Florian rested for a while on the Trans-Europa while the rest of the gang explored Venice for a Clandestian hide-out for the next couple of nights. After the gunfight with Darkstrom forces and one of the wheels on the train being shot out, he needed every moment to recover from the injury to his arm. Rebekah strengthened the healing process, shortening his recovery time by a very long shot. But he insisted the rest of the gang go explore the city while he stayed in and recovered a while. The one person concerned the most was the one who wanted to stay behind...
"Elizabeth, go with the others" Florian had insisted.
"Florian, I'm not leaving you alone here" she answered back.
"Look, Eliza, I will be alright" he insisted. "Now go along and be of good cheer."
"Good cheer be damned!" she replied defiantly. "I'm not leaving you alone."
But he wouldn't have any of it. He gave her a sharp look, which silenced her and even worried her.
"...fine" she answered quietly, and stormed out of the train.
"Damnit Florian" he muttered to himself, "the hell were you thinking being rude to her like that!? She..." But the thought died as tears of regret filled his eyes, the image of a distraught and hurting Elizabeth flooded his memory.
She only wanted to take care of someone she loved.
Why did he push her away like that? Was it because he felt as if he would've been fine taking care of himself? Did he feel like he could've been alright if no one worried so much about him? Or was there something deeper--the real reason he couldn't bear to be around her while she worried?
That, he wanted time to rest and sort his feelings out?
He thought things over--his fascination over someone who didn't do well with staring contests, and his curiosity was stirred. Along the way he noticed her steadfast courage; her devotion to protecting the Quartet and, more importantly, her blind-since-birth younger sister Johannes; the humor she shared with not just her sister but Anneke and Rebekah. But he also took note of the bold copper highlights in her brown hair, the way her pale green eyes shone as she faced a sunrise the morning they left Vienna, how despite her courage she was still vulnerable...
how despite she was strong, she was still human, and feared for the lives of all the gang.
Yet in spite of the circumstances, what were her feelings for him? She had loved his company, and their conversations were lively even during their silences. Even as they fell asleep in conversation, she loved to be around him. His presence was comforting, almost as if a guardian angel was assigned to watch over her.
But really, what were her feelings for him?
Sitting in his seat, drowning in the misery of his own tears. This was not the Florian Schneider that his darling Elizabeth deserved to see--that he himself was hurting in his own thoughts, his own fears.
And yet he wanted to tell her everything that his heart had to say.
Finally night had fallen and, as the gang hadn't returned yet, he decided it best to dry his tears and go find and reconnect the lot. But as he stood up, he saw a familiar figure, sitting outside the train, knees hugged to her chest. The brown-and-copper hair. The outfit she wore. Tears returned to his eyes, her name escaped his lips.
Elizabeth.
Quickly he pushed the door of the train open and ran out to see what had happened. But she sat there, her eyes fixed on him.
"...what happened? Where are the others, Eliza?" he asked.
"They are at a Clandestinian shelter a mile from here" she answered quietly. "After the gang settled I came back here."
"For what!?" What could she had possibly come back here for!? he thought to himself.
But, she lowered her head, silent.
"Answer me, Elizabeth!!" he demanded.
Her face glared at him sternly. "Do not yell at me, Florian" she answered bitterly as she stood up. "I walk half past hell all afternoon, then back to check up on you.
"And this is the thanks I get."
Florian's face sobered as she turned to walk away. She had walked all this time to make sure the gang was settled safely for the night, and diligently returned to check up on the one person she wanted to protect who'd protected her in return.
"Eliza--" he spoke, but she kept walking.
Damnit Florian!! he scolded himself mentally. Now you really have to humble yourself. And open your mouth while you're at it!!
Fed up with his tendency of silence he finally stormed up to her and stood in front of her. She fixed her gaze to his eyes, which was in the meantime fighting tears.
"...Elizabeth, I'm sorry."
"...for what, Florian?" she asked quietly.
"For... for being the bastard that I shouldn't be" he answered, lowering his head. "I didn't mean to push you away and snap at you and act the way I did. I was wrong to do that. And...
"and I'm truly sorry. I just... I just don't deserve you."
Elizabeth blinked and tried to look him in the eyes. "--what?" she whispered.
But Florian shook his head. "Really, Elizabeth... I just... I didn't mean to hurt you the way I did. I...
"I knew better than to have acted like that--and even Ralf knows me damn well I would never do that. Hell, if he heard about what I did today he'd sock me in the jaw and scold me half to death. And I damn well deserve that but..." Finally the words died. "Damnit to hell, I don't know what else to say. I'm miserably in love with the one woman I acted so coldly to. I'm..."
The young woman blinked her eyes at what she was hearing. This wasn't the Florian she knew, who kept quiet about his feelings and often could've cared less about his actions. This... this was the Florian that not even Ralf would've seen.
"Florian..." she whispered, and with a sigh took his hand in one of hers and, with her other hand, lifted his chin so that their eyes met. What she saw had put her speechless--a small river of tears down each cheek, his face pale and filled with remorse. Her heart now broken altogether, she placed his face upon her shoulder, wrapped her arms around him, and consoled him as he wept silently in her arms. Now which pain was worse than enough for him to bear--the pain from the gunshot wound to his arm, or the pain of the heart that he unnecessarily broke?
With a sigh, she spoke again.
"Florian... for most of my life I've been watching out for Johanne, Anya and Rebekah. After the parents were killed it was us four looking out for us. We were captured, sent to Lisbon. Three years of hell later we meet civilization. We knew different people, we were different people then to now.
"But you... I never met anyone else like you.
"The very moment we fixed our eyes on each other I noticed... a sense of silence yet a sense of guardianship. And admiration--a strong sense of admiration.
"One that I... I guess I was a bit cowardish to show myself."
Time out--what was she saying!? Florian blinked for a moment, not believing his ears. Did Elizabeth mean to say that... she had fallen for him as well?
"I always enjoyed your company" she continued sadly. "And you always made sure I was alright, that I would be okay after an attack from the nightmare. You looked out for me when I had a tougher time to even consider looking out for myself when I was more concerned about the others.
"It hurts me even now to admit all this yet..."
...yet? he asked mentally, the tears escaping whatever was truly left of him until all that remained was in the safekeeping of the woman he loved.
She hugged him even tighter as she quietly confessed--
"...yet, I love you too dearly, Florian."
And quietly, she sobbed against his shoulder, her embrace even tighter as she whispered the three words over and over. The mensch-maschine was moved enough to embrace her just as tightly, knowing the pain in her heart was the same he'd felt in his own nerve.
"I am so sorry I hurt you, Elizabeth--" Florian started, but she quickly pressed a finger to his lips, her eyes finally meeting his.
"Really, you can call me Eliza, Florian" was her quiet answer.
The semi-human being was stunned beyond thinking--had her temper finally ceased to burn after all that had just happened? He could only think of one answer as he took a deep breath and, carefully holding her face in his hands, planted a bittersweet kiss on her lips. She blinked but for only a moment, then closed her eyes and smiled a tiny bit into the kiss.
All of a sudden... a moment she captured returned. That first night in Paris. The nightmare that returned, and he had comforted her. The slight argument they had, how she thought he was heartless because, in her eyes, he was a robot. How he assured her he and his friends would protect the Quartet. The moment she fell asleep holding his hand. The second he kissed her good-night.
Except, this moment was even sweeter than the first kiss good-night.
Finally Elizabeth broke the kiss and smiled up at him, her pale green eyes glistening in the moonlight. Florian kept a hand to her cheek and, with a kiss to her forehead, smiled warmly.
"I think we've had a long day, Eliza" he said. "Bedtime in order?"
She nodded a bit. "Ja, it sounds about right this time of night."
"Piggy-back ride then? You lead, I carry?" he asked.
"...you can't be serious, Florian!" she exclaimed with a laugh, but he insisted.
"My dearest Eliza, you're insane if you think I'm gonna have you walk all the way back to where the gang's at" he explained.
With an amused sigh, she shrugged. "Good point."
After the piggy-back ride back to the hide-out, the two spent much of the night enjoying each other's company in their quiet room. Florian kept Elizabeth in a warm embrace while she rested her head against his chest. The Roboter had been facing the ceiling, when his thoughts stopped for a moment.
"Eliza?" he whispered.
"Yes, Florian?" she answered.
"Did I ever tell you I love you?" he asked.
"...nein" she replied, looking to him. "I recall you said you were in love with me but... that's about it."
"Well then" he noted, his eyes fixed on hers. A smile was on his face and she knew that whatever he was about to say, by damn, he meant it.
"I love you, my dearest Eliza" he whispered, before gently pulling her lips to his for a dear kiss good-night.
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