Chapter 34: Mein Geliebtes [My Beloved]

A couple of days had passed since Fritz's birthday celebration, in which all went well. Rebekah succeeded in convincing Wolfgang to not keep her in bed all day, so while she helped Anneke and Elizabeth with making the cake the boyfriend hung with the boys and Johannes to help pick presents. And then the next two days, it rained. And rained. And rained.

But this time, though it rained, Johannes opened the window to her room and sat on her wide windowsill bench. Her face took in the soft rain, the cool breeze that blew in the flowers that clung to her dark hair. She'd never seen rain for most of her life, but it fascinated her to the fullest. In her curiosity she even stuck out her hand to catch a few raindrops and smiled as they lightly fell upon her hand.

Carefully wiping her hands on her black skirt she got up and stretched for a moment. Now on a day like this there wasn't really a lot to do, as the Quartet usually declared it a day off to simply chill. But Johannes, busy as she was, didn't mind the extra time off. In fact, she loved it--extra time off meant more time to explore the world around her. Rainy days however were the best excuse to simply stay home and sleep.

She lied down on her bed and faced the window, still open as the scent of rain crept in. She loved the smell of fresh rain, wondering how she in all her blindness never really noticed it until this moment. Closing her eyes she drowned in its scent, even as Ralf entered the room quietly.

...what in the name of... he thought to himself when he saw the open window, but the worrying ceased when he saw Johannes half asleep on the bed. He knew she had fallen in love with the rainy weather since she'd gained her sight yet he didn't know how much until now. He gently closed the door and, removing his coat and tie to place them on one of the two chairs in the room, walked to her bed.

Johannes' eyes opened when she sensed that he was in the room with her, but she smiled to herself and closed her eyes again to rest some more. Ralf sat down on the bed beside her and looked over her adoringly, the flowers strewn about her hair, her black long-sleeved corset top and long skirt that made her light skin seem even paler, her face set at peace--a certain calm overcoming her. He couldn't help but realize how far they'd come since they'd first met all those months ago. But not even the blindness she'd been born with could stop her from finding love at last.



"I wonder how Joey's doing" Wolfgang sighed as he and Rebekah sat on her front-porch swing, watching the rain fall down. "I haven't seen her since Fritz's birthday party a few days ago."

"Joseraph's doing alright" his girlfriend answered. "She's just been enjoying the rain. She hasn't slept much lately, so she was going to try to make up for it today before we meet up with the adoption officials tomorrow with Alessandro."

Wolfgang's eyes widened. "Oh snap! The adoption is tomorrow!? How'd I missed out on that part of the memo, Reki!?"

Rebekah shrugged. "The hell would I know, Wolfie?"

Her boyfriend chuckled, raising an eyebrow at her. "Time out. Wolfie!?"

"Yes" she replied with a grin. "Get used to it."

He shook his head smiling. "I'm gonna love having you for my wife, Reki" he said. "Just you watch."

But she simply replied with a wink and a grin, and resumed watching the rainfall.



"Johanna?" Ralf whispered in her ear as he lied down beside her. "Are you still awake?"

"I've been having trouble sleeping lately, to be honest" Johannes replied softly, opening her eyes. "I hoped to catch up on sleep so I wouldn't fall asleep in the middle of Alessandro's adoption tomorrow."

Ralf held her close to him. "Why didn't you tell me, Johanna?"

"I didn't want you to worry so much about me" she answered, clasping her hands with his. "There'd been so much going on, but I just... I just couldn't sleep well. Between Fritz's birthday a couple of days ago and Alessandro's big day tomorrow... yeah. I've been hectic." She sighed, her eyes fixed to the open window. "Maybe a little too hectic. I hadn't seen you in days, Ralf. We'd all been so busy."

"I know, Prinzessin" he sighed as she turned to face him. "And I'm sorry. I really wanted to spend some time with you. And with all that had been going on and will be going on I guess we..."

"We didn't have much time to spend together... did we, Ralf?" she whispered lightly.

He nodded. "Nein" he whispered sadly, "we didn't, Princess. And I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too" she apologized humbly and hugged him tightly.

For a while they held each other tightly until Ralf blinked his eyes and looked into Johannes' own. Then, realizing he didn't have a lot of time left to spend with her until another whirlwind of activity would commence again, he took matters to his own hands and, holding her bright face in his hands, kissed her full on the mouth.

"...what in the world's come over you, Ralf!?" Johannes whispered, amazed at the power of his kiss.

"I'm making up for lost time, Johanna" he simply answered as he fought with the ribbons of her corset, the ribbons on her skirt. But the thought didn't register fully for her at first until she realized, he was right. They hadn't been with each other in a few days, and even that was much too long for them to be apart. And she knew he was right when he started trailing kisses along her shoulder, down her pale body that the clothing of darkness concealed for so long...



A few minutes later Elizabeth almost dropped her bowl of soup, a warmth in her chest arising again. But it was stronger than she'd felt the past three times before. Florian stood up from his place in the table at Anneke's kitchen and walked to her.

"Eliza, are you alright?" he asked, helping her hold onto the bowl.

But she nodded hesitantly. "Yes, I'm alright, love" she assured him. "I just feel a strange warmth in my chest... that only I can think about. I... I couldn't tell you what it was for the life of me. You wouldn't understand." She gave him a humbling smile.

He sighed softly. "Understood" he answered with a smile. "If you need me to help with anything, just ask."

"Got it" she spoke again, smiling.

He then kissed her forehead and left the kitchen, and carefully Elizabeth placed the bowl in the sink. She then took a deep breath, and realized fully what all could've gone on.

Johanne she thought to herself, you've become one soul with Ralf, haven't you? But she clutched her chest tightly, realizing that it felt warmer because of the outside chill of the wind that blew in from the open kitchen windows.

And then, a tear or two down her cheek, she smiled. She knew her sister's heart, at last, was full. And she sighed wistfully, wondering if her little sister could get any sleep after this new situation Ralf started.



Johannes opened her eyes after a much-needed few hours' rest and looked at Ralf. She was able to get some rest, relaxed as she was even as her senses were in overdrive some hours ago. Whatever crossed his mind as he undid the ribbons that held her clothes together, whatever crossed her mind as she fought carefully with his tie and shirt buttons--it must've been enough. But she still drowned in the memory fresh from earlier in the afternoon; she still tasted every kiss, she still felt every last inch of his skin upon hers, and as she closed her eyes she still felt their eyes meet when they finally found their release. There wasn't much else to do now, as all had been said and done.

She traced a finger along his cheek, his mouth. "You're so beautiful, Ralf" she whispered softly with a loving smile. "I simply don't... I just don't deserve you."

"No, you do deserve me, Johanna" Ralf whispered back, opening his eyes to look at her. "Just as I deserve you." He wrapped her tightly in his arms, lightly kissing her shoulder. "We deserve and belong to each other, Johanna."

Johannes sighed and looked to one of the healed wounds on his shoulder from that fateful, final fight against the DarkStrom. She never could understand fully how he, in the end, survived the fight... how he and the fellow Mensch-Maschinen survived. But she was grateful and thrilled that they'd survived.

"You know... I don't think I'll ever figure out how and or why we met" she admitted humbly. "But whatever the circumstances, I'm thankful for them all."

"How so, Princess?" Ralf asked with a smile.

"Because I'm here, in the loving arms of my beloved Prince Charming" she replied nonchalantly.

Ralf smiled again and wrapped each other in the blanket. "Well, if I were you, I'd still be resting up after what all went on in here" he suggested.

"Ja, that was... well... yeah" she laughed gently. "By the way... Ralf?"

"Yes, mein geliebtes Prinzessin?" he asked, his blue eyes looking into her purple own.

"I love you" she whispered, smiling.

But Ralf simply kissed her forehead and rested against her heart, whispering "I love you even more" as he planted kisses along her heart. Johannes held him tightly to her and closed her eyes to resume catching up on some much-needed yet rightly-blissful sleep, simply drowning in their love...