epilogue

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I was on my way home with Poe. We just sat impatiently in the car and couldn't wait for the others to react.

We flew together to Switzerland where a nice family took us in. It was really beautiful there. We weren't really everywhere we ever wanted to go, as it was intended, but Switzerland felt like home and that was enough for us. We helped a lot in the country and the neighbors there were also incredibly helpful, but we also had to go home.

The war had been over for a couple of weeks now and since the beginning of the trip I was pondering how it would be. Has something changed? Are everyone else still alive? In any case, Rose did, we suddenly received a letter from her in which she told how quiet it is suddenly at home. The war is over and we have our country back. Only Florille seemed to have received a letter that was for me, she sent it to us immediately. Ben hadn't survived it, it fell on that he was just a simple spy and had deliberately sent the soldiers in the wrong direction. He had not been found, he must have fled, but one could very well assume that he was bleeding to death in the forest after I shot him in the leg. I couldn't overlook it at first, but we both knew it would come that way. I had seen it in his eyes.

"Rey, are you ready?" Poe asked and I nodded. "Of course." I gave up quietly and began to smile.

We stopped in the middle of the village and looked around. Everything was there, this village seemed to have been incredibly lucky. Everything was back to normal, as it should be.

"Just look." He pointed to his little shop that was still running. Some people walked into it and I wondered who had taken over the place.

Without another word, I went ahead and went through the entrance. "Rey!" Rose hopped loudly over the counter and pulled me into a tight hug. I heard how she started to sob and clawed into her dress too. "I missed you so much." She continued to cry and let go off me when she noticed Poe and had to hug him too. "What did you do, how was it?" She asked immediately when she let go of him.

"It was wonderful, we helped on a farm. That way we could at least earn a place to stay." I smile and Poe nods in agreement. "It was breathtaking, the people were so much nicer than here." He continues and I look around. "Speaking of which, where is Florille actually?" I chop it carefully. "That's a funny story." Put Rose on and laugh softly. "She had closed one with the Nazis that nothing would happen to her and her house. But after the USA, Great Britain and the Soviet Union had won the war, she quickly looked for the far. She is probably with Claude. The house is now empty." She explains and we will listen carefully.

"The house is empty?" I repeat softly and Rose nods. "Yes, she must have left everything there." She smiles and looks into my pensive face.

"I have to go out for a moment." I pointed with my thumb behind me. "Sure, are you okay?" Poe chopped worriedly but I just nodded. I dig the single key out of my pocket. I carried it with me just in case. Maybe I would be forgiven and I could return home after all, but I seemed to be the only one with the key. Nobody who was here and could forbid me to return to the house.

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I just stood still in front of the house and looked down at the key in my hand. I might not be able to afford this, but it would be my property for the next several months.

I took a deep breath before I went to the door and locked it open. It smelled just as good of flowers as it did before. The air in here was warm and stuffy. Behind me I left the door open for a little draft.

It looked like nothing had ever been touched. In the kitchen everything was neatly in its place, and the tap was still working when I opened it briefly. I went into the living room, where in my mind I could still see her sitting on the old couch. The books were on their shelves and none appeared to have been touched. Dust had only collected on a few pieces of furniture, which indicated that she had been gone for a while.

Hesitantly, I stepped up the creaky stairs and looked around in the hallway. All the doors were open and I sighed.

I looked into Claude's room, the bed was still untidy and Ben's uniform was still folded on the dresser. As he always did, or had just done. The piano was also still open, as if he had just played on it.

I take the letter on his desk in my hands and see that he left it here, the letter from his parents.

I sniff briefly and put it back again. I should leave everything like that.

I slowly enter my room and open the closet with a smile. All my clothes were still hanging, I could finally put on my fresh clothes again.

I closed the cupboard again and was about to turn around when I heard the door creak below. "I'm sorry Poe, I just wanted to take a quick breath, but I just had to take a look at the house." I call down

"Reyanna?" I hear someone whisper my name softly, but it wasn't Poe. I looked around confused, I must have heard ghosts because it was Ben's voice.

I walked slowly to the stairs and looked down at him. He was wearing cream colored pants and a shirt. He looked like a normal man. I hardly recognized him at all...

I couldn't get anything out, not a smile or a sound. I was scared, he was just a simple illusion of my mind. I just missed him so much.

He begins to smile uncontrollably, it wasn't a hallucination. Stormy I run down the stairs and fall crying into his arms. I hug him tightly and run through his hair. He inhales my scent and digs into my dress too. He tries miserably to hold back the tears.

"How did you survive that?" I ask and my crying slowly gets less. "I was caught by a hunter who was out and about in the forest. He had looked after me and at first I let everyone believe I was dead, so it was better. But I wanted to return, now the war is over." We slowly let go of each other.

"I said we'll see again." I smile and wipe away a tear. "You are just as beautiful as the last time I saw you." He carefully put his hand on my cheek. "Come to England with me. It's not safe for me in France yet." He asked and my eyes widened. "I can't, what about my friends? We have a whole house to ourselves here. Florille is gone and the village is finally peaceful again." I explain carefully. "We will have it so much better there, a big house in the city. I will become a famous pianist and our children would live in peace." If he tries to persuade me, I just smile shyly, but before I can reply, I hear a shot.

I look around startled, but in the end my gaze stayed on Ben who quickly pressed his lips to mine. Only now did I notice the blood flowing down his stomach. He fell backwards and I looked out the door where a man I didn't know was standing.

He had got his goodbye kiss, and only now I wished that I had never let myself into this. But it was the best day of my life to come back to the question from the beginning. I would want to see it again and again. I felt the pain in my chest get bigger and bigger and just looked down at the dead man in my hallway.

L'Allemand et l'alliée (Englisch, Reylo)Where stories live. Discover now