Chapter 36 – Albert and Alice

It was another two days before Albert went to visit Alice. And his reluctance did not come from any imagined fear Jet had plastered on him about getting close to someone again. He just thought Alice could use some rest. And he didn't want to walk in on Grace and Alice doing something.

Ever again.

Especially after his revelation. "Come in," Alice answered, and he entered the room.

"Let me finish this chapter, and I'll be right with you," she added, and he looked at the book.

He was a bit surprised to see it being Schachnovelle, or The Royal Game; it didn't really seem like her type of book. After a few moments she carefully slipped her bookmark into the page and placed it on her bedside table. She looked up, and it seemed that she wasn't expecting him. "This is a surprise. How have you been, Albert?" she greeted, officially.

"Well. How have you been, besides the being trapped in a small room and unable to walk?" Albert answered.

Alice laughed softly and shrugged. "I've been better. Come, sit. Tell me why you haven't been coming to visit me," she answered with a smart-ass grin.

Albert sighed and sat down in the chair next to her bed. "So, why have you been avoiding me?" she inquired gently, trying not to show her irritation. Albert wouldn't be the first to say that she had failed in that aspect.

The young girl crossed her arms and gave him a look that almost screamed 'I'm waiting.' She sighed and leaned back, her hand going for the book. "I'm getting there," Albert stated.

Alice stopped and looked at him. She was obviously tired of waiting and looked about ready to toss him out. If she could. She might call for Grace, but he wasn't sure. She sighed and shook her head. "Jet said something about it not being his business, if that helps you get started," she said in a monotone voice.

He jumped slightly and stared at her. "What did he tell you?" Albert demanded.

"That's it. Something about it being entirely my business, or something to that effect, and that it was none of his. I figure you're avoiding me about that, whatever it is. He refused to tell me. I believe after that, according to Grace, he punched you out. She seems to be my only connection to the gossip of the Dolphin. Though, on that note, am I the only one who enjoys annoying Jet with the name of the ship?" Alice asked in a casual voice, purposely shifting topics.

Albert mostly listened and chuckled, shaking his head. "No. One of my favorite pastimes too," he answered.

"Ah. Well, I don't do it very often. Mostly when he's getting…air-heady," she responded, before she smiled a bit at the last word used to describe Jet.

Albert smiled a bit and sighed softly. He leaned forward and looked at her. "How are you, right now?" he asked.

"Slightly irritated with you avoiding the question, avoiding me, having Jet snap at everyone in a one foot radius, and very happy with Grace at the moment. Oh, and very annoyed with the fact I can't walk for about another year, give or take," she explained.

"Well, good to know that annoyance is the main focus in this scenario."

Alice put her hands on her hips, and it would have probably been more impressive if she were standing. As it was, it only served to be amusing. "Albert whatever your middle name is Heinrich, just spit it out!" she ordered.

He probably would have chuckled at that if he was in a better state of mind. Right now, however, he was steeling himself for telling her what he had realized. Or what he was pretty sure of. "Alice, I…I think we might be related."

"Did you pull that from our last names? Because, as a German, you should know that it is a common last name."

Albert gave her a look, and she sighed, her hands now just lay on the bed. "No, I figured it from the music box," he answered.

Alice immediately stilled, almost as if that had some pull over her. "The music box, with the swans in flight and the edelweiss and rose frame. Plays Brahms's Lullaby in a little plunk, and a message carved in the cover with a cheap knife because that was all I could afford. I was going to give it to Hilde, but not right away, so I had my brother hide it in his home. And then the Wall kept my wife and me from him. And then…well, you probably know the rest. Except for the crucial detail of me not dying, but being taken by Black Ghost," he explained.

Alice was still being very quiet. She wasn't really moving, and Albert wondered if his entire world was going to be turned up-side down all over again. Suddenly, she was moving, dragging the music box over to her and carefully opening up the false bottom. With that, she carefully pulled out an old and worn picture, holding it up. Her eyes were shielded and the picture slipped from her fingers before she attempted to launch herself forward.

Albert kept her from falling out of the bed, and her arms wrapped around him. Her head buried into his neck. He carefully held her, and he wasn't sure, but he could see her shoulders shaking. "Alice, are you…"

"Am not!" she interrupted, though her voice suggested she was, in fact, crying.

Albert just wasn't sure why she was crying.

A/N: So I wouldn't interrupt the flow of the chapter, I put this at the end. Mostly a piece of history. I picked Schachnovelle, or The Royal Game due to the fact it was written by an Austrian author Stefan Zweig. The book was published after his suicide.

Anyway, that was why I picked it. It is also a really cool psychological thriller, and on my list of books to read. However, it is after I learn German fluently. I'm working on that.