"Her prints are consistent with Chantal Dumas," announced Martell.
"That was quick," commented Heavy.
Martell nodded towards the pictures taped to the wall. "She's on the wall. Credit to the man who made it, most of the girls have been on it."
"Can I see my picture?" asked Chantal. Heavy saw no problem with that and so picked her up and carried her to the pictures. Chantal found it before him and pointed it out. "That one."
Heavy took a look. Chantal looked more or less the same in the picture except that her hair was a lot shorter, more like a bob cut. The text accompanying it was in a different language with some English written between lines with red ink. Whoever had written them hadn't known most of the language (It looked like German.) and only translated certain words. 'Bizarre.' 'Coastal.' 'Orphanage.'
Orphanage?
"Little…Chantal, please translate paper for Heavy."
"Okay. 'A bizarre in-ci-dent has rocked the tranq-quill-ty of the Belgian coastal village. The children of St. Lutgardis Orphanage claim that a skinny monster with a single red glowing eye inva-vaded their quarters and ab-duct-ed six-year-old Chantal Dumas.' That's me!" Chantal said happily.
Heavy turned Chantal around so she was facing him. "You were taken from an orphanage?"
Chantal shrugged. "I guess."
"Then you have no family to go back to."
Chantal gave him a surprised look. "Aren't you my family?"
Heavy did not know how to respond to that so he just ended up staring at her for a moment before walking into the kitchen where Eleanor was talking to Sora. "What will happen if girls have no family to go back to?" he asked.
"Oh dear, did that happen?" asked Eleanor. Heavy pointed at Chantal. "Uh…" She glanced at Sora.
Sora sighed. "Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with them staying with us, but I have no idea what international laws would say…And I'm not sure we could get away with it."
"You wouldn't," called Martell. "International adoptions are only encouraged in certain countries where they have more orphans than they can support."
Chantal promptly latched onto Heavy. "No! I want to stay with you!"
Eleanor frowned. "Is…Did she imprint on you?" Heavy nodded. "Oh dear…I didn't think…" Eleanor focused on Chantal for a moment before sighing. "This is more like the imprints we had with the Alphas. Breaking it was traumatic for both parties…I know from experience. It…takes time and help to recover from it. The only reason I'm doing so well this time around is because I've experienced it before."
"So, she'll, what, have a breakdown if they're separated?" asked Sora.
Eleanor sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure, but I imagine it would be at least as traumatic as separating a child from a parent."
And Heavy knew how much that hurt. He turned and climbed up the stairs quickly and threw open the door to the girls' bedroom. Ms. Pauling quickly stood from where she was sitting. "Heavy? What is it?"
"Heavy would like to take Chantal back to Teufort."
Ms. Pauling blinked. "I'm sorry. Who?"
Chantal raised her hand. "That's me!"
Ms. Pauling frowned. "You want to bring a child back to Teufort? Why?"
"She has no other family. Team has become fond of her." Some more than others.
Ms. Pauling adjusted her glasses. "Look, I can't just say 'okay'."
"Please?" asked Chantal.
Ms. Pauling sighed. "I could ask the Administrator, but I don't see her okaying this unless Chantal has something to offer…"
"I can freeze stuff!" proclaimed Chantal before trying to do so.
Ms. Pauling facepalmed. "Heavy, have you ever seen her use an ice power?"
"Yes, but she needs practice," admitted Heavy.
Ms. Pauling groaned. "Fine. I'll call the Administrator, but for the record I have no idea what she'll make of this."
Heavy nodded.
"You know that if she does allow this, someone's going to have to adopt her," continued Ms. Pauling.
"Heavy will do this."
Chantal squealed happily and hugged him.
"Do you know how to take care of children?" asked Ms. Pauling.
Heavy nodded. "Da, helped raise younger sisters."
"Fine…" Ms. Pauling stood. "I'll call her and ask, but don't get your hopes up."
"Yay!" Chantal grabbed one of Heavy's fingers and started tugging him back towards the door. "C'mon Daddy! I wanna tell everyone!"
And if Heavy smiled at that, it wasn't as if anyone saw.
