Women of War - A Band of Brothers Story

Worry and Guilt

A/N: Hello everybody! Lo and behold, it's me updating a week early. I unfortunately won't have time to upload anything next week, so I decided to post this ahead of schedule instead of making you wait three weeks.

That being said, please note that the next update will now be on the 20th or 21st December.

As always, I want to thank all of you wonderful people for reading this story, voting on it and leaving comments. I'm so pleased that you enjoy my writing and how much you like the characters. And I already apologise for the Hell I'll be putting them through... gosh, I'm so not ready.

Meanwhile, in another part of the woods, Esther and Cassandra hiked through the snow, occasionally stumbling because in the dim, greyish light of the fog, it was near-impossible to tell where the ground might be uneven, especially since it was snowing quite heavily.

Fox Company had been in need of a translator, their own killed in the artillery attack of the night before. And since none of Easy's translators had been available at the time, they had turned to their other sister company.

Her brief temporary assignment over, Esther was now expected to return to Dog Company, Cassandra accompanying her since Fox's Lieutenant Rhodes absolutely refused to have anybody venture out into the woods alone.

"You're taking a jeep back, Jessup, understood?", he had instructed, jaw tense under a week's worth of stubble.

She had agreed without protest, grateful that she didn't have to walk back on her own.

***

Silence pressed against her ears and the blonde blinked a snowflake from her lashes, turning her head to survey her friend.

Esther had been oddly quiet all day. Their situation had everybody on edge, of course, and while some tried to dispel the glumness and apprehension by cracking jokes and telling silly stories, others were more subdued in the face of the nerve-wrecking back and forth between dull monotony and terrifying barrages.

But Esther, who had taken it in stride when they had sat in rain-filled foxholes for days on end in Holland, seemed to be in particularly low spirits.

"What's bothering you?", Cassandra asked. Her voice sounded slightly muffled, the fog lending it an almost cotton-like quality.

Esther lifted her head, dark eyes flicking over to her. "It's stupid."

Cassandra's eyebrow quirked up. "Since when has that been an issue?", she questioned. "It's bothering you so even if it is irrational or silly, it's obviously not stupid since you, my friend, aren't stupid."

The frown that had marked Esther's features all day softened a little and she dipped her head in acknowledgement. "It's just... I missed Hanukkah", she said quietly as she rubbed her hands together in a more or less futile attempt to warm them.

Her expression grew wistful, dark eyes straying into the white haze surrounding them while pleasant memories danced in the soft smile on her lips.

"We, my family, we always celebrate together. It's a really big thing for us. Everyone comes together, we light the hanukkiah" – she chuckled – "well, the younger kids always argue about who gets to light it. There's songs and games and so much food."

Cassandra listened, smiling slightly at the picture her friend created with her words. Esther talked about the rapture on her little cousins' faces at the sight of the burning candles, the delight in their eyes when they won a few chocolate coins in a dreidel game, the pure joy when they were allowed to open their presents.