Chapter Sixteen Author's Notes:
Here we are again, with the next chapter! I had it written before the whole Pilatus Mission, but had to change it to fit the past two chapters.
Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino
Kapitel 17: In between Missions
Without Kanda the journey back home was rather boring for Ellen, but she had picked up a few books at all stations she had visited – she was well versed in various European languages and reading a book in a foreign tongue was an easy task for her. And apart from that she could not let her skills become rusty. Often she played card games with Toma or other passengers on the train. All in all it took her mind of the previous weeks and she was very calm and collected by the time they reached the Black Order almost two weeks later. It was late at night and Toma accompanied her to the doors of the science department. Linali came to greet her.
"Oh Ellen! You made it back safely!", she said and pulled her into an affectionate hug. "Welcome back home!". Ellen smiled at her and nodded.
"Thank you very much, dear Linali", she answered and took the two pieces of Innocence out of her coat pocket. "Here is the Innocence". The Chinese girl looked at it and then pointed inside the room.
"You can give it the Komui", she said and they went looking for him.
"Ellen! Welcome back!", the head of the Black Order greeted the girl, patting her head, "are you feeling well?"
"Yes, very much so, thank you", she answered and showed him the Innocence, "here".
"Well done, Ellen! You can give it to me, I'll bring it down to Hebraska in a moment"
"To Hebraska?", Ellen asked as Komui put the Innocence cubes into a drawer of his table.
"Yes, she guards the Innocence pieces until we find a compatible, so it will be safe with her".
"I see", Ellen said and put her hands in the coat of her pocket.
"You should go to sleep now you two. We have no new missions yet, so you have enough time to rest", he said and Ellen nodded, "Oh. I nearly forgot", he said as Ellen and Linali were already at the door. He pulled a drawer open and took an envelope out. "Kanda sent me the mission report yesterday and there was a letter for you inside". Ellen's face brightened up and she rushed to Komui to receive the letter. "My, how eager you are! We actually never receive letters from Kanda!", the scientist said with a big smile and patted Ellen on the head. "Well done". Ellen smiled up at him.
"Thank you Mister Li! Good Night!", the girl joined Linali at the door.
"Kanda sent you a letter?", she asked laughing, "how peculiar of him!".
"Really? Maybe he wants to reprimand me because he had to write a report all on his own?", she wondered and laughed. Linali just shook her head smiling.
"Here we are. I'll see you tomorrow and you have to tell me everything of your first two missions!". Ellen nodded and bid the girl good-night before she went into her room. She put down her suitcase and pulled off her coat. She sat on her bed, the letter in her hands. Ellen smiled to herself and put it on the night table. Kanda never went back on his word it seems, but she hadn't expected him to write this fast! She got undressed and sat on her bed, taking the letter up again. It was a simple white envelope and on the front it read "Miss Ellen Walker, Dark Order" in a neat handwriting. She opened it and took out the letter. It was only one page, but there was something else inside of the envelope. She put her fingers inside and took out a bracelet made of purple glass balls, the same she had seen on Kanda's wrist before. She put it in her lap and opened the folded paper.
"Beansprout.
This mission will take me longer than expected; at least another month and I've already got word that I might have to join another mission afterwards.
I've included my wristband. It's important to me, take care of it – if it breaks I'll hit you.
I might not be able to write another letter for a long time and don't know if you'll even be at the order. But that's the way it is.
Take care,
Kanda"
Ellen smiled gently and put on the bracelet, then she put down the letter on the nighttable. She switched off the light and lay down. The bracelet was reflecting the moonlight that shone through her window and threw purple light spots at the wall.
"Thank you Kanda…", Ellen whispered and closed her eyes, "you'll even protect me from far away…"
--
When Ellen woke up the next morning the bracelet on her left arm was the first thing she saw and the girl smiled.
"Ellen? Are you up?", she heard Linali call and sat up in bed.
"I just woke up. You can come in!", she called and Linali opened the door. The girl still wore a silky nightgown and slippers, her hair was braided. She observed how Ellen got up and pulled clothes out of the drawer. She saw the bracelet on her arm and smiled slyly.
"So what did Kanda say?", she asked and Ellen turned to her.
"Well, that he will take longer than expected and he gave me his bracelet", she said and showed Linali her wrist. The Chinese girl bit her lower lip to stop herself from giggling, but Ellen was too preoccupied looking at her wrist.
"Come on, you can dress later! Let's get into the bath and you can tell me everything about the mission". Ellen hesitated, but Linali grabbed her hand and dragged her out of her room.
--
"He kissed you?!", Linali shrieked and all women inside of the bathroom were looking at them. Ellen was blushing and lowered herself further into the bath, "Kanda kissed you?! I can't believe it!!". She said and put her hands on Ellen's shoulders. "That's fantastic news!!"
"Please, Linali. We are not a couple and there is no need for the whole order to know about it…". Linali giggled and whispered an apology.
"But did he tell you he loved you?"
"Well, yes he made his point that he is in love with me. It does not mean that we will… You know, become a couple…", she told her, "we are exorcists after all"
"That's probably what he said, right?", the Chinese girl asked with a raised eyebrow and Ellen laughed.
"It is, but he is right", she replied and looked at her bracelet, keeping quiet about the fact that being exorcist didn't really hinder Kanda to want to be with her.
"Well. Do you love him?", Linali wanted to know and Ellen sighed.
"I… do not know… I like him, but it is too early for me to decide about that… But love is not really important… Neither in war nor in a relationship". Linali raised both of her eyebrows.
"What are you saying? Of course it's important! Don't you want to marry someone you love?", she asked and Ellen shrugged.
"I cannot marry if my mother does not approve… Kanda is a foreigner and I do not think that he is of noble birth… My mother would probably deny it. But…", Ellen hesitated and blushed. Should she tell Linali about what they had done? Linali was her friend, but it wasn't proper to talk about such intimate things.
"But what? Tell me! I want to know!", the Chinese girl said and started to tickle Ellen.
"Oh, mercy, Linali!", Ellen laughed, "I will tell you!". The Chinese girl stopped and Ellen sighed in relief.
"Well… Kanda told me… that he would… well…", she blushed and played with her hair to hide her embarrassment, "it did not sound like he would mind marrying me". Linali widened her eyes and blushed herself.
"What? He… He proposed to you?", she whispered and Ellen shook her head.
"No! No he did not. We just talked about it". Linali was silent for some time, then she laughed.
"I can't believe we're talking about Kanda. He must really care about you then. I am amazed that you don't have any romantic feelings for him"
"I told you I did not know whether I have feelings for him. No, I actually have feelings for him, I just do not know if it is enough. It is just too early to decide"
"Hmm… But I'm happy for you. I can't really say that Kanda would be a good husband. But I think he's very responsible and will take care of you, even if you will not become a couple", Linali said, her hand on Ellen's shoulder. The younger girl smiled up at her and nodded.
"Yes… I believe so too…".
--
The two girls left the baths and went to the main floor, were Ellen picked up a parcel at the information bureau.
"This must be from my mother!", she exclaimed and took it into the dining hall, where Jerry greeted her.
"You're back, darling!"
"Hello Jerry! Yes, thank you!", Ellen answered with a bright smile, "I missed your delicious food"
"Ah, you're still such a flattering child! I will do my best to prepare you two girls a good breakfast!", he announced and retreated into the kitchen. Ellen and Linali sat at a nearby table so Ellen could open the parcel. There was a letter attached to it, which Ellen opened.
"Dear child
I hope you are well and healthy. I realized that you have changed your name to Ellen Walker, which caused me some confusion. But I think you must have your reasons for doing so. I will not question them.
I have sent you a present for your fifteenth birthday and hope you can use it well.
I further hope you are not neglecting your studies. But I am happy to hear that you have made new friends.
I hope that you will have time to visit your old mother, I feel lonely without my beloved child.
I expect you to behave yourself and wish for you to grow into a fine young woman.
With much love,
Your mother, Charlene Bermont"
"Oh. I even forgot that it was my birthday last week", Ellen said, widening her eyes.
"You turned 15?", Linali asked and Ellen nodded. The Chinese girl hugged her. "You should have told me! I could have gotten you a gift!"
"Oh, do not concern yourself over such things, dear Linali", Ellen said and looked at her friend, "should we open it?". Linali nodded eagerly and Ellen opened the box to find a dark green, fashionable coat and a blue dress. "My goodness. How beautiful!", Ellen exclaimed and pulled out the coat.
"It must look fantastic on you! A pity Kanda's not here!", Linali said and touched the fabric of the dress gently.
"Oh, stop it, Linali", Ellen said with a frown, which caused the older girl to laugh. "I told you, he is not my lover"
"Yes, because you're a good girl. I know", Linali said and Ellen turned to look at her, uncertain and with an almost guilty pout. She lowered her head to put the coat back into the box before Linali could comment on the face she pulled. Linali and Ellen got the food from Jerry and started eating.
"You don't have to worry about Kanda, Ellen. He'll be alright. He always is, he is very strong", Linali said. Ellen raised her head, her brow furrowed. She knew Linali was right, but she stopped worrying the day she got his letter.
"Why do you have to bring Kanda up all the time?", she wanted to know and Linali smiled gently.
"Okay. I'll stop, seeing as it's not a comfortable subject for you", she said and Ellen nodded in agreement. Of course it wasn't. She, Ellen Bermont, only daughter of a noble family, had turned against her mother's teaching and had slept with a man outside a legal marriage. She hadn't thought about it much at first because all she wanted was the comforting closeness of another body. She would have been happy to just have had someone hug her to show that she was protected and taken care of, but as soon as Kanda had started she… stopped thinking about it, because it just felt right to go on. Maybe she should have refused, but she knew there was no sense in regretting things which could not be changed. She would have to confess to her mother eventually, because it might be important to her future husband. Ellen knew that her mother had started looking for possible men just after her fourteenth birthday, but she hadn't found anyone yet who could live up to her expectations. And if even people of noble lineage, great fortune, good looks, incredible learning and well manners could not please her mother, then how would she react to the bad-tempered, ill-mannered, very young, uneducated (or so Ellen guessed) Japanese exorcist Kanda? She didn't even want to think about it, even though Ellen knew that Kanda was perfectly able to behave if he had to.
"Ellen? Are you alright? You're not eating…", she heard Linali say and looked up at her.
"What?", she looked down at her plate and blushed, "oh, my. I was deep in thoughts! I tend to forget the world around me", she confessed and started eating. Linali laughed understandingly.
--
The next three weeks Ellen spent inside the library and in her room. She had asked Komui for a teacher, because she didn't want to neglect her studies, at least not when she was not on missions. He had been sceptical at first, but eventually agreed to it. There were many well educated people working at the order and a few of them had volunteered to teach Ellen. She had also be allowed to help at the infirmary and gained basic knowledge about medicine and first aid.
"You're working hard, Ellen", Linali said one day, while they met at lunch.
"Not at all! I am just trying to be useful and I must confess that I enjoy myself greatly", she said and Linali raised an eyebrow.
"I never knew that you were so ambitious", she said and looked through a stack of papers she had been carrying around. Ellen looked at her and smiled.
"I am not… I just try my best, so I will be able to survive. You know that I am not that strong as an Exorcist. And learning is what I grew up doing", she said and laughed, "you could say that it is my forte, maybe it will be useful later on!" Linali nodded, still with a sceptical frown.
"Oh, by the way. Komui wants to see us up at his office. It seems that he has a mission for us", she said and smiled at her.
"I see! Let us hurry up then", Ellen suggested, taking off her white apron she wore for her work in the infirmary, and Linali nodded, smiling but somehow lost in thought.
--
When the two girls arrived at Komui's office they found him nearly buried in sheets.
"Ahhhh… There you are", he said in a slightly slurred voice as if he was really tired, and he looked it.
"Brother…", Linali started, but he just lifted his hand and pointed at the couch where two black reports were waiting for them, "there are your information. We don't know if this phenomenon is connected with Innocence. We want you to investigate…", he said.
"What is it about?", his sister asked, receiving the report from Ellen, who had picked them up.
"We have reports of a town in which time seems to rewind itself, we're not sure about it though. Just a guess… Investigate. It might be connected to Innocence. We don't know. Finders can't get in", he said and putting his face flat against the surface of his table, "maybe it's Innocence, that's why we're sending you there". Ellen thought that he was repeating himself all the time, but Linali gave her an apologetic look; this seemed to be normal with Komui.
"Fine, we'll go there"
"Take care my darling sister, you too Ellen", Komui mumbled, then he bumped into a stack of papers with his elbow and was buried under a flood of white sheets. Ellen raised her eyebrow at the scene, but Linali just took her by the arm and dragged her out of the room.
"Is your brother okay?", Ellen asked, turning her head back to the science department.
"Oh, he just has a lot of work. This mission will be okay, he doesn't sound worried", the Chinese girl explained and Ellen nodded sceptically. "I guess we'll just leave now, Germany's not that far away".
"Well, I do not mind, let me just get my suitcase then", Ellen answered with a smile and they parted ways to get ready for their mission.
--
Ellen considered travelling with Linali more entertaining than her previous journey with Kanda; they would sit together and talk about any subject that came to their minds. Kanda had tried to avoid talking as much as possible, which had angered the young lady remarkably, but she had put up with it rather well. Ellen didn't want to think about the journey from Italy to Switzerland, because that had been just awkward. Linali was a girl so her way of thinking and behaving was quite similar to Ellen's, though Ellen could still feel the gap that their age, education and cultural background left between them.
"Have you never worried about marriage?", Ellen asked while they were riding a train in Germany. Linali looked up from her book – a courtship novel, which had ignited the uneasy thoughts about marriage in Ellen's head - and raised both eyebrows, "is it not important for a woman to find herself a good man who can take care of her?". Linali laughed slightly and closed her book.
"That sounds awfully old-fashioned Ellen, as if you were an old woman", she giggled and Ellen huffed, with an indignant pout adoring her face.
"But am I not right? If you are alone then who will see to it that you are taken care of?", she replied and Linali smiled at her.
"We are capable of taking care of ourselves, right? Besides, we live in the Black Order which ensures us a livelihood; we have a home and food and friends"
"But what if we are finished with our work?", Ellen asked, "Being an exorcist is not a real profession, I take it that were are soldiers employed only for the time war lasts". Linali studied her face for some time, then she lowered her head.
"Ellen… why do you think that this war could end anytime soon?", she wanted to know and the white haired girl straightened her back and lifted her chin a little bit.
"Because that is what we are fighting for", she replied and Linali couldn't help smiling; Ellen had changed remarkably but she still was a young, optimistic lady. And Linali liked that. It was such a pity if you had to give up being who you were just because of what you had to be. Ellen's sight of things was unexpectedly refreshing.
"Yes. Yes you are right", the Chinese girl answered and folded her hands in her lap, "I have never really thought about what could happen if the war was over. I have been in the black order for such a long time now…". Ellen nodded wordlessly, listening intently. "I guess I would like to marry in the future, but above all I want to stay with my brother". She lowered her head and smiled a bit pained by the thought.
"Linali… Why do you worry so much? This is a goal you can very well achieve", Ellen said after some time and took hold of Linali's hands, "because we will be there for each others, right? This is not a war for which we are willing to give up our hopes of a happy future". Linali looked up at her and nodded, a bright smile on her face.
"Yes. That is our promise". Ellen smiled and let go of her hands. "But what about you, Ellen? I am sure both you and Kanda survive this war". Ellen looked at her and her cheeks flamed red.
"I… Oh, Linali! Why did you have to bring that up?", she whined and shook her head, to which Linali had to laugh.
"Wasn't it you who brought it up? You must be spending a lot of thought on marriage lately, though I haven't heard one word out of you about Kanda", the girl answered, which made Ellen lower her head with a sigh.
"I am still trying to… well, get accustomed to it", Ellen said and looked at her bracelet, which made Linali rise and eyebrow.
"To what?", she wanted to know and Ellen closed her eyes, sighing.
"No… It is nothing…", she replied, looking out of the window and Linali kept quiet as well.
--
The two girls had to walk for the rest of their journey as the town wasn't connected to the railway system yet.
"It is quite cold now that winter has set in", Ellen said and pulled her coat tighter around her. Linali also wore a simple black coat over her uniform.
"Yes, but it's still okay to travel. Sometimes we are sent into regions with a very harsh winter", the Chinese exorcist answered and Ellen looked up at the grey-blue sky.
"Oh. Hopefully Kanda left Eastern Europe before the winter set in… He is of such a thin built, he must be very cold". Linali raised her eyebrows and burst out laughing. Ellen turned to her. "What is it?"
"My, Ellen. Just because Kanda's thin doesn't mean he'll be blown over by the first winter storm. You know that he's strong. You shouldn't worry about that", she said and Ellen blushed.
"I… I am not! I just have not heard anything of him for the past one and a half months!", Ellen replied and twiddled her fingers, "It is only naturally that I… Well…". Her gaze fell on Kanda's bracelet and she sighed, "dear goodness, I behave like a child". Linali smiled and patted her back.
"Ellen… There's nothing wrong with worrying about a friend. I always wonder what the other exorcists are doing, especially you, Rabi and Kanda, because you're all dear to me. I want you to be safe, but worrying all the time won't do you any good", she advised and Ellen lowered her head. "And we're talking about Kanda… He really is strong and you know it. And besides…". Ellen lifted her head to look at her friend, "I'm sure he's always thinking about you, wherever he is"
"Oh, I hope he will not", Ellen said with a uncertain look in her eyes, "because then he will get himself injured for not paying attention to his surroundings and he will blame me!". Linali laughed and the British girl soon joined in.
"Yes, he just might do that. But look, there I see the walls of the town!". Ellen raised her head and looked ahead, where they could see walls in the distance.
"What a welcome sight", she said and turned to look at Linali, "well then, let us hurry!", she suggested and the Chinese girl nodded. They sped up their steps and after about ten minutes they reached the walls which surrounded the town. The gates were open but they saw no one in the empty streets when they looked through the arched gate. The girls exchanged a look, nodded and went inside.
To be continued
Notes:
Not really much to add… Ellen is still worried about her relationship with Kanda. X3
Next chapter will be the Rewinding Town Arc! :D (oh no, another chapter full of fight scenes which you already know perfectly well… But we'll get to see Rhode soon!)