All he could hear was the silence. The cries of the battlefield dimmed and all he was left with was the never ending silence, like he was suspended in time. His gun abandoned to his right, his hair falling in his face. Nothing fazed him, his eyes trained solely on blood stained copper hair. The enemy trudged around him, there eyes downcast, their expressions he could not see.

Mud was soaking into the tough fabric of his clothing, but he didn't feel the chill. He wanted to get up and seek revenge, but his limbs wouldn't move. Even his mind was abandoning him. Hammers of emotions hit him from all sides and he had long been forced to his knees. Something fell onto his hand and he looked at the small drop of saltwater in dazed fascination.

He was crying?

Why was he crying?

Oh.

That's why he was crying.

A strained laugh echoed from someone what wasn't him.

"Silly Luddy, why are you crying?" the voice was faint, but distinct. It was his voice, his beautiful, beautiful voice. Ludwig looked back down at the man with the blood stained, copper hair. The blood wasn't only in his hair. It was everywhere, sometimes in abundance, sometimes simply smeared across supple skin. Without thought Ludwig tried to rub some of it away from his cheek, but it only came back. Why was he so covered in blond? Why was his breathing so strained? Why?

"Because you're covered in blood, my dear" he felt a soft hand caress his cheek in the softest of fashions.

"Now why would that be reason to cry, my love?" The voice is fainter still and more pained this time. Ludwig's heart tugged for a reason he couldn't describe. His thumb tickled him right under his sapphire eye, but his lungs refused to shudder. He couldn't laugh. Not even with that tickle faint enough to make him shake. He was shaking anyway. His shoulders wouldn't stay still, they quivered like he was a child. Another tear fell into his lap.

"Because… because I don't want you to be hurting" yet another tear, but the copper haired man managed to wipe away this tear, before it land on his clothes.

"Don't worry, my love, I won't be hurting for much longer…" his voice trailed off. His breathing slowing down over time. His hand returned to his bloodstained uniform and his golden eyes closed. Ludwig pressed his forehead to the blood stained man's own.

He watched the man's last breath become old, his death coming to pass. Ludwig turned his head to the sky, suddenly knowing why he was crying. His screams were never ending. They shattered the fragile silence that had enveloped him, his mourning was too loud for his body to contain. He had broken the one promise that he had ever cared about. He had failed protect the one he loved most in the whole wide world.

Return to me, my love.

Please.

I won't yell anymore, I swear.

I'll let you eat whatever you want.

Just please return to me.

Return to me.

Please.

And then there it was.

A quiet sob from the heavens, a little sound of sympathy from the angles.

And then a tiny gasping breath.

Author's notes:

God, I almost cried writing this. I really hoped you liked it.

With much love,

Clementine