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Ciel was taking a nap in her hammock bed, she'd been working all night on her newest dress. Shadow would've scolded her for not taking a break but she was already asleep by then. He shook his head, slightly smiling at her determination to things. When she set her mind to something, she almost didn't let anything get in her way. A lot like himself, if he needed to do something, he would stop at nothing to get it done. Guess it was kind of a bad influence on her.
Shadow wasn't a bad parent by any means, he did the best he could and Ciel was a very happy child, much happier than she would've been if he left her where she was when she was a baby. She was free and lived her childhood to the fullest.
At first, Shadow had trouble finding ways to keep her entertained. He'd never really been taught how to take care of someone, let alone a baby. One early morning, Ciel started crying in her bed. Shadow instantly whipped out of bed and checked on her. She wanted attention, or rather comfort. There was a tree branch scratching the window, causing a distressing noise for her.
Shadow picked her up and just held her close to him, gently and slowly rocking her back and forth. Her crying died down to a sniffle and she ducked her face into Shadow's fur. She was shaking, terrified. At that moment, Shadow swore to himself that he'd protect her at all costs. He'd make sure she was happy and healthy and safe.
After a while, he'd figure out how to keep her happy, she seemed to really like his keyring so he found a plastic one at the store she could play with. He bought her a stuffed doll too, it was a little cat ragdoll that he named Buttons for her. She loved Buttons and slept with it every night, she still does to this day.
Shadow's reminiscing reminded him of the Polaroid camera he had. An old ally of his gifted it to him, saying that if you're gonna travel the world you need a camera to remember the scenery. Shadow barely used it for sightseeing and instead took pictures of his fondest memories. He'd place them in a photo album that he kept under his bed for safekeeping.
Shadow knelt down and reached under the bed, patting his hand over various other things under there until he caught the book. He reached his other hand under and pulled it out and plopped it on the bed. It was an awfully heavy book and made a loud *fump* sound as it landed. He forgot Ciel was napping above him and saw that she'd stirred in her sleep, but hadn't woken up.
He let out a relieved sigh and scolded himself for almost disturbing her slumber.
The book on the bed was large, it didn't just hold his past memories but also some important documents. He never shared this book with Ciel before, it contained some information on her background and Shadow didn't believe she was ready to know everything yet. He didn't want to scare her.
Softly, Shadow sat on his bed and turned to the photo section of the book. He didn't want to look through the documents right now and instead just wanted to look at his old photos. There were some from his days on the Ark, he'd recovered them from the Ark's database way back when and printed them out to keep them. Most of the Ark pictures were of him and Maria, she liked to take pictures together and almost always had a camera on hand.
Above him, Ciel began to stir awake in her hammock, turning to groggilly look down at Shadow. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, alerting him of her presence. Shadow smiled and sat the book down. "Morning night owl," he teased as she looked guilty. She crawled out of her hammock and sat down next to him, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stay up so late, guess I lost track of time." Shadow patted her on the head, reassuring her that he wasn't angry with her.
She smiled and looked over to his side, seeing the open book next to him. Pointing at it, she asked "what's that? I don't recall us having a picture book." He took the book into his lap and thought showing her the pictures wouldn't hurt, as long as she doesn't see the rest of the book. "It's a photo album I've been putting together over the years. Would you like to look through it with me?" he asked with a soft smile.
She nodded and scooted up closer, hugging her stuffed doll and looking down at the photos. She saw a human girl next to Shadow in a few of them. Shadow noticed her questioning face and explained, "that's Maria, she's that old friend I've told you about. You would've loved to have met her." She smiled, "I wish I could've, she's always sounded so nice from the stories you've told me."
Shadow nodded, observing the pictures on the page. It'd been so many years since then, he couldn't remember the stories behind them but knew they were probably sweet memories. He turned the pages, looking at the pictures and then going to the next page. Soon, he got to the pages with Ciel's pictures from when she was a baby. She gasped and "awwed" at the pictures. "I was such a cute baby!" she exclaimed. Shadow chuckled and nodded, agreeing.
One of the pictures was when Shadow had made a tin of lasagna and left it to cool on the counter. Somehow, Ciel had found a way to knock it down from the counter and into the floor, the tin falling upside down onto her head. She squealed and giggled and starting eating the lasagna. When Shadow had returned to the kitchen he found her sitting on the now pasta and tomato sauce covered floor. She was covered all over in the lasagna and was eating what was left in the tin.
All Shadow could do was stand there dumbfounded.
Ciel pointed to the picture, laughing as she remembered what happened. She was sitting on the floor with a blissfully ignorant look on her face, stuffing handfuls of pasta in her mouth. Shadow only remembered how awful it was to clean the mess afterwards, he almost never got the red out of her fur and the white kitchen tile.
They continued to look through the pictures, pointing out ones they remember and reminiscing over the stories. After a while the pictures became sparse until they just stopped. Shadow stopped using his camera a lot after he'd gotten promoted at G.U.N. He was on speed dial for them now and often times he didn't get to spend a lot of time at home with her. He hadn't bought new film for his camera in years.
He shut the book and placed it back under his bed, a little disappointed in himself for missing out on the memories now. Ciel noticed his somber look and gave him a smile, trying to cheer him up. "I know you may not be around as much anymore but what you do for the world is good! You help people and that's what matters! Besides, we've spent plenty of time together, you aren't having me miss out on anything." she reassured him.
"I know I just...I don't like leaving you alone like I do. I'm meant to protect you and keep you happy, when I'm far away I can't do that." he said, still feeling bad. Ciel looked at him, feeling sorry for him, not wanting him to feel bad. She jumped up into his arms and hugged him. "You may not always be around, but there are people here that I can rely on when you have to leave. You may not be directly protecting me, but you've made allies and friends with people that I can trust, and in a way that means you're still protecting me."
Shadow hugged her tighter and smiled, "thank you Ciel." She smiled, happy that she finally reassured him. After a while, they broke the hug.
After reaching the ground, Ciel came up with an idea. She looked to Shadow with wide puppy dog eyes and asked, "also, if you still have that camera, could you maybe start taking pictures of the places you visit? Since I can't go I'd like to see what you see." Shadow scratched his chin, trying to remember if he still has it or not.
He knelt down at his bed once again and rummaged under it for the old camera. After finding a strap, he pulled it out and low and behold, he found it. He checked to she if still worked and saw that it needed film. He smiled to Ciel and said, "I'll refill it and bring it with me next time I go on a mission."
Ciel jumped in her spot and squealed, excited to see what things he finds. She hugged him and thanked him over and over again going "thank you, thank you, thank you!"
==a few weeks later==
Shadow was packing his satchel bag, grabbing things he'd need for his next mission, his gun, a pocket knife, and some rings. Before he zipped it up though, he had this feeling he was forgetting something. He looked around the room, trying to figure out what he was forgetting.
His eyes landed on the Polaroid camera hung on his wall by a hook. He sighed in relief and plucked it from the hook, placing it in his bag.
He slung the satchel over his shoulder and put his jacket on. He stepped out of the room and immediately Ciel was in front of him. He gave her a tight hug, lifting her off the floor. "You be careful okay? There better not be any new scratches on ya!" she said playfully. He chuckled lightly, "I promise I'll be alright, just like I always am. If you need anything, you can all me or Rouge or Omega or Big or Amy or Miles or-" she cut him off, "I know dad, don't worry."
After one last tight squeeze, Shadow put Ciel down and made his way towards the door to the apartment. He ruffled up the fur on her head and gave her a soft smile, the one only she sees. Ciel gave him one last hug before saying, "I love you dad." Shadow hugged her back saying, "I love you too Ciel." and with that he turned around, opening the door and stepping out, giving her one last wave goodbye and closing the door behind him.
This happened quite often, but it was never easy. Ciel always felt so sad when he left but never showed. She stayed strong for him, for the people he was going to save. She felt tears falling down her face but smiled, knowing that they'd still be together no matter how far apart they were. She went back into their room and crawled up into her hammock, pulling her large blanket over her and tightly squeezing her stuffie Buttons and falling asleep.
Shadow clutched the satchel strap in his hand. He too was feeling emotional about leaving, he always did, but he trudged through it. People needed him and Ciel would be okay. She always was. As he walked to the jet that would take him to his destination, he blinked away one tear and looked on ahead, ready for the mission.