It was a peaceful afternoon when the book thief died.
The sky was a cloud-spat blue, the sun a giant blonde head in the light, robin's egg background. When Death collected Liesel's soul, she didn't seem to mind- as long as she was looking at the sky.
***A small unexpected kindness***
Unlike the other aged souls,
Death carried Liesel in his arms.
When they finally got to the fluffy clouds up above, Death put the aged woman on the warm pillows and stared at the book thief for a long time without speaking. Liesel glanced nervously at the golden gates ahead of her.
"You can keep the book." Liesel finally said. As she did, her wrinkles washed away. Her humped back became once more straight, and her fluffy white hair smoothed down to a straight, close-enough brand of German blonde. Only her eyes stayed the same.
Death looked at the girl, surprised.
***A well-known fact***
It's hard to surprise Death.
It's no small feat, anyways.
"You don't want to keep it?"
"I would prefer you'd remember me with the words."
"I don't need to have a black book to remember you, book thief."
Liesel's smile was so wide, Death expected it to split her face.
"Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Death."
"Auf Wiedersehen, Frau Meminger."
And then he walked away, clutching the book with both hands as he did.
Liesel stared after him so long, she didn't hear the presence walking towards her before it spoke.
"What is this girl waiting for? Saumensch, we don't have all day," came a short-tempered voice from behind. Liesel whirled around to come face-to-face with her mama. She looked just the same as she had all those years ago. Same tight bun, same ill-tempered scowl.
"Mama! Mama!" Liesel felt tears prickling her eyes, and she barreled into her foster mother's arms. Rosa Hubermann gave the girl a warm, unexpected smile and put an arm around her waist.
"Liesel. Where have you been, you saumensch? We've been waiting for you."
The gates opened, and the woman and the girl walked through. Not surprisingly, they were back on Himmel Street. Kids chased each other around the box-like houses, and Rudy was playing soccer with Tommy and Kristina nearby. He stopped, however, when he saw Liesel, and grinned at her.
"Where've you been, arschgrobbler?" He yelled, smiling as he did. Liesel felt heat rush to her cheeks as her eyes took in the familiar face.
"Saukerl!" She called back, and before she knew it she was running to him and he was running to her and they were kissing, good and pure and sweet-tasting, like stolen apples and mixed candy. A good-natured laugh came from nearby.
"I was waiting for the day when you'd kiss him, Liesel," Papa smiled happily, and walked towards her and Rudy. Liesel's eyes widened.
"Papa! Papa, Papa, PAPA!" She ran into the arms of her foster father and wrapped her arms around his waist, not daring to let go for the world.
"Liesel!" He laughed, hugging her back. And, over her shoulder, was Liesel's little brother Werner.
"Liesel?" He asked, getting excited as he ran to her. "Liesel! Liesel!"
"Werner!" She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
In Werner's hands was the Gravedigger's Handbook.
Hey, fellow waste-apocalypse survivors! Just wanted to say that this is, well, my first fan-fiction, so please no flames (whatever that means, anyways)! I'm pretty sure that there's some things like this out there, but they have very little detail and they're mostly about Rudy, so… yeah.
Hope you enjoyed!
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