The Girl Soldier and Her Everything (少女兵と彼女のすべて, Shōjo-hei to Kanojo no Subete?) is the second chapter of Violet Evergarden Volume 2.
Summary[]
Hodgins visits Violet in a Leidenschaftlich hospital, where he is told that she has finally awakened. She immediately asks him where Gilbert is and how he was doing, but Hodgins dodges the question by telling her that Gilbert is busy with the post-war effort and asked him to take care of her from now on. He further gains her trust by telling her that he and Gilbert have been friends since their time at military academy. He tells her that she was found lying on top of Gilbert by a comrade and that she had lost a lot of blood. Violet asks to join Gilbert, but Hodgins tells her to worry about her body first, which had combat-specialized prosthetics attached to it to replace her lost arms.
Hodgins gives Violet stuffed animals as a get-well present and also because all her belongings had gone missing in the war. Violet, hearing that, realizes that her emerald brooch is gone and panics. Hodgins calms her down by promising to find it and buy it back for her. As Hodgins watches her play with the stuffed dog she chose, he realizes that despite her terrifying combat abilities and mature looks, she is only a young girl who is now all alone in the world. Hodgins stays with Violet until sunset, when visitation hours were over. Before he leaves, he tells her that he had left the military and started a company. He tells her that he will see her again.
Two months later, Hodgins manages to buy back the emerald brooch from the black market as promised. Violet is able to leave her bed and walk around, but she is still getting used to her prosthetic arms. Hodgins, not wanting to see her disappointed face every time she asks him if Gilbert is going to visit her, gave her the "mission" of focusing on recovery and learning to use her arms. One day, he gifts her a notepad and a fountain pen for writing practice. Violet only knows how to write her name, but she wants to be able to write letters to Gilbert to convey her thoughts to him. Hodgins, seeing this unexpectedly humane side of Violet, gets emotional. Violet's writing lessons start off roughly as she has trouble gripping the pen and Hodgins had only ever attended military academy.
Months pass, and Violet is finally discharged from the hospital. She has learned to write letters to Gilbert, but received no replies. Hodgins comes to pick her up, and he informs her that she will be adopted by the Evergarden family, who are relatives of the Bougainvillea family and had lost a son in the war, and receive a lady's education. Violet is perplexed by the idea of doing something other than fighting and living a civilian life. She thinks that she is better suited to jobs that involve killing people because she is already a killer. Hodgins, foreseeing this issue, tries to explain to her that the war is now over and that she is no longer needed as a soldier, and that she is only a killer because she was ordered to and it was to defend herself and her country. Hodgins has trouble helping Violet understand the difference between killing with a moral cause and killing indiscriminately.
Hodgins switches gears by telling her that neither he nor Gilbert want to see her kill any more people because it will only increase the number of sad people in the world. He asks her what Gilbert's last order to her is, and she, recalling his words of "I love you," answers that he told her to escape from the military and live freely. Violet has doubts about this order, as she believes that allies will be killed by the enemy if she doesn't kill, but Hodgins explains that the enemy are people too and that by killing people, she is setting fire to her body. Violet doesn't understand, but Hodgins tells her that she will understand one day as she learns more about the world. The carriage they are in arrives at the Evergarden house, where the head of the family and his wife are waiting for them. Violet introduces herself to them.
Months later, one winter's night, Hodgins visits the Evergarden house after receiving an invitation from Tiffany Evergarden, the lady of the house. Tiffany had summoned him because of Violet. Although she had given Violet a thorough and varied education in various disciplines, Violet never seemed to enjoy them. In her spare time, she would hole herself up in her room and write letters to Gilbert which never get a reply. Tiffany laments that even though Violet is filling the void in her and her husband Patrick's hearts after their son died, they are unable to do anything for her because they can't replace Gilbert. Hodgins tells her that no one can replace anyone, something he is also trying to convince himself of.
Violet surrounded by piles of unsent letters to Gilbert.
He then goes to Violet's room. Once there, he is shocked to find it filled with piles and piles of letters, and that Violet herself had become despondent. Violet explains that they are all unsent letters to Gilbert, since she now understands that she will never get a response. She asks if Gilbert no longer wants her because she is now useless to him as a tool, but Hodgins denies it and tells her that she is not anyone's tool. Violet then asks to be disposed of if she is no longer useful to anyone. She does not believe that someone like her should be cherished like a daughter. Hodgins, in desperation, shows her Gilbert's dog tag and tells her that Gilbert is dead. Violet cries upon hearing that and remembering Gilbert's last words.
In the spring of the new year, Hodgins has opened his new company, C.H Postal Company, and is currently arguing with Gilbert on the phone. In order to make Violet believe that he is dead, Gilbert had given his dog tag to Hodgins. Currently, he is devoting himself to climbing the ranks of the military to gain enough power to make sure no one can ever use Violet as a tool ever again. Hodgins agrees with helping Violet cut ties with the military, but he doesn't believe Gilbert distancing himself from her will make her happy because she is completely dependent on him, and he thinks that Gilbert will come to regret this decision.
Outside the company building, Hodgins hears his two new employees, Benedict Blue and Cattleya Baudelaire, arguing. After breaking up the fight, he introduces them to their new coworker, Violet, who will be working as an Auto Memories Doll.
Characters[]
- Claudia Hodgins
- Violet Evergarden
- Gilbert Bougainvillea (mentioned)
- Tiffany Evergarden
- Patrick Evergarden
- Benedict Blue
- Cattleya Baudelaire
Trivia[]
- This chapter was adapted into Episode 1 of the anime.