Water and Light, by Cerise Tennyo (PG)

[anenko.livejournal.com]

Fandom: NOIR
Pairing: None
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author’s Website: Independent Soul
Why this must be read:

This story, beautiful and sad, looks at Mireille’s parents in the time leading up to their deaths. Though we saw very little of Odette and Laurent Bouquet in the series itself, their characterization here seems quite plausible, and their backstory intriguing. Nicely handled, too, is Altena’s philosophy, and what it means to those affected.

Mireille's golden hair lay spread over her pillow. Her beloved teddy bear was snugged under her chin, and her rosebud lips parted in her sleep. She looked like a storybook angel, wrapped in pink. 'The peace of the newly born...' Odette shivered, feeling the chill uncurling in her soul.

Where is it? Odette wondered, studying her daughter's sleeping face. The mark of Cain, the subtle sign that drew the High Priest's notice? What, of all the girl-children born into the Soldats, marked Mireille as a sapling?

Odette drew her lacy shawl more tightly around her shoulders. Was it me? she wondered. Do the shadows of my sins lay over my child?

The blessing bestowed meant that Mireille no longer belonged to her parents, or even the Syndicate the Bouquet family controlled. She was theirs in trust only, a true child of the Soldats. The blessing marked those who might be called for le grande retour, but the ritual had been lost for centuries. She had not believed...until Altena made her bid for power. Altena... who knew more about the teachings of the Hermit, of the Soldats of old, than any other priestess who wore the mantle.

Water and Light