Abridged Ties (Gilbert x OC)

Arvan

"...because I'm in love with you."

 Gilbert sat by the door, shedding silent tears for what seemed to be ages.  Yet, from what he remembered he knew enough to know that Nanalie wouldn't sleep after what had happened.  And like what had happened over a century earlier, he quietly entered the room where she was folded into a small ball on the mattress.

"Go away." She mumbled with a dry voice.

The man sighed at the doorway, gaining every ounce of courage within him.  "I'm not going to let you be alone."

Nanalie gritted her teeth and gripped onto the white sheets with greater strength.  "I want to be alone right now."

"When we say that we want to be alone, we usually mean that we want someone by our side...."  He sat beside her curled body, acting as though he wasn't nervous.

The girl didn't respond.  She only hid her streaked face in the folds of the sheets.

"Nanalie, please look at me."  Gilbert asked, clearly pleading for her to acknowledge him.  When she hesitated, his golden eyes saddened.

Slowly, she lifted her head from the mattress.  Yet she still averted her pained gaze.

"I am being completely honest with you right now, and even if you feel as though you cannot trust my words, I understand completely." This earned the girl's attention as she finally met his sorrowful, pleading gaze.  "I am genuinely sorry.  If by some miracle you can forgive me for hiding something so important from you, I will be the most grateful person in the world."  His sad expression transformed into a spark of determination.  "But even if you don't want me around, I will always be the one person by your side through every step of your journey, even though I screwed up..."

When Gilbert looked away, feeling insecure about his apology, Nanalie cautiously wrapped her thin arms around his torso, resting her tired head on his chest with a few silent tears dripping from her violet eyes.

"I'm sorry... for everything I said.  I was mad, and I still am... but I forgive you."

The young man released a sort of awkward laugh with the relief of her forgiveness.  The reaction was accompanied by a few more tears as well.

"Thank you, Nanalie." He said, choked by his sobbing.

"Why are you crying?" She asked, letting go of Gilbert and examining his watery golden eyes.

He gave another short laugh.  "I could ask you the same thing."

Nanalie finally returned a smile.

But it was replaced with a surprised expression as Gilbert suddenly kissed her forehead lightly.  Disregarding both of their deep blushes, the young man retrieved the first of the notebooks that had particular details of Nanalie's past.  And then, he proceeded to explain every detail that he had remembered from before the Tragedy of Sablier.

~+-+-+-+~

"What are these for?" Gilbert held two strips of paper between his fingers.

"They're for you and Nanalie!" Oz said cheerfully, yet his smile possessed mischief.

The older man narrowed his golden eyes.  "What exactly are they supposed to be?"

"There's this Christmas festival a few towns to the North.  Sharon said I could have them, but I don't really want them.  So, take Nanalie to go see something pretty." The young blonde then scurried off to who-knows-where before Gilbert could ask further questions.

Thus, after leaving the Vessalius manor later that afternoon, Oz had already called for a carriage to transport Gilbert and Nanalie from his apartment to the town of the festival.

While it was still a few weeks from Christmas, the entire town was decorated in golds, silvers, reds, and greens.  It smelt of evergreen trees and peppermint, and a thin blanket of snow covered the ground.  The sun began to sink in the sky as vibrant colors painted the clouds.

Nanalie watched the sunset excitedly, but for Gilbert, he became calm and relaxed.  "To think that we used to do this over a century ago..."

"No, not really." Gilbert said, stepping closer to the girl.  "It was different back then.  In a way, it's more peaceful and... different..."

"Is it a better kind of different?" She asked with an eager smile.

"Well... You're free from that isolated little room, we're not in danger of being caught by Glen..."  He turned to meet Nanalie's intrigued violet gaze.  He smiled at her surely.  "I'd say that it's better."

For the remainder of the sunset, Gilbert and Nanalie were peacefully quiet.  But as soon as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, the small town erupted with festivities.

Every shining bulb became illuminated, people filled the cobblestone roads, and carolers sung songs of praise and the Christmas season.  Around every corner, a pine tree was lit with sparkling ornaments and joyful groups rode in traditional horse-drawn sleighs.  

But amongst the festive scene, Nanalie heard something in particular that she wasn't able to push from her mind.  Whatever she had heard seemed to be calling out to her.  Slowly, she pursued the sound.

She found herself in front of a group of carolers.  The song they were singing was pure and beautiful, but that wasn't what had brought her to them.  It was the words of the song.

Meanwhile, Gilbert watched in silence, ready to do anything in order to protect her.

In a peculiar trance-like state, Nanalie listened to the words that the carolers sung.

"They looked up and saw a star, shining in the east, beyond them far: And to the earth it gave great light, and so it continued both day and night..."

Her mind repeated the following words, and when she finally understood, a small, chilled tear slid down her cheek.

~+-+-+-+~

A small silver bell rung as two pairs of strong hands reached out to the young child.  The large, rough pair engulfed her tiny body kindly, tossing her into the air with a deep laugh.

The man who held her did not have a face, but he then set her down to place a short kiss on the faceless woman beside him.

The girl then became distracted by a beautifully lit evergreen.

Yet the sound of the bell called out to her again, accompanied with the same pairs of hands.

"Listen!" A warm, feminine voice instructed.  "Listen to the words that they're singing!"

The couple laughed joyfully as the gentle man spoke, but what he said was not heard.  Though, the words could be seen clearly on his lips.

~+-+-+-+~

"Gilbert..." Nanalie sounded distant as she looked at her pale fingers.  "I remember..."  She turned on her heel, wearing a wide smile as tears fell from her elated eyes.

"I remember my name!"