A/N: Ha! Thought I was dead didn't you? Well I'm not!

I'm just bad at keeping up a schedule...T_T

Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who's enjoyed this fic so far. Here's chapter 15!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hellsing, or its characters, blah blah.

XXX Chapter 15 XXX

Kumaju was indeed a most beautiful place, as everyone had been led to believe. Although it was called Kumaju Island, it was in fact made up of three islands; one large island and two smaller ones to the north and southwest of it. The main island was straddled by rainforest topped mountains on its northern shore which gently sloped down into the central region of the island; the rest of Kumaju was relatively flat, save for the two smaller islands which were the peaks of old volcanoes sitting below the waves. On the south of the island there was a small inlet which gave way to a tropical lagoon that lay in the islands centre, the main resort was situated there.

The airport where the Hellsing jet had touched down was a few kilometres from the resort, and the flat terrain gave everyone an excellent first glance of the island as they exited the plane. Seras was the first one out of the door, fully draped in clothes and sunglasses to shield her from the rising morning sun.

"It's gorgeous!" Seras exclaimed gleefully.

"I must say it's more beautiful than I thought," Integra conceded as she descended the steps down from the jet. "The photos of this place hardly do it justice."

"It's hot." Alucard groaned.

"Quiet you," Integra snapped. "Don't spoil the moment."

All Integra got in response was a snarl as her feet made the bottom of the steps.

Seras and Walter couldn't help but chuckle.

The group's attention was quickly drawn to the small motorcade that had been waiting for them on the runway, as the engines of the jet shut down the doors opened to reveal their greeting party. Stepping out from the head vehicle was a gentleman sharply dressed in a fine white suit, his skin was deeply tanned and his short blonde hair had a rough edge to it, he wore a small gold chain with a blue gem held in an amulet and his hands were covered by a pair of soft white gloves. Integra deduced that he must be the one in charge of operations of Kumaju that had been mentioned to her before they left England.

The gentleman briskly walked up to meet the group, followed by a small cohort of well-dressed assistants.

"Greetings! Welcome to the bountiful island nation of Kumaju!" He beamed, lowering himself into a curt bow before Integra. "My name is Irving Henderson, I am the Governor of Kumaju; it's an honour to meet you Sir Integra Hellsing."

"As it is you Irving," Integra replied curtly. She was a little surprised by Irving's appearance, especially his apparent youth; the man looked to be in only his mid to late twenties and he was already the governor of the Island. Perhaps he would be easier to put up with compared to the old aristocratic farts of home.

"May I introduce you to Walter Dornez, my personal assistant and esteemed friend." Integra gestured to a slightly embarrassed Walter, who had been caught off guard by her kind words.

"A pleasure to meet you Walter." Irving smiled as he shook hands with the butler.

"And you as well, Sir Irving." Walter replied.

"Please, just call me Irving," The governor chuckled. "I can't stand for any of that 'yes sir, no sir' treatment."

"Yes, I do get the feeling you prefer the relaxed way of life here." Walter smiled, nodding in the direction of the distant island resort.

"And finally," Integra interjected, realising that Irving was obviouisly the same gentlemanly type who enjoyed to waffle like Walter. "May I introduce to you Seras Victoria and Alucard."

The young governor turned himself away from Walter to greet the two vampires. He happily walked up to the pair and extended a hand in friendly greeting towards Seras.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss," He smiled as Seras took his hand in a timid hand shake. "I hope the Kumaju sun is not too harsh?"

"Oh! So you…know?" Seras asked.

"That you're both vampires? Of course," Irving nodded. "You two aren't the only people of a paranormal inclination that have visited Kumaju; this place is a popular getaway for all manner of dignitaries and people of power, some of whom aren't as human as they seem."

"Oh really?" Seras asked curiously.

"Yes," Irving replied. "Once you're settled I'll be sure to give you a history lesson, but I do not want to be rude and ignore our other midnight companion." He turned to face Alucard, who had been quietly observing the man in an attempt to judge his calibre.

"Master Alucard," Irving said as he gave a bow that Integra instantly recognised as one once used by the Romanian Royal family. "It's an honour to finally met you in the flesh."

"Your hospitality is most welcoming," Alucard replied with the same bow, deciding that he liked the man who had been bothered enough to research his proper history. "Until a few moments ago I thought I was to be doomed to weeks on an island filled with fat billionaires and whores, but I'm glad to have met a man of suitable class."

"I'm glad that I meet your famously high expectations," Irving laughed, before turning back to Integra.

"No that introductions are aside; perhaps you would like a brief tour of some of the key parts of the resort before our vampiric companions retire for the day?"

"I think that would be a good idea," Integra replied, increasingly happy that this man was completely unfazed by the maniacal killing machine that was Alucard. "We are here for eight weeks, so we might as well get familiar with key areas sooner rather than later."

"Excellent," Irving beamed as he gestured towards the cars. "My motorcade is prepared and ready for you all. Don't worry about your luggage, my people will bring it all to your lodgings."

XXX

Although the Island was lovely, Integra was glad to be in the air conditioned limousine. Kumaju's weather was hot to say the least, and she had yet to change into clothes more suited for the climate. Irving didn't appear to be bothered by it at all, he was wearing a full suit and had barely shed a drop of sweat; he'd obviously been on the island for at least a few years to be so well acclimatised.

The small convoy of vehicles made its way down along the windy road to Kumaju's main resort, every now and then the road would go through a small pocket of dense jungle before opening up again to the varying terrain of flat plains and foothills. Even though they were in a different car Integra knew Alucard would be struggling to pull Seras away from the window, she'd always wanted to go to a tropical paradise, and Kumaju defiantly fit the bill. She laughed at the thought, allowing the warm sunlight filtering in through the window to melt away her stress and make her feel something that she had not experienced in an age. Relaxation.

"Kumaju has that effect on people." Irving chuckled from the seat across, jumping Integra from her trance.

"What effect might that be?" She asked, a little tersely.

"You've been here not thirty minutes and you're already visibly more relaxed than when you arrived," Irving replied, pointing a gloved hand at her shoulders. "Your body is more relaxed, your breathing is gentle, deeper, and your eyes look calm instead of darting about all the time like they were when you first arrived."

"A very…astute observation," Integra agreed. She felt a fair amount of discomfort being examined in such a way by someone who was near enough a complete stranger. "Do you always take such notice of your guests?"

"Forgive me, I meant no offence." Irving replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not very good at the whole tactful thing."

"I noticed," Integra smirked. "You know, I imagined the governor of Kumaju to be a little…"

"Older?" Irving smiled.

"Well yes, not meaning to be offensive… Gosh I know that must sound hypocritical coming from a woman who's in her twenties and the head of a Royal Order."

"Not at all Sir Integra, I know I'm not exactly Governor material." Irving laughed.

"Then why are you here?" Integra asked.

"I'm good at understanding people," Irving smiled confidently. "This is an island filled with people, most of whom have a high political influence somewhere in the world. It's my job to keep everything running smoothly, to prevent certain people from certain countries clashing, and to provide a relaxing environment, because after all, this is what Kumaju is here for. If I don't know how my guests tick then I'm not going to be very good at running this resort."

"So you've studied human psychology…" Integra stated as she pursed her lips in thought. "You're British born, yes I can still detect the accent, and judging by your hairstyle you were once involved in the military?"

"Very good," Irving smiled. "I was an agent in the secret service before taking this posting. You have a keen eye; I knew there was more to the famous Lady Hellsing than just her looks."

"My looks are of no concern to me," Integra sneered, although her cheeks had felt a pang of warmth from the first compliment she'd had as a woman in years. "They don't get you very far in my field of work."

"No but they'll get you far here, I know a couple of bartenders that'll give you an extra special Vodka martini if they catch sight of a beauty such as yours."

"W-what?" Integra stammered, not expecting such upfront words.

"Ha-ha, relax Integra; I can call you Integra, right? I'm just trying to make you relax!" Irving chuckled. "You're on Kumaju Island; this is a place to forget about titles, you don't have to stand on ceremony for a cup of tea, you're meant to relax."

"So relaxing means using my body to get a better drink from the bar?"

"It was joke Integra; you guys still use those in England right?"

"Humph!"

"C'mon now, I'm not going to let up until I see you enter 'human' mode; Queen's order's I'm afraid."

"Dear lord save me," Integra groaned. 'He's like a human, less psychotic version of Alucard!'

XXX

Alucard chuckled in his seat as he watched the entertaining banter between Integra and Irving through her minds; she was so distracted that he had practically walked into her thoughts. It was amusing.

"What's he saying now master?" Seras asked eagerly.

"Apparently the Queen ordered Irving to prepare a 'relaxation schedule' for our master to follow," Alucard snorted through fits of laughter. "She isn't taking it well."

"I don't doubt that," Seras snickered. "Sir Integra's not exactly the relaxing type, reckon she'd burst into flame if she even considered something like massage therapy."

"And yet here we are." Alucard grinned triumphantly.

"I think you're enjoying this a little bit too much, master." Seras giggled.

"I've come to realize that I'm stuck here whether I like it or not," Alucard replied. "So I might as well get some sort of enjoyment out of it."

He of course wasn't going to mention the fact that he was doing it more for Seras's sake than his own. It seemed more and more obvious that her happiness was always greater when he himself was, or pretended to be, happy. Their bond was growing, as were other things between them. Along with that there were the recurring nightmares, some of which Alucard had not relived for many decades. All in all there were a lot of questions to be answered; perhaps Kumaju was as good a place as any to find them.

A/N: Aaaaand that FINALLY marks the start of the Kumaju section of this fic. From here on all kinds of crazy shit happens and it involves ALL of our characters, yes I realised that Walter and Seras havn't had much love in the past few chapters but that will change!