Dear G.,

I still haven't heard from you at all…are you mad because I didn't say goodbye? I don't really blame you at all if you are mad…I'm really sorry I couldn't though…my Papa wanted to leave as soon as possible and you know how he is…

It's summer here in Northern Italy, it's really hot and the days seem to go on forever… Do you remember when it was summer in Sicily? We would always go by that creek and stay cool…I miss those days.

Everything here seems…dead, it's not as bright and happy like it was in Sicily, but, maybe I just miss you and Giotto.

From Rick.

The room was filled with a tense silence as Asari treated Ricky's new bullet wound. G.'s nails dug into his fists painfully as he couldn't help but just stare at all the scars that covered the chest area on Ricky. Bandages were wrapped around her breasts as she wasn't wearing a corset, otherwise he wouldn't be looking.

Asari slowly slipped off her shirt to treat to the other side of the wound and he froze, his eyes widened and G. could see that his hands shook, G.'s eyes narrowed- Asari was usually so calm and composed, what had him so shaken up?

Out of curiosity G. had walked over to see what had shaken the Japanese man up, His neck craned over Asari and he also froze. What the fuck was this?

Ricky's back was…words couldn't describe how it looked, all words in G.'s mind seemed to die as he looked at her deeply burnt back, it was what looked like a fullback burn and the degree of burns…it looked like a second or third degree- it would depend if the nerves had died or not.

G.'s fists clenched tighter. Did her papa do this to her? Was it her papa who had hurt her this much? All because of her gender?

G. felt his stomach churn and the blood in his vein boiled with rage, it was a stupid reason to treat someone, anyone like this- screw what he said and thought about her earlier, she had a reason why she was like that. She had every damn right to act how she acted, not trusting anybody's kindness, not being phased by a gun threat, not talking.

G. then stormed out of the room and into the hallway, he shut the door softly and started to pace up and down the hall, a cigarette hung from his lips and smoke trailed from the end. His hands were shoved in his pockets as he kept pacing, backand forth, back and forth.

"G.,"

G. jumped when he heard Giotto's voice and then he cleared his voice. "Ah, Giotto, what's wrong?" he asked formally. Giotto's eyes softened and he smiled at G. kindly.

"G. breathe," he said. G. blinked and he took in a breath quickly, since when was he holding his breath?

"Thank you," G. said with a quick nod, he quickly took a drag of his cigarette and then put it out.

"Are you alright G.?" Giotto asked softly, the look in his eyes said that he knew something but G. couldn't see it this time; his head was filled with thoughts that tumbled and turned.

"I'll be fine, don't worry," he said as a frown formed its way on his face. Giotto sighed to himself and shook his head; he walked up to G. and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's a strong girl G.," he said as he placed a small ring in his hands. "Her resolve…it's how she's living…see for yourself," he said before he started to walk off.

G.'s frown depend, Giotto could be so mysterious when he wanted to and it pissed him off sometimes. G. clutched the small ring in his hands and then shoved it in his pocket. He walked over to the window and opened it, leaning out and looking outside.

G. sighed to himself as his crimson eyes looked forward but also not at the same time. "Where are you…?" He mumbled.


Around the corner Giotto leaned against the wall, he shut his eyes and smiled sadly, hearing G.

"As blind as always," He murmured as he sighed to himself softly.

"Giotto," Said a cold, almost bitter voice. Giotto looked up and his warm golden eyes met ice blue ones which looked at him without any traces of emotion.

The owner of these eyes had snow blonde hair, his skin was pale but not like a ghost, he was in his 20's and wore a dark trench coat which was buttoned up all the way. A fairly thick manila folder was in his hands.

Giotto smiled warmly at the man. "Alaude, that was faster than I thought," he said. "I didn't expect you to look into it so soon,"

Alaude's blue eyes looked away from the blonde man. "Hn, I did some research on it…someone like that doesn't even belong in the depths of hell," Alaude said as he gave the file to Giotto.

"It's that bad?" Giotto asked, his chest twinged when Alaude nodded. "I see, Thank you Alaude," Giotto said. Alaude just walked away as Giotto opened the folder.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as his eyes softened on the picture that was inside; unopened letters were tied up in a thin rope, all addressed to the same person and yet never received. "I was afraid so…" Giotto whispered to himself as he flicked over to another page, his eyes narrowed into something of a glare and the folder was closed harshly. Giotto's hands gripped the folder as he tried to control the anger that was bubbling inside of him. 'Why…why her?'


Asari quickly opened the door and saw G. was looking out the window. "G.!" he said as he swallowed. G. blinked out of his daze and looked at him.

"Oh Asari?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"She's woken up but she isn't talking at all, I think something's wrong," Asari said. G. nodded and didn't need to be told, he walked into his room and saw that Ricky had her back against the bed panel and she hugged her shirt close to her body in an attempt to cover and hide all the scars and burns on her body.

Ricky's violet eyes were looking at her feet in silence and G. noticed that she was shaking slightly, her pale hands gripped the shirt tighter and poor Knuckle and Asari were both fretting and worrying about her.

G. walked over to her and sat on the bed, on impulse and without thinking; he reached out his hand and put it on her head lightly. Ricky flinched and her head shot up, her eyes were wide as she looked at G. like a scared rabbit. "I'm sorry," he said.

Ricky's face looked back down and she nodded, not saying a word. She clutched her shirt to her and shifted so her legs were up against her chest. After a long tense silence she found her voice. "You saw?" She asked.

G.'s hand flinched on her head and he let out a breath of air that he had been holding. "Yeah, We saw," he said in an almost soft voice. Ricky made noise that almost sounded like a sob and she hugged her knees to her chest, resting her head on her knees.

Asari's dark eyes were full of pity as were Knuckle's and the two silently left the room, shutting the door behind them silently.

The room was silent and the atmosphere was uncomfortable. G. felt horrible, disgusted with himself so he did the only thing he could think of. He hugged her. Ricky's body tensed up under the embrace- she had never been held like this before, well, she had once but that was a very long time ago and the memories of that person was faded.

G. sighed inwardly to himself and his hand patted her head to calm her down, Ricky chewed on her lip softly and she shut her eyes, wanting to feel the warmth of his embrace. She didn't know why but she was feeling safer when he was around.

And she didn't even know his name. Pulling away she looked up at him. "Your name…what is it?" she asked with a detached tone on her voice.

"G."

"That's it?" she asked as she tilted her head. G. rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you have a problem with that?" He growled. Ricky jumped and shook her head quickly. G. frowned and he looked over Ricky's body.

"You should go and get washed up," He stated.

Ricky nodded slowly and she slid off the bed. "Clothes…" she mumbled. G. nodded and went to his draws; he pulled out something similar to what she was wearing now and gave them to her.

Ricky looked up at him, her violet eyes seemed to be searching for something but she shook her head quickly and turned on her heel to go and get washed up. "Turn right and it's the second door on your left," G. instructed. Ricky nodded weakly and shut G.'s door behind herself.

Ricky walked down the hallways at a slowed pace, she was in no rush and she soon entered the bathroom, Ricky dropped the clothes on the floor and slowly stripped down.

She peeled off her shirt and looked away from the mirror as she did, ashamed of the scars and burns her body had. She slowly un-wrapped the bandages around her chest and let them fall to the ground in a messy pile. She then slowly slipped off her pants and underwear, still averting her gaze from anything that would show her reflection she turned on the taps to fill up the bath.

Ricky sat on the ground; she had grabbed a red towel on the rack and wrapped it around her body as she waited for the bath to fill up with water. She shut her eyes and brought her knees to her chest.


The sun's heat was almost blistering hot and there was not a single cloud in the sky, the pavement sizzled in the intense heat and only few dared to go outside.

"No it's too hot!" A young girl exclaimed, sweat was dripping down her forehead as her red headed friend tugged on her hand. The girl's short blonde hair swayed as she shook her head.

"Please! Just give me 5 seconds, I swear you won't regret going outside," The younger boy pleaded. The small, unusually pale girl bit her lip and then looked back into her silent house- her Papa was out for the day.

"Okay, but not for long," She said, giving in. The boy grinned and started to run with her. The girls legs struggled to keep up with him but she managed somehow.

The boy then stopped at the edge of the woods and then pulled out a piece of white material and tied it over her eyes. The girl tensed under losing her vital sense and the boy took her hand; their fingers intertwined- a motion that meant nothing at the time- and the boy started to weave his way around the woodlands.

"Where are we going?" the girl asked timidly.

"We're almost there silly, so don't ask again," The boy said with a light laugh. The girl didn't ask another question again but she listened with her ears.

She could hear the crackling of the twigs and leaves underneath her feet, the ringing of the crickets, the croaking of the frogs and she could hear the gently trickle of water. The two stopped and the material was removed from her eye lids.

Her eyes widened in amazement and joy when she saw the small creek. Another boy was there, he was in swim trunks and he smiled at the girl who looked gob smacked.

"I thought you might need to cool down," said the boy as he tugged on her hand.


Ricky opened her violet eyes and blinked out of her daze. Where did that come from? She hadn't thought or remembered the past in so long… Ricky snapped out of her thoughts and checked the bath; she quickly turned the taps off, saving an overflowing tub and a wet floor.

Ricky slowly stood up off the white tiled floor and she folded the red towel neatly, placing it near her clothes- Well, G.'s clothes technically- she slowly got into the bath. The hot water was almost painful to her cold skin and she flinched away from the heat.

After a few tries she managed to sit in the bath, the water just stopped underneath her collar bone and was slowly un-tensing all the muscle tension in her body. Ricky watched as the steam slowly floated up into the air.

It wasn't long before a light sweat had formed on her forehead and Ricky slowly reached for the face cloth, turning on the cold water she wet it and placed in on top of her head; the excess cold water ran down her head to counter the heat.


Not long had past and Ricky had washed her hair and cleaned herself. Pulling the plug out she dried herself off, still avoiding the mirror as she got dressed in the clothes G. had lent her.

After doing up the last button on her shirt Ricky dried her hair and then she looked in the mirror, she really did look like a boy- a feminine boy though. She frowned; she used to look more girlish when she was a child. She used to have blonde hair and her eyes were never such a dominant violet-more of a soft lilac, she used to wear sun dresses as they were the only thing her Papa would buy her.

And then she met…two boys, she still couldn't recall them clearly, but she remembered they had said to her once. "It's a good thing. You're not like the other girls,"

They never found out about what her papa would do to her every night, Ricky could only remember the boy's, she could see their faces but they were blurred and lost in the depths of her memories. She did remember her feelings for one of the boy's though.

Ricky bit her lip and shook her head rapidly, she couldn't see them again, she didn't know where they were or even if they remembered her or wanted to see her. After all…they never replied to the letters she sent them…

Ricky walked out of the bathroom and back to G.'s room, she stood at the door for a few moments, she was about to knock when she heard voices on the other side of the door…


"What! Giotto please!" G. pleaded; his hands were outstretched and the cigarette in his lips was almost burnt up.

Giotto chuckled. "G., it's only for a few nights until we get the leak in the other room fixed," Giotto said, although there was the smallest of smirks that played on his lips.

G.'s eye twitched and he glared at his large bed. "Of all the stupid things you've asked me to do…" he grumbled, his foot tapped impatiently and he put out his cigarette in the small ash tray on his dressing table.

Giotto's soft eyes looked at G. and he smiled. "Thank you G.," he said. G. rolled his eyes but then smiled and nodded his head to Giotto.


Ricky heard footsteps coming to the door and she quickly ran down the hall a bit and started to walk back to G.'s room; Giotto came out of G.'s room and he smiled at Ricky warmly. "I hope you sleep well Ricky," Giotto said kindly. Ricky just nodded weakly at him and she stood in G.'s doorway.

G. was lighting up another cigarette and he looked up at Ricky, drawing the cigarette away from his lips slowly he looked at her without any emotion on his face. "You're sleeping here tonight," he stated as he quickly put his cigarette back in his lips. Ricky blinked and nodded; she went and sat on the bed and G. sat next her.

Ricky looked at the cigarette in his lips and G. raised an eye brow. "You want one?" he asked as Ricky looked away and nodded. G. shrugged and reached for the packet in his pocket, he got out a cigarette and handed it to her- along with his lighter.

"Thank you," Ricky mumbled as she lit it up and put it in between her own lips; she took in a drag and handed the lighter back to G.

"I didn't think most girls smoke," G. said in astonishment as he watched her.

"I'm not most girls," she shot back as she looked at him, her eyes scanned his face; lingering on the red tattoo he had. "Did it hurt?" She asked without thought.

G. blinked and realised what she was talking about. "Hm? Oh the tattoo, yeah, hurt like hell," He said with a smirk.

"Why did you get it done?" she asked as she leaned on the bed post, G. did the same thing.

"I thought it would look cool," he said with a grin. "And I was also really young at the time and wanted to do something spontaneous,"

Ricky nodded slowly and she kept looking at the tattoo in amazement. "It suits you," She said softly.

G. chuckled. "Thanks, Giotto near had a heart attack when he saw it, aw man I can't even imagine how she would have reacted too…" G. trailed off with a frown.

"Who?" Ricky asked.

"An old friend of ours, she moved away when we were young…" he said, his crimson eyes looked down and they seemed to darken from sadness.

"Did you stay in touch though?" Ricky asked as she tilted her head to the side, her violet eyes were a shade darker as it was also getting dark outside.

G. nodded. "We received letters from her and replied, but, I don't think they ever got through to her," he said, putting his cigarette out and lying back on the bed. "We wrote to her over and over again, almost every week," he said.

Ricky nodded, putting out her cigarette as well and lying down, grabbing and hugging one of the soft pillows to her chest. "That sucks, I kind of know how she would be feeling," she mumbled to herself- so low G. couldn't hear her. Soon Ricky's eyes drooped to a close and she had fallen asleep.

G. sat up carefully and opened the draw next to his bed, inside was a custom made gun that he was given to as a child, made by the girl he had fallen in love with when he was at a very young age.

G. had grown up with Giotto after she left them two and he slowly started to realise his feelings towards her- one of the letters he received shattered his heart and he couldn't even write his own feelings down. Putting the gun back in the draw and shutting it carefully he laid back down on his bed and soon drifted off to sleep…


Dear Rick,
This is really odd then… I wonder what's going on with the mail,
I'm not mad at you, I can't be, I know how your father is…

Ah I remember, those were some of the best times we had and that reminds me, Giotto and I have travelled to Japan recently to meet this person, his name is Ugetsu Asari he's… odd at times but still very nice, I think you'd like him. He's a very calm person- Giotto compared him to rain one time.
You are missed as well,
G.