"She really cared about you, you know." Lars said, his voice quiet.
"Yes." Ludwig whispered, breathing in deeply. "Yes, I know."
"She missed you terribly after you left. She wondered why you never tried to talk to her. You know…she sent you letters, because you wouldn't answer any phone calls."
Ludwig felt his heart stop.
"Do you want me to leave?"
"…If you…If you wouldn't mind."
He waited until the crunching of the snow under Lars' boots faded away, before he fell to his knees. It had been years since he had seen her, so many goddamn years, and still, she drove him insane.
Hot tears fell onto the snow, and his breath fogged the air.
"Do you ever wonder what happens after we die?" Anri asked, swinging her legs back and forth.
"We go to Heaven. That's what Gilbert told me." Ludwig noticed how close their hands were. If he reached over an inch, they'd be holding hands.
"I wonder if Heaven's as nice as people say it is. Hopefully my mom is happy up there, with all of the pretty angels."
"I'm sure she is."
"My dad says it doesn't exist." Anri said quietly. "Heaven. He says that mom is gone, and that's all there is. That there isn't nothing after death."
"Then he's an idiot. Heaven does exist."
It had been ten years since he had last seen her, after the first year of high school.
Then he had moved away.
For some goddamn reason, he had convinced himself that losing contact with her was the best thing to do. That she could do much better than him.
He was a fool.