"Asseveration"
It is well past midnight when the carriage approaches Midford Manor. It rattles to a stop well before it reaches the end of the drive, and the door swings open, allowing a gust of misty rain to sweep inside.
Elizabeth is the first to descend, dressed in a boy's shirt and trousers with her hair tucked up under a cap. Mey-Rin follows after her, her own hair falling freely down her back and dressed below her station. Their steps are heavy, sinking into the damp ground as they make their way around to the servants' entrance and slip indoors.
The long walk up to Elizabeth's bedroom is spent in silence, and they encounter no one except for old Mr. Tanaka, who gives the pair a knowing look as he passes them in the hall. Neither of them shy away from his gaze.
In the privacy of her room, Lizzy yanks off the cap and tosses it into a chair. Her hair tumbles free as she tugs it out of its tight bun, and she sighs; behind her, Mey-Rin slumps against the door and scrubs a hand over her face. There is a moment of stillness until Elizabeth turns to face her companion, and the look on girl's face spurs Mey-Rin forward to pull her into a hug.
"Oh, Lizzy," Mey-Rin mutters into her hair, "I'm so sorry."
Elizabeth shakes her head against the rough wool of Mey-Rin's blouse before pulling slightly away.
"Don't—" the girl says, "don't apologize. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't…it wasn't either of our faults. Sometimes these things just happen; we can't save everyone."
Mey-Rin's gaze is soft, even as the night air whistles harshly against the windows.
"I know," the woman says as she looks down at the fourteen-year-old's tired face, "but that doesn't make it any easier. And I know…that human trafficking is especially difficult for you."
Something dark crosses Elizabeth's expression.
"But we stopped them," she says, "We stopped them."
"We did," the older woman agrees, and there is a beat of silence. Then Lizzy pulls away and moves into the adjoining room to splash her face with cold water from the washbasin. Mey-Rin lingers.
"Lizzy…" she says as the girl comes back in, "For what it's worth, I believe in you. No matter what happened tonight, I trust you; that you'll always do what you can for the right reasons. You always insist that what we do is the 'dirty work,' and that your position is evil, but…you refuse to see that to a great many people…to me, to Bard, to Finny, you are our hero. You saved us, and not just because we could be useful to you—I was the one to insist I wanted to help—you did it because you have a good heart, and because you had the power to do so. I know you probably wish that you'd never been given this burden, but I'm…I'm just selfish enough to be grateful. I'm grateful to be your friend, and to be by your side, even on nights like this." Mey-Rin looks Elizabeth in the eyes, her hands clenched in her skirts. Across the room from her, Lizzy's hands shake as tears pool in the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you," she says. Her voice breaks.
A/N:This takes place later...
*sigh*
Well, Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!
Also:
DON'T FORGET TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ABOUT MAINTAINING NET NEUTRALITY!
It's important, so, please?
"Asseveration:" an earnest declaration