Returning home.

This was the only positive aspect that accompanied the end of the war, but for Marie and Mori it could not be said to be true.

They had nowhere to return to and after Mori's involvement in the war the situation was rather tense.

Legal avenues were perhaps no longer even an option for him after what he had done.

During the war that dingy container had been their temporary home, yet it had contributed to the stability of their lives.

A stability with a very high price, but still stability.

Even having had a friend, albeit briefly, had helped her.

Now her only playmate remained her little dragon.

And Elise.

Following the war there had been a not inconsiderable change in how her father's skill manifested.

Until the last day of the conflict, Elise had been a taciturn and obliging young woman who helped her father manage all the tasks related to the care of the soldiers, but; the first time she had reappeared after they had left the battlefield, Marie had found it hard to recognise her and had almost been frightened to see her, but her sky-blue eyes and wheat-blond hair were still the same.

Now, however, Elise looked like a child.

A lively child, full of life.

With a strange feeling that she could not define, Marie traced those vital characteristics back to Yosano.

Memories of their last moments together still visited her and often haunted her in her dreams, but there was nothing she could do to banish them or alter what had happened.

The only thing she could do was hope that her friend had managed to overcome the trauma her father had caused her and that she was now living if not happily, at least more serenely.

This was the only hope she had.

It was at this time that a new figure entered their lives.

They had recently found a new permanent home when that man first crossed the threshold of their house.

Marie had made herself small in her little room, she knew that the rule about not being seen too much by strangers still applied and, as usual, it was not her intention to upset her father unnecessarily.

The two talked for a long time and Marie continued to remain hidden until Mori joined her.

"Marie? Would you like to come in for a moment? I want you to meet someone."

The little girl followed hesitantly; such a thing had never happened before.

She sat down at the small table in the cramped living room, pointing her little red eyes at the stranger.

"He looks a lot like you, Mori." Observed the ash-haired man.

"Hello little one. I'm Fukuzawa Yukichi, a friend of your dad, nice to meet you." Said the man with a warm smile on his lips.

Marie smiled in turn.

She had not seen many smiles in the last years of her life.

"I am Marie."

That wasn't the last time she saw that man.

The grown-ups didn't explain much to her about what was going on, but it was clear even to her that her father and that Fukuzawa were working together.

Although Marie perceived a very different aura from her father, it seemed that the two of them inexplicably managed to work together and get along well with each other.

On a few occasions, it had also happened that her father had left her with Fukuzawa and, in her own way, she had learned to love him too and had noticed how Mori also seemed more serene, but even this period was short-lived and the ghosts of the past soon returned to knock on their door.

It happened, when one evening, without any warning; Mori announced to her that they were going to pick up Yosano the next day.

Marie's eyes lit up, but then lost vitality almost immediately.

From the way they had parted last time she doubted that Yosano could really be happy about this development.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine."

Never was her father's reassurance more ominous than that uttered on that occasion.

Not a single thing went well the next day.

Her father had indeed found Yosano, but no one had prepared Marie for the catatonic state the latter was in.

She was far worse off than she had imagined, perhaps because her imagination could only go so far.

Marie regretted when Yosano was still able to reserve the worst insults for her and her father.

At least at that juncture she was still herself.

Now she looked more dead than alive.

She was visibly slim, and her eyes seemed to be contemplating emptiness.

They were completely blank.

Mori approached her, babbling on about how he still needed Yosano's skill to carry out his plans.

Of course, he got no response whatsoever.

Marie could do nothing but criticise her father's less than noble intentions, and the idea that he wanted to bring Yosano back to the hell that had made her a vegetable could only disturb her, yet she tried to talk to her as well.

She tried to recall all the conversations that had kept them company during the war, the first ones they had exchanged before the situation escalated.

Nothing seemed to move her.

So, she took a leaf out of her father's book and tried to recall all the traumatic events she had had to face.

That didn't seem to work either.

She cast a worried glance in her father's direction.

As always, he had an impassive gaze.

How could he be like that?

"Don't worry, honey. She'll be fine. Remember I am a doctor, after all. I'll manage to get her back to her old self."

Marie looked at him with extreme distrust.

How could your executioner make you smile again?

It seemed possible for Mori.

He picked up the pram in which Yosano sat, determined to take her away with them.

Marie was filled with mixed feelings.

As much as she would have liked Yosano to return to their lives, she also knew that nothing and no one could ever bring back the lightheartedness that had characterised their first period together.

She and Mori were not the right people to bring colour back into Yosano's life.

They were walking along the narrow corridors of that gloomy place when their race was stopped by a figure well known to them both.

Mori smiled.

"Hello, Fukuzawa."

The latter's face was not at all friendly.

"What is the meaning of this, Mori, what are you doing?"

The man asked harshly.

"I am carrying out my plans."

"Exploiting a poor child?"

"What sweet words you always reserve for me, Fukuzawa."

The conversation soon degenerated into an open confrontation between the two.

Marie watched them fight with a certain fascination.

It wasn't the first time she had lost herself admiring her father's scalpels stopping Fukuzawa's katana.

Her father's fighting technique never ceased to fascinate her; it was a spectacle she would watch for hours.

The fights between her father and the man had the flavour of a forbidden dance for her.

"It's difficult even for me to determine who can win between the two.

They play on equal terms."

Marie jerked.

A young boy with a lollipop in his mouth seemed to have come out of nowhere.

She watched him curiously.

She saw him cast a glance at Yosano.

"Your father is definitely a monster."

Marie didn't reply. She shared the same thought.

"We have come to rescue her from his clutches."

"Is there still hope for her?"

The young boy searched his pockets and pulled out a shiny object.

Marie's eyes widened.

It was the butterfly clothes peg that that soldier had given her!

She remembered how it had been lost during the last days of the war and the vain search in a desperate attempt to find it.

How did that little boy get it?

Yosano's eyes filled with tears and slowly became vital again.

That butterfly seemed to have worked a miracle.

Marie looked at the little boy, smiling.

"I'd say he's in very good hands."

The clash between Mori and Fukuzawa, predictably, ended neither with winners nor losers, but marked a new phase in their lives.

The relationship with Fukuzawa inevitably soured after that event and Marie never saw him again at her father's side.

She learned that he had founded his own detective agency and that Yosano was part of it.

Marie imagined and hoped that her new life would make her happy and never tried to contact her again, feeling deep in her heart that she had no right to ask her anything.

After several unsuccessful attempts at public school, Marie had finished her studies with a private teacher.

In the meantime, Mori had managed to become the new Mafia boss.

Several times he had asked her to join the criminal organisation, until Mori found a way to turn her passion and skill for sewing clothes into a real job at Mme Schneider's boutique.

Considering Marie's difficulty in relating to others because of Umi to Dokuyaku, he had also managed to get an interesting compromise: that Marie would go to the boutique for fittings with customers or on other special occasions, but the garment making could easily take place at home.

Marie was more than satisfied with this solution, but during one of her visits to the shop something quite surprising happened.

Marie had just turned 18 and was working for the boutique when an encounter with a customer turned into something more.

Already the distant voice of the mysterious customer had awakened something familiar in Marie's mind, but no one could have prepared her for the shock of finding Akiko Yosano in front of her.

She immediately thought it might be a bad joke played on her by her brain, but the butterfly clip was more than clear proof that she was not mistaken.

The one in front of her was indeed Akiko Yosano.

The awkward silence that had followed their meeting had suggested to her that there was a good chance she too had been recognised.

Perhaps her resemblance to Mori had contributed.

Marie guessed from the flicker that had crossed Yosano's eyes the kind of memories she must have just evoked in her.

At that point, Marie had two paths to take: officially recognise her as Akiko Yosano and ask her how she was or pretend not to know her.

Her heart would have liked to go for the first option, but reason suggested she choose the second.

The look in Yosano's eyes made her realise that she wasn't ready for that kind of conversation.

She made a few small adjustments to the clothes she had tried on and directed her towards a series of models she might enjoy.

They didn't exchange many more words than were strictly necessary, but Marie made a point of saying one last thing before letting her go.

"I'll make sure I'm not the one to serve you next time."

She announced, trying to give her one of his best smiles, and before the girl started to insult her, Marie left, believing it was the best choice for both of them.

Just like Mori, she kept her word and didn't turn up for Yosano's appointment, giving the material to Mme Schneider and explaining everything she needed to know.

It hurt her not to be able to do anything more, but she had seen that Yosano had definitely been reborn in recent years.

She didn't need her to ruin her life a second time.

The first had definitely been enough.

Over the next few days she had simply tried to forget what had happened and quietly carry on with her life, but someone thought otherwise.

One day, on her way back to the boutique, she discovered that the customer she had to serve was once again the girl with the golden butterfly.

Marie thought it must be a mistake or an unpleasant misunderstanding.

"I can call another colleague..." She hurried to leave, but Yosano's voice stopped her.

"Marie, wait."

The girl stopped, but didn't turn around, surprised that Yosano would appeal to her so directly.

"Marie, it's you, isn't it?" She asked again hesitantly.

Then the girl turned in her direction.

"Yes, it is indeed me. There must have been an inconvenience, I had asked not to be the one to take care of you..."

"No inconvenience. I asked for you."

Marie widened her eyes

"And why would you have made such a request? Shouldn't you hate me?"

Yosano sighed.

"Seeing you again brought back memories I'd like to simply forget, though... I've been thinking about it a lot the last few days. I think we should talk about it calmly."

Marie was hesitant, but she couldn't let that opportunity pass her by.

She had already lost Yosano once.

So she had agreed to meet her outside the boutique to resolve everything they had left unresolved.

"I repeat, you should hate me considering everything my father did to you."

"What your father did to me, not what you did to me. I think that is an important specification to make."

Marie was caught off guard, but she had her answer ready.

"I remain his daughter. Do you not see your executioner looking at me again?"

Yosano was struck by the unique choice of words adopted by Marie, she couldn't remember ever hearing her express herself so harshly, but just as Marie didn't know what had happened to her over the past few years, so did she.

They both had a lot of catching up to do before they could come to understand each other.

'Yes, you are particularly like him, but again, you are not him. You are two different people. Not to mention that at the time of the war you were just a little girl... We were just little girls. You can't feel guilty about what he made me do."

"But..."

"Nothing though, Marie. We really were two little girls. What could you have possibly done?"

"I still used my skill on you... That's my fault..."

"You didn't know how to use it, Marie! You didn't do it on purpose and... Besides..."

"What?"

"You didn't abandon me when I had the meltdown after..."

She didn't need to finish the sentence to understand what she was referring to.

"And even after shouting the worst things at you... you didn't abandon me... You tried to be close to me, but all I could do was push you away... as if it could be your fault..."

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. It had been a difficult time for everyone..."

"Even when your father came to claim me a few years later... you tried to reach out to me, but, again..."

"That kid and Fukuzawa seem to have managed to bring you out of your shell." Marie interrupted her, smiling.

Yosano smiled in turn and began to tell her everything that had happened and how the agency had changed her life.

The only regret she had left was that she had never been able to regain her original ability.

She was no longer able to heal superficial wounds but could only do so if they were life-threatening.

It was something she couldn't fix, but her colleagues and friends had done nothing but fill her life with colour, something she soon discovered could not be said for Marie either.

Yosano soon discovered that life had not been as generous to her.

She clearly knew that Mori had now become the boss of the Mafia, but she never imagined what it had meant for Marie and never expected that the girl had not yet mastered her ability, but she was pleased to see that there was an area of Marie's life in which she felt fulfilled.

As a lover of fashion and shopping, it was inevitable to find a common ground that would unite them even more.

Something that bound them together beyond their traumatic past.

That meeting was one of many that followed and, one way or another, they seemed to have managed to reconnect.

Every now and then, Yosano would venture to ask Marie how her relationship with her father was going, but for obvious reasons, Mori Ougai was a difficult subject they both liked to avoid.

For Marie, who had no other acquaintances outside Yosano, those outings were a real breath of fresh air.

And Marie had wanted to put off going out with Yosano, but she knew she needed it badly.

In the last two weeks her life had literally been turned upside down and yes, she definitely needed to vent everything she felt inside.

Who knows, maybe it would have helped her not to spill so often on Verlaine.

29/06/2024

Hello everyone! I think I'll need a few weeks more or less to be able to publish every week; just have faith in me <3