Someone mentioned wanting a sequel. Even though I wrote the first part almost 10 years ago, I was laying in bed last night and I knew suddenly what that sequel would be. I cried writing the ending, so tissues may be needed. Please don't hate me for this! Also big thanks for the reviews/faves/kudos.
Greta was two when she was adopted by Gegenhuber and Nicola Grisela. She was too young to remember much about the adoption; but she does remember the feeling of joy when Hube and Nicola took her into their arms and welcomed her into their lives. For the first few years of her young life she knew only happiness and love.
Everything was right in the world.
Not long after Greta turned six she began to feel ill and weak occasionally. She became prone to the occasional dizzy spell, which would leave her momentarily disoriented. Not wanting to worry Hube or Nicola she kept what was happening to herself. It wasn't until she fell off the monkey bars at school because of dizziness and hurt herself bad enough to need to go to the hospital that they discover that she was very sick. Nicola cried and hugged Greta tightly as the doctor explained what leukemia was to her. Greta didn't understand exactly what he was saying, but she understood enough to know that she was ill and there was only a slight chance that she would get better.
That night, tucked into bed between Hube and Nicola she apologized for not telling them about being sick sooner. Hube kissed her forehead and Nicola held her close, telling her that it was alright, they would make it through these troubling times.
When Greta was seven she lost all of her hair from the treatments to make her better. She cried into Nicola's arms, worried that all of the kids at school would laugh at her. Both Hube and Nicola had assured her that that everything would be alright, the next day they'd gone out and bought a wig that looked similar to her own hair together.
When she was eight years old Greta knew deep down inside of her that she was not going to get any better. Even with all of the medicine and treatments she was still getting worse. She still kept up a brave front for Hube and Nicola. She felt so guilty for making them worry and cry all the time and she wanted to be as happy as she could so that they were happy to.
At night she would pray to anyone listening to make sure that even when she was no longer there, that somehow Hube and Nicola would find away to be happy always.
Her little brother Ernst was born that same year, bringing so much joy into all of their lives. Hube and Nicola had always thought that they couldn't have a child of their own, which was why they had adopted Greta. El was a perfect baby, healthy, happy and very curious. Greta loved him so much and thanked whoever had granted her wish for allowing her to be part of his life, even if it was just for a little while.
Just before her ninth birthday Hube received a job offer in another city. They packed up all of their stuff and moved from their little apartment into a lovely little house with a big backyard where she and El could play as much as they wanted. The moment she stepped foot in the house she felt as though she was at home even El seemed to calm down, giggling happily and reaching out toward something only he could see.
It wasn't until they'd been living in the house for a month that she first saw the ghosts. Hube was away from home for a few days, and Nicola had been sick all week and had fallen asleep curled up on the couch. Greta had gotten up from beside her and gone into El's room to see what he needed. She knew all the basics of taking care of a baby, having wanted to be as much help as possible with her little brother. Given that it was almost eight at night, she knew that he probably only needed a change.
When Greta walked into El's bedroom he'd quieted down and started laughing in delight. There was a blond young man leaning over the crib, one see through hand petting El's hair. Greta wasn't too sure what to do at first; what did you say to a ghost who was comforting your little brother?
The blond looked up at her then, smiling kindly her way before disappearing, much to El's displeasure. It wasn't until he'd been crying for almost a minute that Greta hurried into the room and picked him up. She was still so shocked at what she'd just seen; eventually she managed to calm El and get him back to sleep.
She never told Hube and Nicola about the ghost.
Over the next few months Greta saw the ghosts more often. At first it was just the blond boy; she would often see him hovering over El or out of the corner of her eye when she was feeling very sick. He never did anything to hurt either of them, and Greta usually felt a little better when she knew that he was around.
The first time she'd seen he black haired ghost was when a man had come to the door while Hube was gone. Greta didn't know who he was but he was upsetting Nicola, which also upset herself and El. Nicola kept telling him to go away, but he wouldn't. It wasn't until a pot fell and almost hit him that the man was finally scared off. Later when she'd been helping Nicola clean up the mess, Greta looked up and saw a black haired ghost standing next to the blond ghost; he seemed angry, but he smiled kindly at her when he saw her looking.
When she asks about the ghost at school, the other children are all too eager to tell her the story about the house. They till her at first it was only the one ghost, he was killed by his lover and haunted the house for a long time alone. Fifteen years ago a family moved into the house and the youngest son was driven crazy by the ghost until he killed himself and now he's a ghost to. Their stories make the two ghosts sound evil, but Greta has never seen anything other than what happened with the pot. The other kids just didn't know her ghosts well enough; she knew they wanted only to protect her family.
At ten years old, Greta knew that she was dying. It had been three weeks since she'd been able to go to school, and she'd been in and out of the hospital since then. The doctor's had eventually advised Hube and Nicola to take her home and make the best of the time they had left with her. They spent every moment they could at her side; Hube even took time off work so he wouldn't need to be away. Greta appreciated didn't want to be any trouble, but she was happy to have them nearby. She felt so bad that she would be leaving them behind and hoped that they wouldn't be sad for too long.
One night she felt a cool hand on her forehead and looked up to see the blond ghost standing at her bedside. "It's almost time Greta." His voice was soft and sad as he took her hand in his own.
"Will it hurt?" She asked, feeling a little afraid.
The black haired ghost came up on her other side and took her other hand. "Wolfram and I won't let that happen." He promised her, looking at the blond ghost, Wolfram, lovingly. "We'll be here the whole time."
Wolfram smiled at the other ghost, before he turned his attention back to Greta. "Yuuri is right, we'll make sure that it doesn't hurt. It will be just like going to sleep; all you have to do is close your eyes Greta. When you wake up again we'll be here."
Greta felt herself getting tired. She wanted to see Hube, Nicola and El one last time. Distantly she could hear El crying but she had no strength to go and comfort him. Her last thoughts before everything faded completely were on how thankful she was for all of their loved, and how much she was going to miss them.
"Don't worry Greta; we'll always be here to watch over them." Wolfram said lovingly, to which Yuuri added gently. "We'll do it together." The feeling of heir arms around her, holding her was the last thing Greta felt before there was nothing more.