Orphanage Kitchen

Kheda sat at the table set in the middle of the small kitchen where most of the orphanage's meals were made. Laid out on the table in front of her was a photograph. Her face was hidden behind the palms of her hands but the slight trembling of her shoulders was enough to tell what the nun had on her mind. Displayed in the picture was a younger Kheda along with perhaps 30 other teenagers her age. All of them smiling and making wild or immature poses and gestures at the camera. Beside Kheda flashing a pair of bunny ears behind her head was a younger version of Margaret. Both girls had smiles on their faces. Before the time the picture had been taken Kheda had few friends often being quite reclusive keeping to herself during training and while living at the orphanage in general. However no matter how much she tried to seclude herself the girl in the picture standing beside her always managed to find her.

And when she did she would talk and would keep talking even if Kheda didn't say anything back. At first Kheda had thought the girl was odd seeing as she seemed to enjoy wasting time talking to someone who seemingly never said anything. But as time went on Kheda came to enjoy Margaret's visits, She would start visiting places she knew that Margaret would search first just to make it easier for her pseudo-friend to find her. And at the end of each one-sided conversation Margaret would always smile and say "That was a fun conversation let's talk again sometime." before walking away. It took almost a two months for to happen but one day the conversations just stopped being one sided. The look on Margaret's face when Kheda had finally spoken to her shocked her for a brief moment but Kheda could still remember how it felt when the girl had excitedly thrown her arms around Kheda hugging her and squealing with delight.

From that day on their friendship truly flourished Kheda followed Margaret anywhere, did whatever she felt like doing and when she wasn't by Margaret's side it didn't take long for Margaret to track her down instead regardless of whatever it was she might have been doing. Kheda could remember the time when she'd come down with a cold and had spent her day buried underneath the covers of her bed. After finally getting her cough to settle enough to allow her to sleep her door had been kicked in and like a damn SWAT team Margaret had charged into the room looking around wildly for her silent companion. The moment she saw Kheda's head poke up from the covers she had immediately thrown herself at the quiet girl hugging and ranting about how she'd thought the girl had been kidnapped by some evil fiends.

Kheda couldn't remember a time when she'd laughed that hard, needless to say Margaret had gotten sick too not long after that and Kheda had spent most of her time taking care of her friend. Back in the present Kheda placed her palms on the table as she stared down at the photograph tears slid down her cheeks dripping off her chin onto the table. She hadn't cried like this since her mother had died back in Chechnya. Placing a hand over her mouth she managed to muffle a few choked sobs as she looked away from the photo to look out the window. Part of her wanted to dig a hole in the yard and just drop the photo into it and just forget where she'd put it, To try to bury the memories of one of her best friends beneath dirt. But she knew that even if she did do that it wouldn't be long before she tore apart the yard to search for it again making the effort and thought useless.

She raised an arm to wipe away the tears blurring her eyes onto her sleeve before taking the photo and slipping it back into one of the pockets of her habit. It wouldn't be long before the morning kitchen staff came to prepare breakfast for the children.