All Along the Wall (Cobie and Char)

Cobalt apparated without a sound into a shadowy corner on the inside of one of the towers along the length of the Great Wall, Charlotte's hand grasped tightly in his own. After sniffing to check that the coast was clear he let go of Charlotte's hand and walked over to the door, gesturing for her to follow. Standing in the doorway, looking along the seemingly never-ending marvel of stonework, he rufffled Charlotte's hair,

"Here we are Soft-Soft... China."

Charlotte grinned and walked swiftly out of the shadows peering out of the section of the Great Wall they were in she bit her lip to keep in her gasp of happiness and she gazed over the landscape revelling in the change of scenery and the beauty that surrounded her.

"Oh Cobie it's beautiful!"

She smiled happily at him and shifted her backpack on her shoulder that contained the things she had made for Cobalt, Charlotte was just waiting for the right time to give it to them.

"Thank you for bringing me."

He smiled a little and hugged her lightly with one arm,

"No problem Soft-Soft." he chuckled, "Anything to help introduce the wonders of Chinese food to someone."

Cobalt smiled a little and pointed to the next tower further along the wall, about half a mile away,

"Meet me at the top of that tower in under two minutes." he told her with a smile, "Hint; try to apparate. If not... well then learn how to climb stone towers because it ain't got no stairs."

With that he ruffled Charlotte's hair once again before apparating away to re-appear on top of the tower.

"What? But I can't..."

Charlotte began but Cobalt had already apparated away from her and she sighed lightly deciding that she would run it instead of apparating, dashing from her place in that tower Charlotte felt the wind whip her har and she felt the blood pound in her veins as she reached the next tower panting.

Getting a foothold Charlotte heaved herself up the tower hoping she was in time after all she had tried her best.

"Here!"

Cobalt, who had been lying on his back pretending to catch some sun, looked up at Charlotte with a small smile,

"Nice of you to finally join me." he teased before standing up again and yawning a little, "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

He chuckled a little and picked up one of the small bricks that he'd pulled out of the side of the tower. Splitting it in half with magic he dropped one to the side before frowning a little,

"Are you right or left handed?"

Charlotte pouted and folded her arms across her chest at Cobalts teasing, laughing after a few minutes she looked at the stone with interest what would she be doing now she wondered, throwing excersices?

"I use my right hand the most. But I can use both."

Smiling gently Charlotte took off he jacket from underneath the backpack, it was far too warm to be wearing that today, gazing up into the sky she looked at the Sun set like a jewel within the blue silken sky.

Cobalt smiled a little,

"Good, that will save us time. And will save you quite a bit of pain." he shrugged a little, "Unfortunately you will still feel quite a bit of pain during this part of the training."

He turned the rock around in his hand a couple of times before holding it up for her to see,

"I want you to catch this rock, using only your right hand." he frowned a little, "I suggest you catch it. You do not want it to hit you anywhere else."

Without further notice he twitched his fingers, launching the rock quickly toward the right side of Charlotte's body.

Charlotte gasped and stopped looking at the scenery as she heard something fly towards her, focusing on the rock she reached her hand out to catch it and She only just managed to. Her hand getting cut in the process but that was all that was wrong. What would have happened if she hadn't caught it?

"Owie Cobie."

She poured and threw the rock playfully back at him.

"This is just like playing catch, isnt it?"

He stuck his tongue out at her,

"Crybaby." he teased before laughing, "You're lucky you caught that one. It was a bit sharp."

Cobalt shrugged a little,

"Sort of." he agreed before frowning seriously again, "Now to up the game a little."

Tapping his wand to the rock he said loudly and clearly,

"Left hand." and watched as the rock glowed blue. He nodded to her, "Catch it only with you left hand. If you catch it with your right it will shock you. The shock is not enough to do you harm but is more than something to annoy you. So try not to mess up."

Holding his arm back slightly this time he threw the rock again, aimed at the centre of Charlotte's body.

Charlotte was ready to catch the rock as it sped towards her body but she reached out her right hand first, gasping she changed hands buy it was too late, the rock slammed into her body startling her and a stab of pain went through her, that was going to bruise.

"Ow."

Catching the rock with her left hand as it fell toward the ground Charlotte grinned and rubbed the back of her head.

"I don't suppose that counts no?"

She pouted.

Cobalt raised an eyebrow with a small smirk,

"If you were me then would you let that count?" he chuckled, "Didn't think so."

He shrugged a little bit,

"Alright, enough of the rock for now." he told her with a small smile, "Time to relax a little."

Laying down on his back, he sighed contentedly,

"Hey Charlotte... I've got something for you."

Charlotte looked at Cobalt confused she thought that he was going to make her train hard until she couldn't train anymore, not complaining she walked over to the edge of the wall and looked out over it.

"Y-you do?"

She asked with a stutter, eyes wide and turning to stare incredulously at Cobalt, why would he buy her a gift...? Maybe it was a training gift. Biting her lip she clutched the backpack to her tummy.

"I have some presents for you too...who wants to go first?"

Charlotte smiled lightly lying down besides Cobalt.

Cobalt chuckled a little and nudged her,

"Go on then. You got first." he replied before grinning, "Besides, I know you'll like mine so I'm not nervous."

He looked away, clearly very nervous,

"Nope... not nervous at all."

Charlotte smiled and took the first package out of her backpack and it was quite obvious as to what it was, it was a portrait of Cobalt and she had wrapped it up in tissue paper so he wouldn't see. Charlotte of course had made it a special blood painting.

"This one is obvious!"

She giggled waiting for him to open it. When Cobalt was finished she took out a long wooden box and held it out to him, inside was a knife Charlotte had forged and engraved herself. The elegant detail on the handle quite breathtaking. Waiting for Cobalt to open it Charlotte smiled happily.

"This ones a little harder."

Cobalt took the painting and stared at himself for quite awhile, observing the minute detail and the obvious care taken. He glanced at Charlotte with a raised eyebrow,

"It smells like your blood Charlotte." he tilted his head to the side with a small smile, "Something you want to tell me?"

Taking the box he opened it and his eyes immediately opened the box fully to carefully take the knife out. With great care he lifted it out of the box and held it up to the light in the palm of his hand. Idly he began to twirl it around his fingers gracefully before flicking it at an angle, causing it to fly up into the air. With a smile he clapped twice before snatching the decending blade out of the air, handle first. Twirling it around his hand again he reached into his jacket and reached a knife of around the same length. Without thinking he threw the older knife off the edge of the tower, sliding the new knife home in it's sheath. He chuckled,

"That was a good gift." he kissed her lightly on the cheek, "The balance was perfect Char. Not to mention it's practical, and those are the kinds of gifts I like best."

He coughed a little, nervous now, before reaching into his jacket again,

"Well my gift isn't really anything as nice as these two..." he looked away slightly as he pulled a roll of parchment out of his magically expanded pocket. He handed it over to her, "It wasn't too hard... with your father dead and your mother being... well, your mother... I was able to apply reasonably easy."

He smiled nervously,

"What do you say Char? You want to be my daughter?"

Charlotte flushed when Cobalt picked up the fact that she had made the painting one of her blood paintings, how could she not? She wanted Cobalt to be safe and she would do anything for that! Even if it meant giving up some of her energy it would be worth it.

"It's one of my blood paintings Cobie...please don't hesitate to use it if you need to, it shrinks down to fit in your pocket, just tap it twice and smear blood on it and it will activate it."

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear Charlotte blushed even more when Cobalt began to twirl the knife around, she was so happy that he liked it, it had taken her many tries to get a perfectly balanced knife and this was the last result.

"You like it Cobie? Really?!"

Cocking her head to one side as Cobalt reached into his pocket and pulled out a parchment roll Charlotte wondered what it might be...training manual? Poem? Random scrap of parchment?

Heart thudding wildly as Cobalt asked her that question Charlotte bit her lip and her shoulders started to shake uncontrollably trying to stop herself from crying Charlotte took deep breaths but she failed and tears ran down her cheeks.

"You mean that Cobie? Y-y-you want me to be your...daughter? You want to be my father...?"

Charlotte asked quietly through her film of tears.

Cobalt hugged her with one arm and kissed her on the forehead,

"I love it Charlotte. Not happy you cut yourself for it, but I love it." he rested his forehead againsts hers, "You'll forgive me if I don't rush to cut myself and use it. My master was more strict on rule two than I am."

He chuckled and ruffled her hair,

"I love it." he confirmed with a smirk, "It's a virgin blade though so I'll have to find time to christen it."

Looking her square in the eye he smiled reassuringly,

"I mean it Charlotte." he wiped at her tears, "I love you like a daughter and this will make it official. I want you to be my little girl Charlotte. Will you?"

Charlotte didn't hear Cobalts praise for her presents all she heard was that he wanted her to be his daughter and that was something that she still couldn't quite believe...wiping her tears away she cleared her throat:

"Yes, I would love to be your daughter..."

The love and happiness evident in her voice Charlotte jumped on Cobalt and hugged him tight kissing his cheek again and again while she cried tears of happiness.

She was wanted.
She was loved.

"Oh...daddy I'm so happy!"

Cobalt laughed happily as he hugged her back tightly,

"Oh my god..." he smiled widely as he felt tears of joy well up in his eyes, "I'm so glad! I'm a daddy!"

He laughed again and simply hugged Charlotte as hard as he could,

"I'm so glad you accepted Charlotte." he kissed her cheek, "And now we can go home, we can both be part of a happy family!"

Charlotte giggled and pushed Cobalt onto the floor hugging him again and again while she cried into his neck, she couldn't believe it, she was going to get a daddy who loved her! She was going to be a part of a family who wanted her.

"Thank you Cobie...thank you."

The only downside was that Cobalt was going to have to come and see her house, she didn't think he would let her stay there any more.

"Where am I going to live?"

Cobalt smiled a little and ruffled her hair,

"Don't you worry about that little Soft-Soft." he chuckled a little, "I have a house in Ireland."

He stood up, still hugging Charlotte to him,

"It's got a bakery attached to it as well."

"Do I get free muffins?"

Charlotte smiled a little and stood up with Cobalt and wound het arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist like a spider monkey and hanging on.

"What about my house...?"

She asked quietly laying her head on his shoulder and biting her lip.

Cobalt laughed a little and nodded,

"Free muffins." he tilted his head to the side slightly, "And everything else that bakeries sell."

He sighed a little before shrugging,

"We get your stuff, and anything you want to take, and we move you out of it." he shrugged a little, "Then it's up to you. We can leave it as it is or we could burn it to the ground and anything in between."

Charlotte grimaced and wound her hands in Cobalts hair trying to calm herself down, there were a few things she wanted to do to her home but she didn't want to burn it. She wanted to keep it.

"I want to keep it. But, I want to clear a fee things out of there but I need your help to do it."

With a smile on her face Charlotte poked Cobalts nose and giggled:

"Your my Daddy now yes? You going to be mean to Dark now?"

Cobalt nodded seriously,

"I thought as much." he kissed her lightly on the forehead, "Of course I'll help you. Wouldn't be much of a dad if I didn't now would I?"

He grimaced a little, looking away,

"I was hoping you wouldn't mention my impending conversation with the boy..." he sighed a little before looking back at her, serious, "Does he make you happy?"