"Will you run again?"
They were simple words, but they didn't need any burden of complexity to have meaning. I find most things in life are like that. Besides, Max understood.
"I don't think I'll have to. Not anymore."
At least not from Nazis, he added in his thoughts. At least not from Nazis.
Liesel nodded at his answer, gazing at his feathery hair with something much like skepticism. She was too old in soul to take things without a grain of salt. If Max was going to disappear one day, she wanted to know it. As if the knowledge of pain ever makes it easier to bear - but she wanted consistency.
"Promise?"
Max swallowed. This wasn't an era of promises. I tended to break them.
"I promise."
Liesel stared at him a little longer, the two of them signing a visual contract between their eyes. "Good." Licking her lips, she added, "I won't run either."
They both knew that she didn't mean from Nazis.