Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^
The original characters are my property 9.9
Without A Goodbye
On top of a building, there was a man and a little girl. The man was tough and in his early thirties, the girl was wearing a flower-print dress and holding a sniper rifle. The girl was quiet and expressionless, but she did have something on her mind.
"Alright, Bice, just aim at him carefully"
"I am"
[flashback]
Beatrice was simply making her way to the shooting range, when the worried Triela walked up to her and asked,
"Hey Beatrice, is Bernardo really retiring?"
"Yes" said Beatrice
"But without a fratello, the Agency will make you go through the same things as Claes"
"That's okay"
sigh "Well, aren't you at least going to miss him"
"No"
"Why not, isn't he your friend?"
"He's my partner, but that doesn't mean I have much interest in him"
"Why don't you like him? He seems nice"
"He's annoying, so I don't like him. Is that a problem?"
"No, but, I just thought the conditioning would have given you stronger feelings for him"
"Feelings. I don't have much of those anymore"
"Come on, now you're just being weird"
"I'm being serious. I just feel like I wasn't always like this"
"That's strange, I've never had that feeling. I'm plenty happy hanging out with Hilshire"
"…What does happiness feel like?"
Triela looked surprised and said,
"Uh, it kind of…well, I don't really know how to describe it"
Beatrice looked at Triela slightly displeased.
[end of flashback]
"Focus, Beatrice, focus!" said Bernardo
Beatrice regained her aim and killed the target.
"Bice, you've never lost focus before. What happened?"
"Nothing"
"You can be pretty hard to work with sometimes, Bice"
"At least you won't have to work with me anymore"
"Is that what this is about? I'm sorry Bice, but I can't live this kind of life anymore. I have a wife and son that I never get to see. Working at the Agency takes away too much time, and after what I've seen happen to kids, I just can't let that time slip away anymore.
I hope you can understand"
"…"
sigh "Let's get out of here"
They walked to their car. Being around Beatrice is awkward thing to do for most people, but Bernardo's time with her had gotten him used to it.
"It's my last day, so how about we get some gelatos"
Beatrice didn't respond, but he knew what flavor tickled her fancy.
"I'll look for a place with Tutti-frutti"
"…fine"
"Okay, after gelatos, we can go to the carnival"
"No. I just want to go home"
It was sundown and Beatrice and Bernardo were back at the SWA. Bernardo said goodbye to all his former associates. He was going to miss them, but it was for the best. He bid farewell to his ex-cyborg, but she just continued licking what remained of her gelato. He knew how hardheaded she could be, but was shocked that the girl still didn't show a hint of sadness.
The saddened man drove off into the sunset, without even receiving a goodbye from the empty-eyed little girl that he had spent so much time with.
