Chapter 1 - The Break

Corporal David Yakobavitch slowly let out his breath and adjusted his rifle; his breath forming a light mist in the cold morning air. He was high in the mountains that formed the Lebanese border with Israel.

The sentry stood quietly several hundred meters away in the rocky land, quietly watching the wrong direction, blissfully ignorant of David’s presence.

Pulling the trigger, David felt the rifle kick back into his shoulder as the .308 round left his barrel and hurtled towards its destination. Through his scope, David watched the sentry’s head dissolve into a fine red mist and his body slump to the floor, rifle clattering away.

A tear rolled down David’s cheek as he racked the bolt and silently prayed to god for his forgiveness. As much as he was an experienced sniper, David felt great remorse each time he killed a man. Each time he fired his rifle in anger, David was releasing a little of his personal pain onto another, and It only increased his guilt.

“That’s a kill,” whispered Corporal Ari Weismann; David’s spotter and best friend since he had joined the IDF.

“They’re moving in now, our job is done. Pack up!” David replied, efficiently hiding his pain. David swept a lock of hair from his eyes and hooking it over his ear, pushed himself to his knees lifting his rifle with him.

David and Ari had been supporting Special Ops missions for over a year now, and as such had been required to have appearances that blended in somewhat easier than the standard buzcut of the IDF infantry.

The two men began to make their way down the mountainside on the friendlier side of the border. “You were crying again,” Ari stated matter of factly as he scanned the horizon with his Tavor rifle.

“So? It’s a powerful thing shooting people,” David shot back quickly. ”You, of anyone, should know taking a life through a telescopic lens isn’t like regular combat, we see them, so close, so clear, they aren’t shooting back, I pray to god for my sin. Man is man, religion, nationality aside, I don’t want to kill them, but I have to, it’s a job we must do for our country.”

Ari snickered. “You really think about this too much, stop justifying yourself.” He looked around at David. “You okay?”

David nodded weakly and broke eye contact.

The two trudged on down the mountainside before stopping in the cover of some rock formations to rest.

“So when are you going to tell me what’s up David?” Ari said lighting a cigarette and taking a deep drag. He exhaled the smoke and looked at David, fixing him with one of those piercing stares that he was unnervingly good at. "I’m not blind, David,” he half whispered.

Sighing, David lifted his guillie suit hood from his head, and pulled his water bottle from the pouch to avoid replying to his best friend since childhood.

Ari looked at David with an amused expression on his face.

”What?” David asked defensively.

“It really surprises me how you’ve changed since we enlisted.” Ari chuckled. “You know I get asked so often in the mess how I got paired with a female sniper…”

David looked at Ari, unsure as how to respond. ”Um …” he said intelligently.

“Then again, I’m beginning to wonder if they are wrong,” Ari mentioned as he inhaled again.

David blushed. “Pass me a smoke, Ari!” David lamely tried to avoid the topic at hand.

Ari threw the pack to David. ”You know, you really suck at changing the topic.” Ari laughed.

Lighting his cigarette, David looked at the ground, the sky, and then eventually his spotter. “Yeah I know.”

“How long have we been friends David? 3? 4 years?”

“Coming on 5 now.” David recalled, drawing on his cigarette.

”I’d have thought that I would have been one of the few people you could talk to …” David could hear the accusation hanging in Ari's voice.

A tear trickled down David’s cheek as he looked away from Ari for a moment to collect himself. He'd never thought it would be like this. “They aren’t wrong.” David blurted before he had chance to back out.

Ari stopped mid-inhale and looked at David. “Yeah, thought as much.” He said as if nothing had been said.

David looked at his best friend for a moment. “You aren’t mad?” he asked meekly.

“No.” Ari said flatly. "To be honest, we have been best friends years, and if anyone knows you, I do, and you have not been like any of my male friends since we first knew each other.” He laughed, “Somehow, part of me always knew you were a girl.”

“You’re far too emotional to be a guy for one!” Ari chuckled, catching the cigarette pack David launched at him. “Plus, the only people who think you are a man are the ones reading the reports and orders…” Ari laughed again. “You really haven’t looked like a man since we enlisted and had buzz cuts … even then, it was questionable.”

David smiled. For as long as he could remember, he had felt that there was some great injustice. He wasn’t a boy…. He was a girl. It seemed nature had conspired with his parents to bring him into the world as a male child, something that caused David a great deal of pain.

David had been spared most of the effects of puberty that befell his friends. His tanned skin was not cursed by hair, and his fine, feminine features often lead to men making passes at him in bars, something he secretly relished.

Since joining Special Ops, and having the grooming restrictions of the infantry removed in the sake of blending in. David had grown his hair back to its former glory in his teens. His wavy brunette hair fell down to the middle of his back, and glistened in the sun. Worn in a low male ponytail when around superiors, David always wore his hair in a high bun in the field, like other female soldiers did. Something his best friend had clearly noticed.

Both nearing their 21st birthdays, the two had enlisted in the Israeli army at 18, at the wish of their parents; something that had caused David much conflict. Having his hair cut on the first day of training had nearly caused David to kill himself with the grief of receiving such a male haircut.

Ari grinned, “So my friend. It appears we have not been properly introduced. My name … is Corporal Ari Peter Weismann.” He smiled, extending his hand to David. “And you my dear?”

David felt foolish playing around with his friend while they sat wearing full guillie suits and carrying rifles, but he and Ari had never taken things seriously. ”Um, S … Sarah,” David stuttered. “My name is Sarah.” She blushed.

Ari pushed his rifle around his back and approached Sarah, pulling her into a crushing embrace.

It was more than she could take, and the whole situation forgotten, Sarah broke down sobbing. She had told another living soul about her existence. She was free now. The pressure that had built up over the years was too much to bear, and she cried.

Ari held his sobbing friend close as she cried. He had felt this for a long time. Almost as long as he had known her. Something felt right now, an error was corrected in their friendship. The girl he had known all these years had finally admitted it. He felt a strong sense of protectiveness towards his friend. “I’m here for you, you know that, right?” he whispered soothingly to the sobbing girl in his arms.

Sarah looked up at Ari with a deer in the headlights look on her face.

“Nobody will hurt you, you’re my best friend, they have to come through me first.”

Sarah hugged her friend tightly. She still couldn’t quite believe she had told him, but it all felt so right now.

Separating, the two realised they still had a job to do. Getting home…

Sniffing, Sarah looked over at Ari. “Thank you.” She whispered, hooking an errant lock behind her ear.

Looking over at his surprisingly beautiful friend, Ari shook his head smiling. "Nah, thank you … You trusted me. I feel honoured to be the friend of someone so brave … Even if you do cry when shooting Arabs” he laughed and ducked Sarah’s swipe.

Chapter 2 to come…..
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