~Hellsing: The Phantom revisits~
Heinkel walked solemnly in front of the small group. She didn't turn around as people to the side of her mumbled and gossiped. Who could blame them?
Here were the 'heroes' of Iscariot, back from one of the greatest battles that their time had ever heard of.
The 'leader' (as Heinkel seemed to be) was walking down the hallway, her face bandaged but still showing the extent of her scars. In her hands, she carried the small black box, with the emblem of section thirteen. The box that contained the ashes of her friend, mentor and the man she considered her only true parent.
And behind her, a few of her fellow brothers carried a corpse between them. The black bag also had the section thirteen emblem on it and Heinkel had almost lost it when someone almost walked into Yumiko' body.
They were only a few hundred feet away from the main Iscariot building, but Heinkel needed to desperately know if one of her 'family' could be saved.
'Before Kat,' Heinkel was glad the glasses she wore obscured her watery eyes, 'before I go to her…I need to make sure Yumiko is alright.'
They hadn't tested out the theory beforehand that Yumiko may or may not survive the process of what would kill a normal human. They'd left it all down to faith.
A short while later…
The priest and his small team had everything ready in the lab. He'd heard everything that had been happening but needed to know it was true for sure. He'd been up most of the night before crying over his mentors demise at such a terrible time. He also cried for fear he'd lose someone who he loved for a long time, but who barely knew he existed.
"Father Diotavelli…they are here." An elderly woman in a lab coat and habit approached him, pointing his attention to the large glass doors where a group was approaching.
He turned, brown and gold eyes shimmering as he took it all in.
Father Heinkel Wolfe leading a group of men, all of whom were carrying the black bag, which he knew contained what ever was left of Sister Yumiko Takagi.
He swallowed down the lump in his throat and stepped forward, his small team parting and creating plenty of room, their positions already going ahead for whatever was planned.
Heinkel Wolfe pushed the doors opening, hearing a click as they held open on their own, her brothers following in after her.
She stopped in front of Angelo, her bandaged face not making him blink twice at her.
"Va-Vater Ange-wo." She managed to mutter out, her wound still painful and not allowing her to speak clearly.
"Father Wolfe," he replied back and held out his hand, "everything is ready. I ask…may we also examine you? There may be something I can do to help you and improve you're…wound."
Heinkel just nodded gratefully, hoping he would give her some extra strength painkillers. She took his hand and shook it twice, letting go and just wanting everything to be over and done with.
But she still had to wait for a full hour, sitting in a corner and watching as her friend' body was carefully handled. Yumiko was placed into a plain black gown which resembled a hospital one and had everything cleaned and stitched.
Heinkel paid careful attention to the way Angelo handled Yumiko. He touched her with great delicacy and scolded anyone of his staff that was slightly clumsy with a surgical instrument.
"IDIOT!" He had turned and snapped at a young male, "Be careful! We want her alive and intact! If I wanted a sloppy job, I would have asked for one!"
He took the knife from the young man and continued with the job, undoing some stitching which needed to come out.
'Curious sod.' She chuckled as she watched him make sure that everything was in it's right place (occasionally leaning down and just staring at her face, using some medical procedure as an excuse).
Throughout everything, he stopped to make sure Heinkel was comfortable and receiving treatment as well. She was giving painkillers and consulted on the best way to stitch it up. Unfortunately, she knew as well as they did nothing miraculous could be done to make her look the way she used to.
Angelo had been the only one honest with her. He could take away the pain and stitch it back up to improve her voice, which would return to normal, but he told her that she'd always have that scar to show what she had done for her church. For everyone in Iscariot.
A short while later…
Yumiko' felt like she was slowly floating. She felt like a feather and was trying to wake up from a dream. The last thing she remembered was seeing lots of red and then she was nowhere. It was all pitch black and it had been that way for a while. But she seemed to not go anywhere, as if waiting for something.
As if waiting to be woken up.
She could feel herself now though, settling into something quite comfy. During her 'floating' period, she hadn't been able to feel anything in particular.
But now, she could distinctly feel a soft bed beneath her and a few odd things also. It felt like there was something digging into her arms and hands. She felt like ripping them out but she still couldn't move. It was as if something was making her wait. Just a little bit longer. Till something was finally complete. What she didn't know was, that her body was still going through regeneration.
Everyone in the laboratory was deep in prayer, their heads all bowed respectfully and all their faith combined. That was all that was left to do. Have faith.
Heinkel actually felt like crying and screaming.
One of the elder nuns stood and began to recite for her book.
"Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my Your ears be attentive to my voice in You, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?But with You is forgiveness, that You may be revered.I trust in the Lord; my soul trusts in His soul waits for the Lord more than sentinels wait for the than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the Lord,For with the Lord is kindness and with Him is plenteous redemption;And He will redeem Israel from all their iniquities."
For the first time in his life, Angelo didn't use thought. He used his heart. He prayed with no words, but with every fibre of love he had in his heart. He had love for one person only and he prayed.
"Lord hear my prayer," the nun looked towards the body on the table and sighed heavily, "we ask you to return the soul of our beloved friend and sister Yumiko Takagi. She has been in your care all her life and-and you have seen fit to have her soul taken-taken… ." The woman' voice broke off as she dissolved into tears. Yumiko was close to everyone at the orphanage and she had left a big impact.
"That's enough."
Heinkel placed her hand on the woman' shoulder and allowed her to take a seat.
"I can say nothing that I haven't already screamed or cried out…so I shall just say this. Yumiko…if you don't wake up now, I'm coming after you und vill harass you in the after life."
Everyone in the room gasped, Angelo' eyes widening as Heinkel leant forward, her hands on either side of Yumiko' shoulders and got very close to her face with a wicked smile on her face.
"Don't make me damn us both by kissing you avake."
Heinkel would have actually done so, but she permitted a waiting period of about a minute. And that was all that was needed.
She smiled happily (as best she could) when she saw the pale blue and white skin began to face and turn the familiar white pinkish it had always been.
"Someone, get some water!" Angelo turned to his staff and yelled, keeping at the foot of the bed so he could see what was happening.
"Come on Yumiko…you can hear me. Vake up. Come on." Heinkel called to her firmly, one hand squeezing the girl' should lightly.
Yumiko suddenly inhaled a big breath, officially allowing the life to come back into her. She sucked in a couple of more breaths as if just coming up for water and opened her eyes, squinting as the light hurt her a little. Eventually she managed to focus on the shape in front of her.
"Heinkel?" She recognised the shape but wondered why she was getting wet. When she saw her friends face clearly, she knew the answer. Although her bandages and scar made Yumiko gasp, her friends sad and happy tears were the one thing that Yumiko was happy to see also.
Heinkel was expecting a slap when Yumiko' hands came up. But instead she was pulled into a big hug.
"Oh my silly Priest." Yumiko sniffed as tears rolled down her cheeks to, tears for her friends face but also for the fact she knew she'd missed her.
Heinkel just sobbed and mumbled incoherent words, clinging onto Yumiko as if she was a precious treasure.
Angelo had turned around and walked out, towards his own sector of the lab where no one would disturb him. Although he wore the biggest smile on his face, he didn't quite know why the tears flowed so easily down his cheeks. He busied himself in work, but not before saying a prayer of thanks.
A few hours later…
Yumiko had yet to detach Heinkel from her. The priest had ended up sobbing so much, that she tired herself out and had fallen asleep on top of Yumiko. Though the girl couldn't blame her. She just knew her friend had had a couple of hard days.
She carefully laid back and allowed the short time to recall things and the way her body seemed to work now. Her stomach felt a little tingly and sore, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
She recalled exactly why that was and shook her head of the image. Right now, she didn't want to relive it.
She knew everything had gone to plan, even if they had lost. The world was rid of Millennium.
She shut her eyes as warm tears spilled out, remembering exactly who had been lost. The man she considered her father. The brothers that had been there with them and she had been told, only a few of them remained out of the hundreds that she had gone with.
She couldn't stifle her sobs and placed her hand on her eyes, hoping that they were at peace.
"Yumiko." Heinkel had woken up and looked at her, pulling at her wrist.
The tearful girl was yanked forward gently and into the arms of her best friend, Heinkel cuddling into her tightly as the two finally succumbed to their mourning.
"Oh Yumiko…Ve still have to-to go thee…thee…Kat." Heinkel found it a little bit easier to talk, some words still difficult to pronounce.
Yumiko pulled back and sniffled, looking over to the side where the urn lay with Father Anderson' ashes inside. She questioned her own life and wondered why he couldn't have been saved as well or even instead. What was Iscariot with Anderson? Or without Maxwell? It was difficult for her too except, but she was used to it. She wasn't just a catholic nun. She was a member of Iscariot. An elite 'killer' for her church. Iscariot was not unlike any other part of the church. They sinned and suffered because it was their duty and many had willingly walked the path and paid for their sins. Father Anderson had known his fate, just as well as the others. And although it made her heart ache, she knew he had accepted it. Because he didn't have a choice. And if he had done, he would have gladly stayed with the one person Yumiko and Heinkel both knew.
"I'm ok," Yumiko pulled back and wiped her cheeks, "we…we need to go. I'm fine. I feel…I feel fine."
"Yumiko, you can't be th-serious?" Heinkel pulled away but looked at her friend with a stupefied look, "I'm sure Kat vill understand-"
"Heinkel. She has been waiting to hear from him. She kept faith and hope alive in her heart. And now he's…he's gone…but she doesn't know that and we do. We can't keep her waiting and hoping because…because the longer it goes on, it will shatter her heart." Yumiko felt a new surge of emotional pain at the thought of Kat finding out.
Heinkel inhaled sharply through her nose and nodded.
"When you're right, you're right. Come on, let's get you dressed." Heinkel stood up and pulled out a cigarette, going to light it up. Right on cue, her hand was smacked back down and Yumiko just glared at her.
"I can get dressed on my own Heinkel. OUT." Yumiko gave a small smirk and carefully swung her legs over the side of the table.
"Ve're both girls. You've got nothing I haven't seen before." Heinkel smirked back, actually noticing how the painkillers were already helping her talk better.
"Pervert." Yumiko could have laughed as she noticed the clothes laid out for her on the side. She stood and wandered over, quickly grabbing them and collapsing back down on the table.
Heinkel turned around, knowing that she couldn't push the boundaries of privacy right now. Not until Yumiko was fully recovered could she tease her friend.
"What? You're not gonna' make fun of my panties when you flip my skirt?" Yumiko did give a small laugh as she pulled her dress up and over her head, pulling it down to fit nice and snug.
"No, no, I'll do that when you least expect it."
Heinkel lit up her cigarette as she opened the doors, knowing her friend disliked it. She wiped away more tears as she gave in to the wonderful feeling of having one person make. Yumiko was all she had left now and she was going to defend her as best she could.
Later that night…
Yumiko grabbed more tissue from her box and blew her already red nose. She'd spent most of the day crying and sniffling, having continuously checked up on Kat to make sure she was alright. She knew she wasn't alright, but she couldn't leave her wallowing in sadness. Mourning was something for both of them, but Kat had more heartbreak than Yumiko. To her, Father Anderson was the man she could call her Father; the man who raised her and showed her what a family was. To Kat, he was simply her soul mate.
She'd managed to get the poor girl into her room eventually and stayed with her until she cried herself to sleep (or until Yumiko put a sedative in her drink).
She knew it would be a rough night for both of them, but Kat needed the sleep most. If she busied herself in her work (as Yumiko knew she would have done), she would have physically and mentally exhausted herself.
So Yumiko sat on the edge of her bed, her hands on her lap as she stared off into the distance.
'Penny?' Yumie whispered from within and Yumiko shut her eyes as a few more fluid flowing tears fell.
'You know very well.' She sighed back and laid down onto her pillow.
'Not all the time. Remember, you DO shut me off sometimes…but I know you miss him.' Yumie sent out an image of herself, wrapping her arms around her sister from behind as they laid down on the bed.
'It's not just me…it's everything. We're alive and…home. But what's going to happen now? Carry on like nothing happened? Yumie…I kept wanting to join father but now…now I'm not sure. I'm not sure about anything anymore and I can't even pray.' Yumiko pressed her wet face into her pillow and wiped her nose on the fabric, behaving like the ten year old girl she once was. She felt ghost fingers thread through her hair and could see Yumie trying to soothe her sister the way she used to.
'You're supposed to be the sensible one with all the answers. You know I'm too dumb to come up with anything on my own.' Yumie chuckled and managed to get a snort out of her sister.
'When we were little,' Yumiko shifted and let the side of her head rest on the pillow instead of smothering her face in it, 'and Okasan and Otosan didn't want us around, we used to hide in the cupboard. We made that makeshift bed remember? And we'd fall asleep in there and when we woke up, we'd always leave the house early so we could catch fish by the small stream.'
'…Yeah. I remember. What an awful place!' Yumie cackled and mentally poked her sister, making Yumiko squeak and laugh along with her.
They got their breath and laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
'The thing is…even if we don't know what's going to happen, we still have our promise.' Yumie sighed thoughtfully.
Yumiko smiled and held out her hand to the ceiling, spreading it out like a fan.
'The two of us in this together.'
Yumie' hand came up to meet her sister' and it was almost as if Yumiko felt her fingertips against hers again.
'Itsumademo.'
The two girls, both sharing one body, began to feel drained and exhausted. They reminisced about their first meetings with everyone and slowly, began to drift off, content and glad they had one another. Even if some people though they were just crazy.
The next morning…
'Great! First morning back on duty and we're late!' Yumie grumbled, annoyed they had skipped breakfast.
'It's not my fault! You were the one who couldn't remember where you put our boots!' Yumiko grumbled back, equally annoyed that she'd forgotten to put on a pair of shorts under her skirt (now paranoid Heinkel would get an eye fall of the panties she'd bought the girl for Christmas).
'And it's not my fault YOU overslept! You snore like a hog and kept me awake most of the night!' Yumie wanted to make Yumiko trip up, but she didn't have to. As they turned a corner, their body collided against the chest of the person coming from the other side.
Yumiko lost her glasses in the hassle and was about to fall over, but arms wrapped around her torso and held her up.
"Scusilo! Sono un tal idiota. Are-are you alright?" The voice asked and straightened Yumiko up, letting her go and giving them some distance as he looked her over to check for injuries.
Yumiko blushed and just smiled as she bent forward and grabbed her glasses.
"I-I'm fine! Sumimasen, I'm so sorry! I cannot stop and talk-and I'm late-and…I'm-I'm very sorry!" Yumiko laughed nervously and stepped around the 'blur' she knocked into, too busy cleaning her glasses to put them on.
As she finally placed them on the bridge of her nose, she was already halfway done the hallway, not running as fast as she was, but still hurriedly making her way.
Angelo just smiled and watched her go, sighing happily as he shifted the books he had in one arm. He did have an important meeting with Kat and although it was very serious, he had a small skip in his step as he went.