Trigger warnings: Extreme violence.
Now for more happy times.
On occasion, when the girls stayed up late into the night finishing homework they'd not been able to complete during the day or after school, due to their obligations to the Hitler Youth meetings, the brunette spent the night at Emma's house. In the beginning, thinking nothing of it, Emma would invite her under the warm covers, but the girl always declined, opting instead to make a thin pallet of sheets on the floor. But soon, things changed with the seasons, and one night, the invitation was accepted.
They scooted to opposite sides of the twin bed, with Emma on the inside, facing the wall, and stayed silent as they fell asleep. In the middle of the night, though, Emma woke to a great thud and was jarred awake by the sound. In a moment, she was reaching over the side of the bed, pulling her friend back up onto the mattress.
Slightly delirious from sleep, the girl startled and stared at Emma in the darkness. Emma lit a candle, illuminated the girl's face. As she watched the panic wash over it, Emma noted just how beautiful the girl truly was, and the softness of her features.
"You fell off the bed," Emma pointed out, stating the obvious.
"I'm sorry," the girl said quickly, blushing with shame. "I don't know what happened. I was having a terrible dream. I was dreaming about the air raids, and my mother... She..."
Emma understood. She, too, had had dreams about the continuous air raids by the British that bombed nearby cities and towns. Though there had been threats and close calls, their town was so far left untouched. Still, the fear was there, and though Emma thought nothing of the war during the day - even though it was shouted about constantly - she could not push the thoughts away at night. In her sleep, she had also once seen her parents die, barely surviving herself.
"I know," Emma whispered, stroking the girl's hair, which was matted to her forehead with sweat. "It's okay. It wasn't real."
"I know. I just..."
"Belle," the blonde started, this time touching the girl's cheek. "It's okay."
"Emma," the girl whispered back.
To the blonde's surprise, the girl leaned in, and soon, their lips were touching. Emma didn't pull away.
From then on, the girl stayed the night frequently. Each night began and ended with kisses.
But, like all things, the happy times had to end. Soon, they were found out, and it was then that it all ended.
The kiss that ended it all was stolen in the hallway at their school. Daring though it was, Emma had boldly taken the risk and pressed her lips against her lover's, praying that the hallway was as empty as it appeared. But, alas, that was not the case, and though, in her head, she knew it to be true, Emma didn't fully grasp just how finished her life really was. She wasn't dead. She was breathing. Wasn't she?
It was a close friend who reported them, and it happened immediately. Not knowing what would happen, the girls discussed a plan to run away.
"We can't go, Belle. They'll find us. Besides, we're in Hitlerjugend. Nothing's going to happen. We'll be scolded and they'll threaten to kill us. We'll be fine."
"Emma," Belle breathed quietly. "They've taken the Jews. They've taken the homosexuals. Being in Hitlerjugend won't save us now. They know."
In Hitler's country, there would be no homosexuals.
Their conversation ended abruptly with a knock on the door. Before Emma could reach it, her mother had already pulled the door open. In stormed two Nazi soldiers, gripping their rifles tightly, shoving the woman aside.
Startled, the woman cried, "What is this about?"
One simply pointed at the girls and advanced on them. The first one to reach them grabbed Emma's arm and began to drag her away, trapping her in an unbreakable vice.
In a sudden outburst, the quiet girl screamed, "Let her go, you filthy swine!"
The words, like the kiss, brought Emma's world to an end.
Gripping her hair tightly, the first solider shoved Belle down and smashed her face into the floor. In a moment that fluttered by before Emma could catch it, the gun went off, and the girl's life spilled onto the dirty wood beneath her.
Emma screamed.
Author's Note: Nobody panic. Regina comes in soon.