tenochtitlan and came here to seek refuge.”
It was Anacaona’s turn to freeze, she had heard the tales of the city and how it took them a mere night to take over the capital. She pressed her hands to her heart before getting up, looking as if a ghost passed before her eyes. “It is good to see that you have survived.”
“I was helped by my friends.“ Druig especially. His power was the one who granted all of them freedom. “I came to offer my own help. I can heal people with nothing but my hands…”
“Nothing but your hands?” She laughed. That one sound was enough to make Ajak’s heart stop beating for a mere instant. It was the most beautiful laugh she had ever heard. “I will teach you how to use plants, they are more useful than your hands.”
“Allow me to think otherwise.” Anacaona’s scepticism was understandable, Ajak could remember how hard it had been to convince Plato that Ikaris’ lasers were not some kind of joke, humans were not open to believing in this kind of things. “I will show you with the next wounded man.”
They walked together for hours, Ajak telling her tales of her travel from Tenochtitlan, Anacaona of her family and how she learnt how to use nature to her own advantage. She could poison anyone in their sleep.
Ajak’s powers were seen as useless by the other woman. Maybe she thought that they could only heal open wounds? The healer had to make another demonstration a week later on a sick man. Anacaona refused to admit that she had been wrong. Her own art was more powerful than Ajak’s, and she was willing to fight to prove it.
After every battle, they both held some kind of competition, which one of them would get the most men back on their feet. Anacaona always won, but only because Ajak would let her win. The smile on the brown haired woman’s face when she said the words ‘I told you so’ were enough for the Eternal. It was as bright and warm as the sun.
Months passed, soon, their rivalry slowed down, they did not feel the need to work against one another, when Anacaona did not succeed, Ajak would help her. It also worked the other way around.
One day, Ajak brought a golden flower to Anacaona. The woman accepted it, placing it between her right ear and her head. A compliment, two, and soon, their hands found each other.
They sat by a river, looking at the sun going down above the trees. Finally, they kissed. Passionately and hastily first, then slow and loving. It had not taken long for the both of us to fall for one another.
When they broke apart, Anacaona finally admitted that Ajak had the best asset, to which the leader of the Eternals replied with ‘I told you so’.