Erik stared at the café for a moment. Did he want to do this? Not really. Was he going to? Yes. But only because Katja had asked. After a few moments more of hesitation, he sighed and walked into the café.

Stares of the patrons followed Erik as he walked into the back. Again the curse of a small town. Everyone had heard of Katja's kidnapping, rescue, and of course, the resulting feud between Dieter and him. Erik would take the anonymity in Paris over this any day. But he was on a mission, so he kept his head held high like he couldn't hear the hushed whispers and walked into the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" Dieter asked coldly as Erik walked in.

"I came to talk to you," he answered.

Before Dieter could reply, Brigitte stormed over, a flour-covered rolling pin in hand. "This is not the place for this," she hissed. The entire kitchen was staring at the three of them. She pointed to the staircase with the rolling pin. "Upstairs both of you now."

As soon as they were out of earshot of the café, Dieter turned on Erik. "How dare you just march in here like you own the place," he hissed. "First you take my daughter from me, and now you come in here to rub it in my face."

"Dieter, be civil," Brigitte ordered. "Don't make this silly feud between you two even worse."

"Don't tell me what to do," he snapped at her. "This is my house!"

"And you're alienating your daughter's husband, and therefore Katja," she replied calmly. "So if I were you, I would try to avoid angering him."

"I didn't come here to fight with you," Erik interrupted. "I came because Katja asked me to. She misses you and she's tired of the fighting. So for her sake, I'm asking to stop the arguing between us." Dieter stared at him, his mouth hanging open, so Erik kept going. "I'm not asking you to like me. You can completely ignore my presence if that's what you want, but don't punish Katja just because you don't like me."

The German looked him over for a moment. "Oh Himmel," Brigitte sighed. She turned to Erik. "Entschuldigen Sie uns bitte," she said before dragging Dieter into their bedroom. Erik leaned against the door, pretending he couldn't hear as the two began to shout in German. "What the hell are you thinking?" she demanded. "He came to you and you're considering turning him away?"

Dieter didn't seem too happy with her accusations. "I don't have to justify my actions to you."

"What kind of message does that send to the children? That pride is more important than family? What does that tell Katja? That you don't care about her?"

"Of course I care about her!" he shouted back. "Losing her again destroyed me."

"And now you're pushing her away. If you reject his offer for peace now, you risk losing her forever. They're not going to keep coming back. Right now, it's either take his offer or give up having any sort of relationship with Katja."

Erik glanced over when he heard the sound of a door opening. Tanja walked into the room and stared at the still closed door as her parents continued to bicker. "They're fighting again," she said softly.

Again? What did she mean by again? Is this a recent thing or something that Katja didn't see since she was gone for so long? he wondered. "How long have they been fighting like this?" Erik asked.

"Since you and Katja left," she answered. "Vati got in a fight with Fredrick after you left, and now he's gone too." Well that would explain why Fredrick came to the house and didn't seem too worried about leaving. Apparently he hasn't been here either. "Now he and Mutti shout at each other all the time. I miss Fredrick and Katja. Are they ever going to visit again?"

"I hope so," Erik told her truthfully. "That's why I'm here. She misses you too. And so does Fredrick."

"You've seen him too?"

He nodded. "He's with Katja right now so no one can hurt her."

The door opened and Brigitte and Dieter walked back in. "Tanja, darling, the adults need to talk alone now," Brigitte said. Tanja glanced at Erik, worry in her eyes, before heading back into her bedroom.

Erik and Dieter stared at each other; they could feel the tension in the air. Finally, after several long minutes, Brigitte nudged him forward. Dieter reluctantly stepped forward. "I'm only doing this for Katja," he said as he slowly held out his hand.

"I didn't ask for anything else," Erik replied, accepting the handshake.

Katja looked up when she heard the door open. She stood slowly, turning to face Erik, an unspoken question on her lips. He smiled slightly as an answer. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried. Katja threw herself into his arms with a squeal. Erik spun her around and kissed her.

Fredrick laughed. "I take it that it went well."

He nodded. "I wasn't sure at first, but Brigitte managed to help me talk him into it."

"Oh thank you, Erik!" Katja repeated before planting a big, sloppy kiss on his lips.

Erik couldn't help but smile. Katja's happiness was contagious. "It was the least I could do. I know how much you missed your family."

Belle began cry. Fredrick looked at her with wide eyes for a few moments before turning desperately to Katja. "She's probably getting hungry," Katja explained with a laugh as she took the baby. "I need to go nurse her."

His eyes widened, and he looked slightly uncomfortable, not that Katja blamed him. "Oh." Seemingly desperate to get out of the situation, Fredrick pulled out his pocket watch. "Well I think I need to be getting home anyway. My wife is going to be wondering where I am."

She giggled, but leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for everything Fredrick. I missed talking to you like this."

Fredrick smiled at her before heading to the door. "I did too. Maybe we can do it again soon. Auf Wiedersehen kleine Schwester."

"Auf Wiedersehen," she replied as he walked out. She turned her attention the fussing baby. "Are you hungry?" she cooed. "Is that what's wrong?"

"Well we can't let her starve," Erik teased.

Katja pushed him aside. "Then you better go let me nurse her."

Later that night, Erik wrapped his arms around Katja's waist and buried his nose in her hair. It smelled flowery from her perfume, but he wasn't quite certain what the exact scent was. Lavender maybe. "I love you," he murmured softly

She turned and kissed him passionately, her hips pressed against his growing erection. Erik scooped Katja up and carried her into the bedroom. After placing her gently on the bed, he straddled her waist, their lips never parting. His fingers had just begun to work at the buttons of her dress when Katja whimpered ever so softly.

Instantly Erik sat back, completely bewildered. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Her blue eyes searched his for a moment. He wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she seemed on the verge of tears. "How?" she whispered softly.

"How what?"

Katja turned away from him, as though she was ashamed of something. "How is it that you could possibly want me after what they did? Most men would think I'm rui-"

Erik instantly put his finger on her lips to silence her. "Don't you dare say it. You are not, nor have you ever been ruined, and I will not have you thinking that you are." He cupped his face in her hands. "What happened to you was not your fault. There was nothing that would have stopped them. If we're going to blame anyone, blame me. It was my fault."

"No, Erik, that's not true. It wasn't your…"

He rubbed her cheek with his thumb. "If you won't let me take the blame, then you can't see yourself as ruined. Deal?"

"But…"

"Listen to me, Katja," Erik continued. "If you're not ready for this so soon, that's okay. I can wait until you are. But you can never, ever say you're ruined. I never want to hear that word again."

She finally nodded. "Okay," she whispered. Erik stood, fetched a nightgown from the wardrobe, and turned his attention back to her dress, only this time he was simply helping her change. When he was finished, he tucked her into bed. "You're too good to me," she sighed softly.

"I will never be good enough for you," he murmured.

"New deal," Katja said suddenly. "I won't say I'm ruined, if you don't say that you're not good enough for me. Because that's not true either."

Erik placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Deal."

German Translations

Oh Himmel- Oh heavens

Entschuldigen Sie uns bitte-Excuse us please

Auf Wiedersehen kleine Schwester-Goodbye little sister