New chapter, y'all! We're currently experiencing the Snowpocalypse 2015 where I live, so everyone is living on milk sandwiches right now. I'm just watching the pretty white stuff, drinking my tea, and pouring my heart out for you lovely readers. I do hope you enjoy the fruits of this snowstorm.

The air was cool with the darkness of night. Gilbert and Ludwig had both been away preparing their men for what lay ahead, and this was the first time they had been able to have a moment alone together all day. They leaned against the railing of a bridge only a short ten minute's walk away from where they were staying. The metal rail twisted up from the stone beneath their feet. The river, inky black, churned thick beneath their feet. In the starlight, the water glistened sickeningly, as if it were a river of oil running under the bridge. Minutes passed in silence.

Ludwig sighed and removed his cap. A slight breeze had picked up, and the sweat on his brow felt cool against his skin. The silence between them was heavy.

He asked the question that had been digging in his mind all day long: "What do you want me to do?"

Gilbert didn't reply immediately. He knew exactly what his brother was asking, but answering gave it a haunting finality. Asking the question itself seemed almost to be a taboo in his mind, but the question had to be asked nonetheless. He listened to the thick sloshing of the water below for nearly a full minute before he had chosen his words properly.

"There's no one to write to for me. Mom and Dad are dead, I have no girlfriend. There's no one left that I care about enough to tell, and there's no one that cares enough about me to want to know." He paused to wring his hands together. "There's no one that gives two craps about whether I'm dead or not. No one..." He turned to face Ludwig. His pink eyes were soft, and sparkled with emotion. "...except for you."

Ludwig's heart felt as if it were being squeezed out of his chest. A sad smile tugged at his lips. "I'm not the only one. Monika loves you."

It was the first time either of them had actually expressed the fact that the girls had preferences when it came to either of them. They both knew of course, but they just hadn't said anything about it. Monika had grown incredibly close to Gilbert over the course of the weeks that they had been hiding the girls. The same for Miriam and Ludwig, only Ludwig sensed that since Monika was older, and because she had a greater understanding of what he and his brother were doing for them, she felt a stronger love toward Gilbert than Miriam could know to express.

Gilbert smiled proudly. "Ja, I know. She's a good kid." He looked back out at the oily river. "Good kid…" He stood in thought for a moment before turning the question to Ludwig. "What about you? What do you want me to do?"

It was now Ludwig's turn to gather his thoughts. In that small question, there were so many possible answers to be had. Who to write, who to send belongings to, who to write your eulogy.

"I'd like you to tell Eva. I know she broke it off with me, but besides you, she's really all I've got. As far as stuff goes, take what you want and if there's anything else then send it to her, she can do what she wants with it. It won't be doing me any more good anyhow."

Gilbert nodded, and Ludwig continued. "As far as the girls go, do your best to explain it to Miriam in a way that she can maybe understand. Monika will get it, but do your best with Miriam."

Ludwig picked at a piece of paint that was flaking off of the iron rail, then asked a question that was even more pressing. "What do the girls do if…" His voice fell off into nothingness. He didn't want to say, What do the girls do if we both end up dead?

Gilbert straightened his back and adjusted his cap. "Well… They need some place that they can go that will support them until the war ends."

Ludwig nodded. "The question is who will take in a pair of orphaned Jewish girls?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Can't trust anyone around here, the place is crawling with Nazis. They'd get turned in in a heartbeat. We have to find someone that we can trust…" He stopped mid sentence, seemingly halted by a thought. "Wait a second…"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "You have an idea?"

Gilbert thought for a few moments more, then suddenly snapped his fingers. "I've got it! Nuns!"

Ludwig frowned. "That's your idea? What on earth do nuns have to do with anything?"

Gilbert's grin spread from ear to ear. "Don't you get it? Nuns! It's genius, if I do say so myself."

Ludwig crossed his arms. "No, I don't get it. What are the nuns going to do, throw Holy Water at the Gestapo?"

"You still don't get it," Gilbert sighed, clearly exasperated. "Nuns. We take them to a convent." Ludwig was starting to understand now, and for once, it wasn't such a bad idea. Gilbert continued once he was sure Ludwig was following. "I mean, wouldn't a convent have to take them? Or at least until one of us gets back?" Ludwig thought the option out for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. We can take them to a convent right before we leave." Ludwig smiled. "That's actually a pretty good idea, Gil. It's a first."

"Halt die Klappe!" Gilbert laughed, and for the first time that day, Ludwig allowed himself to laugh along with him.

-x-x-x-

The next morning, Gilbert drove the jeep to the house where the girls were. He parked it in the same hidden spot as normal, an empty barn-turned-garage that was out of sight of anyone. It was only a short walk through a couple of alleyways in order to get from the garage to the house where Monika and Miriam were hidden. As always, Gilbert stole from the alley to the door of the house and slipped inside. There, he made sure that no one had seen him enter the house. And, as always, there was no one.

Every time he entered the house, he would check the downstairs to ensure that it was deserted. This time was no different. He stalked through the house, pistol drawn and finger resting easily on the trigger, ready to shoot anyone who posed a threat to his girls. He had always had a sort of "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude, but once he and his brother had taken over the care of Monika and Miriam, he truly adopted the moniker and took it to heart. So far, he had had no confrontations wherein he had to employ this school of thought, but that didn't matter to him. At any time of the night or day, he was ready to challenge anyone who threatened the safety of his girls. He didn't care if it was the Führer himself who walked through the door. If anyone wanted to get to his girls, they would have to step over his own dead body to do so.

This was how much he loved Monika and Miriam. To Gilbert, they were his own daughters, and he treated and protected them as such.

Once Gilbert had assured himself that the downstairs level of the house was empty, he slipped upstairs, careful to avoid any of the especially creaky steps. He checked each room and closet upstairs for anyone, and as always, there was no sign of anyone. Gilbert was pleased, and he holstered his pistol and knocked on the door of the room where the girls were hidden. "It's Gilbert," he called softly, "Open the door."

A pause followed by soft thumping noises could be heard through the door, then Gilbert heard the sound of a metal latch being drawn back on the other side. The door creaked open to reveal Monika's beaming face. "Well good morning! I see we're all smiles today!" Monika giggled and nodded, then opened the door wide so that Gilbert could come in. He glanced behind him to make sure there was still no one, then went into the room. He shut the door once he was inside, and then drew the latch again.

Miriam came up and tugged at his pants leg. One hand was behind her back, hiding something. Gilbert dropped down to one knee and asked, "What can I do for you, mademoiselle?" The two girls giggled at his butchering of the pronunciation of the French word, but they knew that he was trying very hard to learn as much of their language as he could. He didn't think he was doing half so badly himself.

Miriam pulled out from behind her back the thing that she was hiding from Gilbert's view: A picture, drawn and colored by her. It was crude but endearing, a strange mixture of qualities that can only be achieved by a child's hands. Drawn on the crumpled up paper were four figures, two big and two small, standing on a green hill. All four figures were holding hands in a line. Miriam pointed to each as she named them.

"C'est vous, c'est Ludwig, c'est moi, et c'est Monika."

She then handed the picture to Gilbert and stood back to watch his reaction. Gilbert's heart swelled with pride, warmth, and love. He smiled so widely that his cheeks hurt, and he quickly wrapped Miriam in a tight bear hug that made her laugh. "It's beautiful," he remarked, "Thank you! I'll show it to Ludwig when I see him again."

Once Gilbert had unentangled himself from Miriam, which was no small task, Monika stepped up. In her hand, she held a folded up piece of paper. She turned it over in her hand a few times, seemingly debating whether to surrender it or not. After a moment, she tentatively handed it to Gilbert with a slight smile. Gilbert gently took the paper and drew it close. He slowly unfolded it, and what he saw welled up tears in his eyes.

It was a drawing of two people locked in an embrace. One a man, the other a young girl. The lines were shaky, and the details drawn with an uncertain hand, but Gilbert knew what the drawing was of right away. The man with the white hair and the Nazi uniform was clearly himself, while the young girl with the curly dark locks braided behind her head was undoubtedly Monika. 'Gilbert''s arms were wrapped tightly around 'Monika', the smiles on their faces radiant. Gilbert drank the vibrant colors and the tenderness of the picture in, but it was hard to do so. His vision had gone too blurry to see the lines.

Saltwater spilled over his lashes and rolled down his cheeks in small rivulets. He couldn't speak. A lump had formed in his throat, strangling his words. Unable to voice the incredible emotions boiling inside of his heart, he pulled Monika close to himself and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back with as much strength as she could muster. He stroked her hair with one hand and kissed her head, but it was the kiss on his cheek that she offered in return which devastated his heart, shattering it into a thousand jagged pieces.

How on earth could he possibly tell her that he was going away?

How could he explain to these beautiful, precious girls that he treasured more than his own life that their protectors were leaving, and may never return?

-x-x-x-

He had both of the girls sit down next to him on the tiny bed, one on either side of him. Miriam sat crosslegged on his left, Monika straight-backed on his right. He held their slender hands in his own large and rough ones, and he spoke softly and slowly in what little French he had picked up over his time with them.

"Ludwig and I," he started out, "are going to have to leave soon. We don't know when we will leave, but we will not be able to take care of you when we are away." He paused to let his words sink in as best they could. Miriam started to sniffle and crawled into Gilbert's lap for comfort, which he more than happily provided. Monika only sat in open-mouthed shock.

Gilbert continued, although with increasing pain to himself with every word. "If…" He took a second to gather his scattered thoughts. "If there was anything that we could do to stay, we would do it. We have tried everything we know, but we cannot stay. If we stay, the bad men will find you and take you away from us." He looked both girls in the eyes. "Do you understand?" Miriam cried softly into Gilbert's chest. Monika bit her quivering lip and swallowed back tears of her own.

"This is why…" God forgive me for what I'm about to say, Gilbert thought, "This is why tomorrow we are taking you to a nearby church to hide until we come back for you. The nuns there will take good care of you, and teach you things like how to read and write and do arithmetic. Hopefully you won't have to stay for long, and that one or both of us will come to take you home very soon." Monika finally let the tears spill from her eyes, and she leaned into Gilbert's shoulder heavily, sobbing quietly. Gilbert's silent tears fell like rain, for what he was having to do and for the pain that he was causing two of the only three things that he loved in this world.

Monika shoved the next sentence out between her sobs. "When… Do we… Go away?"

Gilbert looked up to the ceiling, then grimaced with the word: "Tomorrow." He then laid his head in his free hand and leaned forward as he was unable to continue to 'play strong'. His entire body shook with agony and the gravity of what must be done. He wept more bitterly than he had ever wept in his entire life. The very breath was ripped from his lungs when he felt two small bodies encircle their arms around him in an attempt to comfort him and drive this sorrow away.

Monika leaned over and whispered gently, although shakily, in Gilbert's ear. "Will you stay with us tonight, then?"

Gilbert could only nod and clutch Monika's hand as if it were his lifeline, and he was drowning in a raging sea.

Poor Gil. It's okay baby, let me hug you too.

Thanks for reading, loves! Reviews are greatly appreciated! If you are in the path of this big snowstorm, stay warm and please be careful out there!

Much love,

Harley