Wrote me first exam of the semester not too ago, pretty sure I passed it and I've been in a good mood since…that mood was then promptly crushed when I watched some international news as it is part of the course that I was informed, I get that it's important, I do but man…the world's a depressing place sometimes. Oh, but on more positive news, I heard that Danny Phantom was coming back…as a manga which while I'm excited about, I'm concerned if it'll take everything that happened in the show as canon as while one of my favourite shows, it had some serious flaws, so I hope they take the time to iron them out and make something just as memorable.

Chapter 19: English Weather

Perhaps it was a testament to the stories, or merely the heavens themselves crying his arrival but, the British Governor didn't know. All he knew was that he hoped to at least keep out of the way of the Grand Inquisitor as he stood, back straight and head forward in the rain with only the umbrella of his aide to keep him dry as the Air-Battleship Grey came in for its landing, the vessel dwarfing everything else at the airport in both size and power. It wasn't even the only one that had come where the Grand Inquisitor, his fleet followed as 3 of the 6 Avalon-classes came down near to the Bliant-class Grey. The remaining 3 Avalons along with the 3 Benwick-classes Air-Cruisers remained in the air, no doubt ready to rain down hellfire on any foolish enough to attempt the Grand Inquisitor.

The Governor didn't pay them much mind, he couldn't afford to as he wished he had half as much confidence as the woman standing next to him, her uniform immaculate, her gaze steady and unyielding as a rock. Chief Inspector De la Garza had been informed of this arrival hours before him, and he was sure it was intentional that she didn't say anything about it, he had seen the smile as he rushed towards the airport, having been awoken by the news and only having the barest time to get himself there in a presentable fashion. But he didn't have time to curse her for her continued attitude of disrespect towards him as a governor door to the Grey finally opened up. The first to disembark was an entire platoon poured out. 36 men and women, all dressed in clean, crisp white cloaks forming two ranks, their guns at the ready and held with such professionalism and readiness that he was sure they'll shoot a fly if they thought it was a threat.

But it wasn't the 36-armed soldiers that concerned it, it was their master as he finally made his appearance. His body is hidden behind a set of intricate and finely made white, gold, blue and cloak, his blade at his side. As he slowly approached, walking with the grace of an apex predator, the governor saw more of him, from how the man stood taller than he, being at least 180cm tall if not taller, to how bulky his frame was, how his armour seemed to have more going on then he would imagine for simply body armour. Finally, what brought his attention back to his face was the mask, the blue and golden respirator that the man wore, the source of that god-awful breathing that only got louder as he approached. Once the man stopped, he had closed the distance so that only a couple of meters stood between them, unphased by the weather which only made his pale, veiny face all the more intense.

'Welcome to England, Grand Inquisitor. I hope that the trip treated you well.' De la Graza spoke up, speaking before he could gather his wits as the woman bowed to the man before them who observed her for a moment before he responded.

'It was…sufficient.' His response was measured, calm and raspy.

'Good, shall we get to business then, my lord? Which would you like to hear first?' The woman stood back up from her bow, her hands held behind her back as a trained officer should.

'I would like to hear the Governor's words on the situation, see if your report on him was accurate.' The Grand Inquisitor turned from her towards him, his chaotic green eyes as calm as a violent storm. The sight of which made him swallow as he collected himself.

'W-well, Grand Inquisitor, I haven't had a clue as to what this wit-' He caught himself before he could let his too much out, not caring for how the woman hid her amusement at his slip-up. 'To what the Chief Inspector had told you, but I can assure you that the people of the British Isles are loyal citizens of the world and that any issues that do arise are well within our capabilities to handle without wasting your precious time.' The Grand Inquisitor remained silent, watching him, his gaze locking him into place almost as effectively as restraints as he didn't immediately answer, though he could the sense that he wasn't much in the man's eyes.

'Is that right?' He eventually asked him, his tone consistent but he didn't dare think he had won any ground just yet.

'Of course, Grand Inquisitor! These issues that have popped up have been investigated by our finest and I'm sure we'll soon have the issue figured out to ease the mind of Lord Schnei-' Before he could continue to explain himself to him, and shorten this to merely a surprise visit, a figure broke from the crowd of soldiers and groundcrews.

'Die!' They yelled as they held a pistol in hand, but they hadn't had the chance to aim for the man, who didn't even move and merely apathetically observe him before the would-be assassin was shot trice. The first bullet struck his knee, the second turning his hand into a bloody mess, the pistol broken beyond use falling from it. The final shot hit him in the shoulder. All three landed near simultaneously and sent the man to the ground, landing harshly on his back. The governor shakingly looked to the gunmen and saw that three of the white cloaks that the Grand Inquisitor brought with him still had their guns trained on the man, while the others had fanned out within a blink of an eye, forming a protective wall around their lord and master.

He also saw that in part of that wall were some of the white cloaks that the Chief Inspector brought with her, the woman not missing a beat as she barked out orders. 'Guards! Detain him at once! And do a full sweep of the area, you!' She didn't pay the radical any more attention as two of her man grabbed him and dragged him off, not caring for his injuries. 'Find out who a radical even got into the airport, never mind here, now!' Her attention was on another who quickly saluted her.

'Yes, mam!' They didn't stay long, rushing out to carry out her orders.

'Was the security of this place…your responsibly, Chief Inspector?' The governor's heart sank when the Grand Inquisitor spoke up, the man completely unphased by the attempt on his life. He sparred the Chief Inspector a glance, and his heart sunk further as he saw the gleam in her eye, she was about to sell him out.

'I'm afraid not, Grand Inquisitor. While I would have normally personally handed things, the governor insisted that he handle it,' The Grand Inquisitor's eyes never left him, and despite the fact he was the only one who had an umbrella, his face felt sweaty and pale as he wished for mercy but that mercy wouldn't come. 'As a means to demonstrate his capacity to lead the British Isles.' The Grand Inquisitor's gave, which had been impassive the entire time, grew just a little hostile as if he was about to draw his blade and cut him down in equal measure.

'Then it's to be expected that he would fail, as you stated in your report of his lacking performance.' He turned from the man to his would-be partner in handling the day-to-day affairs of the British Isles, with that dismissal, he just knew that he was in hot water and would be boiled alive if he didn't do something-anything that appeased the man. He had heard the stories, of what happened to those that disappointed it otherwise drew the man's ire. You couldn't just leave an office like his own without a plan, without protection from radicals.

He would be lucky if the Grand Inquisitor chose imprisonment, at least there he'll still have guards whose job it was to keep him alive. Even death was better than an alternative as it would be quirk if dealt by his hand. No, he had to do something!

'G-gra-' The Grand Inquisitor didn't shift his gaze back to him, he didn't need to as the change in his mood was palpable, with the Chief Inspector getting the worst of it as she was the one looking at his face shift as irritation formed in him. The governor, upon feeling his primal sense of survivor screaming out to him, cut his defence short.

'Keep your excuses, I have neither the time nor care to hear them out. Your tenure as governor has been less than fruitful, it was on these isles that the incidents first started, and yet I have not heard of any progress from you. Instead, I hear stories of lavish parties, of an incompetent administration.' How did he-? The Chief Inspector! Had she documented everything he did, how did she even accomplish that, she wasn't invited to any of his get-togethers, did she pay off staff, did one of the guests leak it back to her?

'I will not tolerate this unless you can impress me, you'll find yourself worrying about more than your job. Because of your failures, the enemies of the peace have been able to operate here with near impunity.' The Grand Inquisitor gave the airport a look as if all that he saw disgusted him as he finally turned back to him, appearing less like a man and more like a monster ripped out of hell, his toxic green eyes seemed to glow on the backdrop of his pale, vein riddled skin.

'No longer, we'll smoke them out of whatever hiding holes they may have, trapped them like rats and deal with them as such.' He turned back to the Chief Inspector, his tone sounding as if he was…looking forward to the hunt. 'Chief Inspector, make sure that the prisoner is seen to, I would wish to personally interrogate him and make him talk where his allies are.'

'As your command, Grand Inquisitor.' As she bowed and left to carry out his orders, there was another observer. Watching as the knightmares and other equipment were unloaded and the Grand Inquisitor walked into the building and out of the rain, was a large blue feathered owl. Seemingly not caring for the rain and how wet its feathers were getting, it had observed all that had transpired through its deep crimson eyes. Once the armoured inquisitor stepped into the building, it remained a little longer before with a single flap of its wings, it took off, flying southwest faster than any normal bird should have been able to.

'Hey, where's the spare socket wrench?' Rivalz, much older asked as he looked through a toolbox that was close to him, on his other side was a car with its hood opened, revealing its partially disassembled engine.

'It should be in the back toolbox!' Someone replied from the other side of the auto shop.

'Thanks!' Rivalz called back as he stood to his full height, walking to where his desired tool was as he wiped his cleans with a cloth from his pocket.

'Just make sure you finish that radiator repair before the end of the day, we're behind with work as is.' His boss reminded him as he worked on a client's motorcycle, its front missing after a nasty hit and run left the thankfully, unoccupied machine nearly totalled.

'Got it, boss.' Rivalz replied as he walked past him, placing the dirty cloth back in his pocket. As he approached the back of the store, he reminisced on the past, and how he managed to find himself in Manchester of all places. He did miss his friends, the familiar spots and his parents but there were far too many bad memories as well, he just had to get away from it all before it drove him insane. As he walked by a window, the soft pitter-patter of the rain largely drowned out by the sounds of mechanics working, he recalled all the battles, all the lies, all the death. And through it all, there was him, old friendly Rivalz who when the chips were down couldn't protect anything. If not for Kallen and Ze-Lelouch, that black knight would have either clocked him over the head or shot him. He hadn't been able to save Shirley either, only attend her funeral like he had done her father's a year prior.

Even with Nina, he couldn't protect her, his attempt just got him a busted lip and a black eye, Nina had to step up and protect him that day, and because of that, no one had seen or heard from her since. Not him, not her parents, no one. When everything fell apart, he just packed his bags and left despite the wishes of Kallen and Milly, though he felt it was hypocritical for Kallen to ask him to stay in Japan when she couldn't even stay in a single place long, for all he knew, she had left for Korea the following week, a sentiment that was bolstered when he noticed Milly vanished from her job at her news agency not even a week later.

As he found the tool he was looking for, he could admit to himself that it wasn't all bad, he had found proper work in Manchester, his boss being sympathetic to him and offering him a job despite his lack of a high school diploma. With the tool in hand, he got back to work, exchanging small talk here and there as he finished up the repair and began to reassemble the engine back into working order. He was halfway done with them when one of his colleagues walked over, just as greased and strained as he was.

'Hey, did you hear?' She asked him as she came and leaned on the car.

'Hear what, Adaline? I've been busy the whole day.' Rivalz replied as the woman's brow rose as she pointed towards the radio close to the front.

'You mean you haven't been listening to the radio?' She asked him, with Rivalz pausing before he could answer, looking away with a little red to his cheeks.

'…I'm been busy, alright?' She didn't give him much flak for it, merely chuckling at how absorbed he could get in his work.

'Well, the Grand Inquisitor arrived this morning, they didn't say why but you know whenever he goes somewhere…' She paused, neither needing her to finish the sentence for several reasons.

'Yeah…Let's hope things don't go to hell for us, crime's been on the down low for a while, right? Not like he has any reason to stay in the city long, he's probably just here for a surprise inspection or something.' Rivalz smiled back at her, hoping it didn't look as strained as he felt about the topic, but if it was, she didn't say.

'Most likely, well I'll let you get back to it, I need to use the ladies' room.' She gave him a pat on the back before she turned to leave her junior to his work.

'Excuse me.' Rivalz looked up from the fridge he was working on, seeing a mother and daughter approaching him. The daughter couldn't be any older than 10 and held onto her mother's hand with a fierce grip.

'Yes, mam? What can I do for you?' He asked the two, the mother looking side to side nervously before she replied.

'Well,' The woman, who seemed to be in her mid-40s, took a moment to calm herself. 'We have an issue that needs fixing, though it's not a car.' He looked at them, an eyebrow raised as he saw that they carried nothing with them.

'Well, we do specialise in automobiles, but we do our best to be general mechanics as well.' He gestured to the fridge he had been working on to prove the point as the woman quickly nodded her head.

'Good, good. It's our treadmill, the darn thing doesn't run anymore.' Rivalz paused at that, his face twisting just a little before it calmed.

'I see, did you bring it with you today?' He looked over their shoulder but the woman shook her head.

'Oh no, it would have never fit into our car, though it would have been a different story if Manchester had an underground, a stop close to here would have been a godsend.' Rivalz nodded at her explanation as he looked around himself, though more subtly than she did. Once he saw that they were relatively alone, he smiled.

'It sure would, would bring more business if people didn't need to use the roads.' He laughed as he placed the screwdriver back into its box. 'Why don't we discuss this in my office, away from all the dirt and grime?' He gestured towards the side, where the workers had their little office spaces to handle the paperwork and the like.

'That would be nice.' The mother nodded her head, following after him with her daughter in hand. Once inside, Rivalz closed the door and went to the back of the small space where a little coffee machine sat.

'One moment please, I'm just brewing some coffee before we start, busy day.' He asked as he started to prepare a fresh batch of caffeine, his hands reaching for one of the few mugs he had.

'Of course, take your time.' The woman gave her consent as he hummed a little song, his hands fiddling with the device, pressing all sorts of buttons before it finally finished brewing a fresh mug, along with that there was another green light on the side that lit up.

'We're in the clear.' Rivalz told the two, as he sat down with a huff, the woman doing the same, though he couldn't blame her as while this was his office and he had managed to operate without issue for 8 months now, one could never be too sure about who was watching, so he always made sure to do a quick screen for anything out of place, the scanner is built into his coffee machine and only useable if one knew which buttons and in which order to press them, which meant that even if this place was raided, it wasn't like they'll find anything out of ordinary, not unless they tore every appliance he had to pieces to ensure they were what they claimed to be.

'Thank heavens, I was scared that she had been lying.' He nodded his head there, reaching into his desk and pulling out an energy bar for himself, as he had been working hard and if this was any indication, he wasn't going to be in bed by 10 either.

'That's reasonable, operating as we do doesn't assure safe working conditions. And with the arrival of the Grand Inquisitor, things will only get harder.' The two shivered at the mention of the man, though if he told you that he didn't feel anything for the fact his former friend could get such a response from people he had never met, he would be lying. Still, it was strange that he had been sent to their neck of the woods, his last deployment had been to the Amazon if he was recalling things right, and that cell had just been too noisy for their good. What was his purpose here? Things had been running smoothly.

'So, it can't be done?' The daughter asked a little thing who looked even more terrified than her mother.

'Harder, not impossible.' He took a bite of his energy bar and a sip of his coffee. 'Here's what you need to do on your end,' He started to explain things to them, what they would need to do when they'll need to do it, how and when. He didn't leave anything out, if they needed to know, he told them and he made sure that they understood that they couldn't just tell people about this, not friends, families, or co-workers. They could leave letters for them which he could have delivered after the fact, but that was it.

While Rivalz helped to organise another family's attempts to flee the regime, on the other side of the town's bus stop, the party of four disembarked from the bus. Having travelled under assumed names and just for extra caution, different disguises than the ones that they had been using in Japan. Carrying their light luggage, they stopped just shy of the entranceway to observe the city. 'We got here fast.' Nagisa, a now 34-year-old veteran rebel, noted as she adjusted braided her, dyed blue.

'It took a little haggling, and some agreement for some favours down the line, but I managed.' Milly replied as she took a moment to stop and smell the relatively clean air, having heard the old stories on how polluted the city had been during the industrial revolution and even the early 20th century. But it was now a far cry from that having moved away from manufacturing to the arts decades ago. She had wished to visit the place once upon a time, to explore its liberal streets but alas, she was here for work, not like there was much to enjoy anyway.

'Where are we meeting with the rest of them?' Kallen asked, adjusting her hat to cover more of her blonde hair.

'There's a bar not too far from here, the owner is someone we can reasonably trust.' Milly told them all as Tamaki, who had been largely silent the entire trip smoke up.

'Got it.' Kallen sparred the temporarily black-haired man a glance but didn't say much more as they moved out the bus terminal into the thankfully lightening rain, hopefully, it'll clear up soon. The group strayed together, acting like they were locals which while would have been off when the city had been controlled by the E.U., hadn't been so for a while as when Britannia took the British Isles in the final months of Charles's reign, they had made everyone, not just the Japanese from the ghettos, into 3rd class citizens in a 2-class system. Life under Schneizel may have seen the abolishment of the number system, but that was one of the few good things he and his government had done.

After some time, and a lot of detours to through off anyone watching them through the many CCTV cameras mounted all over the place, they found themselves in the seedier part of town, far from the slum it once had been, but most definitely not what one would find on a magazine cover. At the corner of the street stood a single building, a simple brick and mortar construction, 3 stories tall. 'We're here.' Milly pointed out as she pointed at the sign of the place that read 'Devil's Luck.' Entering the place with a ding from the bell over the door, the group saw that it wasn't full yet, which was to be expected as the work day didn't end for another hour for most. At present, there were maybe 8 or 9 people present, excluding the barkeep who was wiping down the countertop at one of the tables.

Turning when he heard the sound of the bell, the man that seemed to be in his 40s gave the group a quirk lookover, stopping on Milly as he eyed her, though none could detect any perversion in his gaze, it was more like he was trying to match her face to a name. 'You Burns?' He eventually asked them.

'That's me! I hope that my cousin set things up right, he can be a spazz at times.' Milly asked him, having used one of her many fake names to organise this entire thing, this time it was the alias of Samantha Burns, who had distant family in the greater Manchester area.

'The stairs are next to the bathrooms, don't make a noise up there, I don't need the cops getting into my business.' The man replied as he pointed towards the stairs before he got back to cleaning, a man of the mindset that if he didn't see or hear it, it wasn't his issue which in their line of work, was a smart play.

'Can do, come on, party people.' Milly led the group away, not caring for the barkeep to turn to them with a mild glare.

'I just sai-whatever,' He threw his hands up and went back to his business, letting them all pass without issue. Once they reached the second floor, they soon found themselves outside of the few doors up there, with Milly softly knocking on the door.

'It's us.' Milly said through it, she didn't need to wait long as the door was opened up to reveal a tall man in dark spectacles, his hair may have been trimmed and was now light brown, but to Kallen, his stance and face made it clear who this was.

'Good, get in.' Guilford, in disguise, nodded once he saw them all present, his eyesight not nearly as bad as it could have been as he let them all in and softly closed the door. On the inside of what must have been a spare worker's quarters, sat the remainder of their party. Cornelia sat by the table, as regal as ever with her orange hair done into a braid while Gino…

'It's great to see you again!' Kallen was picked off the ground by the giant of a man before as he bear-hugged her like a friend that had been away for a long time, actually…she was his friend, wasn't she? Despite the brief flash of her survival instincts, she laughed as she hugged the man back.

'You too, Gino. Didn't know you grew some facial hair.' Kallen told him as he finally set her down, revealing that while she had grown over the years, he was still an old oak compared to her as the man was close to 2m tall if she was measuring it right. At her comment, he merely laughed as his bearded smile broke into a bigger smile.

'You should see it when it isn't dyed.' He toyed with the healthy red mane he had going in, his contacts hiding his normally blue eyes under a sheet of green but it was still clear that despite it all, he had managed to hold into his best parts. After the short introduction, they all sat down, ready for business.

'Lady Sumeragi sends her regards, but was unable to attend so she sent us instead.' Chiba spoke up for both herself and Tamaki, the man nodded he was mentioned.

Cornelia barely glanced at them. 'She informed us of that, let's hope that you two can get the job done.' Once, the two would have been angered at his words, but in the present day, they understood it was merely Guilford wishing to keep things moving. Even if they did suspect he still held racist views, it wasn't like it was the time or place to make a fuss about it.

Regardless of this, Cornelia gave her husband a look. 'Enough, Gilbert. There's no need for hostilities.' Her frown was enough to get the man to bow.

'Right, my apologies.' Seeing this, Cornelia signed, reaching for the water she had been nursing since before they arrived.

'Ashford, what have your contacts been able to find?' The former princess asked their chief information specialist who smiled at the fact Cornelia realized that she must have learned more without needing to ask.

'They managed to get into contact with someone working in the underground.' Milly replied as Gino scratched his head in slight confusion.

'I don't get it, don't we all work in the underground?' It was a good question, but Milly had the answer to it.

'We do, but not this one. It operates like the literal thing, getting people from point A to wherever they all vanish too.' She didn't know any more than that, unfortunately. Though she did find the idea to call this safe passage the underground a nice touch.

'They found someone willing to talk?' Cornelia asked as she had led efforts on her side for months now with no success as if they had found something that knew nothing, they hadn't talked. Now, the old her wouldn't have tolerated that and used whatever means to achieve it but…no, she didn't want to be the old her, she didn't want to repeat her many sins. She had enough to be punished for, a thought that caused her to unknowingly rub her get.

'It took a while, but yeah. They sent word to me while we were still travelling.' Milly replied as she had to take the call in private, she trusted her friends, she did but this just wasn't the line of work where info could just be allowed to spread without purpose.

'What about these…beasts, have they managed to find anything about that?' Guilford asked, as unlike the Japanese fighters, they had the displeasure of dealing with them in the past.

'Nothing concrete, but I have reason to suspect that if we find out where the people all vanish to, we'll be better placed to find the answers to that.' Milly replied, though she did keep it to herself that she suspected that the man they were hunting for would be that source of answers, that was if they could attain a straight answer out of him.

'That's good. It's been hard enough to deal with them.' Gino leaned back in his chair.

'You've seen one?' Kallen asked, eager for any more information about this as aside from the scattered reports Milly had managed to acquire, and that footage of the long-dead…thing, she hadn't had much to work with.

'Yeah, around a year back in Belgium. Damned thing looked and acted like a troll; didn't even seem to notice the fact he dumped whole clips into its green hide.' Gino laughed as he recalled his piss scared he had been, screaming in terror right alongside his men as they just shot the damn thing, but like any good horror monster, mortal means, in this case, firearms, couldn't stop it.

'How'd did you get away from it?' Tamaki asked, a brow raised.

'No clue. We were running for a while and something else seemed to draw its attention. Didn't stick around to find out how it was handled, just saw the place crawling with white cloaks the next morning and booked it.' Gino relayed to them as the group sighed at the rather lacking information, but pressed on.

'The footage from London showed a suit that seemed to have been based on the Mordred, a knightmare that hasn't been seen in over 5 years. I wouldn't be surprised if it or another suit like it was the culprit.' Nagisa tried to pit in pieces into the gaps of Gino's story but as she spoke, it was like a switch had been flipped as Gino lost all humour, his face as hard as stone.

'It's not a theory, it's a fact. I've fought alongside her long enough to know what her knightmare looked like. That was a variant of it.' The Japanese group blinked for a moment as Cornelia merely signed, much more used to Gino's insistence that somewhere, somehow Anya was still alive. She wasn't sure about it, even after seeing the footage as it had been over 5 years but, she didn't want to take away the man's hope and kept her misgivings to herself.

Trying to keep things movings, she spoke. 'What this means is that we have solid proof to know that Alstreim is either still in the country or has recently left it.' She knew it would hurt but if Anya had remained unseen for as long as she had, it wasn't assured that she would still be anywhere close to where she was last seen. 'The only real wrinkle to our plans is the presence of Kururugi.' Both Gino and Kallen stiffened at that, both have seen the news about his arrival that morning, and the whispers of a failed assassination attempt on his life, surely one that was somewhere in the 30s when it came to attempts.

'Then we don't have much time, do we?' Tamaki said, looking at the group with his one good eye. 'Then I say we find a way to get ourselves into the next group.' The group paused at that, as while brash, it wasn't an unwise move in the broad strokes.

'I highly doubt they'll move when the Suzaku is in the area.' Nagisa countered as he had made it his life work to seemingly counter the Black Knights wherever he went, from his first sortie in the dreaded Lancelot to his efforts to suppress resistance to the regime. With such an unrelenting force upon the isles, she would have hunkered down and tried to wait him out.

'Like they have a choice. If they just remain hidden and wait for him to leave, he'll find them first. Not like the bastard's gonna go home empty-handed.' Tamaki countered as Cornelia hummed, seeing his point and agreeing with him.

'He's right. Suzaku is nothing if not…thorough,' Guilford laid a hand on her shoulder at that, knowing that it must have been painful to refer to his junior knight of honour in any positive light. 'And odds are they'll know that and try to get out even faster. Ashford, can you contact get us into that group?' She pushed past her discomfort and the taste of bile in her mouth.

Milly didn't answer immediately, taking time to think it over and run the numbers and odds in her head before she replied. '…I'll see what I can do, but this is a big ask.'

Nodding at that, Cornelia gave them the broad strokes of the mission. 'Then we'll wait, and plan our next moves accordingly.' With that, the 33-old veteran started to rattle off tasks for them to do, which they all left to get started on, but even though she was given something, Kallen remained as she wished to talk to her, a sentiment that Cornelia seemed to realize as she waved off her husband's concern so that the two could be left alone.