crystal2817 - Thank you.
Lilone1776 - Going back and re-watching Seasons 1 & 2 (because really, what else can I do *glares in the general direction of AMC headquarters*) I've noticed how drastically Daryl has softened from his rough edged Season 1 self. I enjoy his character development. He really went from redneck with a bad attitude to valued member of the group with a slightly more subtle bad attitude.
KrisAnthemum221 - I would imagine Daryl knows all about hot water bottles and chocolate by this point as well. ^_^
GG - Creedence, hell yeah, man! I have to admit, I was listening to Born on the Bayou when I first got the seed of an idea for the Lt.
LL - I do so enjoy a good solid bromance. ^_^
MarionArnold - I like to think that the Lt. is the type of man who can get along with anyone and the fact that Daryl is a kinder, gentler Daryl means he's more willing to communicate with others. Though it still takes him a while to trust.
AFishNamedSushi - Aw, your review was so kind. I'm glad you like the Lt. that much. I honestly don't blame people for disliking OC's. I can't stand them myself, but as stated previously, the idea popped into my head and wouldn't work with anyone but an OC. I guess I wanted that outside view of the entire group, not just Daryl and Carol, but I have a few chapters coming up with a little more in depth looks at Merle, Beth and Herschel and the others as well from the Lt.s POV.
Axelrocks - Mah! And here I thought updating before I headed to school would be better for people...I'm terribly sorry, I hate when that happens. I understand your plight. Teehee...*gets a wee bit of sadistic satisfaction* But only a little bit.
6747 - ^_^! Thanks for your review.
Surplus Imagination - I know. That chapter was just jerking people up and down the emotional scale. Thanks for your review. Always appreciated.
spygrrl99 - I'm so glad you enjoy my dialogue. I try to write dialogue naturally (though I could never bring myself to write in the accents...I always feel a little silly doing that). I'm glad that me not writing the accents isn't a detriment to the tale.
Supfan - Ack, had to insert this thanks quickly as you reviewed just as I updated! I'm so glad you enjoy the Lt. I love the Cajun culture so much (what with all the research I'm doing in an effort to keep him genuine) and it makes me happy that you too appreciate his cultural heritage as well. Thanks so much for the review. They are much appreciated. ^_^
I know everyone was looking forward to the rest of Daryl's story about Sophia, but there was something needed addressed first. Don't worry, the chapter after this one is called Tremp Deux.
Chapter Sixteen: Faire Son Idée
**Old Missy**
"O, most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus," she began softly. "People honor and invoke you universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, for I am so helpless and alone. Please help to bring me visible and speedy assistance. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly in my desperation to know what it is I am meant to do and that I may praise God with you always. I promise, O blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you by publishing this request." Before she added 'amen' to the end of the standard prayer, the Mother Superior hesitated long and hard, studying the feet of the crucified Jesus before her.
It had been months since the Sisters of the convent were parted from the rest of their convent Sisters and she had given up hope that they'd ever return when Lafayette arrived at the gates.
Before he arrived, Father O'Rourke had cautioned them to remain within the walls, that he had seen things beyond the walls that were not God's creations.
There wasn't anything at Veil of Tears for them to hear news of what had happened outside their walls and their last van was taken by Sister Catherine and Sister Mary Theresa as the two younger nuns decided to head into the town to see what had become of their Sisters.
They didn't come back and that was when Mother Superior Philomena knew something had gone horribly wrong.
Lafayette never gave her particulars on what was going on, but he was very adamant in cautioning the Sisters to remain vigilant of their convent wall.
With every word, every trickled bit of information that she gathered from the newcomers, she had come to a decision, which lead her to the church one final time in an effort for guidance that her decision was the right one.
"Something's gone wrong with the world and I accept that," she went on, praying to St. Jude, hands clasped delicately around her rosary. "It's God's will to strike down the wicked of the world and rebuild paradise in his image once more. I understand this and I'm willing to suffer to prove my faith. I know life isn't meant to be easy or clean. I try to keep my heart free of the things which burden the secular world and I know I suffer pride as my one true sin. But I am proud of my nuns, of Father O'Rourke and how brave and beautiful Annie Louise is. I'm grateful God brought her to my arms so that I might smooth her brow when the nightmares come to her. I am full of gratitude that He saw fit to bestow upon us Lieutenant Vancoughnett to put our troubled hearts at ease, to comfort me when I needed strength. But I'm praying to you now, St. Jude, to guide me through this lost cause. To give me a sign as to what I need to do.
There has to be a reason why God has left us here on earth to face the abominations at our gate, I'm just not sure what it is he means for us? Are we to carry on as we always have or must we adapt to this new world?
I try not to ask much of your divine grace or of God, but…now more than ever, I need a sign." She stared hard at Jesus on the cross, before quietly muttering. "Amen."
Crossing herself, she pushed to her feet and stood there at the altar for the longest time in silence.
Scoffing at herself, she laughed softly, hanging her head. What was she expecting? An angel to fall from the heavens and give her God's instructions on how to proceed? She was sure He had better things to be doing at the moment considering the world was now hell on earth.
"Mother Superior?"
Turning from the altar, she spied the sweet young Sister Mary Elizabeth standing at the end of the aisle, hands clasped before her and smiled warmly. "Yes, honey?"
"The Sisters are waiting."
"And the wall? Who's watching it?"
"Uh, that Mr. Dixon and Mr. Greene and Carol are on the gates for now."
"Okay, tell the Sisters and Father O'Rourke I'll be right there."
The young nun hesitated, before moving down the aisle towards her. "You…everything's okay, isn't it, Mother Superior? I mean, with your veil and everything—"
Smiling, she reached out and touched a warm hand to the young woman's upper arm as she approached. "Everything will be just fine, honey. I'll be inside in a moment to put your worries at rest."
"We…we worry about you, Mother Superior. Sister Mary Agnes…she thinks you," the young woman bowed her head, "she says you've lost faith."
"No, honey. Go on, everything will be just fine."
Sister Mary Elizabeth nodded. "Okay. I'll see you inside."
"Of course."
Long after the young woman left, long after the church returned to absolute, blissful silence, the Mother Superior turned back to Christ on his cross and smiled up at him.
Stepping out of the church, she was halfway across the lawns when the first drop of rain hit her bare forehead and she looked up at the grey sky overhead. Holding out her hands, she felt a few more drops pelt her skin, cooling it from the hot Georgian afternoon.
She wasn't fool enough to think it was a sign, but it was a welcoming comfort to her.
Touching her damp hands to her wimple, she beamed.
..-~-..
..-~-..
Inside the convent, in the dining room the nuns all huddled, Father O'Rourke sitting at his spot at the end of the table.
Father O'Rourke was an odd man, to say the least, he was built sturdy and powerful, came from a inner city mission in Boston to take over as their priest, but he seemed a little wicked at times. Like he was used to crass humour and low brow fun.
She liked him, despite all this. He was comforting in his strength and charming smiles. She only wished he would shave that funny little goatee beard of his, it was so unbecoming of a gentleman.
Everyone was quiet, waiting as the damp Mother Superior took her spot at the head of the table.
She could see the fear in everyone's eyes and smiled kindly at them, soothing their worries, assuring them of good things to come.
"This is it, Sisters," she greeted simply. "We are sitting here at the world's end."
Some the nuns sat back in their seats at this announcement, but their Mother Superior went on, just as calm as ever.
"I'm not so arrogant as to make presumptions on God's plan for us," she said. "But I've prayed on this matter for weeks now and there is no doubt in my mind that the apocalypse is upon us. The world has changed drastically and we are clinging to traditions, ways of our past that have no room in this new world."
At the end of the table, Father O'Rourke pushed away from the table, hooking his arm over the back of his chair, giving her his undivided attention.
"Today I removed my veil and I remembered what it was like to be a woman of God. I wasn't some nun in a habit, I wasn't biding my time in my study pouring over the bible and ruining my eyesight. I was a human being, devout as ever to the Lord Almighty. I'm just a woman, Sisters, as are you. We're passionate, tender, sometimes fickle creatures, but we're no better or worse than man, we just devote our love and passion to a more ethereal being.
The world has changed, Sisters, and we will change with it if need be. No more habits, no more wimples and veils, we will wear pants and shirts and we will all carry weapons about us. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Revelation 20:5 has written many times of this moment, you've read it with your own eyes, most of you have seen the abominations outside our walls. The dead have risen, they are walking.
I'm not going to talk much of God and His plans for us, but if we're still here on earth and the apocalypse is upon us, then there's a good reason. We're meant to fight, to survive, to push through and find paradise awaiting us on the other side. Today I removed my veil and became both a woman and a warrior of God.
Now, I'm not going to assume many of you will so willingly shed your veils as well, but I'd like you to consider this. To come to the realization that we no longer fit into a world like this. That we need to grow and adapt to better serve God and man."
The table was silent for the longest time, before Father O'Rourke spoke.
"Your vows, Mother Superior…?"
"Our vows remain the same as always, Father. Only our attire and our rules about weapons will change."
Sister Joan was the first to shake herself from her thoughts, pulling her veil off and setting it on the table with a small grin, running a hand through her finger length blonde hair. "It gives me migraines anyways." She said playfully.
"God will understand if we still serve him in jeans," Sister Mary Claire added, removing her veil as well. "Given the times."
Sister Mary Monica laughed a little and took her veil off as well. "Truth is, I find it hard to get up on that wall in full skirts. The mobility will be nice for emergencies."
The table broke out into soft whispers and excited chattering, with all the nuns removing their veils, save one. Even Father O'Rourke yanked his collar off gently and added it to the growing pile of black and white on the table with a smile.
Sister Gertrude smiled up at the Mother Superior, still in her veil.
"I've lived sixty years in a veil," she said. "I'd like to die in it, if that's okay with you, Mother Superior."
She smiled at the elderly nun. "Of course it is. I'm not expecting everyone to like the idea of casual clothes." Addressing the rest of the table, she held up her hands to silence them. "Now, we will still perform our duties, Sisters. The wall will be walked, the chores done and hopefully we'll get our garden planted soon."
..-~-..
..-~-..
"And then Beth showed me this thing, you have to, you have to, are you listening, Mother Mena?" Annie demanded.
The two of them were curled up later that evening after dinner in the doorway of the dorms, watching the rain as it beat down on the ground rhythmically.
Despite the rain the Georgian air was still muggy and they had curled up in the doorway to escape the heat of the dorms as the woodstove in the kitchen heated it almost unbearably. Carol stood behind them, holding baby Judith, hoping to cool them both before they passed out from the heat. The woman fanned the baby gently with her free hand, watching the rain fall peacefully.
"Of course, honey."
"Well, she showed me how to do this trick, you have to put your thumb like this…" giving up trying to do the trick, Annie wrapped her arms around the Mother Superior and curled in closer to her.
Only children ever seemed immune to the heat, and Annie was no exception as the little girl sought out cuddling with her mother figure over cool air and this brought a little smile to the Mother Superior's lips.
"Mother Mena, you look very pretty today." The girl cooed.
Touching a hand to the girl's hair, she smoothed it down. "Beauty is in the eyes of God, honey."
"Well, he must have been looking real hard at you when you were born, then." The little one replied.
Laughing, the Mother Superior, touched a hand to her forehead. "I think you've been spending too much time around that Lieutenant of yours."
"Why?" Annie asked, sticking her legs out to let the rain wash over her bare feet.
"Because you're getting his wicked sense of impropriety."
"I don't know what that means," Annie replied.
"Let's hope you never do." The woman shot back playfully.
Behind her she heard Carol sigh softly and turned her head, finding the woman flashing her an awkward grin.
"I'm sorry, Carol. Would you like to sit? We can squeeze over a bit."
The woman shook her head. "No, that's okay. I can't seem to sit still much anymore."
"You must have been through the firepit with your group out there," the Mother Superior said.
Carol adjusted the wee one in her arms. "No more than others, I'm sure."
"Seems times are tough all over."
"I'm just glad to still be alive. Do you find that strange?"
"Not at all." She replied. "I find it reassuring that you have such an attitude given the circumstances."
Noticing a movement coming from their left, Mother Superior watched Merle approach. She had given Father O'Rourke orders that the man could be left on his own, but the Sisters were given sterner orders to keep clear of him unless they were in pairs.
The man didn't scare her as much as she knew he wished he did, he sort of reminded her of a scruffier, angrier teddy bear.
"Excuse me, ladies." He greeted with a charming grin. "I know I'm not welcome this close to the dorms, but I was hoping I could chew on your ear for a bit, Sister."
The Mother Superior pursed her lips, giving him a long, hard look. "You may. Let's go into the church where I'm sure you'll mind your language..." Unwrapping her arms from around Annie, she stood up and stepping out into the rain, lead the man towards the church.
The Cajun Dialect
Faire Son Idée – To make up one's mind.