May 13, 1945

Alice grabbed a towel from a cabinet in the bathroom of her hotel room. The sun had just started to rise, and all she wanted to do was go swimming. The night before she'd begged Nix to come with her to stand guard so she could swim in peace. After much prodding, he'd agreed. Alice pulled on her boots and laced them half of the way up.

Grinning to herself, she pulled her door closed behind herself. Taking the stairs down as quickly and quietly as she could, Alice found herself in the entrance lounge in no time. A few enlisted soldiers stood guard at the front. Other than that, only Nixon sat in the room. She nearly laughed at how bedraggled he looked.

"Ready?" she asked.

He glanced up and rolled his eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he walked over. "Why am I doing this again?"

Alice laughed as they walked out into the pleasant warmth of Zell am See. The sun started hitting the ground, casting long shadows from the trees in the early morning. With a deep breath of the fresh air, she turned to him. "Because I have no interest in swimming in a lake with minimal clothing without a guard." When he sighed, she added, "I could always go ask George. I'm sure he'd love to."

Nixon snorted, but he cracked a smile. He took a drink. "Fine."

They walked mostly in silence down the path Alice had found the first day. As they strolled along, a chorus of birds set the blissful scene. When they reached the level of the lake, Alice showed him the path.

"It's beautiful," she said, leading the way. The trees rose to either side, wildflowers sprinkling their roots. "Trust me. It's worth getting up this early."

"Alice."

She looked back. "What?"

"Nothing is worth getting up this early."

With another sharp laugh, she shook her head and continued on. "You know we had to get up this early during training. How'd you manage it then?"

Nixon scoffed. "A lot of coffee. And Dick would kick me until I got up."

They came out to the edge of the lake by the dock. Bluish water stretched on between mountains in front of them. Alice paused. Her breath hitched. The astounding beauty never seemed to cease in Austria. She grinned.

Alice walked to the end of the stone dock. Sunlight poured onto the stone just as it had days ago, but it was still so early in the day that it lacked a lot of the warmth. When she shifted off her boots and socks and put her bare feet on the slate, she grimaced. The water would be cold. Still, she had come all the way down there. Alice wasn't going to back out, especially not since she'd dragged Nix with her. So she pulled her paratrooper pants off over her shorts, and her button down ODs with it. Left with just a dark tee-shirt and shorts, she paused.

"I was wrong," Nix said. 

Alice turned around. He had walked out half way along the dock. He still looked hungover, and she guessed he was, but he smirked now. She frowned. "Wrong about what?"

"This is worth getting up this early."

She couldn't stop herself from grinning. With a shake of her head, she threw her jacket at him. He caught it, still chuckling. For a moment she teetered on the edge. Her nerves screamed at her. She knew it would be cold. Alice scrunched up her face. Her muscles tightened. But she couldn't jump.

"Jesus christ, just jump in."

Alice turned. She glared at him. He moved closer. Alice gaped, and shook her head. She screamed. "I swear, Nix, if you push me in I'll pull you in after me." He stopped moving towards her so she nodded. "I'll jump! I'll jump. Just give me a minute."

After staring at the water for another few second, Alice scrunched her face up and braced for the cold. She jumped. Hitting the water with a splash, she sputtered at the sudden temperature change. Gasping for air, she scrunched herself up. German curses spewed forth from her, entirely uncensored. Nixon just laughed between drinks.

But after a little while to adjust, she settled down. Alice moved further into the water, a little deeper so she didn't have to stand in the sandy ground. She kept moving. The more she moved, the warmer she felt. The sunlight hit her face and head, warming her soaked hair.

It didn't take long before Alice just started floating on her back, letting the sun warm her skin. The water around her became less cold the longer she stayed in it. A deep sense of peace surrounded her. Alice smiled. 

After a good twenty minutes of swimming around the general area, Alice moved back towards the dock. Nixon still sat there, sipping at his flask, looking out over the lake. Reaching the dock, Alice hauled herself up the rocky side until she sat dripping on the slate next to him. The sun had warmed the stones. Without speaking, Nix passed her the flask. She took a drink. The bite of scotch almost made her cough.

A moment later, Alice leaned back until she lay on the stones. Just as it had days before, the slate felt almost like a massage on her back. She closed her eyes with a smile. The water dripped from her tee-shirt and hair onto the stones around her.

"I don't want this to end," she muttered. Nixon laughed under his breath, but he didn't respond. She guessed he was still a little bitter about getting up so early. It couldn't have been past 0800. "This is perfect."

"Being soaking wet lying in the middle of a forest before humans should even be awake is perfect?" he asked. 

Alice couldn't see him roll his eyes with her own closed, but she imagined it. It just made her smirk more. She sat up. Alice turned to him, where he sat with his legs over the side like her, dressed in his bedraggled ODs. It took her breath away. Not because of the way the light hit his skin, or his slightly messy hair, but because he was there.

"Nix," she said, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Being here."

Nixon smirked into a small laugh. "Wasn't about to let George do it."

"No, I mean... always. Just, being here. You've done it since Toccoa and I think if I'm going to remember anything from this war, it's that." Alice's smile faded a bit. She turned from him to look back out over the lake. The mountains in the distance almost glowed along the edges from the sun. "I would not have made it through this hell without you."

"You underestimate yourself," he argued. "You put up with us bunch of idiots back in training who didn't even understand what we were fighting for. Not really."

Alice smiled. She looked back at him. "Yeah, you all were pretty naive."

He let out a light laugh. After another drink from his flask, he turned to her. "And through everything you still held onto you. You keep saying Adélaïde's gone. You've convinced yourself that Alice is different, stronger somehow." He shook his head. "You're wrong."

She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?" Alice crossed her arms over her chest. But he just flashed her a tiny smile and passed over the flask. She downed the last bit that was in it. 

"When you built a snowman in the middle of Bastogne. Or when you rescued the kitten in Haguenau." He looked at her, watched her expression soften. Nix smirked. "That was Adélaïde. She's in there."

"Then she's broken," Alice whispered. 

Nixon just huffed. "She's not alone." He lifted his flask a bit and waved it in the air. Setting it to his left, on the other side of himself, he sighed and shook his head.

As he looked down at the water, Alice just watched him. She waited a few moments before grabbing his hand. He looked at her. Alice waited no time leaning over to kiss him. Gentle, but firm, she tried to convey all the emotions she couldn't put into words. The stress evaporated from both of them in an instance. Alice just wanted to stay there, forever, in the sunshine and warmth of a dock in Zell am See, the two of them together.

Footsteps behind them made her pull back. They both turned around, looking back down the dock towards the trees. She winced. Nixon just broke into a grin at Dick's small shake of his head. He wasted no time in struggling up and walking towards him.

"Secret's out, I guess," Nixon joked. He raised his now empty flask. "Cheers."

Dick, wearing his shorts and tee-shirt, towel around his neck, clearly had had the same idea as Alice. He just shook his head. "And here I thought I'd get a peaceful morning swim."

"Sorry," Alice muttered. She pulled herself up too, ringing out as much water from her shirt as she could onto the slate. With a sigh, she did her hair next. "We didn't want to put you in this position. Are you going to report us?"

Nixon scoffed. "Nah, he's too nice. Right Dick?"

Dick glared at him, but then turned back to Alice. With a deep breath, he shook his head. "If I didn't think you two needed this, I would. But you do need to be responsible, and discreet, Nixon." He turned to the other man head on.

Snickering into his water canteen, Nixon through his other hand upwards in protest. "Why'd you assume it's me?"

"It's always you," Dick argued.

Alice walked over, picking her towel up off the ground and working at her hair. As much as she could, she dried her hair and then her face and then her body. Nixon tossed her her pants.

"Does anyone else know," Dick asked.

Nixon snickered. "Harry."

"And George," Alice added.

"What?" Both of them turned to her in surprise.

Alice winced, but couldn't stop herself from smiling a bit. "He guessed it, okay. I don't lie to him." When both of them rolled their eyes, Alice shook her head. "Besides, you should get mad at Harry. The two of them had a bet going with Guarnere over the two of us."

Nixon burst out laughing. Beside him Dick looked entirely unamused. It took a bit for Nixon to stop snickering. When he did, he just patted Dick on the shoulder and walked down the dock towards the path. "Enjoy your swim."

With a small smile, Alice followed him. She'd slipped into her boots. With her OD shirt over her arms and her towel draped around her neck, she hurried past him. Smirking, she gestured back towards the water. "It's pretty cold."

"Thanks," Dick said. 

He watched them go. Before long, Alice and Nixon were strolling up the stairs into the resort. Her clothes had mostly dried in the time since she'd been in the lake. As their boots slammed onto the last step and they walked into the marble-floored lounge, Alice left Nixon to his own devices. She hurried up the stairs to the fourth floor.

Once she got to her room, she ran a shower and washed her hair. Not for the first, nor for the last, time she felt beyond grateful for soap and shampoo and warm water. They'd been in Austria for only a week, but she loved it. If it hadn't been for the war, it'd have been perfect. But there was still a war on. Even though the men spent their free time drinking and celebrating, playing baseball and basketball and relaxing, the war still loomed. More and more Germans surrendered every day. They trickled in like ants.

With her body clean and her mind a bit exhausted, she decided to take a nap. Her head hit the pillow. She fell asleep in mere minutes. 

The knock on her door that woke her was Nixon. He looked as tired as she had felt a couple hours before. "Come on, we got a newsreel from Regimental. They want everyone to view it."

Alice nodded, and followed after him. They took the stairs down two at a time. Just across from the last step, three enlisted men stood crowded by a glass door. At their appearance, the men stood away. Nixon opened it and stepped inside. Alice followed.

A large projector screen had been set up in the front of the crowded room. Seats and standing room had been filled almost to capacity as blood images of the war in the Pacific raged on. Sidling to the right of the door, she picked up a spot just in front of Dick. To his and Nixon's right, she nodded to Harry, Lipton, and Ron. It seemed to be mostly Dog Company crowded into the makeshift theater, some standing, some sitting, a few even perched on a desk in the corner. The steady, rapid click-click of the rotating film became a backdrop for the military newscaster.

"Each small advance is gained by sheer grit, in the face of withering fire from a suicidal enemy being slowly hammered back into the hills. The going is brutal, and our casualties are high. But Okinawa is the next big step towards victory over Japan, a victory that can only be won by work, war bonds, and heroic sacrifice."

With a click of the end of the tape, the screen went blank. Alice couldn't breathe. The peace she'd felt earlier disappeared. The looming threat of Easy jumping into Japan crashed over her again. Nothing was forever. Austria wouldn't last forever. Before long, she'd be discharged and Easy would leave to fight another war. And from what she'd seen and heard, the Japs fought in a way foreign even to the Germans. Alice shuddered.

The lights flipped on. Men shifted in their spots and got up to leave. As they scuttled out, few spoke. Most of them had the same thoughts running through the minds as she did. Once a handful of the enlisted had made it out, giving them more space to move, Ron flipped around to stand before Dick, Alice to his right. 

"So when are we going?" he asked.

Dick took a deep breath. He noticed the other officers leaning in.  "We don't have a date yet." 

"We to tell the men right away?" Ron folded his arms across his chest. He glanced from Dick to Nixon and Lipton, and back to Dick.

Dick sighed, nodding ever so slightly. His voice stayed low. "Some of them will have enough points to go home."

But Nixon broke in. He shook his head. "Not many, if their only medal is a purple heart."

Behind him, Alice saw Harry and Lipton both nodding. They all knew it was true. The brass had been beyond stingy with handing out medals. Often they went to the favorites of the Regiment. It had pissed her off more than once.

"Still, I think most of us will have enough." Dick looked at all of them before moving towards the door. Assured they would follow, he kept talking, "And each of us will have to decide what to do. I don't know how long we're waiting here for orders, but I want those veterans who are staying, and all new replacements ready to fight." 

Dick turned back to them as they stood in the hall. While the enlisted filed past, he eyed Nixon, Ron, Harry, and Lipton. They stood gloomy but all ears for what he had to say while Alice hung to the side. Dick looked at Ron and Lipton. "That means rifle ranges, that means daily close-order drills, that means troop reviews. But above all that means physical training. Get your NCOs on it."

As Ron nodded, looking at the floor, Dick moved to leave. Harry joined him. At the back, highly amused, Nixon just snarked, "They're gonna love you."

Not even Alice laughed at his joke. She followed next to Lipton, just in front of Nix, as they made to leave the lobby. Her heart raced. She did her best to slow her breathing, calm herself. But the prospect of losing everyone wouldn't leave her mind. She couldn't lose them. She couldn't.

But Alice knew she didn't have a say in the matter. With a frown, she split from Dick and Nixon and instead followed Lip and Ron out to the stairs. As they headed towards Easy Company, she stopped at the landing. With mountains reared up in the distance beyond the lake. She tried to put herself back on the dock just a handful of hours before. Nothing lasts forever. Nothing good, at least. She sighed. With a last look at the lake in the distance, Alice tried to push the thoughts away.