Fractured Pieces, New Mirror

In the months since he'd brought the doll back to Italy with him and they'd hidden it in an abandoned house near the orphanage, he'd had the time to observe many quirks about the creature. Such as the fact that, for all it seemed to think like a small child most of the time, it was a remarkably fast learner. The re-made Enrico was also a very tactile creature, at least with him, and the others had semi-jokingly begun calling it 'imprinting.' For another, the 'mental blanking', as he'd come to call it, didn't just extend to Enrico's past memories. He'd discovered that one when he'd found the doll in a terrified panic over the dead body of an intruder, apparently unaware of the fact that it had been the one to kill the man.

The most blatant and most subtle, however, were days like these. The doll's eyes darkened and cleared from their usual clouded glass shade to almost their original color, and it became even more quiet and subdued, avoiding them all more often than not. Yumie had reported that Enrico had locked itself in its room several times as well, only emerging when it had returned to 'normal'. It had taken weeks, but Father Renaldo had finally made a guess as to what was going on, and he had to admit, the possibility was sound.

Days like these were the days the doll was remembering something of his former self.

For the most part, he had simply tried to pretend it was just another quirk, letting the doll stick to one area of the house while it was thinking. And, for the most part, the doll tended to avoid him the most whenever it had any memories resurface. So it was more than a small surprise when he looked up from chopping tomatoes to find Enrico staring at him silently, eyes bright and clear. Trying to soothe jangled nerves that hadn't even picked up the doll's presence and smoothe his proverbial ruffled feathers, he wiped his hands on the dishtowel and managed to keep himself from fidgeting under that unwavering gaze. "Can I help you with something, Enrico?" he asked, keeping his voice calm and gentle as he could.

The silence was uncomfortable, and he couldn't help letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when the doll finally looked away. The next words out of its mouth, however, caught him off guard again.

"Why do you keep me?"

He blinked, the question taking a minute to sink in. "What?"

"Why do you keep me?" The doll lifted its head slightly, one eye visible through the curtain of hair. The voice was calm, not accusing or demanding, but it still sent a chill up his spine. "I mean, there's the bed thing and all, but-"

He swallowed and carefully set down the knife. On one hand, he had guessed that this would happen, that eventually during one of those moments of temporary clarity, Enrico would bring up the hard questions. On the other hand, it had still managed to hit him out of the blue, and he really didn't have what would be considered a 'proper' reason. As the doll watched him, waiting patiently for an answer, he took a deep breath, reminding himself to choose his words carefully. The last thing he wanted was to damage all the work they'd put into the doll, even if it probably wouldn't remember this conversation once the old memories vanished again.

"It's... It's a little bit hard to explain." And even harder now that the doll had moved around the kitchen counter and was leaning closer to listen. "I'd be lying if I said the physical aspect didn't have anything to do with it at all-" damn, this was embarrassing, "-but that's not all there is to it."

"Then what is there?"

Reflexively, he slid his arms around the doll when it pressed close, but tried to rein in the instinctive urges. Now wasn't the time, dammit. "There's... a lot of things that have changed. You, mostly. You don't have the same-"

"The same what?" Enrico prodded.

He didn't really want to say it, because it would be too much like saying that he approved of the changes Hellsing's pet monster had made. But there was really no other way to put it. "You don't have the same problems. I guess the simplest way to say is that- that we're rebuilding you. Doing things more like we should have done." In most regards, anyway, though not enough of them to kill that ugly little knot of guilt that had formed in his chest as the doll laid its head against his shoulder.

"So I'm like a second chance for you, then."

The tone was as light and empty as before, but the matter-of-fact air to the words themselves still stung, and he winced. "Something like that."

"Oh." Another uncomfortable silence fell, and he wound up resorting to combing his fingers through long hair, partially because the doll enjoyed it and partially for the sake of his own nerves.

"I guess I can live with that."

It sounded so noncommittal, neither upset or approving. He tightened his hold on the doll as it seemed to sag in his arms a little, unable to hold back a small sigh as he realized it was probably all the response he was going to get before the shift back was finished. Still- "I'm sorry," he murmured, brushing a light kiss against Enrico's hair.

"What for?" the doll asked, pulling back to blink up at him with eyes that had again washed out and clouded over.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," he replied as he kissed his companion again, then drew away to finish chopping vegetables for stew. "Want to help me finish dinner? The others are dropping in to visit for the evening."

He resolutely ignored the way the knot in his chest gave a little throb when the doll smiled at him, childlike demeanor firmly fallen back into place. "Sure."