Witch Hunter Robin
Rebuilding from the rubble
Chapter 16
Christmas Break Part 2
A FanFic by Prospero53223
It had been exactly two weeks since Amon and Robin returned to the monastery after being called back because of Bradley health, which was staring to improve a little bit each day. Bradley's doctor had finally allowed the young woman to get up and out of bed for an hour or two at the most as she impatiently waited to be permitted to go out in the cold winter weather so that she could play silly children's games like she used to in the snow when she was a small child. Of course this made Bradley complain about her doctor being an over paid idiot and how it was stupid of him to want her to wait a few more days just to make sure her health really was improving; she was dying how in the hell was her health going to improve any more then what it all ready had. Granted by now she was used to the doctors and well everyone else being over protective worrywarts about every sniffle and ache she had which at times really irked the young woman. Though there were times when she could forgive Robin and the others especially after today when they all dragged her blindfolded up to the attic to the surprise that awaited her. When Dave removed Bradley's blindfold she was near tears at the very loving gift they had all worked on together in the attic; a Christmas tree in the middle of the very spacious and gothic style attic with all their old decorations from Christmases past hanging from the walls and tree along with the simple glow of white fairy lights that gave the attic a warm and caring feel to it.
Father Juliano on the other hand was very impressed with how well Amon, Dave, and Robin decorated the attic and agreed that this year's Christmas tree could stay where it was. He would never tell them the real reason why he agreed to this since he didn't want to spoil the holiday's for everyone as he went into his office. He could see clearly in his minds eye of all the times he could find Bradley, Dave, and Robin playing the attic when they were all small children; story time being told with what ever props they could find up their as they told tales of pirates, Baba Yaga, and swords fights that saved the day while he would sit back and wonder if this would be the last time he ever saw those same three smiling faces in the same room; Father Juliano still pondered that same thought even now.
A few minutes after Father Juliano left the attic Robin could be seen helping Bradley back downstairs to the second level of the monasteries living quarters and into her bed before getting ready to go out with Amon later that afternoon. For some reason she noticed Amon was being more secretive then normal and would not tell her where they were going and kept repeating the same old line of its a surprise and that she would just have to wait and see when they got there.
"Are you hungry at all?" Robin asked Bradley?
"A little could you get me something from the kitchen please?" Bradley asked seeing how she had a craving for leftovers from last night.
"Sure what would you like?" Robin asked as she headed for the door.
"That stew or soup whatever it was that Amon made for dinner yesterday. By the way did I tell Amon thank you for beating Sister Helen to the kitchen and cooking last night?" Bradley asked with an ear-to-ear grin on her face.
"Yes you did about a hundred times." Robin replied with a smile as she walked down stairs to get Bradley some left over Oden, a Japanese stew Amon had made.
"You ready to go?" Amon asked when he saw Robin in the kitchen getting the now warm bowl of stew out of the microwave.
"Yes, let me bring this up to Bradley real quick and I'll be right back down." Amon nodded his head while he waited for Robin. He knew it wouldn't take her very long to come back downstairs he just hopped they made it to the airport on time to pick up Nagira and Doujima.
"So are you going to tell me where we are going?" Robin had asked again for the tenth time that day as they drove along the highway to God knows where.
"No." Amon had to try real hard to keep his tone neutral so not to clue Robin off about where they were actually going.
"Not even a clue." Robin seemed to almost beg.
"None what so ever." Amon answered as they reached the exit to the Florence International Airport, which Robin was most defiantly surprised to see.
"So what are we doing running away?" Robin asked sarcastically
"You'll see." Was all Amon would say as they both walked over to the baggage clam area to wait for what ever it was that they were their for. Thankfully their wait wasn't to terribly long since Robin spotted two very familiar people coming up the ramp fifteen minutes after they arrived. Her jaw to drop to the ground and when she was finally able to peel her eyes away from what she thought was wishful thinking on her part; Robin looked up at Amon as disbelief still shone in her emerald green eyes. Amon on the other hand just gave her a smug yet satisfied grin as he watched his older brother and Doujima walk up to where they were standing. Well to put it correctly Nagira walked up the ramp while Doujima upon seeing Robin standing there in total shock started to run the rest of the way.
"YURIKA!" Robin yelled with delight as both women found themselves embracing one another while shedding tears of joy.
"I'm so glad you're here." Robin said between happy sobs and laughter.
"I'm so glad to see you're all right, the only time I get any info about you guys is when you e-mail Syunji." Both girls laughed as Nagira came up and gave Robin a hug.
"It's good to finally see you again their little bird though I see you're still skinny as ever." Nagira teased while giving Robin a big bear hug.
"It's good to see you too Nagira." Robin replied as Nagira then turned his attention to his brother. "Amon."
"Nagira." Both men gave each other a curt nod then did something that surprised the girls; they actually hugged each other something both men haven't done since they were small children.
"It's good to see you niisan." Amon said quietly.
"It's good to see you in one piece otouto I knew they couldn't kill the both of you that easily." Nagira said as they walked out of the airport and to Amon's car both men sitting up front so the girls could talk each other's ears off in the back.
"So does anyone suspect anything back at the STN-J especially with you here in Italy?" Robin asked as Amon drove through the Italian countryside.
"Well yes and no, Michael still thinks you're alive and I think Miho and Sakaki do to but they keep pretty quiet about it now. Kosaka, he's the administrator now so he's too busy to even get any personal thoughts in his head, the same goes for Hattori as well. Master Yuji though he's very vocal about you two still being alive some where probably in hiding and enjoying life as best you can." Yurika said while Robin nodded her head as she smiled, " Other then that no I told them my dad was here in Italy on business and that it was easier for me to fly out and see him for the holidays."
"Everyone is going to be in for a big surprise then if SOLOMON lets us go back." Robin said in her usual soft voice.
"But they have to let you go back," Doujima exclaimed, "All we've been getting from HQ are temporary new hunters who stay for a few months then come back to Europe. I mean the only reason I see why HQ is doing this is because they're going to send you two back."
Amon nodded but he didn't trust what Doujima just told him about HQ. "Or they just might keep us here in Europe so they can continue to keep an eye on us which might be the same reason they keep sending in new hunters every few months."
"True," Doujima began to say, " But what I'm able to gather from my sources back in Japan all the hunters HQ sends in every few months are the ones who've been through the retraining that they haven't sent us through yet." Yurika then paused for a moment so she could clear her throat. "It's almost as if they are gathering information on us, on how we conduct our hunts and how we get along as a team. They even sent someone to see how much use Michael is not just to the STN-J but SOLOMON all together." Doujima started to chuckle at her last remark " They watched Michael for six months hack into the Japanese police along with HQ's computer systems and were shocked to see how he wasn't even detected. Michael's even perfected the security system he developed for the STN-J."
"Let's not forget that Michael has been invited by HQ to give lectures and show SOLOMON how to build a better security system for their computers as well; on top of going around to the smaller STN divisions to prefect those security systems as well." Nagira added as he rolled down the window and lit a cigarette while Amon glared. "You can't wait another twenty minutes to light that damn thing."
"Nope," Nagira shot back as he inhaled the sweet, sweet nicotine he was denied thought out the duration of his flight. "Not after a long flight with turbulence so bad that it would make saint drink. "
Robin laughed at Amon and Nagira's little spat while at the same time she was happy to hear things have gotten better for her best and first friend over at the STN-J. She remembered a lot of late nights with coffee, doughnuts and talks about nothing in particular as they waited for information on the latest witch they were hunting. She always knew Michael's computer skills would be greatly appreciated once the collar Zaizen had placed around him was removed forever.
Twenty minutes later they pulled into the long driveway that led to the monastery as Doujima eyes went wide in awe. The monastery looked like all those castles you see in picture books from the renascence that she remembered paging through when she was a small child. That and the fact that it was tucked away so neatly in the Tuscan countryside made it look that much more beautiful.
Seeing how it wasn't to terribly cold out that early in the evening Dave decided to take Moses out for a walk at the same time Amon had pulled up. Nagira opened the car door stepping out into the clean country air taking it into his lungs before lighting up another cigarette. Moses noticed Nagira right away and started to take off his direction while dragging Dave through the snow with him.
"Hey Moses," Nagira laughed as he took a bag of doggy treats out of his coat pocket. "Yes I got your favorite snack yes I did and if you go any where near my shoes buddy..."
"I'll kill you if you kill my dog Nagira." Amon cut his older brother off.
"Hey Amon why did you name your dog Moses?" Doujima asked as she looked at the rottweiler.
"Because Sake would have been too obvious a name." Nagira flashed a smart-ass smile while answering Yurika's question before Amon could come up with some bullshit excuse of how he thought the name would be cool for a dog.
"AMON!" The girls yelled at him while Dave and Nagira laughed.
"What?" He was pissed he was going to kill Nagira for opening his big mouth but he couldn't do it in front of everyone or there would be witnesses; so Amon did the next best thing and started a snowball fight.
The next morning Robin was up early so she could go to church for morning prayers as she tried to keep quiet as she headed down the stairs to the coat rack to grab her scarf, trench coat, and gloves. What she didn't realize was that Amon was right behind her so that he could accompany her to church; that was until he placed his hands over her eyes.
"Amon." Robin whispered quietly through her giggles as he moved his hands away from Robin's eyes kissing her gently.
"Its too cold for you to be walking out there by yourself I'll come with you." Robin of course agreed with Amon as she finished getting ready to leave.
They walked hand in hand over to the small church, his mother's engagement ring hidden away in Amon's coat pocket while debating if he should ask Robin on New Years Eve like he had planed or today. Right now all Amon wanted was to spend a few minutes alone with Robin even if it did mean he would have to escort her to prayer.
Robin smiled when she entered the church as she saw that the children from the Orphanage had decorated the church alter for their Christmas play. She remembered how much she had looked forward to these plays when she was a child herself. It was nice to see that the children still looked forward to performing the Christmas play's during the midnight mass. The congregation would watch them with great joy as the orphans and their own little ones would sing The First Noel off key or watch as one of the three wise men would forget there lines. Robin hoped that one day she too could be one of the parents in the audience with camera in hand while watching her own little one mess up his or her lines or get to scared and run off the stage and into her arms for comfort.
Robin chuckled to herself at how she was so easily distracted by simple holiday decorations that the children had made as she finally took out her rosary and crossed her self. "In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen."
Amon stood at the back of the church and just watched as Robin prayed while he too entertained found memories of Christmas past. He remembered how his mother would have him help decorate the ginger bread men that always ended in tummy aches seeing how Amon would eat all the raisins and red hots. Then there was the Christmas that his dad happened to be home for which meant Nagira was able to come over. He recalled how their dad got them both bb guns that Christmas. Amon started to chuckle as he wondered if Nagira still had the bb pellet stuck in his ankle. Soon Amon stopped chuckling as he recalled how that was his last happy Christmas. It was the same year that his mother went mad with her power; the same year he was sent to live with his dad and Nagira for a few months at the families home that his grandmother owned until he was sent to SOLOMON. Nagira would always call to make sure his little brother was doing all right not to mention visit every Christmas though to Amon it just wasn't the same. He hated his mother, hated what she became for their father, hell at times he even hated Nagira for being born normal. The memories of Christmas past made Amon realize that he truly didn't hate his mother for awaking but more for the fact since every day after that including Christmas was no longer special to him anymore. There was no mom to come home to after school, no more freshly baked cookies to swipe and spoil his supper with, no one to sit by his side and stay up all night worrying if his fever would break. Amon missed it, and he hated that he missed out on all of it as well, but now there was hope. With Robin there was always hope and he hoped this year would be different, that this year regardless of his past he could actually enjoy the holidays, his life for once.
While Amon was lost in his thoughts Robin had finished her morning prayers. He watched as Robin crossed herself again while getting up from the pew she was in, walking over to some candles to light one before they both walked back to the main part of the monastery. Amon was so lost in thought about his mother and his childhood that he forgot that he had his mothers ring with him. He took it as a sign that he should wait just a few more days before proposing to Robin.
Later in that day Nagira and Doujima had gone with Dave to the mall to do some last minuet Christmas shopping since they didn't do any back in Japan. Though the crowded mall was pure hell on the boys; to Doujima it was a shopper's paradise seeing how she considered herself a professional shopper and professionals never turned down a good challenge especially with the prices having been drastically slashed.
Back at the monastery Father Juliano was having Amon and a few of the other priest help him with all the last minuet preparations for Midnight Mass which left Robin to help tend to Bradley.
"The doctor says I can finally go outside tomorrow for a bit any way." Bradley told Robin with a huge smile on her face since she was tired of being cooped up in the dormitories all day.
"Let me guess to the church and back?" Robin had asked her older sister.
"Of course; oh did you know that Father Juliano is also going to have the pot luck we do for the kids at the orphanage on Christmas Eve this year." Robin quirked an eyebrow, surprised that Father Juliano would make such a last minuet change in the schedule. " He did? Normally we do that on Christmas why the change?"
"Amon volunteered Nagira and Doujima to dress up as Santa and Mrs. Clause."
Robin doubled over with laughter, which of course made Bradley laugh as well. This in turn sent Moses flying into the room skidding on the wood floors caused him to bang into the door that made the girls laugh even harder.
"Oh Moses are you ok?" Robin asked through her laughter while petting the dog to make him feel better. Moses just sat there happy and content with being petted as his let his tongue hang out while he panted only to stand up on all fours a few seconds later and barking as the door bell rang.
"Stay with Bradley Moses." Robin said in a kind yet stern voice so that Amon's dog would obey her command as she left the room to answer the door.
"I'm coming." Robin yelled to the door as the person standing on the other side rang the bell impatiently a few more times. When Robin opened the door she saw a delivery person with a small package for Father Juliano.
"Scusa signorina is Padre Juliano in." The young man asked while he stared down at Robin who decided not to wear her pilgrims dress that day but a pair of blue jeans and a nice warm sweater instead.
"Ah non signore." Robin told the young man as they both stood in the doorway. "May I ask why?" Robin said as she noticed the deliveryman's eyes staring at the slight curve of her breast instead of making eye contact with the young craft user when he spoke.
"I need his signature for this, signorina." The young man said rather embarrassed thinking he'd be able to get a glimpse with out Robin noticing where his eyes had wandered off too. He then shyly gave Robin the parcel of important papers that Father Juliano was expecting from headquarters along with the clipboard for her signature.
"Grazie," a slightly annoyed Robin replied as she signed and shoved the clipboard back at the deliveryman "Festevole Natale."
"Festevole Natale." The deliveryman said as Robin closed the door in his face before heading off to Father Juliano's office so she could place the package on his desk.
The heavenly aroma wafting through out the monastery's kitchen was a sure sign that someone other then sister Helen was cooking. When everyone stepped into the kitchen they could see all the nice yummy treats that Robin and Bradley had been baking all afternoon. There was an assortment of all sorts of cookies and pastries that by sight alone would make just about any diabetic's sugar level skyrocket.
Robin was in the middle of decorating a bunch of sugar cookies that were cut out like snowmen and Christmas trees; when Nagira for some odd reason thought he would be sly and try to sneak one of the cookies from the young hunter. Of course he soon regretted this since his attempt of swiping warm delicious sugary treats failed when the spatula Robin was holding hit his hand. "Those are for tomorrow and for the children, as are those Amon." Robin's eyes now glancing in Amon's direction as he tried to sneak one of the blue berry tarts Bradley had just taken out of the oven.
"Ok, " Amon replied while trying not to laugh at his older brother's misfortune walking out of the kitchen so his hand didn't meet with the same fate as Nagira's.
"My hand," Was all a shocked Nagira could gasp out.
"Well that just goes to show you never get in between an Italian and their cooking." Robin told Nagira with a hint of sarcasm as she removed the spatula from his hand.
Nagira still stood there in disbelief that of all people who would hit him for sneaking food would be Robin "The last time I had that done to me I was…"
"…. At my parents house by the maid if I may add that little tid bit of information when you tried to sneak some of the vegetable dip while it was still in the kitchen." Doujima cut in.
Nagira sighed leaving the hens in the kitchen to cackle away as he nursed his injured hand and his pride slipping an unlit cigarette into his mouth as he walked outside and on to the back porch.
Christmas Eve had finally come as they all drove up to the orphanage with the food the girls prepared the night before; with the Santa and Mrs. Clause costumes in the trunk waiting to be worm by Nagira and Doujima later in the evening. Doujima thought it was cute that she would be able to dress up for the kids while Nagira totally hated the idea since he himself didn't volunteer to do it.
"Well better you then me." Amon told Nagira for the hundredth time between fits of laughter.
"Hey, Father Juliano is there elf costume that goes with this get up?" Nagira asked
"Yes there is but why do you ask Nagira?" Father Juliano was obviously playing stupid as he kept his eyes on the road.
"Would it fit Amon?" Everyone in the car including Father Juliano started to laugh while Amon cussed out his brother in Japanese.
Once again another little spat between the brothers had broken out causing Robin and Doujima laugh even more sine they were the only ones who understood Japanese; well minus father Julian that is who was trying very hard not to laugh and or scold Amon and Nagira for the language that was coming out of their mouths. Father Juliano did spare Amon the embarrassment of having him dress up like an elf by telling Nagira the costume they had wasn't in Amon's size mainly to stop the fighting that was going on in the back seat of the SUV.
It was a short drive to the main church on the monastery ground, which they would have normally walked but Bradley's doctor was still a little worried about her health. The sick girl sat in the back with Dave who also helped her out of the car when they pulled up in front of the orphanage. Bradley was tired of being helped and worried over since she was feeling much better then she had in weeks. Granted Bradley did know deep down that everyone helped her not because they felt sorry for her but cause they did truly care about her; that and her t-cell count was now at two. Bradley was on borrowed time she knew it but she wasn't dying not yet not until she saw her little sister happy and safe.
When everyone got inside the Nuns who ran the orphanage assigned everyone a job to help things run smoothly. Robin and Amon had kitchen duty with Dave while Father Juliano and Bradley were to help the nuns set the tables. Doujima and Nagira of course were given the run down on which door to enter and where "Santa's" bag of goodies was being stashed since they were going to be the center of the children's attention later on in the evening.
By eight that evening the light the room was buzzing with energy as everyone sat down to eat. Father Juliano stood up and said grace while Robin noticed some of the children sneaking little bits of food. She always found it quite amusing how the children could always remind her of the silly and impatient things she did as a child. Then again Robin never knew an adult who could sit through grace either as she watched Nagira try to sneak a morsel or two off his plate with Doujima nudging his arm.
After dinner the nuns had set up games for the children to play like musical chairs and bobbing for apples to entertain them as they waited to go to church for midnight mass. Soon "Santa Clause" had come in for a special visit, which took as one could imagine every ounce of strength in Robin and Amon's bodies not to laugh.
"You know I think I'm going to enjoy kitchen duty." Amon said, as he looked away from Robin knowing if either one of them had met each other's gaze that would be it. Far be it for Amon to ruin these kids Christmas by letting them know the guy in the Santa suit was in fact his brother.
Robin on the other hand just nodded her head knowing that if she were to try and say anything that would be it and just walked straight into the kitchen. Dave was no were in sight since Father Juliano had him and Bradley go over to the church which left Robin and Amon quite busy.
Nagira though was having loads of fun, really he was. All the children were just adorable little angels waiting patiently for their turn as he read off the nice list before letting the child receive his or her gift. It was just loads of fun especially when one of the little darlings tried to expose him as a phony by trying to pull of the fake beard that Doujima used sprit glue on so it couldn't be ripped off. Of course the sprit glue being pulled from one's skin made the attempted beard robbery hurt like all hell. By now Nagira was half tempted to go into the kitchen and beat the ever loving crap out of Amon, tie him up then dress him up in the Santa suit and make him share in all the fun he was having. That was until the next kid came up a sweet looking little girl with big doe eyes and brown hair that just melted Nagira's heart away.
"Well little girl what is your name?" Nagira tried to do his best Santa impression but the little girl wasn't buying it.
"You're not Santa." The little girl stated as she stood a foot away from Nagira.
"Why of course I am and I bet you would like a new doll to go with your pretty dress." This kid wasn't buying the Santa act, "You sound like Mr. Amon, Sister Sena's friend and you have the same kind of eyes too except yours aren't as mean looking."
Nagira looked around and made sure none of other kids were in ear shot as he motioned for the little girl to come closer, " Hey kid take the doll and we'll call it even since you were able to guess who I am, Ok."
"Yes Santa thank you very much for my new dolly." The little girl said as she skipped off, while Doujima gave him a look.
"What?" Nagira asked while Doujima just shook her head as the last of the children came up to Nagira thanking him for the presents and for coming to see them.
Finally it was time for the children's play; this year's performance was The Gift of the Magi. It was cute maybe a little to thick for the younger children in the play but never the less it was very cute. The church congregation would chuckle at the children when one of the kids would mess up a line; granted mistakes like this were cuter when children made them. Amon watched all the children closely noticing as they laughed at there own silly mistakes. He also noticed that the children in the play did not have one sad or serious face but one. It was the honey golden haired boy again the one from the fabric store looking straight at Amon as he waved at him. Amon had to blink he was seeing things he had to be no one else seemed to notice the child but Bradley who looked over at Amon with a smile on her face as her sage like eyes seemed to say I can see him too.
Once the play was over Father Juliano started his precession down the isle with the alter boys while the choir sang the Gloria in excelsis deo as the congregation sang along. Amon by now was very used to the way Catholic Mass was conducted as he listened to Father Juliano talk of how the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus on this festive yet holy day; and how all men should keep the meaning of Christmas and the teachings of Jesus in their hearts all year round and not just once a year.
When mass was over Robin for some strange reason wanted to walk back to the monastery instead of driving back with the others. Amon of course walked with her thinking how beautiful Robin looked walking in the snow covered landscape as the moon shown down on them.
"Robin?" She had disappeared right in front of his eyes which made Amon panic.
Where could she have gone? He thought to himself as he looked around only to hear Robin giggle and have a snowball hit him.
Robin's giggles gave her away even with Amon having a dumb founded look on his face his trained ears were able to pick the spot out where she was hiding. Of course Robin confirmed her hiding spot when she threw yet another snowball at him. This time she missed as Amon was able to dodge it and get her with one before he pressed his body to hers, pining Robin to the oak tree she was hiding behind.
"Very cute." Amon said as he peered into Robin's eyes.
"Well I thought so." Robin's eyes shying away from his as a soft smile graced her face.
"You did huh?" She started to blush when Amon started to teas Robin as she nodded her head. "Yes..." Was all Robin could say before Amon's mouth claimed hers as he pulled her into a soft and gentle kiss.