All quiet on Remnant

Chapter 22 - Soul Survivor

Kropp stared awkwardly at the wide-eyed Paul infront of him. He wasn't the only one like that, everyone else in the room looked just as surprised. It was also kinda strange for Albert. Seeing his best friend for the first time in months after thinking he was dead. He had already moved on from his supposed death. So much so, that in the days leading up to his trip to Patch, he barely spared his old best friend a thought or two. It was an old habit he had picked up from the war. That said, when he learned that Paul was in fact alive, a wave of emotions washed over him. One would expect him to feel relief over these news, but the truth is Kropp didn't feel any. Of course he was glad his blonde friend was alive, but his mind had other concerns. Of all the emotions he felt at that moment, the most prominent one was confusion. Where was he? Where had he stayed this whole time? Was he injured? Why didn't he contact them?

At the charity, Yang managed to answer most of these questions except for the last one. Not even she knew why Paul hadn't contacted anyone. Internal communications were restored one month after the Fall of Beacon, but he never seemed to make an effort to communicate with his team. She overheard him mentioning to Tai that he lost his scroll after the nevermore took him away. If that was the only problem then he should've asked one of them for their scrolls. Tai would most certainly understand the situation and allow him to contact his team via his scroll. And Yang, who was usually very protective of her scroll, would've given him her scroll if he just asked. Truth be told, due to the state she was in at the time, she couldn't care less for what he might've found in there. But him having lost his scroll couldn't have been the reason, since she saw him opening a package with a brand new scroll inside.

This whole explanation just increased Kropp's confusion. He wondered if Paul was angry at them. Paul was the type to hold grudges against people, but rarely against friends. They had also been in situations like these before. Back in the war, it wasn't uncommon for one of them to go missing in no man's land, only to reappear one or two days later. Each time that happened, whoever was lost was thought as dead. They'd have someone scan no man's land for any dead body that resembled that of their friend, but that was all they could really do. It happened to Paul, Tjaden, Franz, Josef, and even himself, and they all would be forgiven for thinking one of them had perished. So maybe Paul thought they had died at the fall. Knowing all this, Kropp didn't think Paul held a grudge against them. It must be something else.

Paul took a step forward and Albert, with a trembling voice finally spoke

"Hallo Paul-"

Before he could say anything else, Paul wrapped his arms around him and embraced him in a hug.

Kropp was taken aback to say the least. He had expected Paul to be angry or something, not this. Nevertheless he hugged his friend right back.

"Du weißt gar nicht, wie schön es ist, dich wiederzusehen, Albert" (You don't know how good it is to see you again, Albert) Said the blonde

"Gleichermaßen, Paul" (Likewise, Paul)

Their moment ended abruptly when Nora pushed Paul aside, and gave Kropp the tightest hug he's ever gotten.

"OH MY GOD ALBERT IS THAT REALLY YOU!?" She squealed while hugging him even tighter. Nora didn't even give him time to answer before she spoke again "ITS SO GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK NOW THE WHOLE GANG IS BACK TOGETHER DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!"

"Calm down Nora" Ren said calmly while getting his girlfriend off Kropp

"WHAT!? BUT HOW CAN I WHEN I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM IN MONTHS!"

"You need to give him space"

"But but but-"

"He's not going anywhere....I think. You'll have time to chat with him later"