I am soooooo sorry I took this long to update…I had a camping trip…but hey, it was fun, so now I'm ready to write! Yeah! And, what ho-a day of only Ursula and Faust! Woo!

Ooooo, you will love this chapter! I know I did!

Liebchen is sweetheart (like calling some one 'love')


Ursula's POV

I woke to the sound of doors slamming and an engine revving to life. Father, Eliza and Helmut were leaving…I jerked awake, afraid of what time it was-I had overslept-and then calmed myself down and got dressed quickly. As I went down to the dining room, a wonderful scent overcame me.

Waffles?

I pushed open the door to the kitchen, and who should I see but Faust. Of course it was Faust. Who else was in the house today? I just wasn't ready to see a tall, thin, grown man in my mother's pink apron. Cooking blueberry waffles, my favorite.

Looking up, he said with a smile, "Good morning, Ursula! The lovely butler seems to have forgotten to feed us, so I came down while you were sleeping and got this together!"

I slammed the door shut and sank into a chair. Faust…could cook? My favorite breakfast? In a pink apron?

My heartbeat was slowing as he came into the room with two plates. At least he was apronless now.

I staggered to my feet and sat down across from him while he set out silverware and syrup. He waited for me to start eating before beginning on his own breakfast. Once I was done, I stared at him suspiciously.

"Hmm?" he looked as innocent as a child.

"Where…how…Why were you in a pink apron?" I got out.

Confused, he said, "I didn't want to stain my shirt…Cooking can become a very dirty business you know."

"But…but…You and pink don't go together! You are, like, the anti-pink! Did you even know that this was my favorite?" I was losing it.

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean, I think."

"Whatever! Um, you want to learn your way around the house, right?" I was desperate to get the image out of my head, "Where do you want to go?"

He considered the question. It was a bit odd. No one actually considers anything at all, but you could tell he was thinking about it.

"I should like to look around the first, second, and third floors first"-the house had five stories, mainly for storage-"Then we can have luncheon. Afterwards, I shall check on your mother, and we shall explore the remaining floors. Is this agreeable?"

I nodded, hatching a plan.

So, around and about the house we went. Father's study and the common room were the only rooms downstairs he hadn't seen, so after that I showed him all the doors off the second floor hallway. He quickly memorized the bathrooms, bedrooms, guest rooms and even the empty rooms. He told me he would probably use one as a laboratory.

On the third floor, all the rooms were full of family history. One's wallpaper was completely made up of the wine labels from our vineyards. I explained everything I knew about, and guessed whatever else he asked.

It was time for lunch. I told him to wait in the foyer, and that I had a surprise for him. Going into the kitchen, I took some meat and made two sandwiches, tossed together a salad, and found an old tablecloth, putting them into a basket I had found.

I told Faust when I came out to put shoes on. When he was done, I lead him back through the common room and lifted the blinds from the windows. He blinked a moment, and then took a step closer.

Our garden behind the house is very well-kept. Helmut refused to do it, of course, saying that he wasn't any sort of gardener. So, I was the one outside almost every day, weeding and pruning and watering, until I had all kinds of annuals blooming. It was the height of spring then, and all the prettiest flowers were showing.

I grabbed Faust's wrist lightly and took him outside. Leading him past tulips and daffodils, I came to my favorite place at that time of year.

My lovely little orchard. I had begged and begged Father to buy me four cherry saplings, when I was eight. They were two years old then, and when I was eleven, they began blooming and I could eat my own cherries in the summertime. Now, though, was perfect, because the blossoms were just beginning to fall, and the petals were streaming everywhere. I spread the old tablecloth and invited him to sit with me.

"Ursula, I…this is…how did you…?" he stuttered.

I laughed, "I love plants. You can nurture them, and then they will repay you." I spread my arms wide.

"Almost like me," he said quietly, "I care for the sick, help them recover, or comfort the ones too far gone for my services to reach them."

I saw a look of sadness in his eyes (yes, alright, I had been staring at them again). I spoke slowly and painfully, "Like…like my mother?"

He looked at me, and smiled, "No, Liebchen, not like her. I can still hope to save her. The ones I am thinking of are those with leprosy, or a congenital disease, like sickle cell anemia…incurable…"

I put down my food, stood up, and walked in front of him. He looked up at me kind of blurry, as though he could not get me into focus.

Kneeling, I said, "You have saved many more, Faust. People who would not be walking today if it weren't for your skills. You can't save everyone, you know."

I leaned forward and, deliberately this time, hugged him tightly. He gently squeezed me back, and mumbled something close to "Thank you." I let him go, and sat back down next to him. He smiled warmly at me, and reached for his lunch.


Faust's POV

"Goodbye, my dear, see you this afternoon!" I said, waving from the bed of our room. My wife rolled her eyes and went downstairs.

I rolled out of bed and dressed, quickly and easily, thinking of what I would do today. Exploring the house with Ursula seemed an easy enough task. I straightened my coat and walked downstairs.

The other adults were outside, getting ready to leave. I looked into the dining room-that at least I could find-and found no food. I noticed a piece of paper on the table, though, and blinked.

She likes blueberry waffles. Try 'observing' her more discreetly, please?

-Sieger

Oh, dear. My lovely Eliza had blabbed. To Ursula's father, no less. Well, if he was fine with my studies, I suppose I was bound to make breakfast.

I looked in the kitchen, and found only an apron with little pink ruffles to protect my clothing. It would have to do. I looked through the cupboards, and found everything I needed to start.

When I was almost done, Ursula herself came into the room. I turned down the iron, and said easily, "Good morning, Ursula! The lovely butler seems to have forgotten to feed us, so I came down while you were sleeping and got this together!"

She closed the door and I heard the creak of a chair. Perhaps I had surprised her? Couldn't men cook with out being ridiculed? I took off the apron and picked up the dishes. I went into the dining room, set the food down, and sat quietly until she came to the seat across from me and began eating.

She stared at me with what can only be termed a 'glare'.

"Hmm?" I asked, not understanding.

"Where…how…Why were you in a pink apron?" she sputtered.

"I didn't want to stain my shirt…Cooking can become a very dirty business you know." I said, uncomprehending.

"But…but…You and pink don't go together! You are, like, the anti-pink! Did you even know that this was my favorite?" she turned a slight pink, but that quickly faded.

I said calmly, "I'm not entirely sure what you mean, I think."

"Whatever! Um, you want to learn your way around the house, right?" she gestured upstairs, "Where do you want to go?"

I knew I had to see it in some kind of organized fashion, or we would never cover everything in time.

"I should like to look around the first, second, and third floors first"-I has seen five sets of windows as we drove up-"Then we can have luncheon. Afterwards, I shall check on your mother, and we shall explore the remaining floors. Is this agreeable?"

She nodded slowly, and smiled.

Her father's study and the common room-like a common meeting place for the family-were the only rooms I didn't already know, and when I saw all the rooms in the second story hallway, I explained to Ursula that one would likely end up as my laboratory.

On the third floor, all the rooms had some wine-related artifact. In one room, the wallpaper was completely made up of the wine labels. Ursula told me about most of them, and I guessed what some were for. Her family had owned vineyards in Musel Valley for what looked like generations. That explained their wealth, at least.

Before lunch, Ursula told me that she had a surprise for me, and that I was to wait in the front hall. As I was waiting, my mind drifted to a book on the writing desk in my room. It was written in an archaic form of German, closer to Gothic than my modern language. From what I had discerned, it was a collection of memoirs from an ancestor of mine.

When Ursula came out, carrying a basket, I was ordered to put shoes on, and then we went back through the common room. She pulled up the blinds from the windows, and-

There was a symphony of color. Tulips, and roses, and, and…so many flowers! I had no idea there was a garden.

My arm was pulled gently, and I was taken past all these different sights and smells. We came upon a four-square of blossoming cherry trees, with petals falling everywhere. A tablecloth appeared, and I was bidden to sit.

"Ursula, I…this is…how did you…?" I stammered, nearly speechless.

She giggled, "I love plants. You can nurture them, and then they will repay you." Her arms spread wide.

"Almost like me," I said in a low tone, "I care for the sick, help them recover, or comfort the ones too far gone for my services to reach them."

Her voice came, strangled, "Like…like my mother?"

I wanted to protect her. Almost like a sister, never old enough to play by herself. "No, Liebchen, not like her. I can still hope to save her. The ones I am thinking of are those with leprosy, or a congenital disease, like sickle cell anemia…incurable…"

She stood, went in front of me, and I looked at her through a dim fog. She knelt, and said, "You have saved many more, Faust. People who would not be walking today if it weren't for your skills. You can't save everyone, you know."

A freezing cold pang of thought cut through the fog. I couldn't save everyone…why not? I could cure aches, pains, colds, arthritis, why couldn't I cure the others, as well? They deserved just as much effort, and time, and patience as any other patient. Why did they have to die, when others less deserving sped away with a minor cough?

I was taken out of this new way of thinking by two arms wrapping themselves around my neck. I gently hugged the poor girl back, and mumbled a "Thank you". She sat beside me, and I smiled. I slowly took up my meal.


Whee! This is great fun! Did people like it? Will people tell me? Soon? If I am doing anything wrong…still, feel free to beat me with sticks and then correct me.