Chapter 7 – Exitus

"Tooooshiroooo… Pleaaase give back my braaaa…" Adolfine whimpered.

"You desperately had to try again, huh?" Toshiro said with a smug face.

"I didn't know you were THAT good, sheeeeesh… Please, bra, now..." She pouted.

Toshiro looked at the piece of lingerie he had in his right hand, which was a very smooth, black sports bra.

It really does its job making Adolfine's boobs a bit smaller.

"Just answer me one thing, Adolfine."

"Yes?"

"If you're banned from sorties, and you're working out at pre-set times, then why wear a sport bra all the time?"

Adolfine's red cheeks got even redder and she answered, "I don't want to be too big an eyecatch…"

"Yeeaaaaah… I see… Your jacket and shirt really do their job, masking your true sizes, heh…"

"Will you give back my bra or should I punch you first…" Adolfine grumbled.

"Here…" He said and threw it back to her.

She put it on and said, "I'm working around a dozen of men, Toshiro. I don't want kindle any unnecessary hopes in them… You know…"

"Riiiiiight… As if your current getup isn't enough to make a healthy man rowdy…"

"But I like my tight pants…"

"You're actually the only witch with long pants I saw, Adolfine. You're one of a kind, heh…"

"Well, as I said, I'm banned from sortieing, so I might as well wear normal pants… It's not like women have to run around with only panties to cover their asses, or at most tights, right?"

"Yeaaaah… The world sure took a weird path after medieval times… Back then, showing an ankle would be immoral, and now? Girls can run around in their panties, and men don't even bat an eyelid... But at least running topless is still taboo, heh…"

"Maybe in the future that will also change, haha!"

"Yeah, you never know, heheh…"

Adolfine's face got serious and she asked, "Toshiro… What will you tell your grandma when you meet her?"

"What… What… I don't know, honestly… It will go somehow… But I hope the stroke didn't make her a babbling vegetable, or my heart will break apart…"

"No, no, Toshiro. When I left, she was… only paralyzed from waist down…"

"Only… Nice only… Would you like to be 'only' paralyzed? Or 'only' blind?"

"Sorry…"

"I don't even know how she looks like, what temper she has, how her voice sounds, how she smells… Nothing… I hope we won't be too late…"

Adolfine stood up and went to the small window in one of the doors.

"We're approaching Buenos Aires already, Toshiro. Half an hour max, and you'll see your grandma."

Toshiro stood up and positioned himself beside Adolfine. He looked out through the small window and looked upon the big city beneath. Udo soon confirmed that they would be landing in the New Port of Buenos Aires as the plane turned to enter the city from the south-east.

"Oh, is that the Bismarck I see?" Toshiro asked Adolfine surprised, seeing the enormous battleship in the port.

"Yes, Toshiro. It's here for repairs. The ship beside it is the Prinz Eugen. They'll both return to Europe soon to patrol the Mediterranean."

"I see…"

"You have all your stuff packed already?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Then you should break out your long sleeve version of your uniform?"

"Why? It's warm now…"

"The plane is now heated from the equatorial sun, dummy. It's winter here, my dear Toshiro. The mean temperature for Buenos Aires is about ten degrees."

"I sometimes wonder if I really have an IQ of 150…" Toshiro sighed. "Maybe I should also put on my coat, huh?"

"Uhhh… Maybe you could give it to me?" Adolfine asked shyly. "I forgot mine…"

"Be my guest, Adolfine. I'm a hot guy anyway, heh…"

Toshiro approached his chest and pulled out the coat from its inside. He threw it to Adolfine.

Then he quickly changed into his long sleeved Luftwaffe uniform.

"Aaaaah… I always like you in this uniform, Toshiro. You look like the embodiment of a Karlslander, well, apart from the red eyes and white long hair, heehee…"

"And you look like a scarecrow, heheh…" Toshiro laughed briefly while looking at Adolfine with the coat obviously too big for her.

"It's not that bad, don't be such a dick… At least it doesn't slop on the ground…"

"Barely. But you're rather tall to be honest."

"Yeaaah… A meter seventy is something amongst women… Comparatively I should have about a meter ninety if I was a guy."

"Adolf Galland… Hmmm… Hurrrgh, perish the thought! But… you probably would be a handsome stud if you were a guy, hahaha!"

"Of course! I would look better than Casanova, hahahaha!"

Adolfine's counterpart from the other universe is really Adolf Galland. He's a really good looking guy… Shame I can't tell the gals that they are in fact guys in some alternate Earth, bwahahahaha!

The plane landed. Adolfine opened the door and a cold wind blew inside.

"Brrrrrrrr… Wow, ten degrees or less…" Adolfine shuddered and buttoned up her lent coat. "And it was so damn warm in Lima…"

"Maybe it was a warmer day…" Toshiro said with his personal belongings on his shoulder.

"Ah, whatever, let's go. We have a car waiting for us."

They stepped out to the concrete pier. The sun was setting already, almost completely below the horizon.

"Truly winter…" Toshiro mumbled.

They went on across the docs, and Adolfine led them to a Kübelwagen with a closed roof.

"What, no limo, no driver?"

"Josef is bedridden now, a flu. And why bother with a limo… You got awfully picky, Toshiro… A True Soldier of Karlsland thanks God that he can ride anything!"

"Yeah, yeah… Thanks, Amaterasu…" Toshiro mumbled, loaded the somehow chest in the back seat, and then sat on the passenger's seat forward.

"I'm surprised you don't want to drive yourself."

"I don't know the city, and I admit it."

"Very reasonable. The fuel cock, if you mind?"

"Yeah…" Toshiro bend over slightly and turned the fuel cock lever below and before him.

Adolfine turned the key and the engine started immediately. She flicked in first gear and drove out of the docks.

Despite the twilight, Toshiro could see that the architectonical variety of the city was rather impressive. The colonial style mixed itself with Bavarian accent, and even some Romagnan hints.

"Before the war, Neue Karlsland was just a semi-colony for Karlsland. Its own government, the state language was Hispanian et cetera. About 85% of the people here were 'natives' so to speak, and the rest were mostly Karlslanders and Romagnans. But after Operation Bifrost… Well, the proportions are now 40-50-10… And the 50 is both Karlslanders and Ostmarkers…" Adolfine explained seeing Toshiro's curiosity. "The country is now led by a military council with representatives from both Karlslands, but besides that, nothing changed. Well, maybe besides the fact that your chance of encountering a Karslander in Buenos is now over four times bigger, heh…"

"I see… Where are we going by the way?"

"The Wehrmachtsklinik."

"Grandma is in an army clinic?"

"Yeah. The Kaiser doesn't have to pull punches now that you're 'official news' so to speak…"

"I imagine… But I hope he cared for her anyway…"

"Yes, Toshiro. Secrets being secrets, but a human being is a human being, and the Kaiser had been taking care of Mary on the side. She is his family after all…"

The rest of the way they spent in silence. Adolfine stopped the car on the parking lot before a rather big clinic. They entered the building. Two guards were standing before the door, but they dispersed immediately seeing the two of them.

They approached the reception desk. A chestnut haired woman in her thirties was sitting in a chair, filling out some form. She must have felt them, because she raised her head as they leaned over towards her.

"Ah, Miss Galland. Are you here to visit Mary?" She asked.

"Yes. Is she… available?"

"Yes, but she's very weak… Don't stress her too much… And is this…" She squinted her eyes looking at Toshiro.

"Yes, this is him. Can we go now?"

"Yes."

They scaled the stairs to the second floor. Adolfine led him to room 207.

"Are you ready?"

"Sort of…"

"Oh, one thing… She signed a DNR release…"

"A DNR?"

"Do Not Resuscitate…"

"Oh… Really?"

"Yes…"

"Let's go in already…"

"Then I'm opening the door…"

She opened the door and entered, with Toshiro shyly following her. A single person was lying in the room with only a single bed in it.

The person in question was an elderly woman, with short cut grey hair. She turned her head towards them.

"Oh, Adolfine…" She said with a frail voice. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Mary, it's me… And look who I brought you…"

"Oh?" Mary expressed her surprise and with a shaking hand she picked up a pair of thick glasses from her nightstand. "Hmmm… I think I saw that youngster somewhere but… I don't know…"

"Go, Toshiro…" Adolfine whispered and poked him.

Rigidly, Toshiro moved forwarded and sat on the chair beside her bed.

"H-Hello, grandma… I'm Toshiro…"

"Toshiro… O Mein Gott… My grandson came to me… Come, lean over… I want to touch you…"

A bit shyly Toshiro leaned a bit over Mary. She raised her arm and slowly stroked his left cheek.

"My… My… If not for the red eyes and that weird white hair, you would look just like your teenage father…"

"W-would I?"

"Yes… Do you want me to tell me about him?"

"Yes, please!"

"Okay… Listen carefully… After I had an affair with the previous Kaiser, I realized one thing – I'm 25, single and I will definitely be pregnant, since I was in my days. And nobody would believe a maid from Klausdorf she had an affair with the Kaiser, oh no… So I went to the only man that worshiped me, but I was too reluctant to acknowledge his courting – Conrad Edelweiss. I gave my body to him on our first date. He was surprised I did it so fast, but he was a man of responsibility and he proposed to me the next day."

"About nine months later I bore Lucas…" She continued. "But there was a slight problem you see… Despite what you see now, I was blonde and Conrad had black hair. Lucas had dark chestnut hair… The cat was out of the bag… He was about to throw me out but when I told him who the father is… If you'd see his face… He changed immediately. He raised Lucas as if he was his own child. He even forgave me my… insincerity…"

"Lucas was growing fast…" Mary followed up. "He was a very bright child, having the best grades in the schools he attended in Karls-Krone… Then he went to the Posnania University… And he met his half-brother… Of course both didn't know of their blood ties, but it didn't matter… They were best pals… He was a successful scientist… Up until that day…"

"The day, when he died…" Toshiro mumbled.

"I was truly in pain after hearing that, with my only child dying… You could ask – why did I and Conrad settle for only one kid? Because he was infertile… He could pound all night long for a week, and nothing…" Mary continued "And then, war broke out. And another tragedy. Conrad was already eighty, and his frail heart gave up after hearing the news in the radio. We managed to bury him in the village cemetery before I was evacuated from Klausdorf, and given an apartment in Berlin. Uprooting a seventy-five year old tree… And then the big exodus to this country…"

"It seems Death has a special relationship with our family…" Toshiro said silently.

"Death is only a part of life, Toshiro… No more, no less… Only God is immortal…"

"So I heard…"

"And I'm truly thankful to God that I could see you before I die… I really am…" She said and grabbed his hand.

Her hands were weak and cold.

"Me to, grandma…"

"In the nightstand… A box with memento's…" She pointed at the nightstand.

Toshiro turned his gaze towards the piece of furniture, but at the same time, the grip of Mary's hand loosened. He quickly turned his head back towards Mary. Her eyes were closed, her head lying limply on the pillow, and her hand hanging down from the bed.

"Grandma…" Toshiro asked silently. "Grandma…"

He felt someone hugging him. He looked up and saw Adolfine with a morbid face expression. She shook her head.

"You have my sincere condolences, Toshiro…"

"I'm sorry, Toshiro…" Adolfine said.

Toshiro took a few deep breath and said, "At least I could be with her in her last minutes…"

"Wait a second, Toshiro. I'll call in a doctor…"

"Ehhh… Even now you think about order in the papers… But otherwise I would think you ain't a Karlslander…"

Adolfine went out into the corridor, and after only a few seconds she dragged in a doctor. He looked at Toshiro carefully, but it seems that Mary interested him more. He approached her, checked her pulse, opened her eyelids, looked into her eyes and said, "Exitus…" and he crossed himself.

"Toshiro, go to the lobby in the first floor…" Adolfine said with a soft voice. "I'll do all the formalities for you…"

"Can you really?"

"Yes… I am your superior after all…" She gave off a small smile and added, "Go."

"Thanks…"

Toshiro slowly walked down to the lobby and took a seat.

"You're surprisingly calm, Toshiro… No wild outbursts, no crying…"

"Maybe it's the shock still working… I don't know… Maybe it's because I wasn't too attached to her? Or maybe death has become something common for me… I really don't know…"

"Don't overthink this…"

"I'll try…"

Toshiro sat just like that, leaning forward. Time flew past him, as if he was frozen in place. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up. It was Adolfine with an uncertain face expression, holding a blue paper box.

"How are you doing?" She asked.

"A bit on the shitty side…"

"I did all the arrangement with the hospital, the funeral parlor, the church, the cemetery and with your Uncle… The funeral will be tomorrow at 1600… And these are yours…"

"How did you manage to do it on a Sunday?" Toshiro asked apathetically while grabbing the box from Adolfine.

"My name opens a lot of ears and doors, Toshiro… Come on, let's go home…"

"Home?"

"I'll explain in the car…" She said and put her hand over his shoulder. "Come."

They both exited the hospital. It was dark already, with the seldom street lamps giving away some orange tinted light. The two entered the car, and Adolfine started the engine. As she drove off, she said, "You'll be crashing in my house, Toshiro."

"Your house? Why not some barracks or…"

"Toshiro, for crying out loud… No such high ranked officer in his right mind will live in the barracks here… My house is big enough for even four people but… I live alone…"

"You sure didn't waste time… You even have a house here… Not very optimistic of you…"

"I'm a realist… I knew that this war would go on some time..."

"Realistic and pragmatic… A Karlslander through and through…" Toshiro said with a smile.

The car stopped before a rather big house, looking like it was transplanted from the heart of Karlsland.

"Wow… I feel like I'm in Karlsland…"

"Wait until the sun comes up. This district is basically almost completely flooded with Karlslanders. Get your stuff."

Toshiro plucked out his chest from the back of the car and walked up to the gate. Adolfine opened it with a sturdy key and let him into the front yard. She then opened the front door and went inside. After a few second light flooded the inside.

"Come on in, don't stand there. You're letting the cold inside."

"Oh, okay…"

Toshiro quickly entered the house.

"I'll be damned… I already see that this is like a typical Karlslander house from the pictures I saw…"

"I shelled out some nice money on this crib…" Adolfine shrugged. "Follow me, there's an unused guest bedroom upstairs."

Toshiro followed her upstairs. She stood at the door just opposite the staircase and said, "This is it. I made it tidy before I left for Fuso, so don't worry, no spiders and cobwebs."

"Heh…"

Toshiro entered the room and found the light switch. The room was simple but spacious. A small wooden desk in one corner, a big bed in another. A nightstand, a closet, a rug on the floor, blue curtains, two windows.

"Looks cozy…"

"Nothing compared to your room in Pescara, buuuuut…"

"No, no… It's enough… Still better than my room in the clinic…"

Toshiro dropped his chest in the middle of the room, and placed his wallet and pistol belt on the nightstand.

"Do you have a shower or tub? I need a refreshment…"

"Both in the bathroom. Down the stairs, across the corridor."

"Okay, thanks. Any bath supplies for me?"

"Uhmmm… Ah, yes, I put them in your nightstand!"

Toshiro looked inside of it and pulled out a bar of soap, shampoo and a towel.

"Okay, be right back. Well, maybe in half an hour or so…"

"Oh, but the water is cold…"

"I have my own heat with me, don't worry."

"Kay…"

Toshiro went down and he found the bathroom. He made himself a bath, almost boiling hot. After washing himself thoroughly, he went back to his room, wrapped only in a towel.

"Hey, Adolfine, I left the bath wat…"

Adolfine was lying in his bed on her left side, waiting for him.

"Adolfine?"

"I'm sorry, Toshiro, but I wanted to quietly give you back the money for that beer and…" She showed him a piece of paper. "I found this…"

The 'permission slip' from Yoshika…

"Ugh… And?"

"Well, I thought that… Maybe… I could cheer you up a bit…"

"Not today, Adolfine, please… Not today…"

"Oh… I'm sorry… I… I'm sorry for being so insensitive…"

"I appreciate that you're caring for me but… I'm seriously not in the mood for doing it today…"

"Okay… But… I'll hold onto this until tomorrow, okay?" She winked.

"Tomorrow… We'll see. If you don't mind, the water I left is still hot…"

"I don't, thanks." Adolfine stood up and walked up to him.

She kissed him on the cheek.

"Have a good night, Toshiro. Try to sleep."

"I'll try… Night, Adolfine…"

Adolfine left him. He opened the chest and pulled out the memento box from Mary. It was full of photos and newspaper cutouts. A few were showing his grandma and presumably grandpa. A wedding photo. A photo in the hospital, with a newborn in Mary's hands.

The rest of the photo's had one theme in common – a boy slowly turning into a man. Toshiro recognized him – it was his father.

His graduation photo from college. Toshiro could even recognize his uncle, despite the changes aging made to him.

A photo of him in a uniform.

Some random photo of him in a lab coat.

A photo of him and Ichiro holding hands over some kind of prototype Striker.

And the same photo Yoshika has – Ichiro shaking hands with the young Mio, with a Striker hanging on chains in the back, and his father behind Ichiro.

Underneath all the photos, Toshiro found something else – a 1st Class Iron Cross, complete with certificate.

'Am 18 Januar 1937 zum Lucas Andrew Edelweiss verliehen'

Just as Toshiro was about to stuff everything back into the box, he saw that the bottom had a corner rolled up. He carefully pinched it, and a layer came off. Toshiro turned the piece of paper around, and looked at it.

It was a black and white photo. His father was standing before an artificial background with a dark haired woman in a light colored yukata. He knew well who the woman was. It was Akiko.

He put everything back into the box and back into the chest. He turned off the lights, and slammed himself on the bed. Now was the time to let go.

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