Hey all! It's the obligatory Authors note, basically I just saw Hannibal Rising and thought to myself after coming home and watching Silence of the Lambs, what was Muraski's take on the events in SOTL and Hannibal? Surely she was still alive?

So this formed from my brainchild, I have taken some liberties with the characters ages etc… for example I placed Lady Murasaki's age of around sixty or so during the events of SOTL, and Hannibal's age around forty five or so. But I do know that Clarice is twenty five and I haven't changed her age.

I don't know if I will continue this piece, but if an upwards of three people (if I even get three reviews) ask me to do so I will. So without further adieu I give to you the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following characters.

1975

Lady Murasaki could not remember feeling true fear until the night she saw Hannibal Lecter kill before her. She hadn't been afraid during the war, or when her husband died, but now as she stared in muted horror at the newspaper in front of her she felt that feeling once again.

The Headline simply said: Hannibal the Cannibal, and she knew, she knew it was Lecter, a part of her wanted to cry, cry because of what he had done, for the people that he had killed, but most of all she wanted to cry because still after all these years she still loved him.

Lady Murasaki purchased the American paper before hurrying back to her lovely Parisian apartment. In the following weeks Lady Murasaki became obsessed with any news of the Lecter trial, her obsession only deepened after she saw her own name appear in The Tattler.

Luckily the article mentioned no specifics, only that she had for a time been Lecter's guardian, but still a week later she found Detective Popil knocking at her door. Popil had been just as polite as she had remembered him. He merely requested her to testify in the Lecter case, after she declined though he had invited her out for dinner which she accepted.

At almost sixty years old Lady Murasaki was still an attractive woman, and even though her date with Popil went well they remained only as friends. She knew that Hannibal was not insane but it did not surprise her when Hannibal got away with his murders by plea of insanity.

For the next few months she heard almost nothing of Hannibal, except of when Popil informed her of his incarceration at a Baltimore asylum and of Lecter's vicious assault on a nurse. In fact Murasaki heard, nor read anything on Hannibal Lecter until nearly eight years later.

She wasn't looking for Hannibal in any of the papers that she bought, but had by chance accidentally picked up The Baltimore Sun instead of her usual magazines. She was home by the she realized her mistake, but it was of no consequence to her. She didn't own a television so perhaps this paper would give her some insight into current events.

She was merely glancing through the paper; a few names caught her eye, Buffalo Bill, Dr. Chilton, an American organization the FBI. Finally she saw his name, Hannibal Lecter, her heart stopped for a moment. The papers fluttered to the ground, in the corner of the article there was a picture of him, it must have been taken before his incarceration, He looked handsome even in the poor printing of the paper she was able to make out the hypnotic shade of maroon of his eyes, and the sheen of his pure jet black hair.

Fervently she picked up the paper once more, reading quickly, she began to gather together a story. She learned of the sadistic killer, Buffalo Bill, a killer that the papers implied skinned his victims. But the part that intrigued her most was who Lecter had chosen to be his messenger; it was a woman, (well more like a girl from what she read) according to the papers a rookie FBI agent. There was a picture of her in the paper she looked to be in her early twenties and even covered in dust; soaking wet Lady Murasaki could see that she was in fact very attractive.

Lecter had always coveted pretty things, including herself. In the papers from eight years ago in almost every picture Hannibal had been accompanied by a stunning woman. Lady Murasaki had never been jealous when she saw those pictures, but now the unfamiliar feeling pumped through her veins. Along with jealousy came hatred and betrayal, Lady Murasaki was surprised, how could she hate someone that she had never even met?

Clarice Starling was an FBI agent; it was her job to capture criminals Murasaki kept on reminding herself. She was jealous though, jealous of this young beautiful girl. And more than anything Murasaki felt betrayed by Hannibal.

She knew she shouldn't be feeling this way, it wasn't as though she and him had been married, or even made love, but there was still apart of her that did love him, perhaps a larger part of her heart than she had suspected.

Looking again at the picture of Clarice, who in her ugly cheap dirty clothes still radiated youth. Lady Murasaki felt threatened by this girl-woman. Who in all logic was merely doing her job, albeit an impossible job, but in Clarice's strong stance she could see what Lecter could have become enamored with.

Hannibal rarely leapt at the chance to help his captors, but something in this Starling had made him do so. Murasaki calmed herself with a cup of tea, she shouldn't be feeling this way about someone forty years her junior. She had had her chance with Hannibal all those years ago, and even if there was something between Hannibal and his little bird she was an officer of the law and he was an infamous serial killer.

Lady Murasaki silently promised to herself not to dwell on this subject any longer throwing away the papers. For some reason though the next day after she came home from the market she was not at all surprised to see that she had picked up a newspaper entitled "Bride of Frankenstein" with another picture of Clarice Starling on the front.

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