Dietrich was quiet while getting out of bed the following morning, giving Esther a soft kiss on the side of her forehead before leaving the room and heading downstairs. He stayed quiet when he saw Tully was still asleep in the living room, and began making coffee. Markus would be arriving in about a half-hour, leaving Dietrich without much time to figure out what to make. He paused while getting a carton of eggs from the fridge. Did I seriously make things better with Markus last night? Dietrich stared at the eggs before closing the fridge door and setting the carton on the counter. After he started cooking, he frowned and opened the fridge again to check the bottle of wine inside. No, I had nothing to drink last night. I actually did make amends with Markus. Okay, then. He closed the fridge again, and got back to work, only turning when he heard the creaking of a chair behind him.

Tully was seated at the counter, brown eyes bleary with sleep. "'Morning, Dietrich," he said.

"Good morning," Dietrich replied. "I apologize if I have awakened you too early."

"Nah, it's okay. Right—your brother's coming over. Need any help, sir?"

"No, thank you."

Tully nodded, and whispered a "thanks" of his own when Dietrich handed him a mug of coffee. "So, do you still want my help with this?"

"I said last night that I would like to see how today goes. I have a feeling it will be alright, but you never know." Dietrich poured his own coffee, then turned to check the eggs. "I was also thinking about what Markus brought up a few days ago, about our parents' house. If all goes well today, I will help him sell it, but he should get all the money. I think he needs it, but I am going to emphasize that he should put a little aside to spend on himself."

"I heard you guys talking about his jacket after I got out of the shower." Tully grinned. "Still funny how you went from hating his guts to wanting to make sure he's taking care of himself."

"I never hated him. I strongly disliked him. Just like you and the rest of the Rat Patrol. If I truly hated him, I never would have given Markus a chance at all."

"Alright. It's still kind of amusing how you've done a complete about-face with your brother."

"Yes. I am still in disbelief, too." Dietrich prodded the frying eggs in the pan. "But, I have no regrets. I would rather have things go well, as I am tired of being miserable."

"I can't blame you for that, and I'm glad that things have worked out so far." Tully looked down at his coffee, his smile fading. "Do you plan on talking about this with Sarge?"

"At some point. Why?"

"Just curious. With everything that happened with his family, I'm wondering how that'll make him feel."

"I doubt it will affect him negatively. He has a good relationship with his own brother."

"Yeah, but David never hurt him. His mother did, and we both know how things went when Sarge tried talking to her a few months ago."

"I doubt he cares anymore. If anything, I think he will be happy for me."

"You know what? You're right. He will."

"Knowing Troy, though, he might be a little upset that I was able to make things work, but I have been thinking, since our conversation last night, that introducing Troy to Markus before Moffitt or Hitch would be a good idea."

"You sure about that, sir?"

"Yes. If Markus is going to be a regular guest here, he will need to get used to everyone's… quirks."

"And you think throwing him right in the deep end with Sarge is a good idea?"

Dietrich nodded.

"I dunno, sir, I'd think starting with Moffitt and Anah would be easier in comparison."

"We will eventually introduce him to everyone, but since Troy is my best friend, we will start with him."

Tully thought for a moment, then shrugged before taking a sip of his coffee. "Honestly, it's been, what, fourteen years since you and Sarge put your rivalry down, and it's still weird hearing you refer to him as your best friend."

"How do you think I feel? It is even stranger to me, and yet I would not change it for the world."

"Nope, and I know Sarge wouldn't change it, either."

The two looked toward the front door when there were three knocks. Dietrich set everything down to answer it, finding Markus on the doorstep with an old, creased cardboard box in his arms.

"Good morning," Markus said, shifting the box. "Sorry if I am early."

"No, you are… on time." Dietrich felt something strange the longer he looked at the box. "I have breakfast started. Let me… Let me get that."

"Of course. Here." Markus let his younger brother take the box, and entered the house. "The coffee smells good."

"Thank you. Go ahead and pour yourself a cup. Cream is in the refrigerator and sugar is on the counter, by the jar holding the spatulas and wooden spoons." Dietrich kept his gaze focused on the box. It was heavy and sounded like there were a lot of small things inside. He went into the living room, and sat on the couch with the box on his lap. For a moment, he hesitated, then opened the box.

Within the box was another, smaller box with "Weihnachten" written on it. Dietrich opened that box as well, and was stunned to several of the Christmas ornaments that his aunt had collected over the years. He was gentle with touching them, knowing that many of them were quite old by this point. One prompted a smile out of him. A blown-glass mouse holding a bundle of holly. I got in so much trouble for playing with this one when I was little.

Among the ornaments were all the pieces of Miriam's Nativity scene. They, too, were old and needed to be handled with the most delicate of care. Dietrich's thoughts turned to Gunther upstairs. I would have to set all of this up in a place he cannot reach for a few years. The ornaments, too, would have to be carefully placed if Dietrich wanted to preserve them for as long as possible.

He became aware of the sensation of someone standing over him, and looked up to see Markus, who was holding a cup of coffee. For a moment, Dietrich expected him to say "I told you so," in regards to having brought the box. Instead, Markus said, "I had to go late at night in order to save all of that. Aunt Miriam hid many of her things very well, probably because she knew our parents would not want them preserved. There were some things I could not save, because they had already been destroyed. Funny story, in order to make it look like I destroyed this stuff, I burned leaves and other debris in the backyard." Markus smiled a little. "No one suspected a thing." His smile faded. "I also found letters that she never had a chance to mail to you. They are all unopened, and hidden on the bottom of the Christmas box."

Dietrich found the envelopes in the Christmas box. The handwriting on them was indeed his aunt's. He put them back when his hands started shaking. "I will read them when I have privacy. Overall… thank you. This… This means a lot to me."

Markus moved to touch his brother's shoulder, but hesitated. When Dietrich didn't flinch or move away, Markus set his hand on his shoulder, and gently squeezed.

Tully said, "Okay, so you let Markus touch you before Sarge willingly drinks tea or hell froze over. What'll be next?"

"Oh, hell will freeze over for sure. Troy would not willingly drink tea if his life depended on it," Dietrich said.

"I prefer coffee in the morning, but there is nothing wrong with a good cup of tea to relax every now and then," Markus added.

"Well, at least we know Moffitt will consider you to be civilized. The real test will be how you make a cup of black tea. He is extremely particular about that."

"Screwing up a cup of tea is equivalent to murder to him," Tully said.

"That makes sense, though, because you are 'murdering' an innocent cup of tea."

Tully paused. "Huh. I didn't think of it that way, but, yeah, that makes sense."

Markus glanced at both of them. "Moffitt is the one with the pet snake, right?"

"Yes," Dietrich replied.

"And you are positive he is not a lunatic?"

"Perhaps I was being a bit defensive last night when I said not to refer to him like that. Snakes are not the thing that make him seem like he has a screw loose. Tea is."

"And dogs," Tully added. "He hates dogs."

"Sometimes it is difficult to tell if he dislikes all dogs or just the stray that you left with me when you stole a tank."

Markus didn't look sure which part of that sentence to be more confused by. His mouth hung open for a moment before he managed to say, "What?"

"Oh, boy, we're gonna have to tell him that whole story," Tully said with a grin.

"We should wait until we have Troy and Moffitt with us, though," Dietrich replied, smiling as well. "Just so we get Moffitt's overexaggerated description of Fritz and Troy getting exasperated trying to correct him."

"Yeah, if you let only Moffitt tell that story, you'd think that dog was a skunk spraying everything for the sole purpose of making it smell bad, drooling on everyone, licking everyone, biting Anah's tail, deliberately trying to get us all killed, and so on. He was grumbling about that dog for days after we went back to base."

"He becomes quite grumpy when anyone mentions dogs."

"'Quite?' Look, I like Moffitt, but he can be… a bit much sometimes."

"I can understand not being much of a dog person," Dietrich said. "I personally do not have the energy or the interest in having a dog. I only let that stray stay because my men liked him—they were the ones who nicknamed him Fritz, not me. Moffitt… is different. He loves his horses, though."

"My daughter likes horses," Markus said.

"Well, if you ever come with me to England, perhaps you can bring her and she can receive lessons from a very good horseman. Is this your older or younger child?"

"Younger. My older one is my son."

"Ah, so he is the same age as Moffitt's son. Jules is a bit shy, though, and he does not seem all that interested in making friends." Dietrich thought back to how he had been a part of Jules's life since the beginning, and how he saw Jules as a nephew. He didn't yet feel the same way with Markus's children, but that was because he didn't know they even existed until the day before. He pondered asking about whether or not he could go to Munich to meet them, and Markus's wife. Those thoughts prompted him to start thinking about seeing his parents' home for a final time, and he decided to mull that over while he and Markus went out into Hammelburg to give Markus a much-needed wardrobe change.

In the time he spent with Markus, Dietrich truly felt like things had changed. He felt a similar relief of sorts to when he had changed his relationship with Troy. The heavier feelings of wariness, bitterness, and fear had been lifted, replaced with a newfound hope and anticipation of what would come next. At the same time, despite growing up with Markus and acknowledging they shared blood, Dietrich couldn't say that he loved Markus like a brother. His feelings were similar to how he perceived Troy after Dietrich had attempted suicide—he liked Markus and he trusted him. Markus felt more like a new friend than a brother. In time, maybe that would change, but that meant keeping in regular contact and spending more time together. Fortunately, Dietrich was willing to do that. He was confident he could, and it seemed Markus was willing to do the same.

Dietrich brought up his thoughts on seeing that house for one last time with Markus after the two had lunch, and it was decided that they would go to Munich the following morning. He felt prepared and unprepared at the same time, but for once, he didn't feel outright terrified. At least, he didn't feel terrified when he and Markus began the three-hour drive down to Munich. When they were navigating the city's traffic, Dietrich's memories turned to the apartment he had after leaving his parents' home. He remembered coming home after the campaign in North Africa ended and finding his apartment had been bugged. He learned Aunt Miriam's house had been bugged as well. After that, he rarely went home. The last time he had been in Munich was after he was released from captivity in a POW camp in Pennsylvania. He and hundreds of other German soldiers and officers, returned home to ruins. He had enough attachment to Germany to want to return, though he sometimes wondered if his depression had dictated that he went back in order to suffer through the punishment of shame and misery.

"Are you alright?"

Markus's voice cut through Dietrich's thoughts. After another moment of thinking, Dietrich glanced at his older brother. "I am alright. Mostly. Just… thinking about what happened the last time I was here. I went to my apartment, gathered up what little I owned, and… somehow ended up in Würzburg." He went quiet for a moment. "I had no hope, and it is funny to think that back then, my 'plan,' if you can even call it that, was to simply keep going until something took me, whether it was stress, starvation, or disease. No one was going to miss me. Or so I thought. Now… I have so much to live for."

"Do you think that would have happened if things had been better between us?" Markus asked.

"Hard to say. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe not. Things are better now, and that is all that matters."

Markus nodded in agreement. He didn't say anything more until they came to the road that they both knew all too well. Markus looked less nervous than Dietrich, who noticed that very little had changed on that road. The vehicles parked around them had changed. Some of the homes looked to have been renovated. His parents' house, on the other hand, remained unchanged. The driveway was empty. The backyard was overgrown.

"I will get around to taking care of the yard eventually," Markus said, looking a little embarrassed. His embarrassment faded. "To be honest, I dislike coming here as well."

"I meant to tell you earlier that I think we should just sell the house, and you can take the money."

"Just me? No, Hans, you should have—"

"You need it more than I do. I told Tully yesterday morning that I would insist you take it."

"Hans—"

"Take all of it. I have no need for it."

Markus sighed. "Compromise? Split it in half?"

"You will take all of it."

"Three-quarters?"

"All of it, Markus. I can do this all day."

"Oh, fine. I will take the money."

"And you have to promise me that you will set aside a good portion of that for yourself. Please."

"If you want me to stick to that, tell Liesel. She will not let me forget."

"Fair enough. I suppose that means we will be meeting your wife and children after this, then?"

"If you would like."

"I would." Dietrich looked toward the front door. For a moment, he was frozen, unsure if he wanted to do this, afraid of what he would feel when he walked in. He closed his eyes, whispering a prayer, then released his breath, walking toward the steps of the house. He didn't pause for longer than necessary when he opened the door, only stopping when he was actually inside. He looked around at how bare and empty the rooms were. Most of the furniture was covered in white sheets. Personal items had all been removed. There were no pictures on the wall, no bookshelves, no radio, no cabinets. Nothing.

"All of Mother's belongings are boxed up in my attic," Markus said. "Father's, too."

Dietrich kept walking through the house, slowly, pausing every so often to look around and think. Perhaps, one day, this would be a house full of love and laughter instead of fear and misery. He stopped to point out a dent in the wall near the dining room. "I remember that. My shoulder made that dent when Konrad slammed me against the wall to steal change from me when I was twelve. You were fifteen and he was sixteen."

"Yes." Markus's expression was one of deep shame. "I pinned your arms behind your back after you managed to punch Konrad in his chest. He got the change from you, and then… hit you right back."

"Repeatedly. Mother was not happy about the blood on the floor or the wall. I think—" Dietrich examined the wall a little more closely. "Yes, you can still see a bit of the stain. Only if you look for it, though. I doubt that is something we need to bring up with potential buyers."

Markus shook his head, still looking ashamed.

"We can leave this all behind. It does not need to haunt us anymore." Dietrich faced his older brother. "Given that you apologized to me, I think it is fair—and absolutely warranted—that I apologize to you for my behavior when you showed up at my doorstep, and for how I treated you afterward. I already know that you, Tully, and Esther will tell me that my reaction was understandable considering our history. Now that things are changing, I feel apologizing is the right thing to do, as well as an acknowledgement of the fact that I was wrong. I assumed you were setting a trap, that you were not genuine in anything you were doing, and that all you wanted to do was keep hurting me. I see now that I was wrong."

"Apology accepted, Hans."

"I have been thinking this, and now… I should say out loud that I forgive you."

Markus looked unsure for a moment. "Well, if… if you say so, then… thank you."

"And what better place to do it than here? I doubt Mother would have wanted to see this take place, and Father did not seem to care." Dietrich looked into the dining room, seeing more covered furniture. "This has gone better than I was afraid it would."

Markus nodded. "I guess we can leave, then. I can take care of getting the rest of the property cleaned up and ready to sell."

"If you want, I can help out. Just remember—you get all of the money, alright?"

"Yes, Hans. I will take the money."

"I will remind your wife."

"I know, I know." Markus turned to leave the house. "This is definitely not what I expected when I found you, even in the best-case scenario."

Dietrich smirked. "What? Me giving a damn about your wellbeing? I thought that was what I was supposed to be doing as your brother."

"I assumed that you would forgive me, accept the box of Aunt Miriam's things, and move on without much of a plan to stay in contact."

"Well, you were wrong."

"Yes, I was wrong."

The two left the house, and Markus drove them to his home southeast of Munich, in a quiet area bordering a great expanse of forest that created a tapestry of warm colors with its autumn leaves, splotched with green from the resilient conifers. Dietrich almost found himself envious of his brother for getting to wake up every day to such a lovely view, but told himself he was happy with what he had. Still, he wouldn't deny its beauty and tranquility. It would be nice to visit, he thought.

Markus looked happy to be home. His house looked very well cared for, a stark contrast to their parents' home. He took care of turning off and locking everything on the car after Dietrich got out and stood in the driveway, taking in the peacefulness of his brother's property. The house wasn't too big or too small. The yards were well-kept, though in need of a raking.

"Your home looks very nice," Dietrich said.

"When I found you, I assumed you were going to think I lived in rubbish," Markus replied with a slight laugh.

"I never thought that, considering the fact that Mother would spank us with a belt if the dining room had a single speck of dust in it."

"True. There is cleanliness, and then there is absurdity. Mother was absurdity."

"Understatement of the century, Markus." Dietrich stood by his brother on the doorstep. He looked to his left when he saw someone pulling back the curtains of a window to see who was outside. A second later, the figure at the window was at the door. A slender-framed woman with curly blonde hair and dark clothing answered, and the first thing she did was give Markus a hug.

"It is good to see you, Liesel," Markus said. After giving his wife a kiss, he gestured to Dietrich. "Liesel, meet your brother-in-law, Hans."

"Pleasure to meet you, Hans," Liesel said, smiling. "Come inside. I have been quite curious to meet you."

"You have?" Dietrich gave her a confused look.

"Ever since Markus started talking about finding you," Liesel said after they went inside. "Frankly, I was unsure of what to expect if he ever brought you around."

"I doubted I was going to bring him at all," Markus added. "Fortunately, things have been working out better than we both thought."

"I told you things would go well if you were patient and gentle."

"And I was patient and gentle! Hans was understandably unhappy at first, but now—" Markus put one arm around Dietrich's shoulder, "I think it is safe to say we will be seeing him around often."

"Maybe not 'often,'" Dietrich said. "I do live three hours away."

Liesel took Markus's hat off to tousle his hair. She paused when she noticed his jacket. "Is this new? You look so handsome in it."

"It is new, actually," Markus replied. "Hans noticed I was still wearing my issued jacket from the war, and insisted that I get something new. He is also insisting I take all the money from our parents' house, and that I set some of it aside for my own use."

"That is very sweet of you to do, Hans."

"I felt it was the right thing to do, considering Markus did not even bother to get a new jacket in seventeen years," Dietrich said.

"Did he tell you he wore that on our first date?"

"No." Dietrich looked at his brother. "Did you not have something better?"

"I did, but I was very nervous and completely forgot," Markus replied sheepishly.

"You ought to consider yourself lucky, then. I do not know of many women who would have stayed around with someone who did not bother to wear something nice on a first date."

"I consider myself very lucky. After all, it was meeting Liesel's family that showed me what a good family should look like."

"My father was so concerned that you would be a poor fit for me because of what you went through," Liesel said. "I told him that you had already done a lot of growing and changing over the years, and now look." She pinched Markus's right cheek.

"He certainly proved to me that he changed," Dietrich added. He waited until Markus went upstairs to get his two children before saying anything more to Liesel. "So, I have you to thank for persuading him to find me."

"Not necessarily," Liesel replied. "I may have nudged Markus in that direction, but he sort of… talked himself into doing it."

"Ah. Regardless, thank you. I am glad that Markus and I made this leap, and I am glad he found someone to care about him like this."

"You might be surprised at how he was back when we first met. It was the middle of 1950. We shopped at the same market. He was very quiet, but when he did speak, he had a bad stammer. Poor thing, he tried for about two weeks to say that he wanted to get to know me better and to invite me to dinner. The rest is history. It was a bit surprising when he said he had no interest in having me meet his parents, but when he explained why, I never asked about it again. He said they were extremely bitter people and it was not worth the time, effort, and overall discomfort. Once he mentioned all of that, I noticed he relaxed a little, like he finally got it all off his chest."

"It is always nice to come across someone so understanding. My wife is the same way." Dietrich was interested in continuing the conversation, but was interrupted by Markus coming down the stairs with two children in tow. He was a bit taken aback by how similar the boy looked to himself. The girl was the spitting image of her mother, but her curly hair was much longer.

"How is that your brother, Daddy?" the girl asked. "He looks nothing like you! And he's so tall!"

"Well, he is my brother," Markus replied. "Meet your Uncle Hans. Hans, meet your nephew, Ludwin, and your niece, Sophie."

Dietrich took a moment to process that Ludwin and Sophie were his real, flesh-and-blood nephew and niece respectively. He certainly still cared deeply for the Rats' children. That would never change. Being connected with part of his blood family again didn't mean he would care less for the Rats and their families. It just meant he made space in his heart for both them and his brother's family.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Sophie hugging him and saying, "I like Uncle Hans, Daddy."

"That was fast," Dietrich said.

"She is quite friendly," Markus said. "So, expect a lot of this."

"That is alright. I am already used to people, children, and animals constantly wanting to show me some form of affection. To this day, I still have no idea why that is."

"Well, you do have a… a naturally melancholic expression."

Dietrich sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes, I have not heard that countless times before."

He didn't regret spending the rest of the day with Markus's family. On one hand, it was a surreal experience. On the other, Dietrich finally felt the burdens of his past finally lift. There would always be some prodding in the back of his mind, but it didn't feel nearly as bothersome anymore. At no point did Markus or Liesel do or say anything that made Dietrich uncomfortable. They were even kind enough to let him have dinner with them and spend the night in a guest room. Miraculously, Dietrich slept well.

The following morning, Dietrich felt there was nothing more that needed to be done. Since they had taken his vehicle down to Munich, it made sense that Markus would stay and Dietrich would head back to Hammelburg. Part of him wanted to stay a bit longer, but decided it would be best to save that for another time. He had his coffee, and sat outside on the front porch to have a cigarette before heading home. Markus joined him, having a second cup of coffee since he didn't smoke.

"I think we are going to be in awe of this for quite some time," Markus said.

"Only some time? I have been friends with my former adversaries for fourteen years and it is still strange," Dietrich replied. "Their own children have grown up knowing me as a friend. It will always be baffling, but not something I regret taking place."

"With how much they mean to you, I suppose that means I will have to meet them."

"Oh, yes. You have already met Tully, and he is wonderful. I told him a few mornings ago that I think you should meet Troy next."

"Based on everything you have told me, is that really a good idea?"

"Yes. He is not that bad. I make a lot of jokes about him, but he is really a good man."

"Alright. If you say so."

"I do. Troy is quite special to me for a few reasons. He did lead the Rat Patrol, but he never went up against me out of hatred. That was his job, and he did his job well. He saved my life a few times, both during the war, and after. Perhaps most significantly, he was the one who contributed the most to my recovery after I… tried to end my own life. He and I share the exact same blood type, and it was his own blood that allowed me to survive."

"I see."

"You will never find a more loyal man on the face of the Earth. Ever. No one can hurt Troy's friends and get away with it. However, I chose to call Tully over him because I know Tully is more level-headed. Troy has had problems with his own family, and his last attempt to make amends ended in failure. I knew he was too volatile to help me with you. Now that things are going well between us, I think I can introduce him without him trying to punch you in the nose. I think. We will see. No worries—I will do my best to keep the peace."

Markus still looked a little nervous. "So, will I have to tell Liesel to expect a phone call about me being in the hospital with a broken nose?"

"No. Troy will listen to me."

"Why is it that I am more worried about a man than a cobra? Well, I am worried about the cobra."

Dietrich snorted. "Anah is harmless as long as you do not try to hurt Moffitt. She is very sweet, and an excellent chef."

"Wait… she is a snake, how can she cook?"

"Telekinesis."

"Ah. Right."

"You are right, though, Troy is a bigger worry than Anah." Dietrich maintained a smirk. "Troy is more likely to bite."

Markus nodded, his expression remaining nervous. "Comforting. I… look forward to meeting your friends, though."

They sat in silence for the next few minutes. Dietrich finished his cigarette, while his brother finished his cup of coffee. They then stood together, and Dietrich stared out at the tree-lined road for a moment before looking at Markus. "As fun as this has been, I should head home," he said.

Markus didn't say or do anything, simply staring down at his empty coffee mug. "I suppose," he said quietly.

"We will see each other again."

"Yes. We will. Hopefully, soon. I think there is a lot to catch up on."

Dietrich nodded in agreement. "Next time. Perhaps you can stay with me and Esther for a weekend."

"I will call and let you know ahead of time when I can do that. Thank you."

After saying his goodbyes to Liesel and the children, Dietrich headed outside to his vehicle. He paused by Markus, and held out his hand. Markus took it, but then pulled his younger brother in for a hug. They stood there for a long moment, then pulled apart.

"Auf Wiedersehen, Hans," Markus said.

Dietrich smiled at him. "Auf Wiedersehen, Markus." He got into his car, noticing Markus standing on the doorstep, watching him leave. As he headed home to Hammelburg, Dietrich felt there was much less weight on his shoulders. Even though a lot of time had passed, and he and Markus didn't have the best start, Dietrich was still determined to make things right, and make them better.

Tully was playing with Gunther with a big smile on his face, gently lifting the baby up and making him laugh repeatedly. He stopped when the front door opened, and Dietrich entered the house. "There's Dad!" Tully said, turning Gunther to face his father.

"Hello, Tully." Dietrich hung up his jacket. "Where is Esther?"

"Upstairs. How'd things go with Markus?"

"Wonderfully. Things are really changing."

"Good."

"I have you to thank for it. I never would have tried to give Markus a chance if you did not encourage it."

"You're welcome. I just didn't want to see things fall apart." Tully went back to lightly bouncing Gunther on his knee. "So, I guess this means you guys will be talking to each other regularly?"

"It most certainly will. His family is very nice, and I look forward to seeing them again."

"I know we've said this before, but this went much better than I thought this was going to go."

"Indeed, and I do not regret it." Dietrich went into the kitchen to put water into a kettle for a cup of chamomile. He turned when Esther came downstairs, running her fingers through her short, amber hair. She smiled when she saw her husband, and gave him a hug and a kiss.

"Oh, I missed you, Hans," Esther said. "How did everything go?"

"Better than expected." Dietrich kissed his wife's forehead. "I look forward to you meeting Markus's wife. I have a feeling you will get along."

"So, you and Markus are officially staying in contact with each other."

"Yes."

"That's good."

Tully stood up, holding Gunther. "Do you still need me for anything, sir?"

"In terms of help with Markus, no. You can go home if you wish," Dietrich replied.

"Actually, could he stay just a day longer?" Esther asked. "I was thinking we could go out tonight for a date."

"You know what? Sure. We can go out. I think this is worthy of celebration, but, as you have mentioned before, we have not done so in a little while."

"I'm okay with staying another night if you two want some time to yourselves," Tully said. "You need it."

"That would be greatly appreciated." Dietrich turned back to Esther to kiss her again. He knew his negative memories would still be present, but much like when he finally set his differences aside with the Rat Patrol, at least now it felt like he was moving on just a little bit more.

Author's Note: Since I've had a few readers say they're looking forward to seeing Markus being introduced to Troy, I might do that next. This certainly won't be the last we see of Markus, as I found I was enjoying writing him more than I anticipated when I started this story.