As Elise stepped off the plane in Berlin she looked upon her family and saw not a single dry eye. Her return home would have been a joyous occasion were her fellow passenger not a corpse. It was the first time Elise had ever seen her uncle Ludwig look like he was to cry. But perhaps the most distressed was not even a Beilschmidt. Roderich's ex-wife, Elizaveta from the Adnan family, clung to Roderich and sobbed on his shoulder.

The next day was the funeral. The entire family was in attendance, even Edwin was escorted out to the grave site; he found all the black to be unartistic but kept quiet about it out of respect for the dead. It was a short service, a priest prayed over the body and it was lowered into the ground. Everyone cried as the eulogies were read. They spoke of his life and what a great loss his passing was. Even Elizaveta gave a speech, a short one about their childhood together and how she would miss him. Roderich told how no matter how troublesome Gilbert was he would still miss him. Ludwig could barely finish his speech; he was so utterly crushed by the loss of his elder brother.

After the service the family met in the front hall. They had drinks and tried to recover from the recent loss. Elizaveta disappeared at some point during the party, likely having headed to the airport to return to Hungary. Elise and Edwin did not partake in the drinking and went to bed long before the gathering ended. And once the clock struck midnight all the adults had gone to bed as well.

Early the next morning, long before the sun rose, servants ran through the house. Roderich and Ludwig were alerted immediately and taken to Edwin's room. Soon even Elise had been woken and was there. Edwin's condition had gotten worse; he lay in bed, looking pale and weak. Elise tried to run to his side but was blocked by a servant.

"Don't get too close," the man warned.

Elise, Ludwig, and Roderich waited in Edwin's room in their pajama's watching him suffer; fortunately, it wasn't long before the doctor arrived. Elise clung to her father as the doctor examined her young brother. The doctor took the adults and Elise out of the room and gave them the bad news.

"He's dying, I'm honestly surprised he's not dead yet. You should say your goodbyes." He said with a solemn expression.

Elise rushed into the room, pushed past the servants, and scooped Edwin up into her arms. Her eyes began to water but she put on a brave face so as not to scare the boy. Edwin loosely wrapped his weak arms around his elder sister. Elise muttered to her brother, "I love you so much, little brother. I can't lose you." She stroked his long white hair and began to quietly cry.

Quietly Edwin replied, "I will miss you, big sister." Edwin and Elise remained embracing for what seemed like a lifetime. Elise didn't even notice when Edwin slowly stopped breathing. When she realized he had passed, she sobbed and continued to clutch his body close. Roderich pulled her away from him and picked her up. He carried her to her room and gently laid her back in bed. Elise looked up at her father and saw tears streaming down his face. He kissed her forehead and left the room.

The next day was host to yet another funeral. Elise cried the most at his burial and when eulogies were read, hers was the longest. When she read her speech to his life the few in the audience that weren't already sobbing began to cry. She spoke of his art and his innocence, his love of her and everyone, and his dream of peace. Ludwig barely remained stoic through the proceedings. Roderich, for the first time Elise had ever seen, was truly a mess.

Elise did not attend the gathering in the front hall after the funeral, and instead decided to go straight to bed. On her way to her room she passed Edwin's room and walked in without noticing. She sat on his small bed and hugged his pillow. She began to cry once more. Without warning the cell phone in her pocket began ringing.

She answered it with a stuffy voice. "Hello?"

"Elise," the voice across the line, Lovino, said. "Are you okay?"

Elise shook her head without realizing he couldn't see her. "I lost my brother."

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, do you want to talk about it?"

Elise took his offer and began to tell Lovino all about her brother until even he felt sad at Edwin's loss. As midnight came around Roderich entered Edwin's room and found Elise sitting there. Elise said goodbye to Lovino and hung up before turning her attention to her father. He covered his mouth with his hand and began to cry again. Elise rushed to her father and wrapped her arms around him. Roderich returned the hug, squeezing his daughter especially close to him, his heart broken by his son's death. The two cried together for some time before Roderich let her go, wiped his eyes, and told Elise to go to bed. Elise left Edwin's room and returned to her own. She slept peacefully despite the sadness in her heart.

[I apologize for the short chapter, if you review I will love you a lot]