Alice

I stood in the doorway of Klaus' room, watching him stuff clothes into a duffle bag. He was doing the last of his packing before going off to the war, and it was because of me. The only reason I was back at his house, was because I needed to gather my own belongings.

I stared down at the floor and said, "Klaus, you don't have to go." Just because I had no feelings for him, didn't mean I wanted to watch him go off to a possible death. It had been fault for all of the grief I had put him through recently, and I didn't want to be the reason he was shot on the battlefield.

That, and if he ever did find Shun during a battle, things would get ugly. Klaus paused for a moment then turned and shot a glare at me. "Why do you care if I go?" he asked harshly. "I was only staying in order to protect you, but I have no reason to do that anymore, do I? You seem to be able to handle yourself just fine."

Klaus packed the last of his belongings into the bag and walked out of the room, but stopped beside me. Without looking at me, he said, "Finish gathering your things and have a nice day." He then left my side and walked out of the mansion.

I walked over to his bed and sat down. I hadn't meant for things to spiral so out of control. Yeah, I didn't love Klaus, but I didn't want to cause him any pain or grief. That was why I had kept my real feelings for him as a secret. I sighed, not wanting to go home.

The main reason for that, was the fact that my parents were angry at me for making Klaus call off our wedding. They didn't know why he called it off, for if they did then it would be so much worse for me if they found out that I had lied to everyone in order to sneak out and go to a dance with a Union soldier.

How would things be now if I hadn't asked Shun to go with me to that dance? I would probably would have been married to Klaus by now, whether I liked it or not, and living with him. My parents would have been overjoyed for me, but my grandfather would stand off to the side and wonder why I was still going through with all of this.

Julie and Runo would most likely be the same way. But none of those scenarios were even possible anymore. Everything that would have been how it should have, had turned upside down; my parents were disappointed at me, but my grandfather was happy to know that I wasn't going to suffer and fake a smile whenever I was with Klaus.

I rested my chin in the palm of my hand and sighed. A servant then appeared at the door, holding my luggage, and asked, "Are you done gathering your things and ready to go, Miss Alice?" I reluctantly forced my tired body to get up.

The servant escorted me out to a carriage and threw my bag in the back seat with me. Usually, the drivers would try and talk to you, but not this time. He didn't utter a single word to me. Did Klaus tell him not to speak to me unless he had to? Or did he just not have anything to say?

I feared that if it was the first scenario, then I could start expecting the whole town to treat me like this. Klaus had power in the town, and he could turn me into a pariah if he wanted to; making people look in the opposite direction from me, and not saying a single word to me.

A sick feeling crept up my stomach as I thought about being cut off from everyone else, just because Klaus told them to. But he wouldn't do something that cold, would he? Right now, Klaus was irrational and completely unpredictable. So, anything could be possible.

All I could do was hope that he didn't turn the people of the town against me. The carriage stopped, and I took my bag and got out. The driver then left, and without even so much as a good-bye. I walked up the steps to my house and went inside. Like usual, my parents weren't at home.

But for once, I was grateful for it. I didn't want to face them. I set my bag down by the kitchen door, and saw my grandfather was sitting at the table, sipping on tea and reading a book. He glanced up and said, "Oh, Alice. You're back already."

I sat down across from him and rested my elbows on the table. Grandfather sighed and closed his book. "You haven't so much as uttered a word about what happened that night, Alice. How can any of us help and understand if you won't tell us?"

He was right. Julie and Runo had been trying to their best extent to help cheer me up and convince me everything was alright, but they couldn't exactly help me as long as they didn't know what was troubling me. All they knew, was that Klaus was yelling at me that night; the argument never got more specific.

"Am I a bad person?" I softly asked my grandfather. His eyebrows raised up in surprise. "No, Alice. Why would you think that?" I wasn't sure myself, but for some reason I felt like I was one. I had caused somebody pain, and ruined what they saw as their perfect life.

And in turn, it had turned mine around as well. My grandfather sighed and said, "Just tell me what happened that night. Other than what we saw outside." I swallowed the lump in my throat and said, "You probably figured out that I went to that ball with somebody other than Klaus."

Grandfather nodded and continued to wait for me to finish. "Well, Klaus apparently found out that I went with somebody else, and when he saw who it had been, he wasn't too thrilled about it." My grandfather rested his arms on the table and leaned forward, looking completely focused on what I was tell him.

"Who did you go with?" he asked. How would my grandfather react to knowing that it had been with Shun, somebody from the Union? I knew that Grandfather opposed the war and didn't hate those from the other side like most people did in the South, but would he still look down upon it?

"It was with a Union soldier that's stationed nearby," I blurted out and braced myself for his unpredictable answer. He wore a confused look on his face when he asked, "Where in the world did you meet a Union soldier? I know you didn't go wandering off and stumbled into a camp, did you?"

I shook my head, seeing that if that had been the case, then things would look worse for me than they did. "No, that didn't happen. I first ran into him while I was in town. He helped me pick up something that I dropped and that was it."

I saw my grandfather was about to say something else, but I cut him off. "I'm not done. About a month later, Klaus had captured him somehow and I snuck out and let him go. After that, I had been worried and wanted to know whether or not he made it back safetly, so I left and went searching for the Union camp. When I found it, I talked with him for a little bit and I asked him to go to that ball. I don't know why I did, but I guess it's way too late to change anything now."

My grandfather just sat there in silence. Was he waiting to see if I'd say anything else, or was he trying to determine whether or not what I did was to be disapproved of. Instead of saying something, he got up from the table and walked over to my side, and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be alright, Alice. The past is the past. All of this is behind you now." I smiled up at him. His words were reassuring, but I was still not entirely sure about whether things really would be okay.

Shun

After last month, I kept looking around, expecting Alice to suddenly appear at the camp again. Was I expecting her because she had shown up before, or did I want her to show up? I ran a hand through my hair and sighed, my breath coming out as a little cloud.

The weather was starting to turn cooler as the winter months got closer. It was hard to believe that this year was almost over with. It felt just like yesterday that Dan, Jake, and I were sitting at the bar back home and argueing over whether the country would spin out of control.

So much had changed since then, that it wasn't even funny. Dan walked up to me, rubbing his hands together and said, "I take back what I said about it being hot. I'd take the heat over this cold weather any day." I had my eyes closed and told him flatly, "And you'll say the same thing when summer rolls back around."

People could never determine whether they liked the hot or cold; it never really mattered to me either way. Although, our wool uniforms were much too hot to wear during the summer, but not exactly warm enough for the winter.

Dan kept trying to warm his hands and said, "You still never told me about who you had your little rendezvous with that night." I rolled my eyes. Dan had caught me returning to the camp that night after the ball, and he had smelled perfume on me; not only Alice's, but other people's that had rubbed off on me as well.

"I've told you before, it's none of your business," I said flatly. Dan gave me a look and said, "It might not be any of my business, but I still want to know." I let out a frustrated sigh, seeing now that Dan wasn't going to let it go. "Alright, if it will shut you up. You remember that girl that I bumped into back at that town?" His eyes widened and said, "The one who was friends with that blue-haired devil? Yeah, I remember her."

That sly grin appeared back on his face and I quickly told him, "We just went to a party. Nothing else went on you sick-minded-" I was cut off by the sounds of cheering and yelling. Dan and I exchanged a look at one another, then ran over to the source of the sound.

We then saw the Union soldiers that left for battle, walking back up to the camp. Many of them were bandaged up somewhere on their person, but none of them were missing limbs. But what we were missing, was about half of the numbers that had originally left.

A soldier next to me said to himself, "Looks like we won at the Battle of Belmont." Other soldiers that had stayed with us at the camp, ran to congradulate their fellow comrades on making it back safetly, and for winning their battle.

A bugle then sounded, making the cheering soldiers quiet down. Walking past the mass of troops, was a man who looked a little bit up in his years. He wore a Union General's uniform. Unlike the other commanding officers I had seen before, this man wasn't graying, or balding.

In fact, he still had most of his hair, and its color. One of the soldiers that had just returned to the camp, whispered to those around him, "Quiet. General Grant is about to say something."

The General cleared his throat and said in a booming voice, "I applaud those of you who have made it that far, but as we saw back at Belmont, this war is going to go on far longer than any of us could have anticipated. So, I say celebrate your victory now while you can, before you are thrown back into battle once more."

McDowell then appeared by Grant's side and brought a horse along with him. Grant then thanked him and hopped on the horse and rode off from our camp.

im sleepy. i guess this is what i felt for going to be late. -.- i may not be able to upload tomorrow, since i have to go and meet my teachers. tuesday is kind of debatable since i have another chiropractor appointment, in which i will find out if there is seriously something wrong with my hip. and Wednesday, my uploads will become later than usual since i start school again. aye. busy busy busy. also, vote if you havent. i'm very happy to see that more people have voted, and i feel comfortable as to where the poll is going. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~