"Have you seen her?"
"Seen who?" asked Beatrice as she looked up from her work.
"The Halo Bearer" and Beatrice blinked before looking at Sister Lilith's who wore an angry look.
"I do not know... Perhaps she is talking to Mother Superion"
"I thought about that" said Lilith, "But she has not seen her since breakfast"
"We should check her room" but Lilith shook her head with a sigh.
"I already looked there" she said. "I hope she hasn't run off again"
"I don't think she would do that" Beatrice put down the pen, "But we should organise a sweep of the convent in case she has injured herself somehow. The Halo has never brought back someone from the dead before and never been used on someone that was disabled from the neck down... It could have stopped working and she's in trouble"
"I didn't think of that" Lilith was ashamed to admit that she had almost forgot that Ava had spent the majority of her life as a quadriplegic.
"Then again, she might have been distracted by a leaf blowing on the breeze. Come..." Beatrice gave her a warm smile.
#
To their surprise, it was Mary who had found her sitting in the chapel where the Nuns prayed and she had gone straight to speak with Mother Superion who had winced slightly before declaring there would be no training today at the request of the Warrior Nun which confused the majority of the Sisters as Ava had never really asked for much. Beatrice had been respectful at first but then she allowed herself to be curious and walked to the chapel - entering with slightly louder then normal footsteps so Ava knew somebody was approaching.
"Miss Silva" she said respectfully.
"Wha- Oh, Sister Beatrice" Ava was startled before looking up to see the nun's kind face. "Is something wrong?"
"No... I was merely wanting to know if you were felling any better. You requested their to be no training today and we did not see you at breakfast" Beatrice said softly. "Do you mind if I sit?"
"Take a pew" Ava made a half hearted joke as Beatrice frowned and sat down. "Today is not a good day for me, Sister Beatrice"
"You may call me just Beatrice - you are not a nun and you've not taken orders or vows" Beatrice gave Ava a warm smile and the younger girl nodded after a long look at her.
""Thanks... So, like... Today is not a good day for me"
"Ah" Beatrice thought she understood. "I suppose that the first time you have this happen that it would be frightening and confusing - at least now that you are mobile"
"What? Oh, no, no, no ,no..." Ava shook her head firmly. "I know how to use a tampon - Mary showed me a youtube video"
"Then may I ask what the problem is?"
"Mom"
"Mother Superion? I thought that you had more or less settled your differences"
"No... My mom. Today is the day that the accident happened where she died and..." she shrugged and looked at the altar with the image of Jesus giving a blessing. "I figured this was the quietest place to be to sit and think about her"
"Oh. I am sorry that nobody knew, Ava... If you had told us in advance, we could have taken today off without a problem"
"Thats the problem" Ava looked back at Beatrice. "Everything has to be planned for me - I just wanted to do something for myself, forget about this stupid thing in my back and think about Mom. Beatrice, I can't remember everything about her, but I do remember that she was kind, friendly, smiled a lot and used to sing me to sleep every night. Yeah... She was" Ava drifted off to her memories and Beatrice just put her hands in her lap and waited for Ava to talk again. "We were going to the beach when it happened you know - I had been excited for weeks and I could have exploded when the day came" she stopped talking again and then started up again almost ten minutes later. "I'm an atheist, sorry to break that to you, but I know my Mom believed - can you pray for her or whatever it is you do?" she finished the question in a whisper as her emotions threatened to spill out of her.
"Was she Catholic?" Beatrice asked softly.
"I don't know" Ava shrugged. "I think so - I mean, its all the same bearded guy up there, right?"
"That... That is one way of looking at it" Beatrice agreed with an incline of her head. "Would you mind me praying for her?"
"Thats why I asked - not really the praying type"
"Thank you, Warrior Nun" Beatrice smiled and placed a gentle hand on Ava's back.
"Its nothing - you are the expert"
"I am hardly that, but I thank you all the same" and Ava chuckled. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Um..." Ava's brow creased in concentration. "Its all a long time ago and really hazy, you know, but do you think this place could spring for a pepperoni pizza and some hot chocolate? I think that was some of my Mom's favourite things"
"I think we can stretch the budget to do that" Beatrice gave Ava another warm smile. "But, of course, that means that the roof can't be repaired"
"Oh" Ava looked down the worn stone floor as if contemplating something. "Doesn't matter then" she said.
"I was attempting to joke to make you feel better - I apologise"
"Oh Bea..." Ava's words sounded hollow to Beatrice. "You know..." she paused to trace a pattern on her knee, "I've never seen where my Mom is - you think you can find out?"
"They never told you or showed you at the orph-" Beatrice was horrified and wished God's judgement upon somebody who was clearly a Nun in name only.
""No" Ava cut her off sharply. "I was paralysed and even when I got dumped in the Devil's asscrack of a home, Francis refused to even show me a... Show me a... Show me a pict-" Ava suddenly turned and launched herself at Beatrice who hugged her awkwardly and felt the sobs from the younger girl as they wracked through her tiny frame. The Halo flared twice before settling down to leave Beatrice holding its bearer until they slowly came down to sniffing.
"Do you want me to ask Sister Camila to find out what she can?"
"Yes" Ava whispered. "Sorry" she added and vaguely pointed at Beatrice's clothing.
"Its not the first time I have been told I have a dirty habit" she said, choosing not to let Ava in on why she became a Nun in the first place.
""I knew you could not keep up the good Bea-havior" Ava's joke was weak but Beatrice chose to reward her with a laugh all the same. "Glad you are my friend" she added.
"Why?" Beatrice watched as Ava wiped her eyes with the back of a sleeve and then looked at the cross and the painting behind it.
"Like, I know you are a Nun and all that cool shit... Uh, stuff I mean... But you don't seem as stuck up as the rest - that Lilith freaks me out and I think she hates me" and Beatrice chuckled.
"She does give that impres-"
"I'm Bisexual" Ava suddenly blurted and Beatrice blinked in surprise - she had not been expecting that at all. "You alright with that?"
"Professionally, yes" Beatrice told her. "Personally, I feel that God wants His love shared through many means and His ways are not mine to question. If you are fine with it, then I am fine with it" she added to assure the girl.
"Do you think Mom would have been okay with it?" and the Nun paused to think of a suitable reply.
"If she was as kind and good as you said she was, I think she would" Beatrice felt Ava impact her again as she hugged the Nun whilst more tears dropped from the girl who had been dealt such a cruel hand in the game of life. After what had happened to her had been fully revealed, the OCS had taken it upon themselves to repay what had been done to her as much as was possible - Beatrice still enjoyed the short visit to the local bird walk that had had Ava fascinated and talkative until she had slept in the car ride back to Cat's Cradle.
#
Lilith had demanded that they do a security sweep but that had been vetoed by the majority of the others who had said what was the chance of anyone expecting Ava to suddenly drop by?
"We will wait for you here" Camila said.
"Thanks" Ava replied and stepped out into the bright sunshine and looked at the cemetery that held the final resting place of her mother. She made it to the gate before looking back and asking Beatrice to come with her for support.
"I don't want to intrude on what is a private moment" she replied.
"It is private, but I don't think I am strong enough... Besides, you can say a prayer at her grave or something"
"As you wish, Miss Silva" Beatrice's eyes twinkled as Ava smiled weakly and led the way inside the well kept site and started to go up and down to find the final resting place of Mrs Silva. As they did so, it felt odd to Beatrice to meet the mother of the Halo Bearer even after she had passed on and...
"Bea?" the call was shaky and sounded like it was about to cause a scene. Beatrice looked to see Ava pointing at a spot slightly out of the way and marked with a simple grave marker that had the name, date of birth and date of death - nothing else... Nothing to suggest any sort of idea of who the person beneath it had been like.
"Good Morning, Mrs SIlva" she greeted the marker as if it were a person.
"Hi Mom, bet you don't recognize me! I'm all grown up now - a really big girl like you said I would. Um... Well, I guess you are wondering what happened and all that crap, so here it is... You died in a car crash and I was paralysed from the neck down so thats a bummer, right? Well, I ended up in this craphole orphanage for the majority of my life so far and then I got killed by a Nun so I guess if we meet again you owe me a fish" Beatrice blinked at that as Ava continued. "Anyway, I died and then somebody else died and I got this cool metal ring in my back and I came back to life and all I have to do is fight this really bad guy...Mmm? Oh" Ava turned slightly, "This is Sister Beatrice who is a Nun and she's a friend of mine despite that. Yeah, I live with other crazy ones, but Bea is cool and knows things Like... Like...She can through knives at super far distances, she can kick ass like a ninja and lots of stuff" Beatrice smiled even as she noted Ava's speech get more and more childlike as she finally got to speak, in some form, to her mother. "Oh yeah... I'm bisexual - thats okay, right? I mean I'd be upset if it wasn't but like Bea is and she's a catholic and she nun-derstands... What? You taught me to make silly puns" Ava glanced back. "Kind of rude not to say anything, Bea"
"Oh..." Beatrice was startled. "Hello, Mrs Silva. I am Sister Beatrice of the Order of the Cruciform Sword and one of Ava's friends"
"My best friend, Mom" Ava butted in. "LIke... I have a best friend - how cool is that?"
"It seems that I have been promoted to being her best friend" Beatrice continued. "I met Ava under less then ideal circumstances but she has quickly become my friend. You should be proud of her because despite her bad life after the accident where she lost you, she has become wise, kind, friendly, thoughtful, loved by almost everyone and is a delight to be around - I am glad to know her and proud to call her my friend. Though the Halo has brought her into our community somewhat by force, she has agreed to help us defeat a great enemy for all time and then the item is hers for the rest of her life in part to pay back what we a a faith did to her. I hope thats okay with you I also hope you do not mind, but I said a few prayers for you the other day because it seemed the right thing to do" and Beatrice looked at her watch. "We have to be going, Ava"
"Right..." Ava's smile dropped as if she didn't really want to leave. "I really don't want to leave, Mom, but we've got training tomorrow and I need rest. Oh...!" she pulled out something and showed it to the grave marker. "I finally got to do it, Mommy..." she started to cry. "I finally got my report card" and she dropped to her knees and hugged the cool stone.
"Sister... We must be going" Lilith said and was surprised when Beatrice took her by the elbow and led her some distance away.
"I think we can spare a few more minutes, don't you?" and Lilith looked at where Ava was kneeling and, from what should tell from her mouth, was singing a little song.
"Yes, I dare say we could" she agreed. Ten minutes later, Ava approached the car and waiting Sisters and thanked them for giving her the chance to speak to her mother and asked the three if they thought she'd heard her. Beatrice was driving and made a last minute addition to the plan and turned them off the main road and into a nearby fast food diner.
"Bea?"
"I thought a round of hot chocolate in honour of your mother would be fitting"
#
It was, she thought, fitting that there was sunshine and a great warmth as she stepped towards the grave. It was well taken care of by the OCS as it was the least they could do for Ava after what she had done for them.
"Hello... I'm sorry its been a while since I last came but we've been busy for months. I'm afraid that I have some bad news, Mrs Silva... We lost Ava"