A/N: This is a one-shot summarizing the events that may have taken place after Liesel and Max saw each other again. I wrote this for an assignment for English Language Arts. This is a Liesel/Max story. Enjoy
Everything had happened so quickly. Hiroshima. Nagasaki.
I had carried away a mass of souls. Too many.
***The people behind the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki***
The United States.
Almost every victim of the attack had died instantly, but not everyone.
I remember one in particular. It was a boy.
I heard the ear curdling scream come from a home only a few miles away from where the bomb was dropped. I was only there to see a woman, blood seeping out of her mouth, eye lids partially open, crawl towards the young boy, saying, "Not today... Not today... Oh please Lord, not today..."
The no longer clean floor was draining the boy of a red, sticky liquid.
I took his soul only seconds after the woman's.
I hadn't visited the Book Thief in a while.
The last time I had seen her, she was reuniting with the Jew that had lived in her basement.
***Sad, but true fact***
Max died.
Oh but wait, I am getting years and years ahead of myself.
After their reunion, Liesel led Max to two chairs that were placed in the back of Alex Steiner's store. When they were both seated, no one dared to break the silence. It was a peaceful kind of silence.
They looked into each other's eyes, communicating silently. It was like they were reading each other's mind. All of the things that had happened to Max after he had left the Hubermann's flashed before Liesel, leaving her truly horrified.
"Max... What happened?" Max proceeded to tell a tale only Jews would believe.
After Max had left, he had gone to where Hans had instructed him to go. When he arrived, they were all dead. I remember taking them. After leaving the place of the crime, Max only walked one mile until getting caught by two German officers.
Max only told Liesel what he absolutely felt like he had to tell. Going to the camp, being placed in a cell, and getting the news that the Allies had won. Max left out daily beatings, being deprived of food, dehydration, and everything that had somewhat become a daily routine for him. The 'norm'.
Max had been taken to a camp that wasn't as far away from society as he had expected. After almost a day of being scanned, registered, and given a cell, he now set foot into what then would be his 'home'.
There were metal bunk beds, with nothing on them except scrawled ink littered across the bed frames.
***Five of many messages written on the beds***
Can't they just kill me now?
Heil Hitler.
My family is dead.
Freedom?
Only one stood out to Max.
They killed my daddy.
After only what seemed to be hours, Liesel finally spoke.
"Papa would have liked to see you again." Max could have sworn a part of his heart tore.
When Max found out that Himmel Street was bombed, he felt like shrivelling up, and slowly dying. Believe me, I have felt that feeling many times, but then I remember who I am. I am Death. Though when told that there was a lone survivor, he couldn't help but spark a bit of hope.
"I miss him too." Silence consumed the room.
Almost a year after the end of World War II, the now sixteen year old Liesel Meminger and twenty-nine year old Max Vandenburg, walked back from Alex Steiner's funeral.
***Small fact***
Alex Steiner was murdered.
The person behind Alex Steiner's death is no one you would know.
While locking up his shop, he was robbed, and had all of the money in his cash register taken by a soldier that once worked under Hitler. After a matter of hours, I had the privilege of taking him as well.
The weather fit the mood well that day. It was thundering and raining, pellets of ice coming down like apples falling from an apple tree.
Over the months, Liesel had stayed with the Hermann's, allowing herself to enjoy the 'wealthy' lifestyle. After the slow reconstruction of once was Himmel Street, Max had found a home for himself. It was hard to find a land lord that accepted a Jew as a renter, but sooner than later, he had found a willing land owner.
Max had also found a job. The economy was thriving, due to the end of World War II, not ending in Germany's favor. There were still some people bias against Jews, but he found a job that had him working in a building supply company.
Max only lived a mile away from the Mayor's house, easy to stay in contact with Liesel. Liesel then had access to the Mayor's library, allowed to read and take as many books as she would like.
Liesel often took books to Max, letting him have something other than newspapers to read. Even though they had real books, Liesel would still bring Max newspapers. He would still read the articles, and then proceed to complete the crossword puzzle. Liesel had started to help him.
"Four down, one across. Meaningless." Max smiled to himself, noticing Liesel's literary progression.
Liesel also had gotten a job. After the death of Alex Steiner, she had learned that he had made a testament, reading that is shop was to go to Max Vandenburg, surprising both Liesel and Max.
Max, already having a stable job, hired Liesel to handle the shop. With her in need of a job, she didn't hesitate when he offered it to her. Liesel did not want to be dependent on the Hermann's.
I have claimed many souls in my time. Never in my time had I spoken to a soul before I had taking it.
The Book Thief would be the one exception.
Five years had passed since Alex Steiner's death.
Liesel Meminger, now twenty-one, had moved out of the Hermann's when she was only eighteen, not wanting to be a burden. Of course, they had protested, but she wouldn't hear it. In a way, she wanted to leave the Hermann's. Not because of their certain personality or characteristics. Liesel just wanted to leave.
Leaving the Hermann's meant moving in with the Jew only a mile away. Liesel only wanted to have the person that she had to live with be the only person in the world that could understand and relate to her.
Max, now thirty-four, still had the same job, lived in the same house, and even had the same suitcase he had come to the Hubermann's with. Thirty-four and spouse-less either meant you were a mean, emotionless person, or you were just unlikable. In the 1950's, being eighteen and spouse-less was unheard of. Either your parents forced you to marry, or you wanted to marry.
For Liesel and Max, they were in no rush. They liked their daily routine. They didn't want to change anything about their life.
But how long do you think that had lasted?
Two years had passed since Liesel and Max's wedding.
Yes, they married each other. Now, Liesel Vandenburg, twenty-six, still worked in the shop, and Max Vandenburg, thirty-nine, had quit his factory job, and had gotten a job as a book publisher.
They still lived in the home that Max had bought only ten years ago.
Liesel carried only one of the three children that she would bare.
They were happy with their life. They were happy with their life until they received their eviction notice.
They moved to Sydney, Australia.
The man who had let Max rent the house had passed away due to old age, and the house went to his son, an ex-German soldier, who still hated Jews. Once learning that his father had let a Jew rent his house, he evicted them immediately.
"You Jewish scum. How dare you set foot in my father's property? He must have been out of his mind... letting a Jew live under the same roof that he once did!" Needless to say, they were evicted within two days.
Max had some friends in Sydney that were willing to share their home with him and Liesel until they could find a house and job.
Many years have passed since Liesel and Max had moved to Sydney.
Max soon found a job much like his last, a newspaper editor. Liesel had decided to stay home and mother the three Vandenburg children. They had found a house similar to the Hubermann's, but just a tad smaller.
Liesel still was passionate about reading. She and Max had dedicated an entire room for books. It was like Ilsa's library, smaller, but carried twice as many books.
Once the youngest Vandenburg child, Raschel, turned twenty-five, Liesel and Max already had four, soon to be five grandchildren.
***Max's Fate***
I would be taking Max in only a year.
As you may have guessed, I took Max today.
Max Vandenburg died of old age. I took him in the middle of the night.
As everyone may have imagined, Liesel was devastated. It took all three of her children to pull her back up, and think of all of the positive things that had happened in Max's life.
They made a list long enough to reach China.
I took the Book Thief today.
I had the joy of reuniting her with everyone that she had lost.
I made an exception today. Before taking her, against everything I stand for, I whispered, "I'm sorry."
***A Last Note From Your Narrator***
I will see you soon.