Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I do own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To my bestest friendest in the whole wide worldest, who put up with me yesterday. and to Metropolis Kid, pop-virgo97, phoenix251 and Angel Reaper who all reviewed that interesting bit of whatever I posted yesterday. Actually helped me feel better. Thanks.

Note: This started out being about Winter and then kinda turned into being more about Elliot. Either way its a bit cheesy. Ah well, sappiness is required every now and again.

prompt: sound of waves

'a chance that I might not come back'

More than any other thing, Elliot reminded her of water. Not the murky and still rotting depths of the Thames, but the calm waters of the lake country and the vast expanse of the ocean. She couldn't precisely say when this comparison first came to mind, but it still seemed to fit regardless of how old they got.

Water was deceptive. On the surface it looked calm, rhythmic and beautiful. It's exterior more often than not hid the secrets of its depths. Undercurrents and wildlife, both beautiful and dangerous, roamed just below the surface, visible only to those who looked.

And that was Elliot to her.

~x~

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything is wrong, Wynne?"

"You've been reading that book for about thirty minutes."

"And?"

"You haven't turned the page."

"Got me."

"So what's up?"

"Just…tired."

~x~

Though he would never say it, the knowledge of who he was and his position in the world weighed heavily on his shoulders. She could not remember a time when both of them had not known what his fate was. It might have been because of this that he very rarely laughed and played like kids his age might have. More often than not, he spent his extra hours reading books and studying where his father's teachings left off.

His every smile was a rarity and one she often sought through the years. They came most often during their lessons with her cousin. Aidan's humor bit through all solemnity and allowed Elliot to be a kid for a few hours each week. But the lessons would end and his smile would fade and she was left with the sad knowledge that she was not usually enough to bring a smile to his face.

They grew up and slowly, their lives began taking different routes. The training for a leader and a killer were vastly different and while she still attended schooling lessons, most of her hours were centered in combat training with her father. Occasionally, Elliot was sent to work with her, mostly learning the proper use of a gun, but his heart wasn't in it.

He'd always hated violence.

Years passed and over time she began to understand just what fate had done to him. There he was, still young and handsome, a man of intelligence and charm – when he could be bothered – devoted to a life of violence and gore. He was a natural born leader, always able to gain loyalty and love with the smallest of actions and gestures. He should have been able to take up a seat in Parliament, to serve his country by making it better through words and law.

Not by devoting his life to death.

~x~

"You know, Master Elliot, you are really something of an expert marksman. Must be in the blood."

"Thank you, Uncle Jamie."

"It's a shame that you don't have time for further lessons. An important man like you needs to know how to defend himself in close quarters."

"That's what he has me for, Da."

"Yes, Wynnie, but as a man, I'm sure he won't always be wanting you to protect him."

"Especially not from you."

"Indeed. She does have a bit of a temper."

"Both of you are asking for it, you know."

"All the same, Master Elliot, you let me know when you want to take a few more lessons."

"Well…we'll see. I think its best that I keep to my other studies for the moment."

"Understandable but don't let yourself get too bogged down in the books, son. Too much death in one sitting is bad for the soul."

"Yes, I'm sure it is."

~x~

He grew quieter as he got older. She was fairly sure that he didn't realize it himself so she didn't bother to ask why. Still, their random conversations and playful banter grew less and less as the years rolled on. More often than not, he would merely sit in one of the common rooms and stare off into the distance at things only he could see. She forced herself to be honest and realize that he did it most often with her in the room. If it was for companionship or just the knowledge that she was least likely to interrupt his silent musings, she didn't know. All the same, she felt like he was slipping away from her.

Aidan still managed to bring out a smile from time to time and he conversed as usual with his father during their lecture periods. Most of the Institute would not guess at his growing reticence, he kept it so close to himself.

She could see it, though, and it tore her apart to watch. Though silent, the turbulence of his inner thoughts washed through the room each time he sat in thought. They grew so strong as time passed that she began to wonder if she would drown in everything he refused to say. She began to wonder if she would ever be able to save him from it.

As much as it pained her, she began to quietly excuse herself from the room after the silence began to stretch beyond an hour. Heavy hearted, she began to spend more and more time with her father in the practice areas. Was it her tendency for violence, she would wonder as the sparred. Was it the fact that one of the things in life he truly abhorred was something she embodied so completely?

Quietly, without a trace of farewell, she was beginning to lose him.

~x~

"When are you going to start talking to me again?"

"You are mad, Winter. I've been talking to you all day."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Can't say that I do. I talk to you everyday. Most of the day, really."

"You talk but you don't say anything."

"Is that women's logic?"

"I can stab you without killing you, Elliot."

"I'm sure you can. You are very good at that sort of thing."

"…As are you, I see."

~x~

Tragedy struck hard. After a short break and a time spent in hope that he might be returning to her, they returned to bloodshed and sorrow. She remembered wondering at how odd it was that they should lose their mothers and then their fathers at the same time. It was as if the world were making them a match set or as if their parents were only parts of the same person.

Loss makes philosophers of us all.

And her loss was absolute.

He pulled even farther away as he assumed the mantle of the head of Hellsing. His silence was echoing and she wanted to throw a fit of temper as she watched him ignore his every emotion. She could only step up and take her place in the ranks as she knew she always would. She couldn't convince him to talk to her, but she could support him in the only way left to her.

And then it happened, a month after the tragedy of death. She went to him one night where he sat alone, staring into the fire blazing at the hearth. A quick touch, meant only to gain his attention and let him know she was there, and suddenly he was back. He pulled her to him, sobbing, and for the first time in years, they talked.

~x~

"The hope was always there, you know."

"What hope?"

"That he would have another child. He would get married and have another heir."

"I know you always wanted a bigger family Elliot but…."

"Well, that too, but…Wynne, I don't want to do this."

"You mean the Institute?"

"I don't want to be in charge of this place. I hate fighting and I hate all the death. I know what we are doing here is important and good and it needs to be done but…."

"But you'd always hoped someone else would be able to do it instead."

"Yeah, I guess I had."

"Elliot?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me help you. Let me be the one to destroy for you."

"I can't ask you to – "

"You aren't asking. I'm offering. Besides, I'm good at it."

"But…what if I lose you, too?"

"Simple. You won't."

~x~

Things began to calm after that and the restlessness of his emotions began to resemble something more to a river than serene lake. Neither spoke again of the night he broke down but neither pretended it didn't happen. Months passed, and then years, without much happening. She could still remember, though, what it was like to walk alone to a mission for the first time.

Well before her father's death, she had begun to accompany him to the various missions that were easier taken care of with a small party of people rather than a large contingent of soldiers. She was long used to the practice of hunting vampire prey and she had long since stopped being nervous as she stepped into the fray.

Yet, there she had been, alone. There was no father to back her up and the group of soldiers she was to use for back up were still waiting for orders outside. Her confidence faltered and it nearly cost her everything. Instincts kicked in after that, though, and without effort, she dispatched the vampire and its ghouls.

Elliot still stared at the cut on her arm with a frown and was reluctant to send her only any mission by herself for another month. Soon, however, it began to become necessary. Attacks were being reported in from every corner of the country and before long, she was sent out without even a group of soldiers for backup. He tried, overtime, to be there waiting for her just outside the danger zone, but it was never a guarantee.

She wondered if that was what tipped the scales in his decision to wake the pet vampire.

~x~

"I'm not fragile, Elliot."

"I'll say."

"And I'm fairly well versed in killing things. Especially undead things."

"Yes, you are."

"So stop pretending like I'm going to drop dead every mission."

"I think not."

~x~

Time passed, as it always did. The seasons changed and the atmosphere of the world they had always known began to lighten, in most part due to a certain vampire. Part of her admitted jealousy towards the pretty draculina. She took up a place in Elliot's heart that she herself would never fill. Her more rational mind told her that the last thing she wanted him to see her as was a sister but that didn't stop the irrationality of her thoughts tingeing towards desolation that he found comfort in the presence of another.

All the same, the day came when he kissed her in front of the entire assembled troops and the action declared himself to her in more ways than one. The incident was widely gossiped about and that bastard vampire continued to make jokes about it for months, stopping only when her pregnancy indicated that further things had happened.

The night they first allowed themselves to be only for the other would live on in her mind for the rest of her life, simple and beautiful.

He began to smile more and his laughter became something a bit more ordinary. When the vampires began to recess for a longer period, he began to relax more. When she showed pregnancy, he laughed delightedly, both for the prospect of a child and for the ability to detain her at home. When they she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, he didn't stop smiling for weeks.

She still thought of him as water, even as the emotions began to come close to the surface and more easy for the world to see. Strong and ever present, he was what she needed to stay alive. And she told him once, years later, as they stood on the sandy beach one night, watching the children play wildly with each other. The sound of the ocean lapping softly at the shore harmonized with her soft whispers, giving them poignancy they might otherwise have lacked.

And then the shrill laughter of a captured child broke through their little world and the moment passed, like so much water under a bridge.

Because that was water, too. Ever moving, ever changing and ever adapting. It could be harsh and change the world around it in a single motion or wear through the environment it belonged to slowly over the course of years. It was all of that.

And so was he.

~x~

"You are all I have, you know, Elliot."

"I beg to differ, Wynne. There are a mass of people who would probably be very upset to hear you say that."

"True, but, one day, all of them will leave. They will have their own lives, even Hope."

"Not entirely true in the case of some of them, but I'll see your argument."

"You won't leave though."

"Never."

"And you are all that I need."

"I'm sure you need more than just me."

"Nope. You are like water, you know. You keep me alive even in the worst times."

"Well, then, you know what, Winter my love?"

"Mm?"

"You are like water, too."

An: So, I'm thinking Monday will be devoted to Aidan and Maureen. I hope I can get to it before the start of the week so I can get ahead on the story writing process like I was in the beginning. This leads to less randomness in the end.

After those two I think we will be seeing another Alucard chapter summing up Seras' pregancy.

I need to get people settled so i can start work on the fun with the Mischievious Triumvirate. I already have a few of their stories planned well into their teenage years so I'm a little anxious to get started. Still, first things first, right?

Thank you for another lovely week of reviews. This has turned out to be an even bigger challenge than I thought it would. Still, its been good. Keeps me busy.

Til next time.