He had never expected it to come to this. This was not the way he'd wanted it to end. He wanted the book to close with it being him and Her, in the Fuhrer's estate… two kids, maybe, and a dog. She was young, and still had Her life ahead of her. She was twenty-six. And he never expected to lose Her.
He glanced to his left, to the plot of ground where his best friend lay. He kept the rim of his hat shadowing over his eyes. His breathing became uneven as the harsh reality finally hit him. They were gone. The two people in the world he'd loved the most, taken just out of his grasp. He could've reached out, taken their hands, and pulled them back, flinging his best friend back behind him and pulling Her into his protective arms.
"It… looks like it's going to rain," She said from behind him.
But it wasn't Her. It was his niece, who had been behind him every step of the way, observing from the safety of the shadows. The girl looked to her uncle, a sense of being lost was in her eyes as well. For she also lost someone in this war who was dear to her.
His breath was shaky. Their eyes had the same amber-colored glow, and he'd seen that look of being lost before in Her eyes – back in the civil war. He'd hated it. He'd never wanted to see those eyes again. He gave a trembling sigh, "Go home… I'll be there soon enough."
The girl nodded quietly, pulling her newly-acquired red coat closer to her for warmth. It probably smelled like him, too, he thought of the coat, of the boy. He had yet to return to her.
It was well after dark when first he placed his hand on the headstone. He felt as if She were right behind him, as his niece had been just a few hours previous. "I'm so sorry… It wasn't supposed to end this way." He thought he'd figured it out – the tool he received from his ally would be effective, he'd hoped, in reuniting them.
He looked over to the cemetery's gates, and beckoned to the being. A young man approached him as he began to draw in the freshly-turned soil.
