The wounds were healing a bit more slowly than I had hoped, but it mattered not to me.

I twirled around the home as I swiftly dusted some of the surfaces less cleaned. In preparation for the season, I'd dragged out some things I'd found in the attic: garland, lights, and even a tree. Well, I hadn't the strength to pull the entire ten-foot tall tree out on my own, but assumed that I could find help later.

I looked down at the chain around my neck, which dangled As I moved. Memories of how it got there flooded my mind, causing a smile to foster on my face.

"The white rose reminds me of you. So delicate... innocent and beautiful."

He'd followed that serenading sentence with the most gentle kiss that I'd ever recieved, causing my heart to warm that much more.

Oh, how I missed him even now.

I glanced at the clock. It was 7:30... normally Edward would have been home by now. Instantly, upon seeing the time, panic dug into my mind. Had Maxis figured out? Was Edward in danger?!

I had been busy with the lights upon the mantle when I heard a knock upon the door. I skipped over to it, my panic dissapating, and opened it to reveal Mr. Richtofen, with his rosy cheeks and shivering form. Instantly, a color fell over my face, making my cheeks look almost as red as his icy ones.

"Evening, Miss Washington... forgive me for my tardiness." He said, stepping into the home as I closed the door behind him.

"G-Good evening, sir." I laughed at our names as he lay his suitcase against the wall and discarded his coat upon the rack. I watched as he advanced toward me with a smile, and brought his hand to my cheek.

He cleared his throat and I could tell his blush was intensifying. "T-This may seem slightly cliché... but I missed you." He lowered himself and touched his cold lips to mine, causing me to shiver. He drew back with a chuckle. "S-Sorry, I forgot I've just been outside in the cold!" He smiled and I laughed.

"It's okay. I'm so glad you're home, Edward." I blushed a deeper shade of pink as he looked around. In the back of my mind, I thought about Maxis. How had it gone? Were we both soon to die, and this was Edward's act of last resort love?

"Edward... What happened at work?" I asked worriedly.

He turned back to me with concern. "Do not worry... all is well." Edward returned with a smile upon his face, and this caused me to sigh in relief.

"Thank the heavens..." I nodded.

Edward's POV

I woke up in the same bed that I always did, but it was not exactly how it always had been.

After the night I'd confessed my love to Eliza, the thought of which still gave my stomach intense butterflies, I'd longed for her to be in my arms. Not simply for a few hours, upon the couch, as it had been that evening, but for longer, in the comfort of my sheets. I wanted to be able to soothe her to sleep each night, being that I knew she did not always sleep so soundly. I wanted to hold her. Keep her warm, and kiss her when the sun arose each morning.

So why had I let her go back to the attic?

I rose from the bed, which was vacant except for myself, and headed toward the bathroom to complete my morning routines.

Why hadn't I carried her to my room that night? After long hours of talking on the couch, simply enjoying each other's new-found love, Eliza had fallen asleep in my arms. I should have taken her with me... she would never have even noticed. Yet even now she was confined to the attic.

Perhaps it was because of what I'd heard as a teenager. My father used to tell me about women.

I could see his face even now, his stark features, and clean cut mustache, much like mine. He'd be standing there beside mother in his favorite black suit and a cigar between his lips this very day, if he were still here.

"Trust me, son. When a woman gets into bed with you, she means business. That's how your mother and I ended up with you." Father had followed that with a chuckle and a slap on the back. He'd never been much of a prude, that was for sure.

I'd heard it many times throughout college, from my... less intelligent classmates.

"Don't ever take a lady to bed if you don't mean to please her!" I recalled hearing once, followed by a slue of unsupported boasts which I cared not to list.

Could that really be the case? Were all women that way?

I looked up at myself in the mirror and proceeded to trim the stubble I'd accumulated since the end of November.

It's not like, if it were to happen, you would be dissatisfied...

I verbally growled at myself for the thought. How dare I think so vulgarly about the woman who had just agreed to be my love... Nein!

However, just thinking about her had a strange feeling arising in me. Before the feeling could foster any further and render me useless, I finished grooming myself and retreated to the hall.

As usual, Eliza was out of bed and cooking, or rather, waiting for something to finish in the oven. I smiled as I came into view of her at the table, scribbling something.

Before my thought process had completed, I sneaked up behind her quickly, and from behind her I planted a light kiss on her porcelain cheek, causing her to jump up.

"Edward!" She gasped, flailing her hands. "My goodness you scared the life out of me!"

I couldn't help but laugh as she smiled and regained her composure.

"Good morning, Eliza." I said, sitting down.

"Good morning, Edward." She blushed as I did the same.

My eyes drifted to the paper she had. "What's that?"

"A sketch... I found some paper in the attic." She said, smiling.

I examined the paper. It was quite mangled, there wasn't much space to draw on, as the majority of the paper looked as if it had been ripped by mice.

"It's better than not having anything..." She said, seemingly reading my thoughts, with a glint of sadness in her eyes.

All the while, I was just a little warm on the inside... after all, she had no idea what I had planned to give her for Christmas.

"You're right," I agreed, sadly as I acted on the outside. The actual sketch, which was in pen, was what caught my interest next.

Within my view, I saw the outline of a little girl, sketchy and preliminary lines still showing in her figure. She seemed to be sitting, and holding something, as if she were playing. Her hair was long and under her eye was a little circle, signature to my servant. Beside the unfinished girl, there was another figure, this time, that of a little boy. He looked no more than seven, but did look older than Eliza. His hair was short and he too seemed to be holding something in his puffy fingers.

"Who is this?" I asked with curiosity shining in my hues.

She smiled as she took the paper into her hands.

"Tank. And, well, me." She said.

She giggled again as she got up to check the oven.

"Tank... This is the man you left in America. Your best friend..." I trailed off, examining the piece.

It was difficult for me to imagine what she was going through, because, well, I hadn't really ever had any friends. At least, none close enough to mourn over. I vaguely recalled my science partner moving away when I was in seventh grade, but I never really liked him anyway.

Eliza nodded. "That is him..." She sighed.

"Is he... still alright?" I asked, examining him again. I tried to imagine, from the picture, what he might look like at this point in his life.

"As far as I know. Last time I saw him... he was at the draft station in Ohio." She said, waving her hands over the fresh cinnamon rolls.

"Ohio... that is where you lived?" I questioned.

She nodded her head.

I already knew about her endeavors with the military... this must have been around the time that she was taken.

"What was it like?" I asked, lying the paper down. "America, and Ohio, I mean. Where you grew up."

Eliza looked up at me, her eyes pooling with curiosity at my question. She came to sit at the table.

"Well... I loved it." A smile spread across her face, which made me comfortable. "We lived in a small town out in the suburbs... the nearest city was about fifteen minutes away by bike, so it wasn't too hard to get groceries. Tank lived just across the street, and we played every day, and walked to school together too."

I smiled as I got caught up in listening to her tale. Finally, I was able to know more about her childhood.

"Before me, my mother said that she had to make her own clothes from spare cloth and feed sacks for the chickens we kept, but that my father had brought money into the family, so I didn't have to worry about that." She cleared her throat, rubbing her neck slightly. "At least... not until he left."

Her father... She'd always avoided discussing him. Could this be why?

"What was your father like, if you don't mind me asking?"

Suddenly, Eliza's eyes went wide and she looked at me, utterly confused.

"Edward? Did I hear you correctly?" She asked, in disbelief.

I couldn't find the problem. Had I upset her simply by asking? No, she wasn't that easily excited. There was something more... was I supposed to know this already?

"I'm sorry, liebling... I don't follow."

Eliza looked at her lap as thoughts seemed to cascade from her ears.

"He was... cruel. My mother was right to kick him out. Well, he was already leaving, technically, but... her steel-toed boot caused him to leave without retrieving any of his things. And there were a lot of things. He was all but abusive, and I can't understand why mother fell for him in the first place. He was in love... and well... she wanted the money." She sighed loudly.

I shook my head, trying to analyze the situation. "I'm sorry, Eliza, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories, I assure you."

She gave a shy smile. "Things like this should be discussed. You are the only person in this entire country that I trust with my life... and that goes for my secrets too."

My heart palpitated and my airways felt restricted slightly.

"I... I am so honored to hold that place, liebling." My face spread into three different shades of red. Such a proclamation meant so much to me that I felt like flying.

Eliza giggled that sweet, serene giggle that didn't help with my beat-skipping heart.

"I've strayed from my path, should I continue?" She smiled.

"P-please do." I stuttered.

She breathed and went on. "We went to church every Sunday morning with the Dempseys, who had a horse and carriage, and were nice enough to let us hitch a ride. I think the true beginning of my childhood began when Tank moved across from us. He really was such a wild thing." She laughed and got up to plate the cinnamon rolls and pour a glass of milk.

I smiled at her, processing the things she had told me.

"This Tank... he is in the Army?"

Eliza nodded. "I... would assume as much..."

I nodded my head. The question hadn't really meant anything at all, but it did help me piece the parts together much better. It would be sad if America and Germany went to war... this man may not make it out alive.

I noticed Eliza glance at the clock on the kitchen wall as she sat down some cinnamon rolls before me.

"Edward..." She mused, sitting with some of her own. "Tell me about your childhood..." She blushed a bit as her eyes met mine. I examined her still blackened eye and bruised lips from afar as I fell into a daze. I took a sip of milk and began to spin a story.

"Very well. I was born in my mother's household nursery by a housemaid named Agatha, and my father, who was a very successful doctor. We were a very wealthy family, with a large three story house, and many bedrooms and bathrooms."

Eliza happily chomped on her cinnamon roll as I did so myself. She looked like a child lit up like that, and I wanted to chuckle.

"I had a younger sister, born nearly 5 years after my birth. Her name was Gretel."

"That's a wonderful name." Eliza said.

"Mother always loved it, however, father did not care for it. I suppose it is clear who won the argument."

Both of us shared a light chuckle.

"Go on, please, Edward." She said softly, tuning in to the words of my sentence.

"Breslau was a wonderful place. It was a place for the higher folks of society to live. Gretel and I were taken by our butler Christoph to school each morning and then brought back. We were the best of friends..."

"Wow. " She responded.

"Over the years, Gretel and I... drifted apart, however."

Eliza gasped only slightly. "But... why?"

I hadn't ever thought about it too much.

"Well, I suppose we grew up. She grew into playing with dolls and plushies, and I grew into playing doctor and racing toy cars." I snickered. "I liked to play doctor on her dollies. The surgery type."

Eliza gasped but began to laugh. "No, you didn't!" She awed in disbelief.

I shrugged and chuckled. "I was a mean child... but I was nice when I wanted to be... to Agatha mostly."

"Your house maid... you were nice to her?"

"Well, yes... she had it rough. She was a very poor, middle aged Russian lady with five children... she did what she had to do to support her children. My family... they weren't nice to her. I tried to make up for that whenever I could."

Eliza smiled, showing approval. "You're something. Thinking like that when you were so young..." she nonchalantly took a strand of her hair and began to twirl it between her fingertips.

I hadn't thought of it that way. To me it was common courtesy.

"It was the right thing... I try to do that." I smiled at her, but the cukoo ripped my thoughts from my mind.

I looked up at the clock.

Oh no... not again...

"Nein! Eliza, liebling, my apologies... I will be late for work and Maxis will suspect!" I jumped up and headed for the door.

"My goodness, I am so sorry, this is my fault!"she shrieked, jumping up. "Oh, you must go!" She cried.

I threw on my coat. "Nonsense Eliza, don't blame yourself." I laughed. "Besides... I'm not too late." I viewed her standing on the doormat as I straightened my tie.
She looked shyly at her feet and twiddled her thumbs.

I grinned and stepped to her. "Goodbye... I will see you later." I blushed as I kissed her forehead, too nervous to touch my lips to hers.

She smiled. "Goodbye, Edward." She said, and waved me away.

I hastily made my way to work, in hopes of avoiding the winter storm that was forecasted that day.

When I got there, however, a malicious feeling entered my stomach, as it had each day since Maxis had invaded my home.

"Doctor Richtofen! Oh it's so good to see you!" Sophia smiled and greeted me when I walked through the door.

Ever since she and Maxis had spent the night together, she'd been awfully cheerful... but that's not my place to intrude.

"Morning, Sophia." I walked past her and toward my own laboratory , which I had only just recently gained.

The day went on as normal, that is, until Maxis entered to see how I was holding up on teleportation research.

"Edward," He'd called.

My stomach churned and my palms began to sweat.

"How are you holding up, my boy? I came to speak with you about what happened earlier this month."

"You mean with the filthy servant?" I turned to face him, trying to prevent venom from dripping into every syllable of my sentence. My heart felt as if a bullet had entered it.

Maxis' eyes widened immediately. "Filthy? It would appear that you've had a change of heart, Edward!" I could see a smile beginning to form on his lips.

Sickening.

I hoped that my skills of deception would be convincing enough without the smile, because I could not force myself to fake one in this scenario.

"Y-yes sir... I saw how... the servant obeyed afterward... and so I have taken after your example. She will never step out of line again, sir." I nodded firmly, but my heart ached with every lie.

Maxis nodded. "See? What did I tell you? Wunderbar, I am glad you learned the true meaning of discipline." A sick smile crossed his visage as he turned to leave. "That's all I needed! Let me know if you make any discoveries!" With that, he left.

I took many deep breaths, before leaning over my desk in frustration. Thank the heavens that was over, at least.

I didn't get much work done. Mainly because I couldn't get Eliza off of my mind, not that I wanted to. The subject that I had been discussing with myself in the mirror this morning kept resurfacing. Then, somewhat regretfully, my mind wandered elsewhere.

Having a perfectly-porportioned, innocent little beauty for a young man's lover was not an easy task, and I was enjoying every last bit of it.

"Richtofen?"

She called to me, her sweet and serenadingly calm voice was irresistably smooth as my name cascaded from her tongue.

"Yes, dear..." I asked, in quite the trance.

"...Richtofen!!!"

Suddenly, the image of her melted away, revealing a very red-faced Frederick Schuster.

"What in God's holy name are you dreaming about? Wake up, boy! It is time to leave!"

My face as red as an apple, I looked at the clock, which read 7:30. I'd stayed overtime.

"Lord... thank goodness Maxis has given us a few days off for Christmas... you need a break!" Frederick shook his head, seemingly in disbelief, and left the room.

I stood up and regained my consciousness. I shook my head to awaken myself.

Oh dear, I must get home, Eliza will worry!

Hastily, I gathered my things, thankful that this would be the last time I would see the facility for a few days. I made my way home quickly, as it was already dark and snow had already coated the earthy ground.
---

I shed my scarf and smiled as I looked around the house.

"Someone has been decorating. It looks vunderbar, liebling." I gave a shy and appreciative smile.

Eliza's ears perked up, and a light blush rose to her cheeks.

"Thank you. But... there is one thing missing. I couldn't get the tree out of the attic."

"Well, I guess that's one thing I'm useful for." I said, laughing as she stalked toward the attic. I followed her up the stairs and smiled along the way.

"Oh, you have your other uses, I'm sure."

My eyes widened at the statement. I blushed a bit, trying to shake the thoughts that came, out of my head. They were not permitted... such thoughts bring havoc amongst relationships.

I laughed and began to drag the tree out of the attic in multiple pieces.

After the tree was all set up in the living room, it was time to decorate it. With dinner in the oven, Eliza and I took turns placing ornaments on the frayed branches of the artificial fern. There were blue, green, red, and golden ornaments scattered around, and each of them caught the light in the most perfect fashion. Garland was added generously as the Christmas spirit began to fill the comfortable air.

Within an hour, the meatloaf and the tree were ready.

I stood back and looked at the tree, taking in all of its beauty.

"Edward... it's beautiful!" She smiled widely, and I heard some rummaging in the background.

Suddenly, a feeling was overwhelming my being. I hadn't felt like this since I was a boy, at Christmas time. Was it the decorations? Was it the falling snow outside that made me feel this way? Or was it... something much different?

As I looked at the servant, I knew what it was. It was the sheer ability to be within her presence like this, as more than acquaintances. It was the way she lit up when she saw me open the door, the way her lips felt against my cold ones as they touched. All of those other things were just bonuses.

"I agree..." I felt her prescence beside me, safe and secure. She held something sparkly in her hands, an awkward shape. "However... I do think that it needs the final touch."

In her hands, she held a big golden star, its tips catching the light of the chandelier as it dazzled. She smiled at me, and began to walk toward the tree.

Immediately, to my amusement, I realized that Eliza was not nearly tall enough to reach the top of the tree.

I voiced a chuckle as she went onto her tip-toes.

"Allow me?" I pleaded, as I came up behind her. She swiveled around.

"Hmm? O-oh, yes, I-" she was in the midst of handing the star to me, but I couldn't stop myself from wrapping my arms around her and hoisting her light body into the air. I held her on my shoulder, as she squealed and clung to me for dear life.

"E-Edward!" She screeched in awe.

I was a bit startled. "Are you alright? Do you want to come down? I-I'm sorry, Eliza, I-I didn't mean to-" I didnt know what had come over me.

"I-It's... alright." She assured, her face turning red. She reached up and put the star on top of the tree, and I put her down, back on her feet.

My face must have been near purple, and my eyes were full of worry. "Eliza I-"

Before I could finish my sentence of worry, our lips were connected, and an exhilarating feeling was rushing down my spine. The first time that she had initiated the kiss was the most satisfying, and I couldn't help but smile into it.

She drew back with the shyest smile, a few fingers caressing her own lips.

"S-sorry." She said, combing through her hair.

"It's laughable, that you are apologizing for being the best part of my day. I'll just go ahead and thank you." I smiled with a warm heart and I wrapped my arms around her. We gazed together at the tree, and seeing the dazzling lights reflect in her irises could have made me happier than a child with icecream.

But, as quickly as it had come,that moment ended when the faint smell of smoke met both of our nostrils. I furrowed my brow, and the stunning realization hit me. "Eliza-"

"The meatloaf!" She broke away with a jump in her swift step, as she rushed to the kitchen. "Darn it!" She cursed, grabbing her oven mitts and slinging the charred loaf of meat out of the oven.

I ran and stopped beside her as she looked down at the meat, resentment pooling in her eyes. She frowned, and I frowned too.

But knowing us and the way we felt together... that didn't last long.

Suddenly, Eliza and I burst out laughing. Laughing like mongrels, untrained scoundrels. And every second was better than the last. I'd always said that her laugh was like a melody that rings in my ears like the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. However, being that as it was, this time, it felt extra special.

For once, Eliza had slipped up. Not her usual adorably perfect little quirks, but she had, in her eyes, ruined the one thing that I didn't think she could mess up, even though everything she did was perfect in my eyes. Looking at that burnt meatloaf and listening to my own laughter in harmony with hers, as selfish as it seems, I felt really special. So special, in fact, that Eliza had taken her attention off the job of cooking to spend time with me, something that would never have happened in the past.

And that, as impossible as it was, made me love her that much more.

Hello everyone. I suppose the reason this has taken so darn long, is because, well, I am not happy with this chapter. It's repetitive and needless, but I published it because I didn't want to spend all this time writing for nothing. I'll try to do better with the next chapters. Thanks for your understanding.

~Mac