What You Are Is Beautiful

Introduction

The first week after the battle at the Vatican were a blur to Ava. She remembered the chaos and desperately fighting with the Sisters to free Mary. She remembered the Wraith demons as they hovered above her new friends, threatening to welcome themselves in. And she could remember the extreme burning sensation when she unleashed everything she could from the halo, causing the soldiers of Hell to evaporate before her eyes.

The hours that followed were the strangest part. She felt like she was watching herself from afar as the events played out. She remembered the temporary adrenaline rush from having to steal a considerable amount of equipment from a Conad nearby. But Ava also remembered hitchhiking with the Sisters crammed together in the back of some old guy's truck. She remembered his grandpa-like attitude and the stories he told them as Ava nearly fell asleep with her head resting on Beatrice's shoulder. But she didn't feel like any of it had happened to her.

She remembered Camila's sniffling and the unexplainable emptiness that had consumed them all as they hiked through the countryside until they found a sheltered clearing in the woods with a river and plenty of space for their tents.

Ava looked around herself now. It was morning and she sat in the makeshift kitchen the group had built around the fire ring Mary had prepared first thing. It was early enough that the other Sisters weren't awake yet. Ava hadn't been sleeping much lately and was still awake when the sun began peaking over the horizon. She decided she would get up. She needed to clear her mind if she wanted to sleep ever again.

So much had happened and everyone was still in their weird dazes. Beatrice almost always found a reason to be away at the river and Mary almost always had something to be mad about. Camila had to try too hard to smile anymore and Lilith kept lashing out from the fear of not knowing what she was anymore.

Ava stood and grabbed a pot from the mess kit. She started a small fire and held the pot over the small flames. The water boiled quickly enough and was ready to be made into tea. Camila had found some sort of leaf that was apparently edible and tasted amazing as tea. Ava wondered if she learned that from being a nun. There was a lot they learned apparently.

Her pondering was cut short when she heard rustling and a zipper from behind her. Ava turned to see Beatrice sleepily crawling from her tent. Beatrice rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and stopped when she saw Ava.

"Hey," Ava murmured.

"It's real early for you to be up."

Ava sighed and turned back to her boiling tea. "I didn't sleep last night. Couldn't."

Beatrice quietly ambled over to Ava. She sat beside her on the ground and waited a moment before speaking. "I have a hard time sleeping too. There's something about being here and in that tent that reminds me of everything we're running from. I usually just take naps by the river when the exhaustion becomes too much to bare. I was heading there just now actually."

Ava turned to her. "Do you want some tea first? I should have extra."

Beatrice smiled softly at her. "Sure."

They waited together. The tea heated quickly and the two were sipping it out of reusable camp mugs in no time.

"Well, at least I can say I've gone camping now," Ava joked. Her jokes were becoming farther and fewer, but she still a manger to pipe one out sometimes.

Beatrice chuckled. "Usually it's a lot more fun than a this." She looked at the girl next to her. Her heart felt lighter. Ava always managed to brighten her mood and now wasn't an exception. Even with everything going on, she was happy to have Ava at her side.

"Tell me about it." Ava wasn't being sarcastic or anything of the sort. She made sure her tone was genuine. She wanted to know.

Beatrice took a moment. She looked over to see Ava's brown eyes on her expectantly. "I went camping a few times with my family back in England. Before they sent me away that is," she added as an afterthought. "I was much younger, but it was fun. As fun as being with my parents could get at least. They were very uptight about it and didn't appreciate my occasionally reckless adventuring. We never went to campsites, so I would wander off into the woods and find something to do for several hours and then come back to a rather upset mother and father."

"Beatrice? Reckless?" Ava smiled brighter. "Now I gotta hear more about this Beatrice. I wish I could meet her."

Bea smiled. "I hope you never do. That's the reason my parents sent me away. I was too adventurous and reckless. It didn't help that their threats had always been so empty. When they said they were sending me away, I didn't believe them. I thought they were just trying to scare me, but they weren't. They shipped me off to Catholic school and then I came here. To Italy." Beatrice turned away and looked back to see Ava still looking at her intensely. "Maybe I'll tell you more later. I'm not ready to right now, but later."

Ava sat in silence with Bea for a minute. It was a comfortable silence. Ava didn't need to offer a lengthy and quick response. "Well, they suck for doing that, but I'm glad they did because otherwise I wouldn't have met you." Ava looked down and blushed slightly. "And I'm holding you to that. I want to know you better. That includes past you.

Bea smiled into her tea. "Well, I must be off to take my river nap." She stood and placed her emptied cup with the rest of the dirtied dishes the six Sisters would have to run down to the river for cleaning later. "And I'm glad I met you too."

"Wait, Bea." Ava didn't know exactly how to ask, but she tried her best. "Can I come with you? I want to try to catch up on sleep and I also just don't want to be alone." Wow. Way to dump too much information, Ava thought to herself, but Beatrice didn't mind.

"Of course."

And the two were off to the River.