Author's Note: Wow, sorry for the terribly long delay. I was blocked and then some came and then left. Eventually, it all came out. The next chapter will probably skipped up a few months later. I don't want to drag their arrival and things out. Enjoy? Reviews would be appreciated.

Chapter 13: The Start of Something New

Jude awoke to the sound of the fog horn blaring off the coast. The sun filtered lightly through the yellowing lace curtains, reminding her there were duties to be done. Slowly, she lifted her head from Thomas' shoulder and looked around the living room a mental list of chores already organizing itself in her head. Without disturbing him, she rose from the couch and kicked off her shoes. Tip toeing across the wood flooring, Jude made it to the kitchen, her eyes surveying the dusty room. The hunger in her stomach made it worse to stand there, so she decided to go to the marketplace and get some necessities. She grabbed her satchel from the hall and quickly made her way upstairs to the washroom.

Minutes later, she returned down the stairs with a new dress on and her mother's old shoes. With a swift hand she smoothed the skirt of the blue dress and grabbed a canvas bag from the kitchen. It took her a moment to find the rations she'd packed in her things, but within minutes she was bounding out the door and down the small path. The snow that had powdered the small town had melted in the morning sun, making the grass glisten with dew.

She tried her best to make sure the gate did not squeak, but to her avail it groaned in a falsetto protest. With no one there to tell her anything, she bounded down the dirt path with the sun shining brightly on her porcelain skin. She'd always loved to run and even raced sometimes with the boys when she attended the Montessori school.

When she finally arrived at the marketplace, her cheeks were a lively red and she was breathing deeply. Vendors, who were rickety old ladies dressed in flower printed dresses and some young mothers, were just beginning to set up. Slowly she made her way towards the vegetable stands a few feet away from her, grabbing up a variety and paying rather quickly. She sauntered her way through, grabbing fruits and other things.

Be time she made it to the bakery, she'd nearly spent all their rations for the next two weeks. She knew she'd have to find a job, and the only jobs that were fairly available were munition factories. The idea of spending a good part of her day in a factory, decked out in Nazi flags and officers, made her sick to her stomach.

Grabbing a bright red apple from her basket, she tossed it in the air and caught it in her hand, immediately taking a bite of it. After ordering one loaf of bread, the regulated amount those days, she made her way back to the summer house. Upon entering the house, she could hear one of her mother's old records playing from the living room. She dropped off the basket of food and walked into the living room to see Katerena standing on Thomas' toes as they danced around the living room.

When the record had ended, Jude clapped and they both jumped apart. Katerena smiled brightly. "Jude!" She cried. "Thomas knows how to dance like we do! We can have our pretend dances like at home."

Katerena grabbed a hold of Jude's hand, twirling herself and giggling. Jude smiled, but couldn't bring herself to laugh. Her sister didn't know that things were much more serious here than at the apartment back in Amsterdam. "Kat, sweetie, I bought some food. Why don't you go put it away?" She nodded without word and danced into the kitchen.

Once they were alone, Jude walked to the couch and sat down. She delicately crossed her ankles, looking over at Thomas who was cleanly shaven and in a new pair of clothes. There was no denying the fluttering in her chest as she looked at him. "Get anything good?" He asked, stopping the record that was playing and started another. A light jazzy tone filled the room and she immediately recognized it as one of her mother's many Billie Holiday records.

"The nessecities. There's not much you can get during a war." She told him, looking over her shoulder and smiling. He returned the smile, and she felt insides warm up.

"You've got a point there." He said, turning up the record player a bit more.

Slowly, without word, he sauntered towards her. He stopped beside the couch where she sat and extended his hand. She knew what the offer was and she took his hand, standing up. He lead her around the corner of the couch and pulled her body close to his, resting his hand on her lower back.

The two started moving together, matching the time of the song. She could swear her heart was going to burst from her chest, and the light smell of his cologne made her even more dreamier. They danced around the room, dipping and twirling along the way. The smile that had plastered itself to her face when his arms first snaked around her never left, in fact just looking in his blue eyes made it widen.

Thomas had never felt anything like it - the emotions and thoughts that bubbled inside of him as Jude stood so close to him, their hips and chests brushing against one another. All the other girls his mother ever set him up with weren't as bright or beautiful as Jude. There was no way he could ever leave her side, and now being 'married' to her - it made it seem all the more real.

"You know, I'm going to have to get a job..." She said softly, breaking his thoughts.

Still dancing, he pulled his head back a bit to look at her. "No, you shouldn't...I'll get a job. It would be easier."

Jude shook her head, disagreeing. "No, it wouldn't. You are a Jew, Thomas." She stepped back from their dance, her arms falling to her sides. "Don't you see? If they found out that you were a Jew in hiding...they'd kill you and come for Katerena and I. If I get a job, it wouldn't so suspicious...a lot of women are beginning to work now. I thought about it while I was out and we need the money, so I'll get a job at a munitions factory."

Thomas stood there, listening as she rationalized things. It was true and he knew it. Being what he was and what he was doing, it could end badly if they were discovered. "Fine..." He said finally after a few minutes of brooding. "Get a job...I shall take of care of Katinka then."

She sighed, thankful that he'd agreed. Despite what he said, she was going to get a job anyway, but him agreeing made her feel better about lying to him. Suddenly, Thomas pulled her flush to his chest and dipped her. She giggled, gripping his shoulder with one hand. As they danced on, she decided that being there wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

...

"C'mon, Thomas!" Jude called, climbing over the wooden fence that lined the backyard and beginning to run through the grassy field. "I want to show you something!"

Doing as Jude did, he caught up with her in minutes. Without word, she grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind her as her feet took flight. "Where are we going?" Thomas asked as they entered a thick of trees. He dodged branches and roots, nearly tripping a few times, but it never seemed to phase Jude. She never answered him, but after a few more yards, his question was answered as they came upon a meadow.

Because it was fall, no flowers were in bloom but the green grass, tall trees, and the shoreline was breathtaking enough. No houses were in the vicinity, just a wide open space. "Katerena and I used to come here during the summers and one year we found this...place. My parents knew we went swimming, but they never questioned where. It was like our own private space. So open and free flowing." She spoke softly as the wind blew her hair around her face. "It was like the roof in Amsterdam for me. I've read here, sung here, even slept." A musical laugh bubbled up from her chest and she let go of his hand, spinning in a circle.

"It's been so long since I've been here." She said, grabbing Thomas' hand again and beginning to dance with him.

Thomas laughed as she did, watching as she did a fancy step. "Before I left the Montessori school, some of the girls were teaching us some Spanish steps." She said, shaking her hips a bit. "I'd never learned, but I seen some of the other girls doing them and - wow."

He looked down at her feet, following her steps. "And what is this step called?" He asked, beginning to dance in sync with her.

"The meringue." She said, the word flowing right off her pink tongue. "It's from Spain, but we're supposed to be like this..."

She stepped closer to him, their hips barely inches apart, positioning their arms before beginning the same step again. Like before, Thomas' heart reacted in a fluttery, shivery kind of way. He watched her as she closed her eyes, imagining the music they'd be dancing to. Inside his mind, he wondered if she felt the same way he did. If she found him annoying because he was the cause of her leaving, but very quickly he banished those thoughts from his head. Because if she truly felt that way, she wouldn't be as warm as she was being.

Somehow, he knew that the coming months would be harder because his feelings would become stronger. Would he be able to fight them off? Try to just be friends with her? 'I've got to try,' he thought. 'I told her father that I'd protect her...and if we became a "we" - it would only end in tragedy...'