0830 Emotions
'Bryan Watson?!'
This na, this surna. Mr. and Mrs. Depp's faces froze and turned pale, their aging hearts pumping rapidly within their chests, the surging blood now began pumping with frantic, irregular rhythm and rushed up to their heads causing both of them to feel slightly dizzy!
Mr. Depp slowly turned his head and stared blankly at his wife. After a lifeti spent together through joy and sorrow, triumph and devastating loss, the devoted couple had long since developed the kind of perfect understanding that was above spoken words—they could read each other's thoughts and emotions.
In this instant, they both knew what the other was thinking, exactly what mories were flooding back. After all, this na represented the most excruciatingly painful chapter from the first half of their lives.
Mr. and Mrs. Depp moved their suddenly parched lips, and with unspoken understanding, they simultaneously focused their searching gazes upon this gray-haired young man's face. They began carefully examining every feature, every line and contour, desperately searching for the definitive source of their sense of recognition and familiarity.
As those agonizing mories that had been buried deep within their hearts suddenly surged forth with tsunami-like force, both of their breathing gradually grew heavy.
Mrs. Depp, feeling suddenly weak and unsteady on her feet, unconsciously leaned against Mr. Depp's reassuring arm for support, seeking the comfort of his presence as she had done countless tis during their most difficult monts.
anwhile, completely oblivious to the emotional earthquake occurring just a few feet away, Alia was absorbed in learning the detailed account of what had happened during the later events of that chaotic night from Bryan and Remus, who were patiently filling in the gaps in her knowledge.
She hadn't been able to witness the conclusion of the encounter because not long after Bryan had chased after the escaped Nundu, she had unfortunately fainted from inadvertently inhaling a dose of the its highly toxic gas.
Everything that had happened afterward, she had only learned about secondhand from concerned colleagues who had later transported her to St. Josiah's Hospital for Magical Maladies for ergency treatnt.
Alia felt quite disappointed and frustrated about missing the opportunity to see the legendary Newt Scamander in action, a chance that might never co again in her lifeti. However, she recognized that successfully subduing that incredibly dangerous Nundu had been by far the most important objective, and personal disappointnt paled in comparison to public safety.
Of course, this incident was far from resolved. The task of tracking down and arresting those three audacious dark wizards who had dared to engage in the illegal trafficking of such a dangerous magical creature remained of greatest importance to the Departnt of Magical Security.
Alia harbored sincere hopes that she would be permitted to participate in the ongoing pursuit and investigation, but she had enough self-awareness to recognize that she probably wouldn't be granted such an opportunity.
She was, after all, just a newcor who hadn't yet received complete systematic training in advanced magical law enforcent techniques. Moreover, she was currently injured. By the ti she received dical clearance and was officially discharged from the hospital, those three dangerous dark wizards might already be in custody.
"What's wrong, Dad, Mom?" Alia asked with growing concern.
Her mind had been filled with a complex mixture of regret and anger toward the criminal lawbreakers who had caused such chaos and danger, but she suddenly beca aware that sothing was wrong with her parents' behavior.
Both of her parents were staring fixedly at Bryan Watson with expressions that seed completely lost and bewildered.
"Oh!" Mr. Depp exclaid with startled awareness, imdiately snapping back to so bit of present mont's consciousness.
He gasped several tis rapidly as he struggled to tear his gaze away from the young man who shared his na. His hands trembled slightly with the effort of maintaining composure.
Just as he was desperately contemplating how he could explain his terrible complexion, Mrs. Depp moved her lips with difficulty.
"We're perfectly fine, my dear," Mrs. Depp managed to say, though her voice carried a tremor. "It's just... oh, you know how it is, darling. Your father and I simply aren't quite accustod to that mode of magical transportation that your people use. The Floo Network…it's rather overwhelming for us."
"It's just such a small matter, they really shouldn't have bothered to call you both here!" Alia responded with distress, biting her lip as she looked at her parents with deep concern and growing guilt.
She was aware that her father and mother were considerably older than the typical parents of soone her age. The last thing she wanted was to cause them additional worry, fear, or physical discomfort during what should have been their peaceful retirent years.
"Don't you dare talk such nonsense," Mrs. Depp replied with fierce protectiveness, though she fell silent for a mont as she struggled to collect her scattered thoughts and overwhelming emotions.
She walked sowhat unsteadily to her daughter's bedside and carefully sat down on the edge of the hospital bed, lovingly stroking Alia's soft hair with gentle, repetitive motions that seed to comfort them both.
"How could your father and I possibly even consider leaving you alone in this hospital?"
"Speaking of which," Mr. Depp interjected, and his voice had grown hoarse and strained.
He forced himself through sheer willpower to give Bryan what he hoped would appear to be a friendly smile. "You ntioned that you're from London, then? Um... Bryan, are you by any chance a London native, born and raised there?"
Bryan appeared to be completely oblivious to any strangeness or underlying tension in the atmosphere. He nodded slightly and gave a calm smile.
"That's correct, Mr. Depp. I did indeed grew up in London."
"Yes... what a truly wonderful coincidence…." Mr. Depp murmured, his words seeming to drift away from him absently.
But then he suddenly realized that his facial expression and general deanor weren't quite appropriate for casual social interaction, and he took a deep breath while trying to smile with difficulty.
"What I an to say is, it's remarkable that we should share the sa na like this. Jennifer and I are also originally from London, you see. Oh, later on certain... circumstances arose, so we decided to relocate to New York to establish a new life and settle down permanently.
But London is a nice place, isn't it? Such wonderful mories there. Speaking of which, I hope you don't mind asking, but where exactly does your na co from?"
"From my mother," Bryan replied with simple, polite directness.
"Dad," Alia interjected with a tone of mild reproval, pressing her lips together as she looked at her father with slight displeasure and growing embarrassnt.
Under normal circumstances, she would never dare to show such an expression of disapproval to her traditionally stern father, but she genuinely felt that his persistent questioning was becoming sowhat impolite and inappropriate. He shouldn't be asking Bryan such questions what almost amounted to an interrogation during what was supposed to be a simple courtesy visit.
"Oh, I think your father is simply just curious about eting soone with such an interesting connection," Mrs. Depp interjected tactfully, continuing to brush and arrange the soft hair at her daughter's temples.
As she gazed down at her daughter's youthful, pretty face resting against the hospital pillows, Mrs. Depp's eyes flashed with a complex mixture of loving tenderness and grief. She glanced sideways at Bryan, but she could not et his eyes and looked away.
Reaching for a tissue and blowing her nose, her voice had a damp tone when she continued speaking softly. "This Mr. Bryan Watson is clearly an important and influential figure in the magical world, isn't that right? Yet he appears remarkably young for soone of such apparent accomplishnt and reputation."
"Oh... may I ask what your current age might be?" She said raising her voice.
"Mom!" Alia exclaid with embarrassnt and increasing annoyance.
She was now truly embarrassed and frustrated by her parents' behavior, which seed completely out of character for the dignified, reserved people she had known throughout her life.
She didn't understand what had gotten into her parents. From everything she knew about their personalities, they would never normally presu to ask such personal questions of a complete stranger they were eting for the first ti.
Finding this increasingly awkward scene quite amusing, the corners of Remus's mouth twitched.
Perhaps, he thought to himself, this Muggle elderly couple was especially pleased and impressed with Bryan's character and appearance, and they wanted to learn more about this mysterious young wizard who had unexpectedly entered their daughter's life.
Bryan chuckled, clearly indicating through his relaxed body language that he didn't mind these sowhat intrusive questions.
"I'm currently twenty-five years old, madam, Oh, and I certainly wouldn't dare to call myself any sort of important figure in our world. I can only be considered a reasonably competent wizard."
Bryan Watson... a native Londoner, his na ca from his mother, twenty-five years of age... All of this information swirled through Mr. and Mrs. Depp's overwheld minds like pieces of a puzzle that seed to fit together with terrifying perfection.
This was information that left them feeling suffocated.
Every single detail matched exactly with mories, but they didn't dare believe that such an incredible coincidence could exist.
"Well then, perhaps Remus and I should take our leave now, Alia," Bryan said, having accomplished the purpose of their visit and recognizing that they shouldn't impose further on what was clearly ant to be family ti.
He gave Alia a warm smile and continued, "For the next few days, aside from visiting Newt, we probably won't be going out. You can rest easy and recover—don't worry about us causing any damage."
This was naturally said in jest. Alia smiled and was just about to say sothing when Mr. Depp was suddenly startled awake from his daze.
"You're leaving already? Oh, no, absolutely not!" Mr. Depp exclaid with surprising intensity and desperation.
His unexpectedly forceful words caused the entire hospital room to plunge into sudden silence. Alia raised her eyebrows in a mixture of puzzlent and growing irritation, truly beginning to feel annoyance with her father's increasingly erratic behavior throughout this visit.
"Oh, what I an to say is," The tall Mr. Depp began again, hastily wiping sweat from his forehead with a trembling hand as he addressed Bryan.
"I an—" He paused, racking his brains for so plausible explanation.
Mr. Depp glanced toward the large hospital window, where the stormy world outside continued its wind and rain, and imdiately seized upon what seed like a reasonable excuse.
"We simply can't let friends who were kind enough to co visit our daughter to leave in such terrible weather conditions, can we, Alia? That would be impolite and inhospitable on our part. Since it happens to be approaching lunchti anyway, why don't you both stay and join us for lunch together?"
Phew—
Alia's expression imdiately relaxed with relief, and she felt the tension leaving her shoulders. She wanted to tell her father that wizards didn't actually need to rely on conventional road travel to get around—Bryan and Remus only needed to walk outside the hospital's anti-Apparition protective zone and they could return to their hotel instantaneously through magical transportation.
But upon further thought, having Bryan and Remus stay for lunch actually seed like quite a good idea.
After all, she had only recently t them, yet they had shown such thoughtfulness and concern by choosing to visit her during her recovery.
Alia remained silent and looked expectantly toward Bryan, awaiting his response to her father's invitation.
After pondering the invitation for a mont, Bryan glanced aningfully at Remus, who responded with an indifferent shrug that clearly conveyed his attitude of "whatever you decide is fine with ."
"Then it's completely settled!" Mrs. Depp said with sudden, almost explosive joy before Bryan could even give his reply.
"There happens to be a fully equipped kitchen right here in this room, which is wonderfully convenient. Oh, I've never had the opportunity to use a magical kitchen before—I do hope nothing goes wrong. But naturally, I'll need to obtain so proper ingredients and supplies..."
Mrs. Depp looked at Bryan with expectant, hopeful eyes.
"When Remus and I ca up to this floor, we noticed there's a supermarket located downstairs in the hospital complex," Bryan replied understanding Mrs. Depp's purpose.
He went along with the suggestion cooperatively, and gave Remus a aningful. "We'd be happy to go take a look at what's available and gather whatever you might need for lunch preparation."
The two n quickly left Alia's hospital room.
"Now, about this Bryan Watson," Mr. Depp began urgently almost the precise instant the heavy door clicked shut behind their leaving guests.
Both of them imdiately crowded around their daughter's hospital bed with desperation. Mr. Depp's eyes had beco red and watery as he spoke to Alia in a tone that was deadly serious.
"Tell and your mother about him, Alia. Everything you know about him—tell us everything!"
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