Hey. This is new for me... a drabble. It's a bit odd for me to write, since I'm not much of a drabble or one-shot type of person – I like lengthy plots (and I tend to yap).
But I guess, it was worth it, if nothing else then to try out this sort of writing too, plus it gives a slight diversion from my other fanfics, which is probably a good thing. It's from volume 8 of the manga, and it deals with a few things, which I felt were sort of hinted, but not explicitly stated. The drabble assumes you've read the manga all the way through, so if you haven't, I'd recommend you not to read this, since you might get some of the original work spoiled for you.
Promises Kept
By Shnoosh
The contraption hangs from his neck... ruined... lifeless.
"Y-you can't... l-leave..." If only... he hadn't frozen her... she would... "There's something I want to tell you. It's important!"
"Don't. But... promise me something instead?"
"W-what?"
"The moment we meet again..."
He brushes her tear away.
"...you will tell me."
Lips join... their second time... and separate. "Promise?"
"I promise."
He turns... and walks away.
Towards the demon he must stop.
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Decades later.
Three objects still rest neatly on Azmaria Hendrick-Christopher's memento shelf.
A faded picture.
An old gun.
And a broken pocketwatch...
which has been to hell... and back.
The End
So that's my first (and most likely last... I'm not really thrilled about the word count restriction) drabble.
It had a few inspirations, and I'd kinda like to mention two of them. One was that in the manga, Rosette states that Chrno promised her he would definitely return, but that she promised something to him as well, and that this promise was yet another reason that she would keep waiting for him (at least I read it that way).
Another (probably the primary) inspiration was from the ending itself, where Chrno came back after some 7-8 years of doing whatever. This scene could actually be open for a bit of interpretation, as for instance it could be nothing but a delirious and hallucinating Rosette, whose near-fatal seizure combined with the fact that she wants nothing but for Chrno to return to her, merely causes her to imagine his return (not the most heartwarming scenario, but for the cynic it's a possibility). Also it could be seen as though her seizure was fatal, and she actually dies then and there in the church. This means that when Chrno enters, it's to symbolize how they finally meet posthumously. Presumably he has died in his final fight against Aion or from Pandemoniums explosion (his appearance could indicate something along those lines).
However, considering that Chrno took the pocket watch from Rosette, and wore it around his neck when he went to meet Aion, the simple fact that it is in Azmaria's possession after Rosette's death, is to me the only thing resembling an actual proof that he did come back, since any other speculation on how it ended up with her begins to become more or less far fetched. Of course, that he did come back, is probably already the widest accepted interpretation, but I simply like to back up stuff with something more concrete than personal and/or general opinion.
And right here you should also be able to see why I dislike this 100 word requirement – because I've just used more than THREE TIMES as many words describing some of the thoughts behind it... bloody hell...
But anyway, thanks for reading all this nonsense, if you feel like commenting, it will of course be most appreciated.