charlotte tarvers is only 14 when the war breaks out, but 17 when she signs up. she's heard the stories from her parents, lovers who found each other by chance on the front lines in world war one in the country of france, now passing down the storie...
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" Listen to the silence, it has so much to say."
- Rumi
***
Charlotte was frozen at first. All she could see was Leroy's face in her mind, and the happy boy back at home that he was. She didn't know how to feel at first, how to even react to what Winters' had just said. But then suddenly, she felt more tears rush to her eyes than ever before, and she was trying so hard to hold back her quivering lip, and the sob that wanted to escape. Charlotte could only feel her mind scrambling and breaking down, further and further away from sanity. The tears rushed her eyes, and she didn't realize how white her knuckles were until she realized she was squeezing her fists clasped together. She felt her breathing rate pick up, and she couldn't meet the eyes of the two men in front of her.
" D..D..D-Dead?" she whispered, voice breaking, a sniffle following, as she attempted to wipe the tear that fell from her cheek. Her bottom lip trembled, with overwhelming power, as she stared at the letter in Winters' hands. She couldn't hold herself, even compose herself somewhat in front of the two men. She let the tiny, heartbreaking, vulnerable cry escape her lips, and the tears bubble over and down her cheeks, the dimples completely gone by this point, and replaced with sadness. The girl shoved her head into her hands and let the sobs flow from her entire being. She'd never cried so hard in her life, as she felt her stomach grow sore as she heaved one after the other. She felt someone sit down next to her, and the next thing she knew, she was holding onto them so tight, her arms wrapped around their center as she sobbed into their chest, probably wetting their fresh ODs in the process. But she didn't care. She finally had dropped the act. Her heart ached and she felt the only thing she could do was heave sobs out of her body that shook the CP. The person rubbed her shoulder gently, pushing a few soothing circles on her back, as she hiccuped, and tried to regain some dignity and composure. She slowly opened her eyes, her shaking figure curled around Speirs, surprisingly enough to her, and she met Winters' eyes that looked at her with pity.
" We're pulling you from the patrol." Winters said to the girl. The thought of her on patrol after everything that's happened, and how sick she was and emotionally destroyed, hurt Winters.
" We're sorry about your brother." Winters said softly to the girl, reaching forward a placing a hand on her knee and giving it a squeeze. She was afraid to speak, fear of breaking down all over again, filling her brain so she merely nodded at the Captain.
" Sorry, sir." she whispered hoarsely, her voice raw with emotion, as she pulled up from Speirs who looked worriedly at the distraught girl. She wiped her eyes, and stared emotionless forward into whatever abyss she was focusing on.
" Is, is um, Louis ok?" she asked softly, " Sir?" Speirs and Winters looked at each other.
" 2nd Rangers headed out to Reims the other day and they say your brother's with them, so we can only assume they are ok." Speirs said softly to the girl. She nodded, and sucked in a shaky breath as she thought about Leroy again, and the fact she'd never get to see him ever again, only in her memory, just like the rest of her brothers that she served with.
