Abridged Ties (Gilbert x OC)

Aravny

"How could I... have forgotten...?"

Gilbert looked at the helpless sleeping girl beside him, finally noticing the unmistakable similarities between her and the child in the photographs, and finally realizing who the child was to him.

He lifted a shaky hand over his mouth to stifle a cry, but hot tears still dripped down his cheeks. He longingly reached for Nanlie and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry." He mumbled. "I couldn't save you... and I forgot..." He choked on his words shamefully.

The man then spoke to the girl directly, even though he was aware that she was fast asleep. "I know you don't remember anything, but I'm so sorry I left you..." He interlocked is strong fingers within Nanalie's smaller fingers.

~+-+-+-+~

When Nanalie began to wake up, she felt consistent rising and falling of the 'pillow' beneath her head. She also felt a light tug on her hand. Her sleepy violet orbs pried open to notice who had been holding onto her so tightly.

She leapt from her lying position abruptly, accidentally waking Gilbert as well. Her face had become severely red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry!" She squealed, turning away from the groggy man. "I didn't... I mean..." She stuttered nervously, but was only met with a chuckle.

"Don't worry." He laughed lightly. "You didn't do anything." With assurance, he ruffled the girl's thick hair. "Anyway, get ready. We need to go see Oz and the others today."

Nanalie blinked and went into the small bedroom to pull on her dress as Gilbert, per usual, made coffee.

A few minutes later, the two left the cozy apartment and prepared to greet a peculiar group of friends. And surely enough, as soon as they arrived they were greeted with Pandora's usual antics.

The moment Gilbert opened the large wooden door, Break leapt from the shadows and grasped onto Nanalie's thin waist, slinging her over his shoulder like a ragdoll. "I caught a Nanalie!" He exclaimed jokingly as he barely escaped Gilbert's fist. "Oh dear, looks like Raven's not too happy about it." He teased, running up the grand stairwell and down some unknown hall.

But Gilbert was held captive by Oz as he growled curses directed towards Break. When the white-haired man was out-of-sight, the blonde released his friend. "Geez, you're protective." He sighed. "It's not like Break's going to hurt her."

"Raven." Sharon's sweet voice called out to him as she approached him in front of the door. "Come speak with us." She said, returning to the room with large velvet seats and a coffee table. A tea kettle with hot water was already sitting there, steam rising from the spout. Tea cups were set, not yet filled with liquid. Oz sat in one of the seats just beside Sharon while Alice sat cross-legged in a chair herself, an unpleasant expression always plastered to her face.

Gilbert's eyebrow raised, feeling as though he was going to be interrogated by the three.

"Have you found anything?" Oz asked suddenly, immediately getting to the point of the discussion. "About Nanalie..." He added.

The older man's golden gaze focused on the ground. "Yeah..." He folded his hands together as he began to tell them of what they found, excluding the details of the visit to the Doctor's home. "We found a few notebooks that seem to hold details of her past. We haven't really looked at many of them yet, and after she fell asleep I began to look through the first one..."

"It was full of several pictures of her from between when she was ten and twelve. It described her exactly, but it didn't have a name." Gilbert looked at the group in front of him. "But the journal did belong to Levi Baskerville."

Sharon gasped, yet urged Gilbert to continue along with the intent gazes of Oz and Alice. "Not only that, but I remember something from back before the Tragedy of Sablier. She was there." The three watching him could hear the sadness start to invade his voice.

~+-+-+-+~

About a year before the Tradegy of Sablier, young fourteen-year-old Gilbert was instructed to venture down a hall of the Baskerville manor that he had not been to before. By claiming that the servants were busy elsewhere, the 'Glen' at the time, further known as Oswald, sent the boy to a specific, isolated room with a tray of noodles and bread and a small silver key.

He knocked on the old blue door that Glen had described, unsure of what exactly was waiting inside. After receiving no answer, he used the key he was given to unlock it.

Inside, a young girl approximately two years younger than Gilbert sat on a thin bed in the middle of a whit room. All over the walls were strange drawings of bird-like creatures. She blinked, surprised that the young man at her door was not the same person who usually brought her food. But Gilbert was just as surprised as her when he saw that there was a girl in the unknown portion of the mansion.

"Hello." The girl said softly and shyly.

Gilbert placed the tray of food in the white table positioned beside her bed. "Um... hello...?"

She gave him a half of a smile, but she looked entirely exhausted, and her long hair was tangled and unruly. "You say that as though it were a question." She commented.

Curiosity overcame the young boy as he was severely confused by the situation. "Have you always been locked up back here?"

Her smile faded and her tired eyes focused on the floor. "Yes. The previous Glen used to visit me, but not anymore..."

"The previous..." Gilbert trailed, realizing the person she talked about was Levi Baskerville. "What's your name?"

"I don't have a name here." Her smile seemed sad.

"What is your name outside of here?"

She just shook her head. "For as long as I am in these walls, I am just the 'Project.'"

Gilbert looked to the ground, deciding that it wouldn't be polite to pry further into the girl's life. Thus, he left the plate of food for her and proceeded to leave.

"Mister, wait!" Her voice was suddenly desperate as the boy looked back at her, finding her standing up with an outstretched hand. "Oh! Um... I'm sorry... You can go now if you like." Her violet orbs were hidden underneath the shadows of her thick hair as she lowered her hand.

Gilbert gave her a kind and genuine smile. "My name is Gilbert."

The unnamed girl's expression brightened as she met his warm gaze. "Thank you for bringing me something to eat, Gilbert."

A few hours later, Gilbert managed to meet with the Oswald 'Glen' privately, and what he planned to discuss was the first thing that escaped his mouth.

"Who is the girl that you had me bring food to?"

Glen's thin purple eyes narrowed as he met Gilbert's curious golden gaze. "No one important." He answered easily.

"Why is she locked in a room by herself? And why have I never heard of her before?"

"She's just someone that the previous Glen left behind. She's not important, but we just need to keep her alive."

With the vague answer, Gilbert just disregarded the 'why's' that he wanted to ask. "How often does someone bring her food?"

Glen sighed, getting rather irritated with the conversation. "She is brought two meals a day. Why are you so worried about it?"

"May I bring her meals?" The boy said with child-like eagerness.

An element of surprise crossed the older man's face when he heard his successor's request. "If you don't mind burdening yourself with her health, then by all means, you may provide her with food."