Memory Lane (Shadow and Holly)

Shadow sighed.
"Where do I start?"

"The start?" Holly suggested, glad they were making progress.

Shadow thought back into past memories she'd rather forget.

Holly sat on a nearby tree stump, and looked up at Shadow, waiting for her to speak.

Shadow sighed.
"I became an assassin about two decades ago, when one of the clan spotted me fighting two guys who were making fun of me. He recruited me, and at that point I was desperate to be included into a gang, having just arrived in this dimension."

"I see..." Holly said thinking, "So ... you did what they told you to?"

Shadow nodded silently.

This would have been the time that Holly began to yell all the curses under the sun, but friendship ties held her back.
"Did you always know they were my 'rents?" she asked eventually, "From ... as soon as you met me?"

"I saw you briefly that night, and when I saw you at Hogwarts, I nearly freaked." Shadow said.

A thought struck Holly.
"Did you become my friend to make up for it?!" she asked, "Is that why?!"

"No, if I remember right, you kinda chose me. I was the one who never said anything." Shadow pointed out. "I was still an assassin then. Remember the weeks I would be absent?"

Holly nodded.
"Oh..... Well for what's it's worth....I'm still glad I picked chose you..."
She kept her gaze on the ground in front of her.

Shadow's eyebrows raised, and she turned to walk away.

"Wha- where're you goin?" Holly asked standing.

"Leaving." Shadow said.

Holly hesitated.
"Can't I come...?" she asked a little pathetically.

"Only if you actually WANT to be around the person who killed your parents." Shadow said.

Holly shifted from foot to foot again.
"Well....I .... I can't really do much without you to be honest...." Holly admitted.

Shadow still hadn't turned around to face Holly.
"You'll find a way. You've got Nat to look after you."

"W- You mean you're leaving me?" Holly asked, eyes round, "Like.....like for good? Like forever?"

"Holly, it's probably better." Shadow said.

"Well maybe I don'y care what's better!" Holly said instantly, "No. You can't. ... That's an order!"

"Better for you Holly, and better for me." Shadow said.

"How better for you?" Holly asked, backtracking slightly in the whole 'you-cant-leave-me' rant.

"Holly. Everytime I see you, I see the terrified infant from that night. Even now, I can't look at you without the guilt. Now that you know as well, it's only going to get worse. It's never going to be the same." Shadow said/