Chapter 26

A week passed on the Hellsing grounds, and both Masters of the Manor noticed Seras's quiet demeanor. Integra was actually worried by this point; one day, the girl was having a blast playing 'Hunt the Vampire' with the Geese, and the next, she was solemn and withdrawn. So she sent Alucard to see what was wrong, naturally.

The elder vampire asked pointe blank what was wrong, thinking that the Major had something to do with it. He was surprised, though, when Seras quietly told him that Pip had requested she release his soul. He was silent for a moment, then suggested that she go to Wales for some flowers to put on Pip's grave, as the gardens were still under construction. Seras smiled for the first time in a week and thanked him for the idea.

She asked Integra for permission, and the Hellsing director complied and gave Seras some money for the flowers. Seras thanked her and took off, making sure she was high enough to not be caught. It was a cool night with a light breeze, and Seras felt a little better; it was good for thinking.

The Major had been quiet, letting her adjust to Pip's loss. She was grateful for that; he knew when she wanted company and when she needed some alone time. She could still feel his support in her mind, and that was alright.

Seras finally landed in a town in Wales she had been to before as a girl, and located a flower shop that was still open; it was only seven-thirty--quite early, and it closed at eight. She walked in, and was immediately graced with a fragrant air. The florist looked up at the sound of the door opening.

"Good evening," she said cheerfully. "May I help you with something?"

Seras already knew what she wanted for Pip's grave. "Yes Ma'am," she said. "I'm looking for edelweiss. Would you happen to have any?"

The lady beamed. "As a matter of fact, we do!" she said, leading Seras to a corner in the shop. The pure white edelweiss were a lovely sight to see. "Would you like them in a pot, or a bouquet?"

Seras thought for a moment. "Could I have both?" she asked. "I need the bouquet for a...a good friend of mine's grave, and I'd like to plant some for later."

The lady gave her a sad smile. "Of course," she said. While she gathered the requests, Seras's sights fell on a book that was misplaced from the rest of the gardening books: Flower Meanings. She absently flipped through the pages, and one particular entry caught her eye. The white rose. It had multiple meanings, but the ones that caught her eye were 'charm' and 'secrecy'. Two words that came to mind with 'Major'.

"Excuse me," she found herself saying. The lady looked up at attention. "...May I have a bouquet of white roses, too?"

The florist smiled again. "Of course." She wrung Seras's orders up and handed the two bouquets and the small potted edelweiss to her, and Seras paid.

"Thank you so much!" Seras said with a smile. The lady smiled back.

"Please, do come back," she replied. Seras nodded, and walked out of the shop. After walking a block or two, she spread her wings and took off for back home, taking great care of the flowers. She was back on the grounds before she really knew it, and landed in front of Pip's grave.

Setting the potted flowers and the roses aside for the moment, she took up the bouquet of edelweiss and knelt down in front of his headstone. "I brought them, Pip," she said. "...Just like I said I would..." She gently set the bouquet down in front of the headstone and sat back on her heels. "...I'm trying to be strong," she said. "Really, I am. But...knowing that you were with me all along...and then just letting you go like that...it hurt, Pip. It really hurt." She wiped her dampening eyes. "But I'll do as you command, Captain," she continued with a smile. "I'll go on. I'll keep living...well...unliving...but still...you get the point..."

She kissed her fingers and set them on the headstone. "I'm going to start growing more edelweiss for you," she said. "And soon...your whole grave will be a small edelweiss garden." She stood up and brushed the dirt off of her knees. "I'll visit again soon, Pip."

That said, she took up the remaining flowers and made her way to the almost barren gardens, a particular destination in mind. She had felt it often during her strolls, and knew where to look now. She came to a stop at a patch of dirt, which had no significance to anyone but her at the moment, and gently laid the bouquet of roses down on it.

'So he's in my mind,' Seras thought to herself with a small smile. 'Doesnt mean I cant show respect to his remains.' She sat back on her heels again, before the burial site of the Major's head. "Heh...it'd be kind of nice if a whole bush of white roses grew here," she said to herself. She stared at the bouquet-covered mini-grave for a few more moments before standing back up. "I wish my room had a window...I could keep these in there," she murmured absently as she carried the potted edelweiss back to the Manor. She was met midway by Integra.

"Thank you for letting me go," Seras said, smiling. She paused for a moment, then held the edelweiss pot out to her. "Could you take this? There's no window in my room."

Integra looked at the edelweiss for a moment before taking it from Seras. "I will, Seras," she said, giving the girl a small smile.

"I'm planning on making a small garden of edelweiss," Seras replied. "If they stand for outstanding courage, then maybe they should be the mascot flower for Hellsing."

"An interesting thought," Integra said. "These will be well taken care of."

"Thank you," Seras said. "Is there anything you need me to do?"

Integra shook her head. "No," she said. "Not that I know of. Oh!" she cut in, as though just remembering something. "You could do something for me. I have word that tomorrow morning, the Hindenburg II will be completely deconstructed. If you would, could you try to find anything that could help with the FREAK problem? Anything at all?"

Seras actually looked forward for a chance to go back to the airship. It was a nice place for personal time. "Yes Sir," she said, saluting. She turned and immediately left.

Integra blinked, then turned to her Servant, who was shadowing in through the walls. "...Is it me, or was she a little too enthusiastic...?" she asked. Alucard shrugged, pretending not to know.

"Perhaps she wants to loot the airship before it is destroyed," he offered, already knowing about some of the Major's things in her room. Integra scoffed.

"Your sense of humor does not amuse me," she muttered.

While she was in the air, Seras felt slightly sad that the airship was finally being taken care of. It was a good place to go to for some 'alone time'. It was quiet, uninhabited, and the Major seemed to have nothing but good memories--aside from the obvious, anyway--about it. She finally landed, going in through the open platform this time. She made her way to the main viewing room from memory, and looked around for a moment before plopping herself in the Major's chair.

"Hey, Major?"

A shifting let her know she had his attention. 'You called, Seras?' he said.

"Yeah...Sir Integra wanted me to come back here to find something that would help with the rest of the FREAKS. Any ideas?" She knew that the Major had already agreed to let the remaining Nazi FREAKS be dealt with. The Major emmitted a thoughtful sense.

'...Ja...' he said slowly. 'Back in Dok's lab...there's a control pad zat holds the controls for the Chips in ewery vone of my soldiers. Vith zat, you should be able to incenerate zem.'

Seras nodded, and made her way back to the lab, which was still as filthy as she remembered it. "...He doesnt clean much, does he...?" she asked.

'Did you not see his coat? Nein, he doesnt really haf time for cleanliness, as long as ze job gets done.'

Seras rolled her eyes and searched around for the control pad. She finally located something that looked like a miniature laptop and picked it up. She flipped it open. "Is this it?" she asked.

'Ja, it ist,' the Major replied. Seras carefully closed it and carried it out of the lab.

"...It seems like such a shame that this place has to be destroyed," she murmured to herself. "Then again, we cant very well rebuild London with a gigantic airship right in the middle..."

'...True...' Seras did not miss the almost sad tone to his voice.

"Will you miss it, too?" she asked. The Major was silent for a moment.

'I know zat it should not matter to me,' he replied. '...But it does. Many things, good und bad, transpired here...' He paused and she could sense his amusement. '...Vhy, ve came together here, did ve not...?'

Seras flushed slightly. "...Yes we did..." she said. She also felt down, for that reminded her of when she and Pip came together.

'...You really miss him, dont you...?'

Seras nodded. "I do," she said. "He was so crude most of the time, but he had a good heart and made the best of every situation, no matter what." She smiled sadly. "...I even miss his perverted attitude." She shook her head. "He was crazy in his own right..."

The Major was pensively silent. 'Such a shame,' he said. 'He vas quite a character. I vould haf liked to haf somevone like him in my ranks.'

"Doubt he would have taken you up on that offer," she said humorously. "I heard the French and the Germans dont get along." She heard the Major laugh.

'True,' he said. He paused. 'By the vay, Seras? Do you haf any German in you?'

Seras furrowed her brow at the odd question. "I dont really think so," she said. "Why?"

'Vould you like to?'

Seras blinked. Thought about it. Then blushed madly. Did the Major just make a perverted joke? His laughter told her yes. Yes he had. "...You...you...!" she sputtered, her face warm. Astounding, the dead factor considered. He only laughed harder. "Oh...shut up! When I get back in there, you're going to find my boot up your ass!"

'Alright, alright...Ich bin gerade mit einigen Spaß ...'

Seras sighed and shook her head, a small smile coming to her face. "I know," she said. "...Thanks." She almost saw the Major smile.

'Anytime.'

"...I'd rather you not. That was creepy."

'...You sure? I could sing zat 'Eskimo song' you seem to be fond of...'

"No!"

Seras shook her head, still flushed. "Insane Major..." she muttered. She walked out of the airship and into the cool night, prepared for a nice fly home.

"Freeze, you!"

...Or not.

Seras's gaze shot at several men that looked military. All of them had guns drawn and had them pointed at her. She stood perfectly still so as not to cause any controversy.

"You are trespassing on restricted ground!" the head guy yelled over. "State your reasoning!"

Seras nodded and held her hands out to show that she was unarmed, then remembered that she was carrying the Chip pad. She made a move to put it in the subspace of her arm, then a shot rang out. The Chip pad was shot out of her hand and was shattered into pieces.

"What the hell!?" she shouted over. She ignored the guns pointed at her. "You just destroyed something that could have seriously helped this whole situation!" She summoned her wings, which were intimidatingly larger, and watched as the men's eyes widened in both fear and awe. She levitated off the platform about a foot. "Sir Integra Hellsing will not be happy about this!"

That said, she took off toward Hellsing Manor, quite thoroughly pissed off.

Indeed, Integra was NOT happy. She found that the men had been foreignly hired by several Round Table members to patrol and protect the area of the airship. At a meeting Seras had attended, she gave the men an earful with a jubilee of colorful language. Seras had just stood there, gave her testimony, and glared. She could feel that the Major was not very happy himself. When she asked him why later, his response was reasonable.

"That pad vas more than just a Chip incinerator," he said when she went into her mind. "It vas also a locater. I know zat Hans ist still out there...he's still alive."

"Hans?" Seras paused. "Oh. The Captain?" Major nodded. "He was Chipped too?"

"Of a different sort," Major replied. "It vas mainly a tracking device. Hans ist loyal to me, but he vas a verevolf. I alvays had zat device to locate him vhenever he needed to get out for vhatever reason, personal or instinctive." He paused. "He still believes me to be dead, or he vould haf come here, searching for me."

Seras nodded silently to herself. "...Major...?" The Major looked up, still getting used to her addressing him directly. "...Are you angry that I killed the Doktor?"

The Major blinked. "...Nein," he replied. "Of course not. Vhy vould I be?" He stared at Seras, who wrung her hands.

"...He was your friend," she said softly. "And...every time I think back...how he reacted when he saw you die...It makes me feel so guilty..." She looked down at her hands. "...It makes me think back to when that bitch killed Pip...I didnt see him die...but I felt him...and that alone makes me so...so sad...and...and to think that I took someone from someone else...it just makes me..."

She paused when she felt the Major's hand tuck under her chin and tilt her head up. His golden eyes stared into her blue ones, the color swirling oddly.

"Dont think like zat," he said softly, his tone still having that gentle commanding edge. "If not for your duties, you vould never haf to vorry about zis. You are a gentle, kind, und strong girl, und I respect you for zat. Dont dwell on vhat ist past. I hold nothing against you." He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead.

Seras blinked a few times before smiling, feeling her own essence swell and pulse gently with emotion.

Aww...I just gave myself a cavity...

Chapter 27 Preview

Timeskip and a ball to prepare for!