#realistically i think she would hide her hair entirely since she is so devoted to the faith..

[llutik]

The Hound had hacked handfuls of her hair off only two days past. He was an even worse barber than Yoren, and he’d left her half bald on one side. Robb won’t know me either, I bet. Or even Mother. She had been a little girl the last time she saw them, the day Lord Eddard Stark left Winterfell.

ASOS, Arya X

[elliepassmore]

Elatsoe Review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: magic, urban fantasy, ghosts, #OwnVoices, regional gothic, mysteries, Indigenous legends I absolutely loved this book, from the casual magic to the stories of six-great-grandmother to the ghosts to the creepiness of Willowbee. I'm such a sucker for those Tumblr posts about regional American gothic, and so much of the little details of this book felt like those but woven into a complete world. I liked reading about the little alterations made to our world to make it the one in the book, as well as some of the ways magic might be dealt with considering the way we deal with non-magical things. I thought the worldbuilding was really good, obviously, and I thought things were introduced in a well-paced manner. The mix of exposition and reveals were also good, and Little Badger did a good job of making the exposition not actually feel like exposition. I especially liked the way Little Badger brought some new aspects to some of the lore in the book, like how vampires technically needing to be welcomed onto Indigenous land or fairies being interdimensional beings. I thought the discussion of how magic interacts with the world was interesting, and I liked the added 'realness' of having two characters discuss the carbon footprint of certain magic uses much like the way we'd debate plane vs. train carbon emissions. Since this is kind of worldbuilding, I'll mention here that I very much enjoyed the creepiness of Willowbee. It's mostly a normal town from the outside, except for the fact that the occupants will stare down strangers the entire time they're in town. And the fact that there's a mansion on the outskirts and there are several misaligned parts of the town's history. The deeper into Willowbee and its history the characters go, the creepier the town gets. It's a really good mix of creepy without being over the top, and honestly it might be more of a situation where you go 'well that's...weird and unsettling' more so than it can be considered creepy, but still. The stories of six-great-grandmother were also a really enjoyable piece of the book and I liked hearing about her adventures. She seems like a really cool person and just absolutely gives zero fucks what other people think of her (though at least most people she comes across in the stories seem to respect her). The stories were definitely a good way to do some worldbuilding as well as give life lessons to Ellie and allowed for those things to be included in a non-intrusive, natural feeling way. I think it would be cool at some point to see some more stories about six-great at some point, maybe in a smaller bind-up or ebook. As for the characters, Ellie is the 3rd person narrator for the entire book except for one chapter 3rd person narrated by Vivian, her mother. Ellie's goal is to figure out what happened to her cousin while also keeping her family safe and preventing it from happening to anyone else. This book is a nice change from most YA books with a similar theme in that Ellie's parents are present and supportive of her and help her along the way to reach her goals, never once doubting her word. Family is a really big part of things and you can tell how much it means to Ellie. She's devoted to her family members and the traditions and secrets of her family. She's a good detective, willing to do the dirty work, and is smart enough to realize that live streaming some of her adventures is a good way to avoid being disappeared. I enjoyed reading about her relationship with her dog, Kirby, as well, who has been a ghost for 5 years but is still a wonderful companion despite his incorporeality. Kirby serves as both a pet, a warning signal, and a good way to explain some of the ways of the world and about ghosts. All the ghosts were very cool and I liked learning about the family's history with them and some of the family secrets about ghosts. Ellie's grandmother seems like a serious badass for having a mammoth as her ghostly companion, and I think she would be another good one to have a book about. Below is also an interesting concept and I like Ellie's realization that it isn't necessarily one point in time, but it can be multiple stacked on top of one another, like all the oceans or deserts that were in one place across the billions of years that place has existed. Vivian also added some interesting complexity to the family's use of ghosts, since like all eldest girls in the family she has the ability but doesn't use it as much as her relatives seem to. In her narrative chapter we get hints as to why that is and a time when it was different, which I thought added some nice layers to her character and the story and use of ghosts as a whole. Jay, Ellie's best friend, also features prominently in the book as someone who helps with her investigation. He's a rather optimistic character and acts as a good support during the investigation, pulling out some pretty good resources as well. Jay himself is a fairy and aside from the obvious mentioning of it in the beginning of the novel, there are some more subtle bits dropped throughout the book that make it realistic, such as the pointed ears he hides under his hair or the part(s) where he uses a will-o-the-wisp as a flashlight. I thought his interactions with Al were amusing, considering he's fine with the other guy until it turns out how serious Al is about his sister, though I think he's more grumbly about it than genuinely upset. Despite being what Ellie calls a "Celtic-and-Nordic American," Jay respects Ellie's culture and traditions and is respectful when inquiring about things he doesn't know. I enjoyed the interactions between Ellie and Jay and it's obvious how close the two of them are. While the book ends with all the loose threads tied and I think it'll be a standalone, if Little Badger were ever to write about Ellie again I could see the two of them being partners-in-investigation in/after college. Something I did find off about their relationship, though, was the fact that they've supposedly been best friends since babyhood, yet don't know some pretty basic things about one another. In one scene, Ellie mentions that she didn't think he was actually related to Oberon and in another Jay is surprised to hear Ellie's full name is Elatsoe, both of which seem like things you would know about your best friend. I mean, the first name one is something you would probably know about your regular friends too, so it seemed kind of weird that he never would've heard her full name before. There are other times where it seems like they're more 'newly best friends' than 'lifelong best friends,' but overall I enjoyed their interactions and their friendship. Most of the characters in this book were awesome in different ways, though there's not enough room to go over them all. Ellie's parents were both supportive and trusting of her, though they did still worry and caution her like parents do. Pat, her dad, comes across as a warm person and I liked the little quirk of his that's revealed at the beginning re: gas and survival stories. He's a vet, so it only seems natural that he's married into a family where the women raise ghost animals. Vivian is a teacher and seems to be the more protective of the two, though she's not stifling about it. She's the parent who's mostly with Ellie during the book, since the dad has to work and is only really in the beginning, and we get to see a lot of how her and Ellie interact and the advice she gives El. Another family member is the cousin-in-law, Lenore. Poor Lenore has just lost her husband and has a still-young baby. I sympathize with that and with her sense of grief and pain. What I do not sympathize with is the way she handles some things. For one, she seems entirely too dismissive of the family's culture. In one part of the book Ellie is reminiscing on a time she visited with her cousin and that even then she knew there was tension between Trevor and Lenore re: cultural traditions. Well, in present-tense Lenore seems to almost completely ignore some pretty major parts of their culture, such as burying those who've passed with personal items and not using their name to refer to them for a certain period of time. Likewise, she knows the dangers of human ghosts, yet she still seems to want Trevor to come back as a ghost *SPOILER* and 1) even attempts to disturb his grave to get that to happen and 2) is said to seem very happy when news he did come back as a human ghost breaks *SPOILER END*. Al is, as mentioned, dating Jay's sister, Ronnie, and is a vampire/cursed man. The lore behind vampires was interesting, and I liked how Little Badger used a version of them that sees vampirism as an illness, since it adds a layer of complexity to the world and reveals some of how discrimination that is applied in situations in our world is applied in the world of Elatsoe. Al seems like a pretty laid back guy and he clearly cares about Ronnie and Jay. He's more than willing to help with the investigation, even when it gets him into some pretty serious trouble, and he takes most things that occur in the book with a pretty chill attitude. Ronnie, Jay's sister, appears toward the end of the book with some friends and is 100% willing to kick some ass in Willowbee. With only being in the book for a short time, she seems like a cool character and seems decently close to Ellie and her family as well. One thing I felt a little weird about was the one scene where she and Ellie are on the phone and Ronnie says "I get that you're asexual, so, like, it can be a friend or zucchini or..." (201), which felt a little along the lines of 'I don't care if someone's white, black, or purple.' I really enjoyed Elatsoe and thought the characters, worldbuilding, and plot were all excellent. I definitely recommend it for fantasy lovers, and I'll definitely be reading A Snake Falls to Earth when it comes out.

[nyanzaya]

@if-that-so inquired: 💋💖💄👓🔫🔮🎤🎪🍸🍯🍰⛄⏳💐⚾🌊🌵🍒🐝💳👠👻💉🃏😊🙁 tbh i want to ask all... And also, there are some i already know but i just want to make sure 😘 

oc questions

💋 What traits do they like in other people? What traits do they not like?

Iza: The traits Iza likes in other people is intellect? He likes smart people, but he also doesn’t like smart people. He loves people who are a little gullible/inattentive because he would take advantage of it in small ways to get what he wants. Direct people are his favorite but also his bane because he hates to be put in the spotlight when they call things/point things out.

Zuo: Zuo likes when someone is laid back, fun and just a calming presence to be around. The traits he dislikes are: Deceptive, dishonest, indecisive and of course provoking in terms of trying to rile him up and get him angry

💖 Do they have a significant other? If so, who?

In their canon they were significant others; but things happened and now they are broken up even though under the sheets they still want to be together. You could say that they are still significant others but if they find anyone else to be with instead of each other then they let each other go. In a way you could say Zuo and Iza are still significant others with each other but as of right now they don’t have a significant other-- (and if i were to make this blog single ship I think I might make them significant others again but it would be like wild af)

💄 Do they care about their physical appearance? What’s their routine like?

Iza: He cares a lot about how he looks. From how his hair is style to the make up he has on. He wants to look the best and be the “best in show” Often, he is asleep during the day but whenever he does wake up he washes his face, fixes his hair to look well-kept and then he puts on eyeliner and depending, mascara. The eyeliner is always a cateye. He has a bunch more make up but he stays with the simple stuff because he feels that if you put too much you’re just ruining how you look, then he makes sure his nails are well-kept and manicured so if he’s not sleeping or working he will be tending to his nails

Zuo: He doesn’t care that much about how he looks? All he cares about is looking presentable and then going about his business. He doesn’t care for “looking the best” if anything he’d just want to look cool even if he doesn’t wear anything that’s flashy. Zuo does style his hair to hide his ears but sometimes they perk up from under his hair and it’s super cute

👓 Do they have any physical or mental disabilities?

Iza: I MEAN. He doesn’t have any physical disabilities but for mental-- like PTSD then yes lol. MMmh I guess hypersomnia because he is constantly and I mean cooonstantly sleeping even though it’s more like naps(like 16-24 hours at least) Anxiety and depression too.

Zuo: He doesn’t have any physical disabilities and for mental it’s almost the same as Iza’s except he doesn’t have hypersomnia. With what they both lived through, they would have these types of mental disorders but they ARE NOT diagnosed for it

🔫 What would they die for? Kill for?

Both of them would die to help their kin be free from servitude and they’d kill for it too. Iza already does kill for it, but Zuo tries not too. Though, unlike Iza, Zuo would kill and die for his significant other(whether it’s Iza or not), but Iza would kill for his significant other even if it means he kills them or someone else lmfao

🔮 Do they have any magical powers or abilities? If it’s a realistic world, what religion do they follow?

I think there has to be some magic because well, tbh the world is based around drrr and there’s supernatural creatures like faeries and demons so it wouldn’t surprise me if there was even a little bit of magic but, Iza and Zuo don’t have any magical powers or abilities. Iza isn’t exactly religious but the religion he follows is the religion of a cat god who was almost entirely erased from the world and sometimes when he refers to “God” he refers to her, but he does reference the christian God quite a bit and might have a bit of a god complex because he preaches for people to “Turn yourself into God and you won’t ever be killed.” Now ZUO WELL, I think he actually is religious but he is not a devote follower. I think he follows the same religion as Iza with the cat god but he isn’t a devote follower of Her, he prefers to keep religion and things like that to himself. Where Iza and Zuo differ between the religion is Iza says She is a vengeful and cruel god who wants to punish all who have hurt her children or kittens(As in her followers), while Zuo says she’s a benevolent God who wants to fix the things she had done wrong. Iza and Zuo don’t talk about religion to each other often because they could never agree.

🎤 Do they play any instruments?

Neither of them play instruments, unless you count singing as an instrument then Iza sings! Zuo would get frustrated with instruments but if he did play he would probably play drums

🎪 What would their favorite ride at an amusement park be?

Iza: The ferris wheel so he can look down on all the people because he loves to feel superior and better than them :sob:

Zuo: A big crazy roller coaster because he would love to feel the wind and the rush of adrenaline

🍸 How do they act when they’re drunk?

Iza: He’s honestly? Really emotional when he’s drunk? Lol like, he really easy to influence too and just the littlest things would make him burst into tears like LOL oh god if he saw something really cute he’d just “Oooh~ MY GODS-- That’s the cutest..i--eeeeoh my gooooood” Like Iza please...dont cry because of a really cute looking puppy or kitten lol

Zuo: I ACTUALLY HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF IT FOR ZUO BUT I THINK HE WOULD BE THE CALM FUNNY CUDDLE TYPE OF DRUNK.

🍯 Which era of history would they most like to live in?

Iza: I think he’d want to live in like, oh gosh probably the future tbh?

Zuo: He’d want to live in the era with kings and queens because he was a royal knight and he misses his king :(

🍰 What’s their favorite food?

Iza: He loves horse meat? I don’t know why

Zuo: I think Fugu because he isn’t afraid to get poisoned by a fish

⏳ How do they feel about death?

Iza: Iza finds death to be a beautiful thing? I don’t think he really...idolizes it... because in his head its “You’re not really dying, you are being transformed into something else.” which like, okay Iza. I mean I GUESS. and he says that you don’t ever actually die, you get reincarnated as something else to learn a new lesson

Zuo: For real Zuo doesn’t like death, hates death, and wishes it never existed because he can remember his past lives and how he died and what he hates most about it is: coming back and having to figure everything out again and finding Iza/his soulmate and convince them that “We are destined to be together, please, believe me you don’t remember but I do.” and YEAH HE GETS REALLY SAD ABOUT IT

💐 Do they collect anything? What’s their most prized possession?

Iza: Iza collects plush toys because he feels comforted whenever he has one. His prized possession has to be his collar because he got that from his first master? And he’s had it ever since? He wears it literally all the time, partly because one he kinda misses his first? And second to deter people from taking him

Zuo: I don’t think Zuo has ever collected anything? Not from what I can recall but his most prized possession has to be the glasses he wears because he got that from his mom because she didn’t want him to be unable to see just how colorful the world actually is (they are both colorblind)

⚾ Do they play any sports?

Iza: He doesn’t play any sports? But I mean if you count hunting small animals and occasionally people as a sport then yeah he does LOL

Zuo: He plays whatever sport he can, though his favorites are soccer and football, mostly football for really obvious reasons

🌊 What one place do they really want to visit and why?

Iza: France! Because he wants to visit Paris since he heard it’s the city of love

Zuo: Germany! He wants to see the castles and try the food

🌵 What languages do they speak?

Iza: English, German, Japanese

Zuo: English, French, Japanese

🍒 What are some items they always carry? What weapon do they favor using if they exist in a world where weapons are necessary?

Iza: He always has his pocket knife, but he’s very reluctant on using it because he would rather talk with words than get physical and fight(Unless it’s Zuo then he will fight Zuo), wallet, needles because he can hit puncture points really well when he’s fighting/hunting

Zuo: This white envelope that holds his catnip cigarettes that he rolls himself, his sunglasses and wallet

🐝 What stereotypical high school clique would they fit into?

Iza: He would fit in that…. Drifter or an Outsider clique? The one kid that goes around and comes off as a social butterfly but is just fine on their own and is also the one that ends up knowing literally everyone else's business while no one knows his.

Zuo: I think he would be a jock lmfao just, obvious reasons? To burn off steam and because he wants attention

💳 What one thing that they don’t need do they waste the most money on?

Iza: Oh gosh...he wastes money on a lot of things ...like he doesn’t need make-up but “Bitch I need my eye liner and blush.” and strawberry milk because “Shut up! I like it, I desire it, and I will have it.” and plush toys because “It makes me feel GOOD.” And designer knives because “I just think they are neat and I want it for my collection.” Like, someone stop him

Zuo: Hmm for Zuo? I don’t think he really spends his money-- but sometimes he’d impulsive buy weird things like slippers that look like bread? Or weird figurines lol it’s so hard to say accuse there’s a lot of weird things xD But if it looks interesting and funny he’d buy it, it dont even matter what it is

👠 What kind of shoes do they wear?

Iza: Iza has a lot of shoes he wears? Like he’ll wear heels(Like any type of heel) sometimes but most of the time I think he wears slip-ons, sneakers and slippers and if he’s dressed up he’d wear derby.

Zuo: He’s so easy and simply: Sneakers. Slip-ons, slippers  

👻 Do they believe in ghosts, aliens, and the occult in general?

For both of them, yes! I think Iza is kind of skeptical about it but Zuo insists aliens and ghosts are real. Iza is more into the occult than Zuo, like witchcraft and magic because he wants it to be real

💉 Which Deadly Sin do they most correspond to? Which Heavenly Virtue?

Iza: Lust for his sin and oh god… for a heavenly virtue uhm…. Hope or Fortitude

Zuo: Wrath for his sin and for his heavenly virtue it’s Justice or Temperance

🃏 If you had to choose one tarot card to represent them, what would it be?

Iza: Death because it represents major transformation and new beginnings, and transformation, passage, and change. Another one would be The Moon(symbolizes illusion and deception, and therefore often suggests a time when something is not as it appears to be. Perhaps a misunderstanding on your part, or a truth you cannot admit to yourself) and The Devil(symbolizes ambitions and is also synonymous with temptation, addiction, and depression)

Zuo: The World because it represents that things have come full circle, a journey has been completed, and a long-term project has come to an end. Another one for him would be The Sun(symbolizes positive energy, joy of living and enthusiasm) and The Hanged Man(symbolizes trial or meditation, selflessness, and sacrifice)

😊 What do they consider to be their best quality? What actually is their best quality?

Iza: He would say his best quality is his charm. His actual best quality is how tactful he can be, let alone romantic

Zuo: He would say his best quality is how brave he is. His actual best quality is how self-confident he is in himself

🙁 What do they consider to be their worst quality? What actually is their worst quality?

Iza: He would say his worst quality is how lazy/procrastinating he gets. His worst quality has to be how vainful and superficial he can actually be, let alone him using it to manipulate situations to get what he wants.

Zuo: He would say it’s his outbursts of anger, but actually his worst quality impulsive behavior because he just does it...he doesn’t think about it

[sunflowerseedsandscience]

D’Un Nouvel Oeil: Chapter Nine and Epilogue

Previous Chapters: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight

ORADOUR-SUR-GLANE, HAUTE-VIENNE, FRANCE LATE APRIL 1944

"No, Mulder. Absolutely not."

"Scully, it's the only way." He's pleading with her, begging, almost, but she remains firm.

"I am not running away, Mulder. I can't leave my cafe. I'm telling you now, I won't do it."

"I know you love your cafe, Scully, but what are we going to tell people when your pregnancy starts to show?"

"I don't need to say anything. It's no one's business but my own." She drops an armload of dirty dishes into the sink, splashing soapy water everywhere. They're locking up the cafe for the night, but the argument is one that's been going on since long before closing time.

"That might be true, but people are going to make assumptions," says Mulder, rolling up his sleeves and getting to work on the dishes. "And knowing you're carrying my child is going to make you into a target for Spender. Not to mention, he'll do everything he can to use you against me."

"He's not necessarily going to know it's your child," Scully protests feebly, retrieving a tray of meat from the refrigerator and transferring it to the butcher's block. She selects a knife from the block and begins hacking at the meat with unnecessary force. Mulder doesn't even dignify her latest rebuttal with a response; instead, he shakes his head and sighs, returning his attention to the sink of dirty dishes.

She knows, somewhere in her mind, that she's being irrational. Absolutely no one, in Mulder's regiment or in the village, is going to have even the slightest doubt that she's pregnant with Mulder's child. And she knows that it's going to put him in an awkward place, that his commanders are going to use her condition to try to suss out his level of devotion to her. Leaving before she begins to show would be the safest course of action for all three of them.

As much as she knows it's what they have to do... the thought of abandoning her home, leaving her beloved Cafe Pequod, the continued success of which she's poured her entire heart and soul into for five years (not to mention the years her mother had invested into the place before that) is unspeakably painful. A part of her has been hoping- not realistically, she knows- that the Allied invasion will come and the war will be over before her belly begins to protrude. If that were to happen, Maggie would be free to come home, to resume her life on the farm, and things could continue just as they once had- with the welcome addition of Mulder, of course.

But Scully is already nearly three months along. Her belly is still flat, but that could change at any time, and even if the invasion were to happen tomorrow, the chances of the war being over before her pregnancy becomes obvious are slim to none. She's overheard enough from the men eating in the cafe to know that plenty of them are still convinced that their victory is assured regardless of what happens, and as long as they have that confidence, they'll fight hard.

She knows they'll have to leave... rationally. But lately, it's not always her rational mind that's in control. She knows, from her medical studies, that pregnant women often experience volatile emotions, but still, she hadn't been prepared for the reality of it.

Mulder says nothing, only continues washing dishes, rinsing them, and transferring them carefully to the other side of the sink. When Scully finishes with the tray of meat, she returns it to the refrigerator and crosses the kitchen to stand next to Mulder. He glances quickly down at her, but says nothing as wordlessly, she begins taking the clean dishes, drying them off one at a time, stacking them on the counter next to her.

"Sometimes it feels," she murmurs quietly, looking down at the bowl in her hands instead of up at Mulder, "like this place has been the biggest constant in my life. I lost my father when I was just a little girl, my brothers and sister left home as soon as they were old enough, and now my mother is gone, too. I know it's just a place, Mulder, but this cafe is almost like a member of my family."

"I know, Scully," Mulder says gently. "And if I could think of a way for us to stay, we would. I don't like the idea of leaving this place, either."

"What if I told Guillaume Bertrand? The butcher, who lives next door?" Mulder shakes his head sadly.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Scully," he says.

"Why not? He's a good man, Mulder. He wouldn't give us away. If I were to tell him, a week or so before we leave-"

"I don't doubt he's a good man, Scully, but he's got a family. And Oberst Spender is not a good man. He'd be more than willing to use that family against him. How long do you think he could keep our secret if his daughter's life were on the line?" Scully hangs her head. Mulder is right, of course. He dries his hands on a dishtowel and reaches for Scully, wrapping her in a tender embrace. "I know it's hard for you to give this up, Scully," he says. "Believe it or not, I'm having a hard time with it, too." She pulls back enough to look up at him.

"You are?" He nods seriously.

"I've never felt more at home anywhere than I have here," he confesses. "Though, I suspect you have more to do with that than anything else." Scully smiles and leans her forehead against the center of his chest. "We'll be all right, Scully," he promises. "As long as we're together." She hides her face for a moment longer; then, taking a deep breath, she looks up at him and nods.

"All right," she assents. "We'll go, and we won't tell anyone." He looks immensely relieved as he pulls her close. "When?"

"It will have to be soon," Mulder says. "Before you start to show. Is there any way to know when that will be?"

"No," she says, shaking her head. "It's my first pregnancy, so it could take awhile. Maybe into the fifth month, if we're lucky." She breaks his embrace and begins putting the dried dishes away. "We'll need time to get ready."

"Frohike can make identification papers for us," says Mulder, resuming the washing up. "I can get him money for that right away. Where will we go?"

"Maman and I agreed that if we ever needed to flee separately, we would make our way to London and meet there," Scully says. "But I don't know what the best way to get there would be."

"The quickest way would be across the English Channel," says Mulder thoughtfully. "But crossing now, with Germany holding the beaches, would be impossible. If the Allies really do invade as soon as Skinner thinks they might, that might be our best chance. I can speak French without an accent, so we could pretend to be a French couple easily enough, and if we can slip past the front, we can make our way to Calais and cross from there."

"What will we say if we get caught?" Scully asks.

"That depends on who catches us," says Mulder. "If it's the Germans, then we're just a married couple trying to reach your mother, who lives on the coast, and get her away from the coming conflict. And if the Allies stop us...." He shrugs. "Well, I can't think of a better time to reveal yourself as a member of the Resistance."

"But what if the time comes to leave, and the invasion hasn't happened yet? Or what if the invasion happens, and they're beaten back?"

"Then we try for Switzerland or Spain instead," says Mulder. "But one way or another, we need to set a date and stick with it."

--------------------------

Frohike assures Scully that procuring them identity papers will be no problem, though it may take a few weeks. They confide their plans to Skinner, who doesn't seem the slightest bit surprised, though he's unmistakably sad. He asks that they not tell him the exact date- the less information he has, the better it is for all of them. Privately, they set the date for June fifteenth- though they agree, should things change, they will move it up.

Scully spends much of the next month cutting back on her menu, selling more and more of her extra butter and cream and stashing the money away. She has no idea how much they're going to need, but if they need to go to Switzerland and travel by plane, it could get expensive. She makes several trips out to the farm to gather up various small objects, mementos her mother had been forced to leave behind that Scully looks forward to giving back to her, should the chance ever arise. She removes her parents' wedding photograph and several pictures of herself and her siblings from their frames, and gathers up her mother's secret stash of love letters written to her by her husband. These, she packs carefully in the side of her bag, along with changes of clothing, both for herself and for Mulder.

As May draws to a close, Mulder reports that the atmosphere in the encampment is becoming increasingly tense and anxious. The invasion could come any day now, and the more time that passes, the more worked up the men get, anticipating it. Scully is nervous, as well: the invasion could mean that Mulder's regiment will be relocated quickly, with little to no warning, as forces are pushed towards the coastline to fortify the front. And if that happens, they'll have to leave immediately, rather than risk trying to meet up later.

On June third, near closing, a dark-haired man- not a soldier, he's wearing civilian garb- enters and approaches the register. He's not someone Scully has ever seen before, which immediately puts her on alert. She knows everyone in this village, and even most of the surrounding countryside.

"I want to place an order for a pie," he says. His tone is brisk, brusque, bordering on rude, but Scully studiously does not react, merely reaching for her notepad to take down the details of the order.

"What kind would you like?" she asks, keeping her voice level and even.

"Cherry," he says. "To feed three people." Scully writes this down.

"And when do you need it by?" she asks.

"By the thirteenth of June," says the man. Scully looks up at he man, brows arched. Typically, when someone places an order, it's for people who need to be moved within the next couple of days. Someone knowing, two weeks in advance, when refugees will be passing through seems... odd.

"That's quite a distance in the future," she says, keeping her voice carefully neutral.

"Will that be a problem?" the man snaps. Out of the corner of her eye, Scully sees Mulder tensing as if to rise. She remains totally calm, and he relaxes back into his seat.

"No, of course not," Scully replies. "Come back on the eleventh of June, and your order will be ready." The man nods shortly and leaves without another word. Scully glances over at Mulder, who is frowning after the man, looking perturbed... but at that moment someone approaches the counter to pay for sandwiches, and she doesn't have time to speak to Mulder again until they've closed up for the night.

"Scully," he says as he enters the kitchen, the last of the day's dirty dishes cradled in his arms, "I think we should move up our departure date." She looks up at him from where she's slicing up meat for tomorrow's sandwiches.

"Because of that man?" she asks. "The one who ordered the pie right before we closed?"

"There was something about him that spooked me," he says. "Call it gut instinct, but I don't think he's what he seems." Mulder dumps the dishes into the sink and opens the fridge for Scully so that she can deposit a tray of freshly-sliced meats inside.

"He spooked you badly enough to want to leave early? Really? It seems a little extreme to change everything on just a hunch." She leans against the closed refrigerator door and looks up at Mulder, eyebrows raised.

"Just... trust me on this, okay, Scully?" he asks. "Please?" He reaches out and pulls her towards himself. His hand gently seeks out the barely-emerging bulge under her skirt, concealed by her apron, and caresses their child tenderly. "I just... I don't want to take any chances if we don't have to. There's too much at stake." She meets his eyes, swayed by the concern and love she finds there. He might be overreacting, but she knows he's right: it's no longer just about them. They have to play it as safe as they can. She covers his hand with her own.

"I'll get word to Frohike," she says. "What should the new date be?"

"Let's make it the tenth," he suggests. "That way, we'll be a good distance away before he comes back for his order... or for whatever else he's after."

He stays the night- a rare occurrence, but one she doesn't discourage tonight, when he's so nervous and on edge. In the morning she's awoken by a chill as Mulder lowers the duvet to press a kiss to the slight curve of her belly.

"It's not like she can feel that, you know," she tells him, not bothering to open her eyes.

"Doesn't matter," he says. "I can feel it." She smiles and reaches for him, pulling him back up so that she can kiss him. "And how do you know it's a girl, anyway?"

"I don't," she says. "I just have a feeling, that's all." She's had dreams about the baby, and in every single one, she sees a little girl with a head full of red curls. She's not superstitious, and she scoffs at the idea of dreams foretelling the future... but the visions of a strange ring of truth to them, and in spite of her skepticism, she can't think of the baby as anything except a girl.

"Isn't there some way for you to tell?"

"There are a bunch of old wives' tales," she says, "but every last one of them is complete and utter nonsense." She opens her eyes, finally, looking up at him. "You're just going to have to be patient, I'm afraid." He kisses her again, and she resists the temptation to simply hold him there.

"I'll be back this evening, all right?" he promises. She nods and closes her eyes again, and she's asleep before he's even left the room.

She's awake for the day less than an hour later. Her first stop for the morning is at the church, where she asks the priest to convey a message to Frohike, alerting them to their new departure date. From there, she goes to the farm to oversee the milking and to direct where the cream and butter should be sold, and then it's back to the cafe to open up for the morning. She's thankful, not for the first time, for the burst of energy she's felt as the middle portion of her pregnancy has begun; there's been a lot to do to prepare for their departure, and the idea of doing it all while still suffering from morning sickness (not to mention the idea of undertaking the journey itself while ill) is daunting to say the least.

As she's approaching the cafe on the high street, Scully notices a profound difference in the atmosphere in town this morning. People are scurrying from one place to another quickly, stopping to whisper to one another, separating and rushing off at the first sign of patrolling German soldiers. She doesn't stop to talk to anyone; it's nearly time to open, and she's not quite ready yet... but she feels a twinge of anxiety low in her belly, wondering what's going on.

By the time the first five customers of the day have entered the cafe, she knows exactly what's happened.

The invasion has begun at last.

The details that the townspeople have are sketchy at best, and for once, there are very few German soldiers in the dining room today, so she can't glean much information from their conversations. But as near as she can tell, the invasion has begun in Normandy, though there's no word as of yet as to how it's going. Scully rushes through the morning in a fog, terrified, knowing that this could easily mean that Mulder's regiment is to move out quickly, possibly even today. She hasn't heard back from Frohike yet and has no way of knowing whether or not their plans are in place. The idea of rushing off blind, without their escorts, fills Scully with dread... but if Mulder's regiment is moving out, they will have no choice.

Mulder arrives at his usual time and sets her mind at ease immediately, heading straight for the kitchen to speak with her.

"We're staying put," he tells her, as soon as the door is closed. "Skinner says we're to remain here and deal with the Resistance as best we can."

"So we keep the same date, then?" she asks, and he nods.

"I think so," he says. "If we change it, we have to contact Frohike and start the process all over again. Skinner thinks it's better just to leave it as it is." He chews his lip, looking troubled.

"What is it?" Scully asks him.

"Skinner knows about the baby," he says, his voice little more than a whisper. "He suspected it, when I first told him we were planning to leave... and he says that now he can see he was right." Scully's breath catches.

"I'm showing enough that he can tell?" Mulder nods. She looks down at herself critically. With her apron in place, she can barely see the tiny bulge. "Do you think anyone else can see it?"

"He doesn't think so," says Mulder. "And he pointed out that if anyone had noticed, it would definitely be all over the camp by now. And I think he's right, Scully. I think our secret is still safe. But we definitely need to keep to our departure date, or it won't be safe for long." She nods.

"I suppose if I do really start to show before then, I can close up shop and claim to be ill," she muses. "Or say that I've run out of supplies, or something... but let's hope it doesn't come to that."

--------------------------------

For once, their luck holds, and on the morning of June the tenth, Scully's stomach is no larger than it had been six days earlier. She sends Mulder back to the encampment in the early hours of the morning and busies herself with her normal weekday activities, determined not to deviate from her routine at all, lest someone's suspicions be aroused. Her stomach is in knots all day, from the time she goes to the farm to do the milking straight on through the morning and afternoon spent working through the day's crowd at the cafe.

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Scully looks up from the register and, with a jolt of surprise, sees the dark-haired man, the one who had made Mulder so nervous, striding purposefully through the front door. He comes straight to the counter and addresses her brusquely.

"I will need my order sooner than expected," he informs her. "Tomorrow. Will that be a problem?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it will," she tells him, flustered. "I'll need to make sure I have the necessary supplies, and that will take forty-eight hours, at least." The man narrows his eyes at her, then looks over her shoulder, towards the kitchen.

"You don't have the... 'necessary supplies' on hand?" he asks. "Upstairs, perhaps, in your apartment? Because I've heard, from more than one person, that you have supplies on hand right now, at this very moment. Supplies you most definitely should not have." Scully's breath catches in her throat, a cold knot of fear slipping down into her stomach. She's not sure what the man is insinuating, but she suddenly wants him gone. Immediately.

"Sir, I don't know who you've been talking to," she says carefully, "but cherries can be very difficult to come by, given the current shortages. I've arranged for some to be delivered in time for your order to be completed on the fifteenth, and I don't have any way of changing that at this late date. I'm sorry if you've heard different, but it's just not true." The man smiles coldly at her, his face displaying what looks for all the world to be triumph, and he whirls on his heel and leaves. Shaken, Scully retreats to the kitchen to regroup.

About an hour later, a small group of German officers enter the cafe. They go to the other soldiers sitting nearest to the door and whisper something to them, and the men leap to their feet at once and leave. The officers continue around the dining room, whispering to every soldier present, and before long, every single one of them is heading hastily for the door, some not even paying for their food. In minutes, the only diners left are a handful of very confused locals, looking around at each other, frightened.

"Did anyone hear what they were whispering about?" asks Scully, throwing caution to the wind. Her patrons, most of whom don't speak any German, shake their heads. Scully makes a split-second decision. "I think," she says, trying to keep her voice calm, "that I'm going to close up for the day. Why don't you all go home? Check on your families?" There's not a single grumble of dissension; her customers are just as unsettled as she is. They leave quickly, and she locks up behind them, retreating to her apartment upstairs to pace circles from her sitting room to her bedroom, resisting the urge to rush off and try to find Mulder immediately. She doesn't know what's going on, but it can't be good.

She's jerked out of her reverie before long by a loud pounding on the front door. Glancing out the front window from upstairs, she can't see who's there, but when she makes her way downstairs and into the dining room, she's not at all surprised to see Jeffrey Spender's face looming in the front window. And this time, Walther Skinner is nowhere to be seen. She freezes in the kitchen doorway and contemplates, for a moment, simply turning and running out the back door, making for the woods outside of town and trusting that Mulder will eventually find her there... but Spender's men, clearly, have had this thought as well, because through the curtains on the back door, she can see the shadows of soldiers, waiting for her to try to escape. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, she crosses the dining room, plastering a look of polite confusion onto her face as she unlocks the door.

Spender's men are on her before she has the time to pull the door all the way open. She cries out in surprise and pain as they pull her arms behind her back, but does not try to fight them- there are four of them and she knows she doesn't have a chance in hell. The only thing she can do is try and talk her way out of this. Unless they open her bag and find her false identity papers hidden in the folds of clothing, there is absolutely nothing incriminating anywhere in the cafe or in her apartment.

"What are you doing?" she demands, in French. "Let go of me at once!" Spender sneers at her.

"Why don't we drop the act, Miss Scully?" he suggests, in German. "I know you can understand me perfectly well." Scully's brain is working at a fast clip, and she tosses up the first excuse she can come up with.

"Obersoldat Mulder has been teaching me German," she lies, attempting to thicken her accent, to make it more believable. "Is that some sort of a crime now?"

"No," says Spender, "but kidnapping German officers most assuredly is a crime, and one we intend to punish most harshly." Scully doesn't need to fake her confusion; she has absolutely no idea what he's talking about.

"I have never had a hand in anything like that," she says. "I don't know what you've heard, but you've heard wrong."

"Have we?" Spender asks. He turns to his men. "Search the premises," he orders them. "Find the captive and bring him to me at once." The men instantly set about turning the cafe upside-down amidst Scully's cries of shock and protest, upending tables, sending plates and bowls crashing to the floor. They continue on into the kitchen, and she hears them shoving things off of the counter, destroying more crockery, before they continue upstairs.

"There's nothing for them to find," she pleads with Spender. "I have absolutely nothing to hide from you."

"That's not what we've been told," Spender says. "We've been told that a German officer from another regiment is being held hostage here."

"Then you've been told wrong," she insists. Moments later, Spender's men, out of breath now, reappear in the dining room empty-handed. Scully lets out a breath- they haven't discovered her identity papers.

"There's nothing up there," one of them tells Spender. "We must have received false information. She's alone. No sign of the captured officer."

"There, you see?" Scully says triumphantly. "Someone has lied to you, someone is trying to get me into trouble. Who told you? Some of the townspeople, they don't like me because I'm kind to all of you, because I serve so many of you in my cafe. I promise you, whoever's told you these lies is just trying to get revenge on me for my friendship with some of your officers." She feels like she's babbling, but she knows she's got to come up with something if she has any prayer of being released.

"Oh, we've heard reports from your neighbors," Spender says, smiling dangerously. "It seems Obersoldat Mulder has not been your only after-hours visitor, has he? Some of your neighbors report that you've been seeing all sorts of men... in all sorts of condition. And they all seem to be in better shape when they leave from your back door than they were in when they arrived, don't they?" Scully says nothing, but her sense of dread increases exponentially. They've been so careful... but clearly, they haven't been careful enough.

"So what I think," continues Spender, "is that even if our captured comrade isn't being held here, then you must know where he is being held, not to mention the identities of whoever is holding him." He gestures for his men to follow him as he heads towards the front door. They drag Scully along amidst her struggles and protests. "We'll have to take you back up to camp, I think, and question you properly... while my father's men deal with your pathetic village once and for all." Scully's feet freeze in place, pulling the men holding her back, as she realizes what's happening, why the soldiers dining this afternoon had left so suddenly.

"You can't," she says softly. Spender's cruel smile widens.

"We can, and we will," he informs her. "A message needs to be sent: anyone who helps the Resistance can expect to pay dearly." He continues walking, and his men continue to drag Scully along.

"But this is nothing to do with the Resistance!" Scully insists. "The people who come to me at night, they're sick, they're injured, and they can't afford a doctor! I use the money I make at the cafe to buy medicines and supplies, and I treat them for free. That's all it is, I swear to you! It's just charity!"

"We've heard differently," Spender says. Scully is about to continue arguing... but as they round the corner of the high street, she sees the first regiment making its way into town, and her voice completely fails her. The men aren't marching in any sort of formation; rather, they're rushing from door to door in groups, forcing their way into shops and houses, dragging frightened families into the street and forcing them towards the center of the village, towards the town square. Other soldiers rush into buildings as the families vacate them, smashing windows, throwing furniture out into the streets, openly looting the emptying homes and storefronts. A mother and her four children are herded past her, the smallest stumbling and falling into the street with a cry. His mother stoops to pick him up, and immediately receives a boot in the stomach from the soldier closest to her.

"Move!" the soldier bellows. "Get up, now!"

"Leave her alone!" Scully cries out, straining against the men holding her, against her hands tied behind her back. The soldier looks up just long enough for the woman to stand, and for one of the older children to pick up her youngest brother and carry him along. Spender laughs harshly at Scully and continues walking.

"Don't concern yourself with any of them," he advises her. "You and your friends have done quite enough on their behalves. The men will be sent out to your mother's little farm to await their fates- those barns she's kept in good repair will come in quite handy- and I imagine my father will find someplace else for the women and children to go."

"None of these people have had anything to do with it!" Scully cries. "You can't punish an entire village of innocent people!"

"If they're harboring a member of the Resistance among them, knowingly or not, they're no longer innocent," says Spender. "And I'm tired of listening to you blathering." He gestures to one of his men. "Let's shut her up until we're ready to hear what she has to say, shall we?" The man withdraws a length of cloth from his pocket and gags Scully, effectively silencing her protests.

They drag her through the town and towards the encampment, passing company after company of German soldiers making their way into town to join in the fray. The expressions on the soldiers' faces, Scully notices, run the gamut from terrified dread, all the way to excited anticipation... but no one, no matter how unhappy they seem with what they're being sent off to do, is putting up any sort of protest. She knows better, by now, than to expect any of them to speak up, to voice their concerns: every last one of them knows they'll be shot without hesitation should they refuse to comply.

Spender and his men bring her to the front door of the farmhouse. Waiting there, Scully is not at all surprised to see, is the dark-haired man from earlier. Whoever he is, this rumor of her holding a captured German officer has clearly originated with him.

Spender turns to his men. "You two," he says to the men who each have one of Scully's arms, "bring her inside. The rest of you, go and find my father. I'm sure he'll have plenty for you to see to." The others depart in haste, and Scully is dragged inside, down the hall and into a sitting room, where she's forced to her knees. Spender enters in a leisurely fashion, and he gestures to the men to remove Scully's gag.

"Now," he says, "maybe you'll be ready for a little honesty, perhaps."

"I've already told you the truth," says Scully. She jerks her head towards the dark-haired man. "I don't know what this man has told you, but either he's lying, or someone has lied to him. He gave me to believe that he had someone injured, someone that he needed me to treat, and he'd be brining whoever it was to my cafe in several days' time so that I could see to them."

"Lies," spits the dark-haired man. "I asked her today, in her little coded language, and she as good as told me the captured officer was upstairs in her flat." Scully whips her head around to stare at him, aghast.

"Who are you?" she demands. "Who's paying you to say these things? Or has this regiment simply decided to move on, and you needed a convenient excuse to have a little fun before you left?" She turns back to Spender. "There is no one hidden in my flat, as you've seen yourself, by now. And I can almost guarantee you that no search of the village is going to reveal any captured officer, either. This man doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Do you really expect us to believe you have no idea where the kidnapped officer is being held?" Spender demands, advancing on her. "We know you've given aid to the Resistance. We know your mother has hidden criminals at her home. We've seen your 'friend' buying medicines and bringing them to you."

"I'm a doctor," she insists.. "I treat whomever is brought to me; I don't care what side they're on. That's what all of the medicines are for."

"You're a cafe owner, not a doctor," says Spender derisively. Scully finally begins to lose her cool. This is a farce, all of it, and Spender is merely having fun with her, as a cat toys with a mouse, before killing her.

"People can be more than one thing at once, you know," she sneers at him. "I'm a doctor and a cafe owner. Just like you're an idiot and an asshole." Spender's eyes flash dangerously, and before Scully has time to react, he reaches out and slaps her across the face. She cries out in pain and surprise.

And then, all hell breaks loose.

Spender turns at the sound of feet pounding down the hallway, and suddenly, Mulder is there, Skinner right behind him, their guns drawn. Mulder's face is full of rage. He fires twice, killing both the dark-haired man and one of the men holding Scully. The other man releases her, aiming and firing his own gun at Skinner, hitting him in the leg. Skinner gets off a shot before he falls, taking down his attacker, and for half a breath, Scully is free. But as Mulder turns to see where Skinner has gone, Spender capitalizes on his distraction, and before Scully can get away, Spender has her in his grasp, his pistol held to her temple. She freezes.

Mulder turns, his gun pointed at Spender, and Scully can see the dilemma in his eyes: does he take the shot and risk hitting Scully, or risk missing both of them and having Spender kill her anyway?

"You have a long habit of falling in with the wrong crowd, Fox," sneers Spender. "I keep hoping you'll grow out of it, but I'm starting to think you'll never learn."

"What the hell are you talking about, Spender?" demands Mulder.

"I'm talking about your choice of company," says Spender. "This lying French whore, for one. Your traitorous schoolmate from Berlin- what was his name? Rolf? That coward with his precious newspaper full of lies." Spender chuckles mirthlessly. "And of course, your stupid sister." From across the room, Scully can see the blood draining from Mulder's face.

"Don't you dare say a word about my sister, you pathetic little rat," he growls. Spender laughs coldly.

"That's rich, you calling me a rat," he snarls. "You know, I hoped, for months, that you would wise up and turn your sister in before she got completely out of hand. That's what I would have done... but then, I understood that loyalty to country is more important than loyalty to family." He gives a casual shrug. "So I turned her in for you."

Scully's breath catches in her throat at Spender's admission. She is certain, suddenly, that Mulder will forget himself, forget the situation they are in, that he will rush at Spender and seal both of their fates... and, indeed, he does take a step towards them... but to her great relief, he stops and holds himself in check when Spender presses the gun harder into her temple, making her gasp.

"Now, this is what we're going to do," says Spender, with the air of a man who knows he's won. "You're going to drop your weapon and kick it over here. I'm going to tie you up, and we're going to wait here for my father to come back and deal with both of you. I imagine, if you beg nicely enough, he'll kill her quickly and you won't-"

BAM.

Scully jumps in shock at the sound of the gunshot at at the sudden, warm spray of blood on her face. She barely registers the loss of pressure as Spender releases her and she falls to the side. When she rolls over and looks, she sees Spender lying several feet away, the top of his head blown off... and beyond him, behind the sofa, where he'd fallen, is Skinner, his face pale, but his hold on his gun perfectly steady. Scully rolls immediately to her feet.

"Mulder, cut my hands loose," she demands, and Mulder complies instantly. She rushes to Skinner's side, rolling him on his back and carefully probing his thigh, finding the gunshot, reaching around the back of his thigh. She sighs in relief when she locates an exit wound. "It went through clean," she says. "I need something to bind it to stop the bleeding."

"Scully, there's no time," says Skinner. "You and Mulder need to leave now!"

"You have to come with us," says Mulder. Skinner shakes his head.

"I'll only slow you down," Skinner says. "You'll never get out of here in time if you're carrying me."

"But Sir...." Mulder glances at Scully, torn. "If you stay here, they'll know you helped us escape. Your life will be forfeit."

"I'll tell them I chased you up here and you shot me," says Skinner dismissively. "It's not like any of these four are going to contradict me."

"They may not believe you," argues Mulder.

"Mulder, GO," Skinner all but shouts. He rips his own belt off and begins to lace it around the top of his thigh, preparing to apply a tourniquet. Scully is relieved to see that he knows how to do this much, at least. "I'll be fine, I promise!" Mulder stands, Scully rising with him... but for a moment, he seems frozen, unable to move. Scully understands: leaving Skinner here feels like signing his death warrant, and after all the older man has done for them, it doesn't seem right, doesn't seem fair. But on the other hand, if they don't leave, it's almost certain that all three of them will be dead by morning. Skinner has clearly come to the same conclusion, and he bellows at them impatiently. "Oh, for God's sweet sake! All the thanks in the world are going to be meaningless to me if you two don't get your asses out of here right now!" At last, Mulder nods.

"Take care of yourself, Walther," he says, his voice thick and strained. He takes Scully by the arm, and they flee without a backward glance.

-----------------------------

Mulder leads her around the edge of town, using the cover of night to shield them from sight. Scully finally notices, through her shock, that Mulder has somehow managed to retrieve her bag from her flat, which means that they will have their false identity papers, not to mention the changes of clothing that both of them, now, will need. Mulder cannot continue in his uniform... and looking down, Scully sees that her own shirt is drenched in Jeffrey Spender's blood.

As they pass the village, Scully's attention is caught by the sounds of screaming. She freezes, and looking out, towards the outline of the village, she sees a great gout of flames suddenly rearing up towards the sky. Judging from its location, it looks like the church has been set on fire. There's a horrified groan from next to her, and turning, she sees tears in Mulder's eyes. But before she can ask what's wrong, she spies a second fire on the horizon... and she knows exactly where it's coming from.

"That's my mother's farm," she whispers, her voice broken. "Spender told me they were taking the men there, to the barns." Mulder puts his arms around Scully, holding her close to him, and as she shivers in his embrace, she comes to another unwelcome realization. "The women and children were in the church, weren't they?" she asks, her voice muffled against his chest. She feels him nodding agains the top of her head, and she just barely manages to stifle a sob into his shirt. It's too big, the horror of it, too extreme to take in all at once, and she feels in danger of being paralyzed with it, being frozen in place... and there is no time for that now. She pulls herself away from Mulder, who takes the bag off of his shoulder, handing her a clean blouse as he pulls out his own change of clothing. They hide her bloody blouse and his uniform under the leaves and continue on their way.

Scully tries to tune everything out as they head to their meeting place, to ignore the sounds of machine gun fire coming from the town, the screams that rend the night, the terrible, unspeakable stench of burning flesh that wafts across the countryside towards them. She feels ill, as though she may need to stop and vomit at any moment... and so to center herself, to get through it, she places one hand carefully over the bulge in her stomach, reminding herself why she needs to keep going, to get out of here, to survive.

And as if in answer, in confirmation, she feels a tiny flutter from within, a promise that if she can make it out of here, the reward will be rich.

At last, they reach the top of a small rise, where Frohike, Langly, and Byers are waiting for them under cover of a copse of trees. All three men are watching the flames expanding on the horizon, horrified and speechless. Frohike embraces both of them, but there is nothing that can be said. They watch as long as they can as the flames consume the town... and then, their hearts heavy, they turn and leave, weighted with the knowledge that there is nothing they can do.

Oradour-Sur-Glane is gone.

EPILOGUE

LONDON, ENGLAND AUGUST 1944

Scully is completely exhausted when she finally makes her way back to the flat at the end of the day. She drags her feet wearily up the stairs to the third floor, running her hands over her enormous belly as she stops halfway through each flight, trying to catch her breath. Not for the first time, she curses the fact that the apartment isn't conveniently located on the ground floor... and then immediately chastises herself, remembering (also not for the first time) that they're lucky that Frohike still has this flat available at all. Life would have been infinitely more difficult if they had been forced to stay in one of the shelters they've been combing for weeks, instead.

The journey across the French countryside, after their narrow escape from the village, had been tiring, but not nearly as difficult or as dangerous as they had feared. The German army had been mostly concerned with preparing to repel the Allied forces, and had not been the slightest bit interested in a young French couple (and their three mismatched, quiet friends, who preferred not to answer questions) making their way towards the coast to rescue her mother from the coming fighting. Scully had been terrified when the time had come to slip by the advancing front, but getting to Calais had been a complete non-issue, and purchasing passage to England had been easy enough, with the money she had managed to accumulate in the cafe's final months.

But once they had arrived in London, where she and Maggie had always planned to meet up, should they be forced to flee separately, it had become apparent that they would not be reuniting that very first day- or even that very first week. London is enormous, crowded, and still reeling from the onslaught of German bombs that had fallen during the Blitzkrieg. Scully, tired out from the journey and nearly into the third trimester of her pregnancy, had needed several days to rest and recuperate before she could begin the search, and when their money began to run out after the second week of combing shelters and information centers, she and Mulder had had to find jobs, which had meant that they'd had even less time to search.

Now, after a month in London, Scully is beginning to think that either Maggie is not here yet, or she's been forced by some unknown circumstance to continue on elsewhere. She and Mulder have left word all over the city, at every shelter they've visited, providing an address where they can be reached, should her mother show up looking for them.

Scully digs her key out of her pocket and lets herself into the flat, barely registering as she does that there are voices coming from within. Doubtless, Mulder is home from his own day's searching, and if she's lucky, he'll have had time to start cooking them dinner. She hasn't eaten in hours and her empty stomach is screaming for sustenance.

As she trudges into the sitting room she's drawn up short by a startled cry- in a very familiar voice. Looking up, she sees Mulder, beaming at her from across the room... and standing next to him, her hands clutching her face, radiating a joy that warms Scully from head to toe from all the way across the room, is her mother.

"Maman!" shrieks Scully, moving as quickly as her expanding girth will allow her, as Maggie rushes at her from the other side of the sitting room. The two women embrace, sobbing almost hysterically, clinging to each other and rocking from side to side. When at last they draw apart, Maggie's hand goes immediately to her daughter's stomach, and in the midst of her joy, Scully is suddenly nervous. Maggie looks to Mulder, her eyebrows raised in question.

"You neglected to mention this little development, Fox," she says pointedly, and Mulder blushes.

"I thought it would spoil the surprise," he mumbles, looking down.

"We married, Maman," Scully tells her mother. "Right after you left. Just in the church, so of course it's not legal, but that doesn't matter, does it? And then, just a month later, we found out I was pregnant."

"So you're due in... what, October? November?" Maggie asks.

"October, we think," Scully lies. "But you know how these things can be, it's so hard to pin down an exact date. I suppose it could be anytime this fall."

"Yes, I suppose exact dates can be tricky," says Maggie dryly, "when you're not sure of when it... began." Scully blushes and looks down, but Maggie takes her face in both hands, forcing her to look back up. Her mother's face, she is relieved to see, is suffused in warmth. "I'm so happy for you, my darling," Maggie says. "Just to see you again is a joy I feared I would never know... and everything else is just added happiness, as far as I am concerned." Mother and daughter hug again, and Maggie holds an arm out to Mulder, who crosses the room tentatively and allows both women to include him in their embrace.

Soon, Scully knows, her mother will want to know the details of their escape, to know why they've fled, and what they'd left behind... and she will learn, if she doesn't know already, what fate her beloved village and her neighbors have met. She will learn that even when the war has ended, she will not have a home to return to, that the farm and the cafe into which she had poured her heart and soul are no more. There will be tears, Scully knows, and sorrow, before any of them can begin to heal.

And after that, they will have to decide where to go next.

But for now, for this moment, with the two people she loves most in all the world finally standing with her, Scully is content to revel in this happiness, hard-fought and hard-won, and to let the future happen as it may.

[rason-rodd]

Nightwing: The Rise of Flamebird (Chapter 2)

Summary: Nightwing and Flamebird were two ancient Kryptonian gods, yet completely opposite. He was darkness and rebirth, tasked to hunt the evils in the shadows. She was fire and destruction, born to annihilate the creations of her mate, Vohc The Builder. Destined to fall in love and achieve great things but fated to be separated.That’s the story Dick Grayson and Terry Olsen heard. Strange that it is also, somehow, their story

Major Pairing: Nightwing/Dick Grayson x Flamebird/Original Female Character

Chapter Summary: Terry moves in Blüdhaven with her long-time boyfriend, still unsure this was a good idea. In the meantime, Nightwing is meeting Detective Svoboda to talk about some mysterious child disappearance.

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A fresh start. He thought that it was what they needed. He thought that it was what could save their couple, what would rekindle the flame, that ‘intense love they had once for each other’. Those were his words. But she was not so sure he was right.     Actually she did not know if they could save anything, if they could forget, if they could move on. Too much had happened lately. She had hurt him, again, this time even more than the one before. She had broken his heart as she would always break everything around her, everything she cared for or everyone that cared for her.             Their couple was like their new apartment. Looking new, willing to be cosy but still smelling like humidity and mould and feeling so cold. The white walls perhaps, or the angular Scandinavian decoration with its sharp triangles patterns. Trendy according to magazines, but she hated it.

Terry was finishing unpacking the dishes, occasionally popping the bubble wrap between her small fingers, when she felt her boyfriend’s arms around her waist and his lips in her neck. “Do you like our new place, baby?” She stiffened lightly. It had become a reflex.     She turned around and smiled to please him. And as usual, he didn’t see how fake it was. “Great. Cause I really want us to feel like home here.” He moved a wavy strand of blond hair away from her face and gazed at her with his deep brown eyes. “I think this is our chance to start from scratch” “So do I” She lied. And he grinned sincerely before catching her by the hips again to kiss her with a burning passion, his hands wandering from her back down her behind. But the only thing he got in return was coldness. His sudden eagerness left her indifferent. Worse, it left her uncomfortable. His thin lips now in her neck, she could only picture him as a leech stuck to her. And she hated herself for that.

Josh was the perfect boyfriend. But he was not made for her. They first met when they were both students at Metropolis University. She was studying Criminology and Psychology. He was in Med School and a Football player, which made him one of the most coveted guys on Campus. But he had only eyes for her, the pencil in her bun when she was studying at the library and the way she was glowering at him when he was bothering her late at night asking if she had Wi-Fi in her room. “Worst way to flirt, ever”. Or not. His persistence bore its fruit and few months later they were moving in together. But the joy, the excitement and the passion didn’t last and soon faded. “It’s not you it’s just … me.” Cliché but true. She left him. He came back. They tried again. She left him. He came back. They tried again. And on. And on. And on.   Josh and Terry’s relationship was based on ups and downs. But as he would see more ups, she would see more downs. Because that was just Terry: realistic and not as in love with him as he was in love with her.

“I don’t want to, Josh. Not today” She said to calm his ardour. He didn’t grumble or sigh but she could see he was frustrated. And she could understand why. Months had passed since the last time they had sex. The two students hooking up among boxes, books and notes were long gone. Today they were just two lonely people, one with his face buried in the sand, thinking that all this was just an umpteenth insignificant ordeal that they’ll eventually go through, the other not really knowing why she was still here and why she was still giving hope to the man who loved her. “ Are you stressed because of tomorrow?” He tried to change the subject as always. She sighed, popping the bubble paper in her hands even quicker. Tomorrow was her first day at Blüdhaven Police Department. “Do you remember that feeling we had when we’re kids and we’re about to enter middle school?” “New class. New teacher. No friends?”           He tried to guess with a wide smile. She nodded. “Yeah. Scary right?” He laughed and grabbed her hands “Everything will be fine. You’ll do fine. Cause you’re the best. Plus, BPD must wait for you like the arrival of the Messiah. ” She chuckled slightly. “Why are you saying this?”   “Don’t you read articles on the net? Journalists are constantly bashing the police saying that they are useless and flawed. Most cases are solved thanks to some masked vigilante.”       “ Nightwing. Yeah I’ve heard of him.” She placed the plates in the cupboard without adding a word. He expected more. He expected something else.         “ Oh come one don’t tell you support that vigilantism crap!”   “As long as criminals are put behind bars, I think that’s all that matters. We had Superman in Metropolis. No one complained. You didn’t complain.”       “ Don’t compare the threats in Metropolis with the threats here. Nightwing would not make it through one day in Metropolis.”

He would not make it through the night. Not at this rate. He was tired, exhausted and his wounds were not fully healed yet. But he couldn’t stop. The city needed him. Blüdhaven needed Nightwing so Dick Grayson would have to wait.       He winced and moaned from the pain when he landed on the rooftop. He approached the Detective Svoboda, limping. She noticed and stared at him from head to toes, genuinely worried but hiding it behind her eternal nonchalance and the smoke of her cigarillo. “Have you thought about seeing a doctor? That gimpy leg looks baaaad.”         “ It’s fine.” He retorted. “What’s happening?”   “ A disappearance. One child missing in Ravenshood Heights” She handed him a picture of a smiling red-haired young boy in his parents’ arms. “His name is Isaac Peterson. 9 years old. Orphan since the age of 4. Adopted two months ago. Missing for 3 days. My colleagues think he ran away.” Nightwing stared at the picture. It was recent. It had been taken in front of a cinema and the movies on the posters were still on the bill. The kid was wearing a brand new Blüdhaven Brawlers football jersey; limited edition, very expensive, as the game console in his pocket. He wasn’t just smiling, he was grinning and so were his adoptive parents. His body language – very close, his arms around their necks – showed he loved them a lot. “He didn’t.”   “ That’s what the adoptive parents said and that’s what I thought as well but thanks for confirming it.” “ Any clues whatsoever?”         “ None. The mother put the kid to sleep and when she entered the room to wake him up in the morning he was gone. Window wide open. No sign of breaking in. No prints. Nothing.” Nightwing frowned, intrigued and disturbed by the report.          A child could not vanish like that. There must be clues somewhere, witnesses, anything. “What about the neighbours?”         “ One is an old man, completely deaf, disgusting cataract. Didn’t hear or see a thing. The others is a couple but they have been in vacation for two weeks.”         “ I’ll do everything I can to help.” He gave back the picture to Elise. “We’ll find him, Detective.” She allowed herself to smile lightly. She knew he was telling the truth. She trusted him. She just hated that the police and the media were that harsh with him. “ Thank you, kid. And again …”     “ Be discreet. I know.” He sighed before jumping from the rooftop and she watched him leave with worry.

There was something wrong with him. She could tell it. Since the day she shot him, since that case with the Judge, she could feel he wasn’t the same anymore. He was morose, almost sullen. His usual bright smile was gone like his traditional wit and his playfulness. And she missed all that. But worse, he didn’t seem like he cared. And his negligence was scaring her. She was scared for him. “I meant ‘take care of yourself, kid’”

She wasn’t the only one worried. Everyone around him was. Bruce, Alfred, Barbara, Wally, even Damian. All had told him to take it easy, to rest, to take some time to heal and for himself, to take care of Dick Grayson a bit. But that was like talking to a brick wall. Pointless and a waste of time. He had decided to devote himself body and soul to this city and there was nothing anyone could do and there was no more going back now, not after all the things he had lost lately. Dick Grayson’s life was a mess. It had slipped away between his fingers. His social life was garbage, his love life no more, and his gym studio almost neglected along with his clients.           So focusing entirely on Nightwing was the best thing, the only thing, he could do right now. And as he was jumping from rooftop to rooftop he knew nothing would stop him. Nothing, not even a cruciate ligament injury. “Damn” He cursed as he fell flat on his face. The pain was stabbing at his knee like hundreds of tiny needles. He stayed down a few seconds before trying to stand up again, in vain. “Oh come on!” He punched the concrete, angry, trying to contain the tears of rage in his eyes. He was exhausted. And so was his body.

He was right. He would not go through the night.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

[recentanimenews]

RWBY Future Predictions

Last Saturday, RWBY’s sixth season wrapped up with the main cast approaching the flying kingdom of Atlas. Throughout the season, the audience and main cast learned much more about the past of the world of Remnant, like Ozpins and Salem's backstory, while older plot threads continued to develop, like Jaune continuing to mourne Pyrrha.

While fans wait for season seven to begin, the various clues and loose threads of the story can help to give some insight as to where the show may be heading in the future.

For the sake of compartmentalization, I have split the various story ideas in to the near, middle and far future. These correlate to the next season or two of the show, sometime in the next five seasons or so and likely near the end of the series, respectively.

Near Future: Pyrrha comes back

After Cinder killed her in the season three finale, Pyrrha has strangely not entirely left the show. She keeps coming back in scenes mostly focused around Jaune but also occasionally from other characters referencing either the Fall of Beacon or what they’ve lost. In season six, a fallen leaf guides Jaune to a statue of Pyrrha where he speaks to a woman with red hair and green eyes, like Pyrrha.Add in that it is snowing and that Pyrrha was the Fall Maiden, and the show may well be indicating that she is not fully gone yet.

With how much attention she’s gotten, it’s entirely possible that she’ll come back in some respect. Most likely, this would not be a true resurrection though. Rather, she would probably take one of two forms. Either she is like Ozpin, reincarnating as a guiding voice inside someone else’s head, or like a Force ghost, appearing for a short time to give guidance or closure but not influence any events.

Near Future: Emerald joins Cinder / a third faction fully forms

We have already seen some of this take start to take shape, but Cinder and Neo may form an entire faction unto themselves, and since season six made it clear just how devoted to Cinder Emerald is, the moment they know where each other are Emerald will almost certainly leave Salem and the rest to rejoin Cinder.

An interesting development to this dynamic would be if the new faction stop being fully villainous and become closer to anti-heros. When Grimm were attacking Beacon, Emerald seemed horrified while she and Mercury looked over the city. Cinder wants to make Ruby suffer, but if Salem is about to kill all of humanity, she may hold off and join the heroes long enough to ensure that she gets to kill Ruby herself.

Middle Future: Beacon restored / the return of the original cast

In the World of Remnant series, Ozpin made it clear that the communications towers connect the kingdoms, and that if even one goes down, the others cannot connect. Since the Fall of Beacon, we have never heard about any efforts to restore the tower or kingdom, and also haven’t heard anything from many characters present in the first three seasons.

This potentially sets up a great season finale in the future, where team RWBY and the rest are struggling against an onslaught of Grimm and don’t expect any help, but then their scrolls start lighting up with radio chatter from other kingdoms. While the commotion died down, new people show up to help, and we get the return of the more memorable characters from earlier seasons, like Velvet and Professor Goodwitch. This would also allow for more hated characters like team CRDL to grow off screen and come back as much more developed characters.

Middle Future: The general populace learns about silver eyes

Due to the extreme circumstances she has been through, Ruby has not done much to hide her eyes’ power from the world. At the Fall of Beacon, it seemed like no one but Cinder was present to see Ruby when she turned the Wyvern to stone. When she did the same to the Leviathan at Argus though, there was clearly a large crowd watching everything.

Since the power is presented as something that many people know about but think is nothing more than a fairy tale, this provides a way for many more people to come to accept that magic is real and that the fairy tales they grew up on might have more truth than they thought, or for other people with silver eyes to come forward in future seasons.

Middle Future: More fairy tales come true

All of the fairy tales of Ramnant are supposed to have some basis in truth, even though the stories themselves are generally regarded as fiction. However, throughout RWBY, we’ve learned about the Tale of Two Brothers, the Silver-Eyed Warriors, and the Four Maidens in explicit detail. The first are the gods of light and dark that cursed Salem and Ozpin, the Maidens were originally their children and the warriors clearly existed since Ruby and Maria have their power.

However, opens the door for other fairy tales being more grounded in reality than expected. The audience does not know of many other fairy tales, only the Shallow Sea and the Girl in the Tower, but with all of the travelling the main cast has done in the past three seasons, it is entirely possible that they might stumble across either the original truth that created the myths, or whatever happened as a result.

Far Future: Judgement Day

During season six, we learned from Jinn’s flashback that Ozpin keeps reincarnating because he was chosen by the light god to be the one person who would remember when they were around, and that they were also leaving four relics behind. In the same flashback, we learn that when all four relics are brought together, the pair of gods will judge whether humanity has learned to cooperate and that if not, the gods will end humanity entirely and try again.

Our heroes already have one relic, so will they ever gather the other three? Will the show actually provide a definite answer to something like the worth of humanity, or will it remain a driving force that no one ever actually reaches?

Realistically, it probably won’t. Even if the show picks up its pace and either splits the main cast of just fast forwards their travel to the other kingdoms, it will still probably take at least three or four seasons just to get the other relics, then another season building up to the actual judgement, and of course calling gods to judge whether humanity should be eliminated entirely or not is generally a plot point reserved for the finale of a series.

If the judgement happens and the show isn’t over yet, it enters an entirely new phase. With the gods returned, humanity has access to magic again and the Grimm are likely gone due to the god of light’s influence. However, humanity has been without the gods for so long that they may unite against them, or some could choose to go to the dark god, like Salem did previously.

Far Future: They finally graduate

It’s worth remembering that team RWBY and their peers went through a semester or so of school before the Vytal Festival and the rest of season three. Assuming that the Academies work like college/university, they have another three years of schooling before they are professional huntsmen and huntresses.

If this is ever touched on in later seasons, it will likely be either glanced over as something that the main cast doesn’t need since they have so much experience actually fighting Grimm, or an afterthought in the final episode showing them finally getting diplomas during the credits. A humorous way to wrap up this plot point would be if they cast revisits Beacon after so much fighting and training and take three years of tests and training over the course of a week to show that they are officially qualified.

Those were my thoughts on some of the plot threads in RWBY and where the show might be heading in the next season and beyond. Personally, I actually really want the graduation montage and the return of the season one through three cast, but what do you think about my ideas? Do you have any other thoughts or theories about where the show’s headed? Let me know in the comments below!

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Kevin Matyi is a freelance features writer for Crunchyroll. He's been watching anime for as long as he can remember, and his favorite shows tend to be shonen and other action series.

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