The Paper Pile On Her Table

"Why are you crying?", I mumbled, but I'd only imagined it. She wasn't crying.

I remembered Lady dragged me out of the cold water after two hours of me motionlessly floating all around her bath. She must have hated it, for she didn't just drag me out, she dragged me through the forest all the way back. I was covered in mud and leaves and twigs by the time we were back. And to top it all off, I was buck naked. I was so dazed that I didn't seem to care. And when I snapped out of that daze, I still didn't care.

I suppose I was grateful to Deli for wrapping me up though. Although her piercing, disgusted gaze did attempt to murder me, I pretended that I hadn't noticed it. She really thought little of me now.

A couple of days went by and I seemed to be in and out of the daze fairly often. I didn't think I was capable of feeling this way, but things didn't seem real to me sometime. I spent most of my day watching June at work. Luckily, she didn't mind it.

"You should be able to get there by noon tomorrow", Lady was explaining to Deli, who wore a tense look.

"Deli, are you listening?", Lady asked, as she hadn't gotten a response from Deli at all.

"Yes", Deli replied shortly, looking at the map, or perhaps the train schedule.

"It's a nice place", Lady commented as Deli stood, studying the schedule.

"Lady...are you sure?"

Lady nodded.

"But..."

"Deli, it's a nice life there. And it's about time you faced what you'd been running away from", Lady said sternly and I thought to myself, she sounded so childish.

Deli stood there silently for a while. Then she trotted out of the hall and went back to her bunker. June went on ticking away her typewriter. It seemed louder than before.

"Hey June, could you teach me how to use it?", I asked for the 156th time in the past three days.

But like the first time and all the other times, June's reply was silence.

I sat there all noon, my chin resting on the back of a chair. Sometimes I pretended the wooden chair was a little horse. But I pretended it all to myself. I wasn't enough of a goof to play it all  out in the open.

"Haven't you got anything to do, Seraph?", Lady was finally annoyed.

"Eh? You're the boss, Lady. Haven't you got anything for me?"

She sighed but didn't say anything. She never did anything either. She just sat in her chair and fiddled with the pretty box on her table. I knew the secret, I knew it was empty.

About an hour or two later, Deli appeared with Lubbock in tow. Deli was all dressed up, carrying a big leather suitcase like a proper lady.

Lady smiled vaguely, sadly.

Deli came up to Lady's table and stood in front of her. And that reminded me of Chopper.

"Well, I'll be on my way now", she said, placing her suitcase just beside her feet.

Lady stood up.

"A nice journey to you", Lady said.

Deli stood motionless for a second, then went round the table and embraced Lady.

"Thank you, Lady. You take care now", she said, as if already knowing her wishes were pointless.

Lady returned the hug after a pause and smiled coyly.

"Good luck on your mission", Lady answered.

Lubbock certainly looked sad watching Deli go. But whenever Deli left on a mission, he always looked sad. Sight waved his hand to Deli too. And then Deli turned to me and smiled.

"Don't miss morning practice, Seraph", she said.

"And practice with who?", I asked, but didn't get a reply.

Deli was going on a mission to the orphanage where her children were supposed to be. I suppose she finally intended to meet them. She was going to learn the fate that had befallen her kids. And I thought, Lady shouldn't have sent her alone. But of course, Lady knew that too.

I stopped thinking about those days when someone left on a mission and I forgot morning practice fairly easily after Deli had gone. Lady noticed, but didn't remind me.

My routine just included sitting beside June all day and folding paper cranes. At first, I'd messed up some important pages that June wrote but then she started handing me the ones that were waste papers. I must have folded over some thousand paper cranes before it struck me what I was doing.

"Hey June, can you teach me how to use that?", I asked, pointing at her typewriter.

She shook her head, she wasn't interested in teaching me, but at least, she didn't ignore me completely. I didn't mind the fact that she wouldn't let me touch her typewriter even though I was so fascinated by it.

"It's snowing!", I announced in the hall, one morning.

It never snowed where Valhalla was. I wondered if winters actually did come to this place, even though no other weather came here.

"That's really the last one?", Lady asked June, completely ignoring my announcement.

June nodded, a single pile of sheets on her table.

"Finally? Took longer than I expected. You sure that's all?", Lady asked again, placing her hand on the clean white sheets on the table.

June nodded, "That's all."

Lady sighed, quite audibly.

"Can I keep the typewriter when you're done with it?", I asked June.

She shook her head. She really must have hated me.

"Lady...?", I looked at Lady who looked lost.

"It's about time you climbed out of that barrel of cement, isn't it June?", Lady wore such a strange expression on her face that I couldn't help stare.

June's pace slowed down even more. And though she went on typing, I think she was beginning to realize that the pile of papers on her table was way too thin.