A/N: All right everyone. Here you go. Sorry for my very slow creativity and unwillingness to close out this story. If you WANT more, please REVIEW and tell me so! Around Christmas time my eyes became the bane of my existence - more than usual anyway. Although seeing much better as of the moment, I simply can't let myself strain them too badly. Please keep that in mind when you see my no-doubt numerous mistakes. I caught a couple, but some I didn't even bother to edit... Sorry all. I really should try harder but ... next chapter, hopefully I will feel good enough to try harder. When you're already legally blind and your eyes play these kind of nasty games on you, it's just DEPRESSING!

Arabella looked away from the harbor and the nearly uncountable vessels upon it as a shadow fell over her. She had been sitting and guarding their wagon for nearly four hours. She'd been able to eat some bread and fruit along with some fresh water during her wait, but she looked forward to finding a place to sleep for the night. She wanted to wash up, have a hot meal, and sleep for a week.

The trip had not been terribly long. They had, after all, taken a string of trains to reah the city. But she was tired of travelling – funny how she could be tired of travelling given her heritage. They had needed to stay with the gypsies for a few days before they felt safe leaving the tribe on their own. Erik was practically the only protection the group – mostly made up of children – had. Even he had felt too protective of such helpless young people to abandon them when their cohors were late in finally catching up.

Her husband looked up at her from the street level, smiling at her lounging position in the back of the pathetic wagon he'd hired to transport their belongings from the train to … wherever they ended up. At least he'd sold the last one back in France one their belongings were safely on a freight car.

"You look comfortable." he teased, holding a hand out to her. "Shall we go home?"

"Home?" Bella straightened up, her eyes brightening. "Not a hotel? Did you get the job? How did you find us a place already? How will we-"

"Apparently, the job offers an apartment that is part of the package." he announced proudly.

"You got it!" Relieved, Bella launched herself – skirts and all – over the side of the wagon and to the ground. Erik had to catch and steady her slightly, but all-in-all she managed the feat perfectly fine. But it earned her a few glances.

They had been in offices all day, mostly being sent away almost immediately because the companies they worked for weren't hiring draftsmen or any other job Erik would have found more desireable. He had already realized getting a job in the more labor-intensive parts of building enterprises would not be easy at his age. No one would want to hire a man that could soon face health issues. So an office job would have been easier.

But apparently he'd been right about trying to get a job translating in the harbor. With how many languages he spoke fluently, translation was an easy job to get, even if it meant having to deal with far more people than he would have liked on a daily basis. He'd already insisted it would do for the time being, since one of the offices had admitted that an opening might be available relatively soon.

"Don't get too excited." Erik warned her gently, his amusement flying away as a mild scowl darkened his eyes. Neither of them were oblivious to the many stares around them. No doubt his mask was already spreading rumors. But they were determined to ignore them unless a confrontation was forced. "Where we'll be living is probably going to be pure squalor little better than a sty."

"Oh, do you think it will really be that bad?"

"It will have to do at least for a few weeks." Erik continued, reaching for the reins of their horse. The mare was not bought and paid for, but rented from a city stable near the train depot. At least now that they had a place to take their belongings, it would be possible to return it and stop paying a horrible fee. "It is better than sleeping on the streets of a large city."

"Of course." Bella agreed. "But do you really think it will-"

"-Prepare yourself for the worst possible scenario." Erik warned – an admonition he'd been repeating for both their benefits for their entire trip. "Anything better than that will be a happy surprise."

The block of apartments he took her to was close enough to the harbor that they had to struggle through a great deal of near-constant traffic. But it looked reasonably new and tidy. It was poor, but not unkempt or slum-like. As Erik had said, it was a pleasant surprise. At four stories tall, Erik brought her to an apartment on the third level. Only one bathroom was in the entire building – which meant it was going to be tricky finding time to share it with the other eleven apartments in their particular block of flats. As with many poorer and older places, they would have to walk outside to use the toilet. Neither Erik nor Bella looked forward to that, and Bella bemoaned the fact that she could not take a luxurious bath as she once had in the house beyond the lake. But it was just a luxury, nothing she absolutely had to have.

In their actual flat was a large room which served as parlor, dining area, and kitchen. They had a fireplace and a simple stove that had both seen better days. Behind the kitchen space was a small room Erik said was meant for a maid – for people that could afford such luxury – but that she could use it for storage and as a pantry. Then there was a bedroom. Each of the two rooms had one simple window, which let very little adequate light in. But the paint was not peeling, the floors had been sanded down somewhat recently, and it seemed the walls weren't so thin you ould easily hear a conversation happening in the neighbors flat. It even felt decently insulated, which meant using less firewood to keep warm when winter came.

"There should be a bed already." Erik stated, placing a box of their belongings on the poor excuse of a dining table. "Tomorrow I will see what I can find for new linens and blankets. I don't trust the ones they've given us. Tonight we'll sleep in our warm clothing if it gets cold."

"When do you start to work?" Arabella asked curiously.

"I start Monday. Today is Thursday, so I have time to get settled in. It was one of my requests during the interview. I said I wanted to settle in with you, and attend Mass on Sunday before starting my new life here. They were surprisingly reasonable considering how harassed they seemed to be by an overload of work."

He chuckled darkly at this and began to help her unpack.

"The gossip mills must be working at overtime by now." He muttered. "I wonder how outlandish the rumors will be."

"Bella hesitated, glancing around the room. Erik had lived in above-ground flats before. It was his experiences in them which had finally driven him underground. But … this setting felt so alien. Perhaps because she, herself had never lived in a house of her own like this. And it had been some twelve or so years for Erik...

Erik caught her eyeing the apartment warily.

"It won't be for long." He promised her quickly. "Once I have been at the harbor for a while, I will try again at the architectural offices. Or maybe I can find a way to start one of my own... although I think I'm much too old to succeed in such foolishness."
Bella turned and moved over to her husband, wrapping her arms around his waist and placing her head lightly against the center of his chest. He felt warm against her – which was unusual. Erik always felt cold compared to most people. But his heartbeat against her ear was steady and comforting, even though she didn't really need comforting in that moment.

"It's just strange … looking at a gaje house that looks exactly like one that tens of thousands of people must live in across Europe."

Erik thought for a moment, and then chuckle unsteadily.

"You're right." he agreed. Slowly he stroked a hand along her back. "A normal flat … and now I'm sharing it with someone … Strange. But … but wonderful."

He shook himself as if realizing he'd been caught in a moment of vulnerability and caught at her shoulders to gently separate them.

"We need to get the rest of our things out of the wagon. I don't trust the people in this area to leave it all alone. And I have to return the horse and cart..."

Bella nodded, and let him lead her back downstairs. They carefully closed the door behind them – a door that could only be locked by a bar on the inside – so their things would have no security from the outside while they were gone until Erik tinkered with the door to change that predicament. But for now a closed door would have to do.

A woman stood with a small child on her hip, her head tilted as she looked at their wagon when they got outside. She was smiling in welcome when she realized they were their, even if the expression did falter at the sight of Erik's mask.

"Hello." she greeted in accented French. Bella wondered if the girl had already heard them bantering on the way upstairs, and realized they were French – or at least French-speaking. "I am Frau Holzer."

Erik glanced at Bella in a look that clearly remarked on how quickly they'd been accosted by a local busybody. But Bella gave the girl a genuine smile.

"Hello, Frau Holzer." she greeted, reaching for a box in their wagon. "I am Madame Sauveterre, and this is my husband. What is your beautiful babies' name?"

She couldn't miss the brief sharp glance Erik gave her when she showed interest in the baby, but he said nothing. He only nodded with curt politeness at their neighbor and walked inside again with his armful of things. Bella considered excusing herself to follow, but decided she was allowed to procrastinate a moment or two.

"Ah, this is my daughter Helga." the woman announced proudly, hiking the child up from where she'd slipped down almost onto her mothers' thigh. "Say hello, Helgie."

The baby – who was really close to a toddler in age – peered at Bella with a shy little smile. After a moment, she waved with a curl of her little chubby fingers.

"Do you have any children of your own?" Frau Holzer asked.

"No." Bella shook her head.

"Oh, that time will come." her neighbor chuckled, as if Bella had shown regret over her lack of children. "I just wanted to introduce myself. My apartment is the first when you enter there. I can't help but notice everyone who comes and goes."

We'll keep that in mind. Bella thought, perhaps uncharitably.

"Thank you, Frau-"

"Please, call me Yvonne." the slightly older womanb pressed comfortably. Her daughter was by then trying to reach the horse of Bella's wagon and was nearly falling out of Yvonne's arms in order to do so.

"Very well, Yvonne. I'm Arabella – well, just Bella to most people."
Yvonne nodded, yanked little Helga up sharply into a proper sitting position on her hip, and turned to wander away a little. She tried to preoccupy the little one with some pretty weeds growing at the edge of the walkway. Bella finally felt as if she'd been polite to her first real Trieste neighbor, and hurried up after Erik. He was already coming down from their third floor flat, but she was glad when he paused to kiss her cheek awkwardly.

She hadn't expected he'd be annoyed with her for engaging the neighbor, but was still glad when he showed that he wasn't.

That Saturday, Erik and Arabella were invited by another neighbor – a gentleman closer to Erik's age that lived on their floor – to a party of sorts being held out among the flower and community vegetable garden. Apparently the community considered itself reasonably close-knit. There were people who just wanted to be left alone, and not everyone got along. But about once a month in the summertime, the apartment population would make a sort of potluck supper with their neighbors. This tradition was carried over in some extent during the winter, but it was much harder to pull off. Those who wanted to participate were expected to just leave their doors open to company for the entirety of the afternoon and wander from flat to flat in order to visit and share food.

Erik was apalled at the idea, already knowing that their budget was going to be limited and that as the new neighbors, this random welcome party would invite interrogation and curiosity. He wanted nothing to do with being gaped at. But because he wanted to change … he wanted to have a more open life with his wife … he agreed to go. It was still warm enough for squash to be in season, and he sent Bella to the market to buy as much as she could so they might make a bisque. Squash wouldn't be cheap, but it was an elegant dish and wouldn't be as expensive as a beef stew or God-alone knew what else.

"What will you tell them?" she whispered when he was cooking before the gathering. "About your mask?"

"I'm not sure yet..." he admitted. "If anyone asks you … just … say it was a tragedy. No man will be rude enough to ask you, and no women insensitive enough to ask for details. I will try and think of something entertaining enough to catch their imagination but not draw too much scrutiny."

Bella frowned. She didn't like when Erik made up stories about his past on a whim. Surely he wouldn't tell a different story to everyone he met. That would easily be traced back to him as a liar. It would ruin whatever reputation he managed to make for them here. But she also didn't like the idea of having to answer any questions before him. What if she messed up? What if she ruined their lives here before they had even truly begun?
"Erik..."

"Just tell them it's too traumatic for you to think about." Erik insisted. "Please, ma belle."

Sighing, Arabella shook her head in dismay.

"Very well..."

Luckily, she was standing close enough when he finally gave a marvellous and almost entirely unbelievable story about a leopard attack in Africa, when Erik had supposedly brought Arabella their on their honeymoon the previous summer. That answered multiple questions – about how long they had been married, how Erik had come to be wearing a mask and why, and also what kind of people they were. They were previously wealthy adventurers – or at least he was. He spun a further tale of being a black sheep son to an wealthy French fami;ly. Not aristocratic – just wealthy. He'd geen travelling most of his life, spending the family fortune carefully in pursuit of knowledge and adventure, and finally fallen in love with a simple but lovely girl from the Spanish countryside.

Arabella herself, he claimed, was from the lower middle-class, and he was just wealthy enough to manage convincing her father to release her to his ever-loving care. He even claimed the man had been quite glad to be rid of one of nine daughters from a succession of tragically lost wives.

It was an extravagant background. Bella thought it utterly ridiculous. But their neighbors seemed to be totally engrossed in the story. Erik was lauded as a hero for being mauled in the process of protecting his wife. He claimed she had a rather serious scar on her leg – but of course no one but a doctor would ever know differently. Even she received accolades, for Erik claimed that after he rescued her and got a majority of the mauling, she had swept in with an enormous branch and beat the leopard upon the back and head until it fled and gave up its' prey.

Well … at the very least, it was a terrifying story. It would explain the nightmares that still sometimes woke both of them. Erik rarely let out a single noise in his waking, but Bella still had a tendency to cry out. If the neighbors "heard, they would think they understood...

"What was it like in Africa?" Frau Bolger – a married girl only a few years older than Arabella asked excitedly. "I mean … other than the tragic meeting with the wild animals?"

Bella gave Erik a brief side-glare. But he was occupied in speaking with the young womans' older husband. Apparently, his brother worked in one of the cities largest architectural firms. It was interesting how Erik could so quickly glean such important and useful information from people.

"Hot." she finally managed to reply with a nervous chuckle. "Honestly, I don't remember much of it. I caught a fever after the animal attack … Somehow I ended up with an infection much worse than my husbands'... I don't recall a lot of the time we spent there. But it was hot, and … very green."

Frau Bolger laughed again, a hand resting on her slightly swollen belly. The woman lived with a somewhat lower-class husband – as most in the apartments did. They were all connected to the harbor, anyway. So she wasn't so full of airs as to hide her condition by remaining unsociable during a long confinement. Bella already knew the woman was due in about five months.

"Did you have any brothers?" another girl asked – this one an unmarried daughter two years younger than Arabella. She'd met so many people it was hard to remember names, but she thought the girls' name was Emma or Emily.

"I … did." Bella replied carefully. This was a lie she'd already thought up on her journey to Trieste. "He was my only brother. Unfortunately he was a mongoloid … He passed away very young – only nineteen."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Frau Bolger whispered, taking a step away from Bella as if the condition her non-existant brother had suffered was contagious.

"He didn't have good care." Bella said loudly, making sure Erik would overhear. "As a matter of fact, I loved Esteban very much. I want to make a place that is safe for such people. A hospital … a home where they can be taken care of and live away from scrutiny ..."

"How heroic of you." Emma or Emily crooned.

"Do you have any background?"

Arabella turned to see the nosy Frau Yvonne Holzer had crept up to stand just over her shoulder with the little girl Helga in her arms again.

"My grandmother was a nurse." Bella lied smoothly. Her grandmother had taught her just a little medicine, after all, even if it was of the gypsy kind. "She taught me a little. I'm still learning, but I'm sure if I keep improving my husband can help me accomplish my dream. I think it's what Esteban would want."
Arabella was worried that she was making herself out to be some kind of selfless saint. But no one seemed to think her too good to be true. They all seemed to get along quite easily with Erik – even if she could read his weariness after less than an hour of conversation. She, herself, felt quite tired. The interrogations never seemed to stop. All she kept telling them was that she was from a little backwater town they had probably never heard of, that Erik had caught her eye passing through, and that their romance had been brief but the marriage was mostly convenient for her father.

At least she managed to convince them that in spite of her very real feelings for Erik – and his for her – that they weren't senseless and silly creatures who thought that love was the only real reason to become married. Most people would scoff at such a thing.

"Will you be starting a family soon?" Bella heard a woman – someone she hadn't met by name yet – ask Erik.

His answer was immediate, smooth, and just somber enough to evoke melancholy.

"As a matter of fact, we lost a child because of the attack." he stated quietly, looking down at the ground in disappointment. "The leopard didn't only get a hold of my wife's leg – but also slashed her abdomen. She was not very far along, but the damage was done..."

Erik, you're gilding too much! Bella wailed in her mind. But she supposed she would need a good excuse for the scar on her abdomen someday, if a doctor ever took a look at her.

"In the meantime, we pray God is good to us again." Erik finished.

"If all you do is pray, you won't have much luck." A man at least ten years older than Erik muttered in a voice he probably thought was cunning and low but carried halfway across the yard. The men around him burst into laughter, and Erik managed to fake a loud chuckle along with them. But Bella could tell by the way he held his body tense that he was blushing.

"So do you have any drawings?" the brother of the achitectural employee asked Erik, nearly elbowing out the nosy woman. Everyone was scowling at her impudence over asking something so blatant. "My brother is always trying to help find fresh talent. There are so many projects always in the works."

"I am sure I can pass you something to give to him." Erik smiled as if this man were giving him a benevolent blessing. "Come by tomorrow, and I will show you what I have."

Well … that meant he'd be up all night drawing. Bella frowned in slight disappointment. She very much liked sleeping next to her husband in a halfway comfortable bedroom. And … well … they were still very much newlyweds... Even if Erik was too old to keep up with a woman of her age... That didn't stop him from trying...

"Was it very hard, moving away from your family?" Frau Holzer asked kindly.

Bella distracted herself by smiling at baby Helga and toying with her bare feet. The child cooed and giggled, kicking out in response and then grabbing for Arabella, who took her willingly enough and held her close. It didn't even matter that the girls' nappie was heavy and moist.

"Hard enough." she sighed. "My mother mostly ignored me, and my father was a very hard man. I miss the others, though..."

She felt Erik's presence come closer, and when she glanced almost shyly over Helga's head to peer at him, she saw him frowning at the sight of her holding a little one.

Immediately she passed the child over to her mother, and Erik's eyes relaxed – but not in relief. He seemed almost startled at her reaction to his gaze.

Later, when they were alone again, he looked up at her from the kitchen chair where he was removing his shoes.

"You didn't have to do that." he murmured.

"Do what?"
"Give the little girl back to her mother."

Bella shrugged uncomfortably.

"It wasn't what you thought."

"You don't know what I thought."
"You made your position on children clear enough."

There was a long, tense pause, then Erik sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"You looked … wonderful … holding that little girl." he admitted. "I imagined what it would have looked like if … she … hadn't..."

Bella nodded brusquely, trying to ignore the pain thinking about Aria sometimes brought on. Erik forced himself to his feet and walked up behind where she was cleaning the pot that had held the bisque earlier. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his unmasked face into her hair.

"Bella … do you want a child?" he whispered.

She closed her eyes, sighing again and holding very still.

"I don't know." she breathed.

"Don't be afraid of telling me the truth, mira ves'tacha... Would a child make you happy? If we could give it a decent life?"
Slowly she turned in his arms to look up into his golden eyes. His gaze was so tender it almost made her want to cry. In spite of his fear of creating a child that might inherit his ugliness, he was giving her an opportunity... She saw that.

"If God wants us to have one … I would love to be a mother." she whispered. "A mother to your child. Not just any child, Erik, but yours."

"Even if it..."

"Even if it came out looking like the devil with horns and a tail." she hurriedly reassured. Her answer was so earnest that it startled him into laughter. He nuzzled her again and pressed soft kisses to her forehead and cheeks, even the tip of her nose.

"Then we will see what God offers us." he promised quietly. "If it is what God decides... I will be glad of it."

He released her after a brief hard squeeze to her waist, and Arabella watched him move into the bedroom to change.

He meant it. Every word. She could tell. But she also knew how afraid Erik was. He didn't want his child to grow up scorned and ostricized as he had been. Not to mention that a deformed child might announce his lie to the world about the leopard. But that was why she'd told the lie about her supposed mongoloid brother. It wasn't just a reason to want to be part of a special hospital. It was … just in case she ever did have a baby beyond their control. She could blame it on her bloodline.

He also had admitted that he was not immune to prejudices. He claimed that when he saw himself in the mirror, he felt the same revulsion as the rest of the world. He could not garuntee his child would not repulse him … But she knew he would love a child and never let it grow up in fear or hatred for as long as he was living. He would never force a child to endure his childhood...

It was enough. Just to know he was willing to put his own fear aside … it was enough.