One year. It had only been one year since the Gallipoli campaign ended. It had only been one year since the Ottoman Empire had begun to fall apart, and yet it had been that one year that united the peoples within the Empire. It was so near one could almost reach back in time, and yet it was unreachable. The endless and merciless march of time had erased all possibility of going back. The Ottoman Empire was no more and no amount of wishing or pleading could ever bring it back.

Sadiq stood on the high, rocky cliffs overlooking the shores of Gallipoli. Though the deep scars in the land had since healed, everywhere Sadiq looked he saw trenches and piles of the dead. No matter how beautiful Gallipoli was, he could never break the association from his mind. This land had been and forever would be a battlefield. Memories as vivid as the day they were made flooded his mind. He could see the lines of Australian soldiers charging the Turkish trenches, and he could see waves of Aussie soldiers falling dead upon the sandy ground. He had tried to think of other things. He tried to remember this place as it was when he was growing up and when he had established his Empire. He shut his eyes tight and willed himself to forget the atrocities of war, but no matter how he tried he would and could never forget the days of Gallipoli.
Then and only then did he hear Adam standing beside him.

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

The words made his heart break. With a tear in his eye the Turk answered.

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now living in the soil of a friendly country therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."

Together they stood, one arm about the other, remembering the horrific battles they had fought upon the shores of Gallipoli.

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This is the first chapter of my TurkAussie fanfiction 3

I hope you love it as I do.