"Come on, I'll help you". Axel said and Hannah hopped on the swing again. He went behind her and pushed the swing slightly. Hannah, startled by the sudden movement, held the handle tightly like her life depended on it but as seconds went by, she relaxed and after a while, she got bored of the slow movement.
She turned back to Axel and understanding what she wanted, he pushed the swing with more force than before. Hannah, new to the experience, screamed her lungs out at the first swing and Axel stopped, fearing that she would have a heart attack.
When Hannah's breathing calmed down, she looked at Axel again. "What? You want to continue?" Axel asked and Hannah nodded like she didn't scream a few minutes back.
A mischievous smile crept up on Axel's face and he nodded. He moved to stand behind her and without warning, he pushed her with so much force that Hannah kept screaming even when the swing stopped moving.
"Shhh…" Axel was already in front of Hannah, patting her back to calm her down. Hannah jumped down from the swing and glared at Axel like he was her greatest enemy.
"Why did you do that?" Her voice was higher than normal making Axel arch his brows, amused.
"You asked me to". Axel shrugged.
Hannah pursed her lips and walked away to look for Penelope but Axel stopped her again.
"How about this, I will teach you how to use the swing yourself". Hannah, though all angry, agreed anyway. It would be better to learn how to use the swing so that she could avoid people like Axel who wanted to push her to her death!
She hopped on the swing again and Axel went behind her. "Don't push". She shouted and Axel raised his hands with a smile on his lips.
"Just move your legs back and forth. It's as easy as that". Axel explained and gestured with his hands.
Hannah nodded, thinking it was easy and she began moving her legs like Axel explained.
Axel facepalmed when he saw Hannah just moving her legs in the air without applying any force whatsoever. This girl was hopeless. Sighing, he walked forward and stood beside the swing.
"Here". Hannah jolted when Axel's hand touched her exposed legs and she pushed her legs back immediately.
"There, that's how you do it". Axel smiled and that was when Hannah realized that she was indeed moving. She kicked her legs forward again and she went higher in the air. Hannah's mouth formed an 'O' shape as she got used to the new feeling and after a while, she relaxed and was now moving steadily.
Axel, standing in front of Hannah, watched as she swung back and forth. When she moved forward, her dress fluttered in the wind and when she swung back, she looked like a celestial being with the dark and starry sky behind her. Her hair fluttered in the wind and with that yellow scarf… She looked like a goddess. But this goddess looked lost and lonely. Her face was peaceful, so peaceful that it was almost uncomfortable. The air around her was depressing and all Axel wanted was to shield this lone and lost goddess from every ill in his world. He had no idea why she wanted to stay and work with him when she knew nothing about who or what he was. If she was a dangerous person with enemies after her, then he was worse. The whole world was after him. She wanted a normal life but if she was with him, how would that happen? He had nothing against her but she was not safe where he was nor was he where she was.
Axel regained his senses when he saw something moving in front of his eyes and that something happened to be Hannah's hand. She was moving so fast and waving at him that Axel was scared since it was her first time but when he saw her face, that ecstatic expression on her face and… her smile…
Hannah was smiling?
Smiling…
Axel found himself frozen to the spot when he saw her smiling face. It was a small smile, so small that it wouldn't even be considered a smile as her lips were just curled up at the edges and would only be noticed if you looked closely, but to Axel, that was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.
He has never seen Hannah smile before but now that he has seen it, he couldn't help but want to see it every day of his life. He didn't know why, but seeing Hannah smile made him smile too, and that yellow in her hair….
Axel laughed at his thoughts. What was wrong with him today?
Before he could fall into a daze again, he saw Penelope running towards them. She was holding something else in her hand, a red flower which he assumed she picked from the park, and she held it out to Axel. Axel collected the rose and thanked her.
Just then, Hannah walked towards them and a smiling and happy Axel held out the flower to her. The funny thing was that he didn't even know what he was doing and when he realized it, it was already too late as Hannah had already taken the flower from him.
He felt weird again but what was done was done and since Hannah said nothing about it, he decided to ignore it.
"Let's go".