video - no melody will soothe this outrage

[digophelia]

[ Here is Alice. Here is Alice trying to tune her lute and after a few strokes, Alice manages to remember a melody. ]

Ah, it surprises me, even now, I remember how to play it. It's been a few months.

[ It does sound a bit better after she's tuned it a few times. Maybe it was that out of tune? ]

And how the piano lessons I had as little girl have never really faded away. String or piano, music notes and scales are hard to forget. It's odd to think how much I used to loathe piano lessons as a little girl.

[ That's fine. Alice treasures them more as an adult, now. Especially this lute. ]

I recall some faces here in Osaka, but others... not so much. I do hope some of you have stayed out of some trouble, yes? I'm certain that some of you are already dreading the inevitable fussing from me.

Tell me, then, if you remember me... what did I miss?

[ That's her strange way of saying she misses some of you. ]

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un: sieglindesullivan / video

[grunehexe]

Alice... ?

[She'd been... transferred back?]

[digophelia]

Sieglinde.

[ That's a real smile. ]

Of all the faces I was looking forward to, it was you, the one I wanted to see the most.

[grunehexe]

... me?

[She really means to be more eloquent than that, but the news catches her so off guard that all she can see to do is parrot.]

[digophelia]

Well, yes.

[ If she was capable of laughing right now, she would. ]

Having the chance to see the children I cared for once again and how they were able to find a better life outside of that orphanage...

[ It makes her feel a bit better about the children here. They, too, will find a way. ]

I wanted to see you, how bright and resilient you are. Because I hold you dear as much as I do them.

[ That's to say, she really hasn't forgiven herself for upsetting Sieglinde all because she harbored so much guilt for those children. ]

[grunehexe]

[Even though she still doesn't like the comparisons to children, she can't bring herself to hate it right now.]

... I do not know about all of that.

[Bright and resilient... she didn't feel that way sometimes. Maybe a lot of times, but. She couldn't not like being said she was dear to someone.]

But I am glad to see you again, despite the circumstance that led to it...

[digophelia]

It hurt to speak of it.

[ At least she's honest. But she doesn't say she's eager to see what Sieglinde has been up to; this poor girl has been saddled with so much -- things no one her age should be saddled with. It's unfair, Alice wants to ease that and she knows she can't, always. ]

It's fine. I would ask your forgiveness once again, I'm afraid, for sounding like an old mother. I should just say I'm happy to see you, I'm relieved.

[grunehexe]

You needn't ask for anything at all.

[It was... it seems a long time ago now, to her, even though she knew it had been mere months.]

What happened... since you left Audentes?

[That she was willing to say.]

[digophelia]

[ Naturally, Alice won't go into gruesome details, even if Sieglinde may be able to handle them better than other girls her age. ]

Well, I was hurt in Audentes and it was Ban who found me-

[ Which is ten shades of awkward for Alice. But! ]

I found myself back in London. Since the proprietor of Houndsditch Home for Wayward Youth has passed... [ A gentle way to say she killed him. ] it fell into my hands being that I was the only adult that worked there. So I spent those weeks sorting out affairs and seeing to these children being sent out of where they were into better homes. And I've found myself here, again.

[ She has no issue speaking of these things, because it was a better resolution. It's a weight off of Alice's shoulders. ]

Things have a strange way of sorting out for the better, it seems.

[grunehexe]

So you were able to go back to your world for a time...

[And it did not go poorly, but... actually seemed to offer something good for Alice. In that case,]

Then I am glad for it... and for those unfortunate children who you have helped.

[Was that what "closure" was?]

[digophelia]

As much as I loathed returning to London, yes.

[ It went a bit better than she could hope for. ]

I am as well, they were younger than you; the eldest I had there were ten years old. London isn't very kind to orphans; either they end on the streets or in factories if an orphanage or family cannot take them in.

[grunehexe]

Ciel never did tell me that much about London... He was quite well off. But I suppose every country has unfortunates.

[Her village had been an exception, but, well. That turned out it's own can of worms.]

You do not regret returning here?

[digophelia]

As much as I dread that to be, yes, it is. Oxford wasn't always like that.

[ There could be a rant here, but that's too much of a mood killer. ]

A part of me does, yes, but... I don't, not wholly. I was able to make things better.

[grunehexe]

... then I am glad.

[She doesn't want to imagine what it would be like, going back to her world only to be brought back here... if one liked one's own world, anyway.]

At least you have joined us here in Oska.

[Not on some weird planet somewhere.]

[digophelia]

There's no place I'd rather be than with my friends, like you.

[grunehexe]

[What did you say to those kinds of things? Sieglinde still wasn't the best at them- speaking so plainly about love and friendships and all of those things, but...]

Then I am honored.

[Maybe that worked.]