* WHO CARES WHAT'S BEHIND? [anastasia]

Jane sat behind her desk in her office at the concert hall, the large windows behind her illuminating the papers scattered over the calendar. She stard down at the date. Time began to move for her again when it had seemed to recycle behind bars. Every day had been the same, every movement, every motion. The agony had not been from imprisonment—it had been from boredom. Now she had all the freedom she wanted. In her own mind, of course. The CSIS hadn’t taken notice of her, and that was the greatest thing. She loved attention, but not that kind of attention. She’d had enough of that attention last December when she had tried to cross borders. Interpol had been prepared. Thoughts of that time period came bitter as she licked a tip of her finger and shuffled through the papers. It was a peaceful day, as peaceful as it ever got for the woman, her hair pinned up in a tastefully messy array. The pearls around her neck accentuated the tweed suit she’d worn that day—she was always impeccably dressed.

She lifted her head when the door opened, and smiled at who entered. The girl looked so much like she had when she was younger, the same dark hair and bright eyes. She was proud of her daughter’s looks. "Hey, baby,” she said fondly, standing and moving around the desk so she could hug Anastasia and kiss her cheek. It was more affection than she’d ever shown the girl in her childhood. The woman liked to pretend, so she pretended that she’d always been a great mother, that she’d always cared for her only child. ”How’s your day been? Want anything to eat? I was about to order lunch.” Jane had a lot of paperwork today, something that she didn’t much enjoy. Paperwork stifled her, it wasn’t as fun as being in the actually department and in the dressing rooms. Especially since now she had Nell’s friend, Lieanna, working here. The girl was colorblind, and it showed. Jane took great sport in asking for things that she wouldn’t be able to pick out, that she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference of. Not out of simple cruelty, but because he niece absolutely despised it.

There was no one Jane hated more than her niece, and that was quite ironic considering how many enemies she had accumulated over the years. And here is Nell, a girl who won’t even lift a hand if someone struck her, being top on the list. That’s what happened when someone kills your sister, she supposed. That kind of hate doesn’t just go away, it doesn’t disappear. And Jane didn’t want to. The hate fueled her, it gave her reason. The elder Water elemental leaned back against the desk, propping herself up so she could speak to her daughter. ”I’ve been wanting to talk to you about some things, actually,” she told the girl, holding herh ands in her lap. Jane’s face was serious, but not mean looking. She wasn’t going to scare her daughter away, after all. And the woman always had a pleasant demeanor, airy and carefree. She was a very pleasant person to be around.