Maroon Overcoat
Meteor Shower/
Book Thief Fanfic
"I can finally see...that you're right there beside me..."
Liesel knelt over the dead body of her best friend. Her tears cleared the dirt off his face, which was stuck in a smirk. She wondered why he was smiling, and would go to her grave without knowing.
Her hair was dirty and matted, her hair completely covered in mud. Her old dress that she had worn the night of the bombing was tattered and stained. And yet, Rudy Steiner, her best friend, was staring up at her with glassy blue eyes, a faint grin on his face.
He was happy that she was the last thing he saw.
He really did love her, whether he knew or not.
Now he's here with me. Liesel is too.
Rudy has broken my heart.
I still remember the day he did. But then again, how could I forget it?
It was a year after the bombing in Molching. Rudy was in my palm (or at least his soul), and we were flying over his hometown to collect an old lady. As I flew over the woman's house, I heard a small voice. "Wait." It said. "Stop." I looked at the soul in my hand. Rudy's soul had formed another body...like an apparition. I had never seen this before, so I obeyed.
The boy stood on the tip of my longest finger and placed his hand out below him, as if he were touching an invisible wall. In a way, I suppose he was. The invisible border of life and death.
I noted this odd behavior, and then noticed what was going on.
A fragile Liesel Meminger stood just beneath Rudy. Her golden hair was now clean, and she was wearing a black dress lined with lace under a maroon overcoat. She looked beautiful, but in her own way.
But could she see him?
She couldn't.
But she felt that he was there.
Liesel lifted a shaking hand and placed it on the side of the border, where Rudy's should have been. The hologram lowered his head, and I saw him holding back tears. He backed away from the wall, even though Liesel's hand was still placed on it.
He said one last thing before he vanished forever.
"H-How about a kiss...Sausmensch?"
"I am not my own...For I have been made new..."
Sixteen-year-old Liesel Meminger was walking to school on a particularly cold day. She hated this weather, it reminded her of when...well, never mind that.
Her golden hair had turned mostly brown from lack of sun, and it was tied back into a thick braid. She wore the same maroon overcoat that she had worn that odd day, over a long brown dress.
She hated her life.
At least she had Max.
That was all that she really had now.
She shook her head and hoisted her satchel over her shoulder and tried to walk faster, but its weight slowed her down. She was going to be late again.
Suddenly she slipped on a puddle, falling on her back and drenching herself. Liesel cursed and scrambled to get up.
She stood up and was trying to dry out her school satchel when she heard a new voice.
"Hello?" It asked. "Are you alright?
Liesel looked up to see a boy with deep brown eyes, a small, shy smile, and wearing a collared brown shirt. And his hair...
She whispered under her breath, "The color of lemons..."
The boy raised his eyebrow in confusion, so Liesel shook her head. "Yeah...I'm fine."
She felt like she wasn't herself anymore, like she was a new person, an odd sensation really.
I knew that that boy, Robin, would be the boy Liesel would marry.
I think Rudy knew it too, because his soul lost most of its color that day, it started to vanish.
He loved her even when the strongest barrier that ever existed kept them apart.
Life and Death.
"Please don't let me go...I desperately need you..."
As the years passed, Liesel got over the pain from the bombings.
She married Robin after six years of dating. That was the day Rudy's soul lost every bit of its color.
She had three kids. That was the day his soul started fading.
Her husband died of a heart attack before their grandkids were born. Liesel could hardly bear it. He reminded her so much of Rudy...
I could feel that Rudy was scared that she would forget him.
He was terrified of losing her.
This has never happened before, to find a love as strong as theirs that exceeds the boundaries of existence itself. How can a dead soul still feel as it once did, live as it once had?
On July 3, 2016, Liesel Meminger sat at her desk and wrote a heartfelt letter to everyone she had lost in Molching. Hans, Rosa, all the others. I was anxious to see what she wrote for Rudy, and I hovered over her shoulder, reading her handwriting. It was only one sentence, but it meant so much more,
To Rudy Steiner-
How about a kiss, Saukrel?
Her teardrops thudded against the paper and she clenched it in her right hand. She stood up and smiled at my solemn face, in spite of the tears sliding down her cheeks. I outstretched a hand, and she took it gladly. She was ready to join her family.
The maroon overcoat hung uselessly over the back of the forgotten chair.
I placed her soul in the palm of my hand gently, next to Rudy's.
They both turned to hologram figures, like that first day, but they radiated light. Liesel was Rudy's age, and Rudy looked the same. And they looked..real,
Liesel questioned," Where are Mama? Papa?"
Rudy answered, "They went back into life to start as new people."
Liesel raised an eyebrow. "But not you?
The blond haired boy shook his head. "I had to see you one last time. I need you, Liesel."
The hologram girl wrapped Rudy into a hug with tears in her eyes. He kissed the top of her head, and the two holograms faded away.
It is simply extraordinary.