Esme. Dead. Olaf almost couldn't form the words in his head... if he had seen her killed, he might have believed it. But perhaps it was better he had not seen her killed. Perhaps... He stared down at her twisted, bloody body. It was as though she was a grotesque piece of art, left out for him to see. But Olaf knew it was wrong to think of her as art. She had been his girlfriend. His only girlfriend. Not his only lover, but his only girlfriend.

As he stared down at her, he tried to feel compassion. He tried to sob, or at least react in some way. Of course he wasn't glad for her death, but he wasn't feeling very pained, either. He was numb... he felt like a slate that had been wiped clean. He wanted to walk away, but he knew he should stay there.

"Am I that much of a monster?" he wondered, kneeling down by Esme. " Am I so heartless, that I do not even care enough to cry at the corpse of my dead girlfriend?" But Olaf knew he wasn't a monster. He knew he had felt true, real love once in his life. But only once.

He got up, ready to leave the dark, bleak alley he had discovered Esme in. It was almost as though she had been laid there for him to discover. Olaf saw a figure in the shadows. He had been expecting him. If there had been anyone who had murdered Esme... it would have been him.

"Hello, Lemony." Olaf said softly, to the figure in the shadows.

"Olaf. I wasn't expecting to see you here." Lemony muttered. Of course, this was a complete and utter lie. Lemony had been waiting for a long time. Waiting.... and hiding from view until, at last, Olaf had come around the corner.

Olaf turned and walked away. He couldn't let himself do this. He couldn't do this to himself again. Olaf walked by Esme's dead body, and stopped. Though he had wanted to walk away, it seemed only respectful to walk by one last time. He again kneeled down by Esme, when he felt something. He felt Lemony's lips on his neck.

"No." Olaf said firmly. "Lemony, no. We can't do this again. You remember what happened last time. Surely you remember..." his voice trailed off, not wanting to finish.

"Of course I remember" Lemony said bitterly, "But Esme is gone now! Beatrice... she's gone now, too." Olaf looked up at Lemony.

"No! But it's still wrong. The last time we were together..." his voice once again, trailed off. They both sat in silence, remembering.

They had been very young when it happened. Both of them hadn't belonged to VFD for very long. Though they both had "girlfriends", the girls had meant nothing to them. Nothing. They both remembered the horrifying night when they had been caught. The door bursting open, to reveal Esme and Beatrice. How lucky they had been that Esme had not killed them both.

After that, though no one mentioned it, they knew they were forbidden to see each other. The group split into two groups, groups that loathed everything about each other. And Lemony and Olaf had pretended to hate each other, also. But in their heart of hearts, they both knew there was no way they could despise each other.

Olaf stopped thinking for a moment, and turned to Lemony. His face held a weary smile, and he whispered to Lemony, "I've waited long enough." They both knew what that had meant. Olaf leaned over, and began passionately kissing him. It had been Olaf's guilty pleasure... for he had been waiting SO long. They kept on kissing, and Olaf and Lemony started to finally relax. They did, of course, until Lemony felt something pressed against his head...

Lemony realized with horror that it was a barrel of a gun, pressed up against his temple. The cold, hard steel of the gun was a horrible wake-up call from the gorgeous dream the last few minutes had been.

"Get up!" a woman's voice snarled in his ear. He released Olaf, who he had been clutching so tightly, and rose to his feet.

When he turned around to face the girl holding a gun to his head, he found himself face-to-face with one of the powder twins. It was Tocuna, he knew, since Flo could never have the expression of pure hatred and rage that Tocuna's face held right now.

"You idiot," she snarled, pushing him away, but still keeping the gun held firmly to his head. "You thought you could kill us all, but I... I got away." She had a fierce glare focused on Lemony.

"What?" Olaf asked quizzically, "What happened?"

"As if you didn't know," Tocuna sneered, "Your little boyfriend here tried to massacre the theater troupe last night. And for the most part... he succeeded. But I got away." she stared at him, pausing a moment before she continued, "What do you think it was like, walking out of the room, after hearing screams and gunshots, having no idea what was going on? How do you think I felt when I saw the everyone in the troupe, laying dead in pools of blood? HOW DO YOU THINK I FELT?!" she screamed.

Olaf stood, paralyzed in a mixture of shock and fear. How could Lemony do this? Why would he do this? Killing his whole troupe... why? And then Olaf realized, that lemony was trying to get rid of VFD.... all VFD, so he and Olaf would be free to love again. But his plan had backfired. It had backfired horribly.

Tocuna was breathing hard, a tear streaking down her cheek. "You killed my only family," she said. her voice wavering a bit, "You killed them, and now... you will pay." She gave one last glance at Olaf, and then turned back to Lemony. "Damn you." she said, and then she brought the gun back up to his head... and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot shattered the quiet night, masking Olaf's loud yell. Tocuna looked at Lemony's dead body, that had fallen to the damp ground. With one last look, she fled, her tiny feet making hardly any noise as she ran down the alley. Olaf wanted to chase her, to kill her. But he hadn't the strength. He simply collapsed down, next to Lemony's body and wept. He sobbed all through the night. As he wept, he realized he had not been devoid of compassion... he had been devoid of his true love for far too long.