Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Contesting Results ❯ Longing ( Chapter 22 )

Author: Sensoo.

Pairing: Rip Van Winkle and Hans Gunsche.

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It was a slow night. The heat was maddening, bearing down mercilessly on the land. The air was heavy and languid beneath a sliver of a moon. Combined, the effect was suffocating and symbolic. Though pained and breathless, the world was on the cusp of change.

For the moment, these things meant little to the woman overlooking the city. Rip Van Winkle leaned on her gun, basking in the solitude of a summer night. Decades of waiting had given her much to think about, and not nearly as many answers as she might have liked. Still, if vampires had anything in abundance, it was time.

Sometimes, though she would never admit to it, Rip would forget just where in time she was. The years and dates had ceased to hold any true significance to her. She did not live by the sun any more.

An anomalous breeze crept by her, and her senses picked up someone nearby. Lazily, she lifted her rifle and spun around. Eyeing the lone figure before her, Rip lowered her weapon.

"Good evening, Captain." She smiled pleasantly, not expecting the greeting to be returned. She was not disappointed. The good Captain merely continued watching her, never hinting at just what might be going through his head.

It was only the Captain. He came and went as he pleased. He kept many secrets, for himself and for others. Chuckling to herself, Rip straightened up, adjusting her spectacles. "Actually, it isn't really a good evening. In fact…it's nights like these, spent in a faraway land, that make me long for home."

If he was surprised by the honesty her confession, he did not show it. It seemed that he was still absorbed in the poignancy of his own tragedy

"We have been away from home for a long time."

He nodded, but said nothing.

"I don't have any regrets. But I don't have much patience either." She laughed and leaned forward, her chin and hands resting on the butt her gun. She gazed up at him, awaiting some sort of acknowledgement.

The Captain turned his gaze to the sky.

"I know; it will be dawn soon." Rip sighed. "It has been ages since I've walked in the sun, but these freckles have not yet faded." As well as other things, she had freckles, fangs, and a lithe boyish figure that would not change.

"It will not be the same as I remember, but I believe that it will still be home." Fingering the swastika around her neck, Rip turned her gaze east. Toward where the sun would rise, toward where her homeland waited.

"Sometimes, I doubt that I will ever see our fatherland again." She continued smiling, however pained. The Captain looked at her once more.

He nodded again.

Rip closed her eyes. "Thank you, Captain. You have been most helpful in encouraging a silly Werewolf."

He stayed with her, for the nostalgia was catching. And together, they searched till they could stand it no more.