"Gil! Gil!"
Gil, who was sitting on the couch reading, looked up at the sound of the tiny voice. Sure enough, Elliot was standing in the doorway. In his arms was one of the Holy Knight books. As Gil looked at his younger brother, an image of Oz flaunting the newest volume popped into his head. Elliot was almost ten years younger than Gil's master had been, but the sight of tiny fingers straining to wrap themselves around Holy Knight's thick spine was not new to the dark-haired boy.
Thinking of Oz hurt. It had only been five months since he'd disappeared into the Abyss- five months, one week, and four days, Gil was counting- and although the gash on his chest had healed over, Gil's emotional wounds were still smarting. Still, Elliot had nothing to do with that.
"Hi, Elliot," said Gil with a warm smile. "Did you want me to read with you?"
Elliot nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I brought Holy Knight!" he exclaimed. He ran over to Gil and held the book out to him. The older boy took it and let Elliot clamber up onto his lap.
Just as Gil was flipping through to find where they'd left off the last time, Vanessa, Elliot's older sister, appeared at the door.
"Oh, there you are, Elly," she said, smiling affectionately down at the sandy-haired child. "I was looking for you. Did you see that it's snowing outside?"
"Snow!" squealed Elliot. He wiggled around to look at Gil. "Gil, it's snowing! Let's go outside!"
Vanessa's eyes grew cold as she glanced over at Gil. It was no secret that she didn't trust him, or Vincent, for that matter. Still, Gil liked to think that he was the more agreeable one of the two. He was polite, he was good with Elliot, and best of all, he didn't give impromptu doll surgery like Vincent did. "Well… okay," he replied to Elliot. "You don't want to read Holy Knight anymore?"
"We can do that after." Elliot climbed down and stood with his hands on his hips, waiting for Gil. The dark-haired boy got down as well, placing the Holy Knight book on a side table. Elliot stretched up a little hand, which Gil took in his larger one. It made him feel warm inside.
Vanessa stared at the two brothers holding hands silently, up until they reached the door. "By the way," she said to Gil, her voice significantly less amicable than it had been when she was speaking to Elliot. "Vincent was looking for you, too."
The notion struck a chord of unease into Gil, and he didn't know why. Vincent was his brother, and he'd never shown Gil anything but love. Still, he'd known Vincent for five months, while presumably, Vincent had known him for thirteen years. It was unsettling to get to know someone who knew more about you than you did them, and to be forced to warm to someone when, had there been no prior connections, he would have avoided.
"Thank you," Gil responded. And then, to Elliot, he added, "Come on, Elliot. Let's go."
xXx
It was a cold day outside. There was a soft flurry of snow falling from the sky. As soon as Gil and Elliot had crossed the threshold, the smaller boy stuck his tongue out to catch a few flakes. Gil followed him, pulling Elliot's thick scarf tighter around him. Elliot looked up at his adopted brother, beaming wide enough to show off the handful of gaps in his teeth.
"Did you use to play in the snow before you came here?" he asked.
Gil nodded, a lump growing in his throat. Memories were spilling into his mind at a mile a minute; Oz, throwing sloppy snowballs in the expansive Vessalius grounds, as Ada shrieked and Gil tried to hide. The snowflakes that caught in Oz's blond hair had looked like starlight, and they'd tickled Gil's hands as he brushed them away. When they finally got cold from too much snow trickling down their backs, they'd go inside, where Uncle Oscar would greet them with a tray of steaming hot chocolate.
"Yeah," he said wistfully. "I did."
Elliot blinked up at him. "With that Oz person?"
Gil's heart just about stopped. Eyes wide, he stared down at the younger boy. "How… how do you know about Oz?"
"Well, I've heard you mention him before," Elliot told him. "Vincent says you say it when you're sleeping. He doesn't like that. And I think I heard my sister and my brothers talk about him once or twice… but no one will tell me who he is."
Gil swallowed hard. "He was my master, where I lived before I came here. But he was also my best friend."
"So where is he now?" asked Elliot. "I mean, why did you come here if you could have stayed with him? Not that I'm not happy you're here," he added as an afterthought.
He's in the Abyss, Gil wanted to say. But Elliot was only six years old, and he probably wouldn't understand. And so, he admitted something to Elliot that, thinking back, he should have admitted to himself five months, one week, and four days ago.
"He's gone."
Elliot's blue eyes widened. "You mean… he's dead?"
"Sort of," replied Gil.
The subdued look on the younger boy's face didn't last. He put his tiny fists on his hips, drawing in his chin for an impressive, angry pout. "Well, is he or isn't he? How can you be sort of dead?"
Gil blinked back at him in surprise. "It's complicated, Elliot. It's really complicated."
"Okay." Seemingly satisfied with this answer, Elliot crossed his arms. "So, do you miss him?"
Gil nodded. "A lot."
"But you don't have to be sad anymore," Elliot said. "You have me to play with now!"
A small smile formed on Gil's face. "That's right."
"And you have Vincent too."
"...Right."
Elliot gazed up at his older brother. "Wait here," he said, and dashed back inside. Gil stood there, bewildered, until the smaller boy ran back, pulling a sled that was twice his height. "We're gonna go have a great time so you won't be sad about Oz!" he declared.
The thought touched Gil. At first glance, Elliot seemed demanding and spoiled, but he really was a thoughtful and caring child. "Here, let me," Gil said gently, reaching for the rope. But Elliot jerked it away.
"No, I can do it! Come on, Gil, let's go. There's a big hill just over there."
"Okay," responded Gil, grinning. He let Elliot lead him across the snow-covered grounds of the Nightray manor. Just on the other side of it was a large, sloping hill. When they reached the top, Elliot put the sled down on the ground. Gil sat on it first, and gathered the smaller boy onto his lap. "Hold on tight," he told him.
"Go! Go!" exclaimed Elliot, kicking his little legs around. Gil wrapped his arms tightly around him, and used his feet to push them over the edge.
Immediately, a mighty gale of biting wind whistled around Gil's face. He shut his eyes, burying his face in the back of Elliot's hat. The smaller boy threw his arms up into the air, laughing, as they whipped down the hill.
They reached the bottom of the hill with a jolt as the sled hit a rock under the snow. It flipped over, launching Gil and Elliot into a gigantic snowbank.
Gil sat up, shaking snow out of his hair. Just as he was starting to look around for his brother, Elliot rolled out of the snowbank, giggling. "Again!" he declared.
Before he knew it, Gil was laughing, too. Five months, one week, and four days ago, he had thought that he would never be happy again. Maybe he'd never see Oz again, and maybe knowing that had broken his heart. But Oz wasn't his whole life, and he wasn't the only person who could make Gil happy. Elliot definitely could, too. The sandy-haired boy reminded him of Oz in a lot of ways; his passion, his determination to stand up for what was right, and of course his love for Holy Knight.
"Hey, Elliot?" Gil said, as he began lugging the sled back up the hill.
"Yeah?"
"Let's go inside for hot chocolate after this, okay?"
Elliot nodded, causing snow to fall off of his hat and the wayward strands of hair that stuck out. "Yeah!" he replied.
"Great. Now, let's get back up this hill so we can go again!"
end