Everyone had noticed a definite change in Anna over the past few days. She seemed lighter, more playful. She had started teaching the Americans some German card games as well as a few German phrases to help the locals warm to them.

They all tried to help out with watching Elli; Sam and Hollywood wanted to let Anna and Abe spend as much alone time together as possible. Abe had made it plain to them that he wasn't ready to lose her, and they were all concocting plans on how to bring the sisters along. They were hiding it from Tread until they came up with something viable, though. It had to be fool proof.

Hollywood, Sam and Ewie were all spending the evening with Anna and Elli whilst Abe and the others were out on patrol. The other neighbourhood children were no longer apprehensive of the Americans and had joined them all for a game of tag. Sam and Ewie were chasing all the children as Hollywood and Anna watched them happily from the side lines as the light began to fade.

Hollywood clearly felt terrible for his earlier behaviour and had been trying his hardest to get to know Anna. It was certainly nice to be able to converse with someone in her native tongue, and she really appreciated the effort he was putting in. He was a musician, playing guitar, bass and piano. They talked a lot about music, and he told her stories about his home in Mississippi. It turned out that his housekeeper was German, which is why he was so fluent. He showed her pictures of his older brother Mike, and younger sister Mavis.

Anna did the same with the photographs of her parents. But not Hans, Karl and Freddie. She was still very protective of them.

"So tell me," said Hollywood, drawing Anna's attention away from the game, "you and Abe-"

"What about us?" she asked quickly, her cheeks already flushed.

"You seem very close."

"Yes, I suppose we are," she mumbled.

Hollywood shifted closer to her. "You know, there is nothing wrong with you two falling for one another."

"I know," she murmured unconvincingly.

"Wouldn't your fiancé have wanted you to move on?"

Anna laughed. "It's plain that you never met him. He was very possessive."

Hollywood grinned. "All right, perhaps not then. But why would you not want to be happy with Abe? He's a great man-"

"The best of men," she said quietly.

Hollywood's smile grew even more. "You should never turn down a chance for love," he continued. "Especially after everything you've been through. You should seize every opportunity."

"Sounds like strange advice from the man that famously can't keep it in his trousers."

"Yes, well," he said, taking a deep sigh. "Just between us two, it's a load of shit."

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Not that I haven't been with lots of women," he said, Anna rolling her eyes, "but, I do want to settle down."

"Then why not say that?"

"Because it's far easier than facing the truth... that I've never met a woman that hasn't chewed me up and spat me back out," he said, their eyes locking. "I know how horrible it is to feel like you've fallen in love, only to realise that it was a lie."

"Hans didn't lie about loving me," she protested. "Just everything else."

"In any case, don't let a chance with someone as great as Abe pass you by."

"Thank you, Hollywood," she smiled, then nudged him. "I like this softer side to you."

"Don't go telling anyone else. I have a reputation to uphold."

As they smiled at each other, the others from patrol strolled towards them. Abe's hair stuck to his head from wearing his helmet; he'd clearly come straight to see them after abandoning his kit.

Hollywood smirked as he watched Anna's eyes pour over his friend. "I hope someone looks at me like that, one day."

"Quiet!" Anna hissed as she slapped him on the arm.

"Hello darlin'," Abe said with a huge grin.

Anna got up to greet him, smoothing her dress out hurriedly. "You are late," she chastised.

Abe raised his eyebrows. "All right," he said, "I'd best fuck off and give myself a good talkin' to." 

Anna stuck her tongue out at him as Abe put his arm around her. She couldn't help but breathe in his smell, enjoying the mixture of sun kissed skin and sweat.

Abe looked around. "Where's my Elli?"

"Here!" called Elli, now waving at him from the middle of their game. Ewie scooped her up, making her scream with delight as he ran over with her. "Put me down!" she squealed as Ewie deposited her at Abe's feet.

"Where's my hug?" demanded Abe.

Elli threw her arms around him. "You are late!" she protested.

Abe sighed in feigned irritation. "You Krauts and your damn time keepin'!" he said, Elli just grinning up at him. "Ready for our walk?"

"Yes!" said Elli, turning to Hollywood. "Are you coming as well?"

"'Fraid not, little Miss. I have a very important card game to get to."

"Is a card game more important than me?"

Hollywood immediately got down on one knee, taking her hand as she pouted. "Please, forgive me my sins," he said, kissing her hand.

Elli shook her head.

"How 'bout this, if I win, I'll getcha something with the winnins?"

Her eyes lit up. "Like a horse?"

"Maybe a small one," he said, winking at her.

"I will allow it."

Hollywood grinned as he rose to his feet. "Y'all have fun." He nodded to the three of them as they set off for their stroll.

They decided to not go to the river today, and instead made for the fields on the outskirts of the town. Now she had horses on her mind, Elli was determined to see one... even after Anna explained that there wouldn't be any there at this time of night. They made it out to the fields, Anna enjoying the light breeze as they stood and admired the vast expanse. The night had fully set in, the moon big and bright and the lights from the town warm and inviting behind them. Abe gave Elli his torch to search for her horses to no avail. They listened to the rustle of the tall grass, the stars shining in the beautifully clear night.

"This reminds me of home," sighed Abe wistfully.

Anna cuddled into Elli who sat on the fence in front of her. "On your farm?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "I love going and lying in the fields when it's night time. The stars are always so bright."

"I cannot wait to see it," sighed Elli, both of them looking at her.

"Oh," said Abe. "Y'all coming back with me, then?"

"Yes," she said firmly, her mind made up. "I would like to meet all of your pigs"

"I'll put ya to work," he warned her. "And if you're good, I might just keep ya."

"Good. I would like to live with you on the farm."

"I'd like that too," chuckled Abe, now looking at Anna.

Anna couldn't hide how her breath quickened, her whole body tensed.

"I really would," he said softly.

Ignoring the rapid pace of her heart, Anna lifted his wrist to check his watch. "We had better go back," said Anna, pulling Elli off the fence, "it is too dark to be out walking."

They made their way back to town, just entering into the first few houses of the outer edge.

Out of nowhere, a loud, piercing wail cut through the still night. Anna had never heard anything like it, Elli clutching at her in fear.

"Abe?!" Anna cried in a panic, looking to him.

"It's an air raid siren," he called. "Haven't y'all heard one before?" Anna shook her head. "We need to get to a shelter. They'll have them set up around town."

"What about Gabby and Rosa?" she asked as he began leading them forward.

"Don't worry, they'll go to their nearest one." They watched as some people came out of their houses and ran to others. "Come on," said Abe, "they must be using basements."

They dashed after a group of people heading for one particular house. A stern older man stood at the front door, herding them all inside.

He looked Abe up and down disdainfully. "You're not in our section!"

"Please," begged Anna. "We don't know where we're supposed to go."

He glared at her, then Abe, but couldn't help but falter when he looked down at Elli clutching her ears as the siren persisted. "Fine." He pulled them inside and slammed the door behind them. He led them down the stairs to his cellar, several other people already settled on the floor.

It was dimly lit, one small bulb hanging from the ceiling and a few candles dotted here and there. The three of them picked a corner away from the others. Anna could hear the Germans talking about them, and she didn't want to listen. Abe leant against the wall and tucked Anna under his arm as Elli sat on his lap.

"What is happening?" asked Elli, her voice trembling.

"They're warning us there's gonna be a bombin'," said Abe calmly.

"Here?!" asked Anna in a panic.

"Unlikely," he assured her. "I think they're going for Berchtesgaden... that'd be quite the catch if we can take it."

"Then why are we getting sirens?" asked Elli.

"I think they're just tryin' to make sure we're safe and sound," said Abe, Elli still unsure. "Don't worry darlin'. Ain't nothin' gonna get you."

"Promise?"

"I cross my heart," he said, making the motion over his chest.

"How long do we stay down here?" asked Anna.

"All night, usually," he said, "so get comfy. They only ever drop at night. Sirens should only last while they're actually overhead though."

Anna sighed and nestled further into him.

"You scared?"

Anna didn't respond.

"Look at me," he said gently, Anna glancing up. "You have seen off way worse than this, baby. This is nothin'. You're totally safe here with me." He kissed her forehead, the three of them settling in a little more.

The whole basement sat quietly for a good long while an waited for the sirens to end. They could only just hear the faint explosions, Elli burying her head in Abe's shoulder throughout. Anna found it so strange. Is this what the civilians had been going through? How many people had they lost because of nights like this? The war that she had experienced was so different. The horror had always been so quiet, so painfully direct. What would it have been like to have a peaceful night change in a split second?

Finally they stopped and everyone seemed to release a long held breath.

"We stay down here until morning," instructed the old man. "They might come again. Better not to risk it." Everyone murmured in agreement, small conversations beginning.

"Anna," said Elli quietly. "Are we going to sleep down here?"

"Yes," said Anna, stroking her face. "It will pass quicker that way."

"Can you tell me a story?"

"Of course, sweet girl. Which one do you want?"

"How Mama and Papa came to have us."

Anna's heart pounded. If she told it in German, the other people might hear her deepest secret. If she told it in English, then Abe would know. Would that be so awful if he did? She wasn't used to feeling comfortable enough around anyone to tell that part of her past. She'd never told Hans. Not once. Yet, the same trepidation wasn't there. Perhaps, for the first time in her life, she actually wanted to tell someone. "All right."

Anna had Elli and Abe's attention fully on her. She told the story as well as she could in English, catching Abe's eyes every so often. He listened intently as he rubbed Elli's back to soothe her. When Anna finished, they all chatted for another short while, until Elli finally gave in and fell asleep.

Abe and Anna didn't speak at first, simply sat together whilst everyone else also began to doze off.

"Anna," he said softly, "you awake?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"I really liked your story," he murmured.

Anna sat up more so that she could see him better. "I am glad you did. I never tell anyone that story."

"Why's that?"

"I do not like people knowing about my birth mother," she admitted. "But you-"

Anna wasn't sure how to finish. She felt so comfortable with him. Not only that, but she wanted him to know her fully. She had always felt like she had to hide her past from Hans. She had told herself that it was to protect both of them, but really, there was always that niggle of doubt. Appearance meant so much to him. He was a good man, she still believed that, but she couldn't even talk to him about Freddie and Karl's romance, and that was right in front of him.

Anna sighed heavily. "The truth is," she began, "there was nothing nice about my birth mother. She hated me and told me so all of the time. She said I had ruined her life. My parents told the story this way in the hopes that I would forget all of the pain she put me through. But I could not."

Her eyes had drifted to another time, the words tumbling from her mouth. "The only love I felt was when I stayed with Mama and Papa. They were so nice to me... attentive and caring. She would just leave me in the ballet house dormitories or apartment we happened to be staying in. I would be there alone all day and sometimes all night. I remember her bringing strange men back with her on occasion, and they were always drunk. I used to hide from them. They frightened me. And she would only smack me if she thought I had embarrassed her."

Anna had tears spilling down her cheeks now. "There were a few happy times that I remember. Sometimes, she'd dress me up in her clothes or we would dance together... but they were so few and far between, and she was almost volatile. I never knew what mood she was going to be in."

"What about your birth father?" asked Abe, his voice throaty.

Anna shrugged. "He must have been a one-night fling, like the other men. I am not even sure she knew." She thought again. "When she left me with my parents for good, it was not because she thought they would care for me when she could not. She wrote my parent's a letter, explaining it all."

"And they kept it?"

"It was filed along with my adoption documents," she explained. "Evidence I suppose. Karl and I went hunting through my father's drawers one day... a treasure hunt, I think. And we found it." She paused. "It said that I was an unbearable child. That she could not do it anymore. That all I did was drag her down, and that she was still young enough to start a new life without me."  Abe pulled her in close, his arm squeezing her tighter. "Papa was furious with me," she continued. "But Mama decided it was time to talk honestly with me."

"What she say?"

"That she hated my birth mother. That she had only tolerated her for me, and that her letter was selfish and full of horse shit." Anna smiled a little. It was the first time she had ever heard Rachel swear. "Mama never abandoned me," whispered Anna. "Right up until the moment she died. She was trying to get the guards at the camp to look at my identification papers. She was trying to save me." Her tears were falling thick and fast now. "Elli is without her mother because of me-"

"Hey now," said Abe sharply, "don't y'all ever say that! Your Mama was a smart woman, and she sounds like the best damn mother there is. And look what you were able to do!" He looked down at Elli sleeping against his chest. "You saved her, just like your Mama saved you. She'd be so proud of you, baby."

"I could never have abandoned her," she said softly, stroking Elli's soft short hair. "I do not know how anyone could abandon someone they loved."

Abe clearly knew she meant Hans, and he seemed to shift uncomfortably, as though the mere mention of his name hurt him.

Anna sniffed again, loudly. "I always tell people that I hated my mother, and that is true now. But it was not always the case. I wanted her to love me so desperately." She looked up at Abe, her eyes swimming with tears. "Perhaps it was those few good times that I clung to... I do not really know." She took a deep breath. "I've only ever prayed to god twice in my life. The last time was on the night I had my own daughter. I asked him to spare her. He did not." Her head hung for a moment. "The first, I was just a small child. I begged him to make my mother love me. Yet both times, he ignored me."

Abe held her tighter, his fingers tracing her temple in small, circular motions.

"I still remember her final goodbye to me so clearly. She didn't even hug me. I tried to hug her, but she pushed me back." Anna couldn't see through her tears, her throat aching and hoarse. "I think, that being left behind is the one thing that terrifies me more than anything else. Now, I hate my birth mother as much as she hated me, but to know that she did not want me has always plagued me. For Hans to leave me behind... it was like being a small child all over again."

Abe pressed his lips to her forehead, his thumb now clumsily drying her eyes.

"That is why I cannot forgive him. Not the lies, but the fact that he left. If he had stayed, I know I could have forgiven him. But when he left, that was it. There was no hope for us. I just did not know what I had done wrong-"

"You didn't do anything wrong!"

"Rationally, I know that," she admitted. "But that is not what it feels like in my heart. I do not know what was so awful about me that my mother looked at me only with distain. And with Hans..." She paused. "He told me that he loved me... my mother never did, but he told me constantly. So how could he leave me?" Her head hung low. "He said that I could not understand how difficult it was to see me make my choice. But it did not seem difficult for him to make his. It is as if there is something terrible living inside me, a disease... something that made them run away. Maybe that was the thing that made me not want my own daughter-" Anna clapped her hand to her mouth as if to hold back the secret that had slipped out.

"It's okay, baby," Abe reassured her.

"No. It's not. When I thought the baby was Ernst's, I wanted a way out. I wanted to get rid of it. I suppose, just like my mother had with me. But I could not do that to a child. I could not bring them into the world and leave them... so I thought perhaps it was better to just not have them at all. But when I found out she was Hans'... that she was the child I had been dreaming about for so long... I wanted her so desperately." There was another pause, Abe rubbing her back. "Maybe Hans could see that horrible darkness in me. Perhaps he was right to leave me-"

"He left you 'cause he was a fucking asshole," spat Abe. "You not wantin' a baby with a man you despised don't make you a monster. What your mother did to you was unforgivable. I know, in my heart, that you never would have been like that to a child. Even if they were born in bad circumstances." He sighed heavily, wiping away her tears as she clung to him. "Anna," he said seriously, their eyes locked. "I will never leave you. Not ever. Do you understand me? Whatever happens, wherever we end up, I will never, ever abandon you."

"I know you would not," she whispered.

His hand was on her cheek, their faces close together. Yet again, she wanted to lean forward and touch her lips to his. There was an unexplored ache between them, one that was making her heart race in her chest. But as Elli stirred slightly, the moment broke. Abe consented to kiss Anna lightly on the forehead, and she then nestled into him.

"We should sleep," she said quietly.

"Good plan," he said, his eyes closing as his cheek rested on her head, and they both drifted into sleep.

***

As morning broke, the people in the basement began to stir. Abe's eyes opened groggily. His back was killing him. It had been a while since he'd spent such an uncomfortable night. But then he looked down and smiled almost immediately.

Anna and Elli were still snuggled into him, Elli cosy between the two of them. He stroked Anna's hair lightly, Anna smiling dreamily in her sleep.

Abe had never fallen asleep beside a woman like this before. It had always been after getting them into bed. Yet last night, they had shared something far more intimate. Anna trusted him. The only people that had ever trusted him so implicitly had been his men. And that was different. That was born of necessity. Anna didn't have to spend this time with him. She wanted to. It made his heart swell. He looked and saw that the others in the cellar were getting to their feet.

"Hey, sleepyheads," he said gently, nudging them both awake. They opened their eyes, stretching and looking around them.

"We made it!" said Elli sleepily.

"We sure did," grinned Abe. He helped her to her feet, then staggered to his own, cracking his back as he did so.

"You should have moved us off you if your back was sore," said Anna, noticing the pain he was in.

"Nah," he said with a grin. "That was the best night's sleep I've ever had." She smiled, both of them now following the others up and out of the basement and into the daylight.

They thanked the old man for letting them stay, then wandered back to the town centre. When Lord spotted them and called out, all of the boys darted over.

Gabby beat them all to it and she threw her arms around Anna and Elli. "Where on earth have you been? I was so worried about you!"

"We were still out on our walk when the siren sounded," explained Anna. "So we just went to the nearest basement."

"Well, thank God you're all right!" she breathed, looking up at Abe. "Thank you for keeping them safe."

"Of course," he said, as Gabby pulled him into his own hug.

Hollywood gave Abe a shove. "What've I said about getting' lost ya big dumb Hick!"

"I weren't lost," protested Abe. "Just further out than I shoulda been."

"You asshole," said Hollywood, but they pulled each other into a hug as Sam and the others came over.

"You guys all right?" asked Sam, all of them nodding.

"Hollywood," said Elli. "Did you win me a horse?"

"'Fraid not," he sighed. "Sirens kinda got in the way. But why don't you tell me about the horse you want over breakfast?"

Elli nodded excitedly, taking his hand and babbling away to him as Gabby linked arms with Anna and led them back to her house. After all the boys had slapped Abe on the back, it left just him and Sam to meander towards Gabby's.

"Sam," said Abe, "y'all are educated."

"They don't call me college boy for nothing."

"How do I tell Anna what I'm thinkin' without sounding like a damn fool?"

Sam grinned up at him. "What are thinking of doing, writing her a poem?"

"I just wanna say something nice, you know?" said Abe, his voice grumbly.

"I don't think Anna wants or needs big words from you," encouraged Sam. "She likes you exactly as you are. Why pretend to be something you're not?"

"But she's so smart!" protested Abe. "I wanna be good enough for her, you know?"

"You are big fella. Just take things one day at a time, like you are now. Don't force it."

"I can't leave here without her, Sam," he said earnestly, his brow furrowed. "It would kill me."

"We'll sort something when we know exactly where we're heading," promised Sam. "Hollywood and Gabby have a plan in mind. They're just finalising a few things."

"Good to hear," sighed Abe, relieved that his heart would get to keep on singing like it was now.