A/N: Don't own anything, obviously. Just a little random idea I had that demanded to be written down. Probably another chapter after this one, unless my mind becomes difficult and makes me do something else. Reviews are appreciated :)
"I thought I might braid your hair," Anna says, armed with a hairbrush.
"Why?" I ask. I just got into bed.
She gives me one of those quintessentially Anna smiles. "Because I want to, silly. It's your last night." I smile back, half amused and half sad. Last night. I sit down at the chair in front of the mirror in out room and take out the braid I already made. Anna stands behind me, still smiling. "So, are you excited?"
I nod. "Excited and scared."
Anna puts a hand on my head. "Don't move." She tries to look serious in the mirror, but in the end she smiles. "I'm happy for you."
"Thanks." She starts to run the brush through my hair. We don't say anything for a bit. Here I am, in a room with a girl who has practically been my sister for the past six years. And I'm never going to see it or her again. Of course, Sybil says she'll have me over, but that will be as Sybil's guest. I nearly shiver at the thought. Sleeping in one of those guest beds instead of making them? How odd!
"You will write, won't you? I know you know how!" Anna always manages to make some sort of comment like that. I must have been looking rather down.
"Course I will. Maybe I'll even type my letters." Why did I think I'll never see Anna again? Of course we'll always be the best of friends.
"You know what this makes me think of?" she continues. She parts my hair in three. "All those men going to war. It's like you're going out to fight a battle against the world." She sighs and giggles at the same time. I didn't even know that was possible. "That sounded rather poetic, didn't it?"
"Maybe you should be the one going to work as a secretary." We both laugh at this.
"I don't think I'd work well in a cramped office with machines I don't know how to run."
"No, I don't think you would."
Anna brings my hair chunks one over the other. She turns quiet. "I'll miss you. I probably will need Daisy to shake me to get me up every morning. And I'll need to train another maid about how to make a bed and fluff a pillow and how not to fluff a pillow." I smile. One of the things I did when I first got here was fluff a pillow wrong. Looking back, I don't know how I did it, but I did. "I'll miss talking with you at night like this, randomly about things. And believe it or not, I'll miss having to cover for you when you take an adventure with Lady Sybil."
Anna sighs, and I decide to take over. "I'll miss being able to talk to you about things. I doubt there will be any other girls in the office, let alone someone as good as a sister." Anna smiles at me in the mirror, this time sadly. My eyes start to fill with tears. Of course, leave it to me to make this a depressing, pessimistic moment.
Anna ties off the end of my braid. "There. All set." She puts her head on my head. "All set to be a working woman of the world." She gets happier again. "Don't let me hear of you getting yourself into a Lady Mary situation."
I smile. "I won't." I don't say my next thought, for fear of depressing the mood again. I just thought of how I won't be able to say things like "Lady Mary situation" or "She was as mas as Mrs. Patmore at Daisy." I wonder who I'll talk to, if anyone. I should stop worrying. I thought I'd make no friends at Downton, and here I am, practically crying over one of them.
Everything will be alright. I keep telling myself that as I get into bed.
"Good night, Gwen," Anna says, as she blows out the candle.
"Good night, Anna," I say, probably for the last time.