Thing had returned to some sense of normality, if any true normality could even exist at the time. They had all returned AX, that is, all of them with the exception of Annabel who had disappeared long before back up had arrived. No one was particularly pleased that Caterina had been right and some didn't even really want to believe it. Everyone had tried to get back into the regular tasks but her absence had been noticeably been missing among the others.

Abel and Havel had both been taken back to the Vatican and treated. Luckily neither of their wounds were life threatening. Havel was out after only a week or two and Abel was back on his feet within the month. Tres had thankfully not been damaged to badly but none the less William had had to fix him. Unfortunately like most of his inventions and patch jobs it had not come out as any would hope. Yes, he know once again worked and functioned as if nothing had happened...except for the small fact that when he attempted to talk instead of words there emitted a loud siren. With a collaborative effort they finally managed to fix the problem, the comical sound really didn't match the androids serious nature.

It was odd to walk through the towering archways and halls and not see Annabel walking the opposite direction. Something didn't seem right about her missing presence in the court yard or in front of the fountain. She could not be found absentmindedly walking though the maze of high rose bushes or feeding pigeons from the steps of the main building. People knew that she was not going to be there, but that did not seem to stop them from looking. When they would pass a place she was commonly seen they would look for her, only to be met with empty space.

Everyone tried to act as normal as they could muster near Abel for the first few months, though he was rarely anywhere one could accidentally run into him. When he wasn't on a mission he spent his time on the old bridge on the outskirts of the city. He spent countless hours staring down into the depths of the water below, seemingly transfixed with the sight. No one dared to ask him what he was doing or why he was doing it, they didn't think they would receive an answer and decided it was better to just let him be. There would really be no use in asking him and it wasn't affecting his work so no one could really say anything about it. That was, no one who knew what the feeling he was dealing with dared to ask and risk doing nothing more than rubbing salt in the wound. Tres on the other hand, had no prior experience with the emotions so saw nothing wrong with asking the priest what was troubling him.

He found him where one could find Abel most often now a days, standing on the old bridge completely lost in his own thoughts and oblivious to the world moving around him. Tres came to stand beside him, Abel not even the slightest bit aware of the new presence. The android had been made for combat, not comforting those in times of sorrow and loss but apparently not even Tres thought this, he wanted to know what was wrong with Father Nightroad and he was going to find the answers he wanted. It was simply the way he was.

"Why are you out here Father Nightroad?"

The question had broken the silence that always kept Abel company while he stood alone on the bridge and caught him completely off guard. Looking up at the passive face of the person standing next to him he offered a weak smile, noticeably different from the sheepish grin Tres had become accustomed to.

"Why are you out here Father Nightroad?" he questioned again, this time a bit more force in his monotone voice.

This time Abel gave an answer.

"I suppose I'm only thinking..."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Why so many questions today Tres, it's not like you...?"

"That is not an answer to my question," Tres replied sternly, not allowing room for Abel to back out of the questions.

"I've been thinking about a lot of things..."

"What are they?"

Abel sighed, Tres wasn't going to let him go until he'd gotten all the answers that he wanted and not a moment sooner. There was no avoiding it and Tres apparently wasn't going to let him out of it easily.

"Annabel..." he replied with a small sigh looking back down into the depths of the river below them. "It's just hard getting used to not seeing her around the Vatican anymore."

"Why?"

"It's hard to forget about friends..."

"She betrayed and injured Havel and yourself, she is an enemy of the Vatican."

"Yes Tres, I know that. It's just...hard to think of her as anything more than the young girl who I met on this bridge. That seems so long ago now..."

"If it happened so long ago, why is it bothering you so much?"

"Memories...are hard to get rid of. Feelings...are hard to ignore. Past events..."

"They happened in the past, that means that they should be forgotten."

"Tres, that doesn't seem right..."

"Father Nightroad, the past is meant to be forgotten so that the present may take its place. Those who cling to their past with blind eyes and devotion forget about the present and let it pass them. Once something has happened it cannot be undone and once we experience something it is a part of us. There is no point in attempting to act as if it did not happen or that it can be corrected, we can only move forward and do ones best to make the best of what they've been given. Likewise there is no point in trying to hold to the past and squander the future. And, perhaps Annabel had no other choice. It is easier to let something break then to try and hold it together, it is easier to watch someone go then to try and hold them. I could see it in her eyes; she never once truly intended to kill neither you nor Havel."

Abel looked at him dumbfounded and at a complete loss for words. Even though at first one would think that his words were harsh for the situation, but, they were true. Every word that Tres had spoken was true, even if they had come off as a bit inconsiderate for the other's feelings. Tres had done what no one had dared attempt and faced the problem head on with little care for how his words would affect Abel. He'd merely come out and said what he had needed to hear.

After a moment Abel smiled up at the android, finally taking on a familiar expression, one which had he had been void of since they had returned. He couldn't quite say why he was smiling; maybe the entire event had just appeared to be comic to him. That or it was the fact that the least likely person to come and pull him back from the shadows of his own doubts. Or maybe, nothing of it was worth smiling about, only the small comment Tres had said towards the end, that she had never really intended to kill him. It was a shred of hope, a single ray of light in a dark room that was worth clinging to in the fact that it could mean that Annabel wasn't truly gone.

"Thank you Tres," he said with another sheepish smile. "I think, that I really need to hear someone say it aloud."

"Then, you will return to the Vatican?"

"Yes Tres, let's head back."

With that the two began back towards the center of the city, Tres keeping his passive expression and Abel smiling silently to himself. Even if it was small, he wanted to believe anything he could that Annabel could really still have some good inside her.

"It's time you gave up on me..."

He could never accept those words and he could never give up on her, and truly, he didn't believe that she'd given up yet either. The time she'd been in the AX was really and so he would continue to hope that her feelings and actions while with them were true as well. How could he think anything else? She had been...a friend. She'd been a friend to everyone. Never once had she acted harshly towards anyone and never had she ever seemed unhappy. He'd even seen smile from time to time. There was no way that she could be as evil as she had seemed that night. He would believe that till the end if need be.

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"I'll only need a moment to grab it," Abel called over his shoulder as he slid into his room and closed the door behind himself with a small sigh.

Grabbing the book from the desk his eyes caught something he wished they hadn't. A small framed picture of himself and an aggravated looking girl. He was lightly tugging on her hair and she looked close to hitting him. But, in some way she looked nothing like she would ever lay a hand on him. With a small sigh he picked the picture up and looked thoughtfully down at it. They would get her back, if he did nothing else he would be sure to get her back.

"Father Nightroad...?"

"Coming Tres," he called quickly as he placed the picture back in its place and opened the door, casting a fleeting look at it as he closed the door behind himself.

He had not seen the small silver object lying on his pillow. The small silver cross on a long chain that lay a top a small slip of paper. On the inside of this note were only a few very simple words.

"I'm sorry Father Nightroad, for I have done nothing worthy of congratulations..."

Wow, and with that it's all over. Hard to believe it, I've been working on this for a while, and now it's finally coming to an end. I want to thank all of the people who had been supporting me and this story, I really appreciate it. Please review.

I was thinking about doing another Trinity Blood fan fiction about either the event after or before this. Please email me if you would like to read one about either. Thank you all for reading!!!