" Have you ever met a person who at first glance you're not attracted to but then you talk and with every word, every smile, every laugh, they become more beautiful until you can't believe there was a moment you didn't think they were."

- Atticus

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" Alright Tab, when we get back to barracks you'll have to fork it over," Babe said smugly as the group, whether treading in the lake water, or sitting on the edges of the dock, stayed in a tiny circle, the warm, sweet breeze brushing their skin.

" I only owe you $20 Babe, and you owe me $40 so I don't know where that cockiness is coming from," Tab argued back as the group let out a ring of chuckles. Catherine took a glance past George's shoulder who was next to her and nearly threw up.

Joe and Hazel - they were coming, right down the path, his arm securely wrapped over hers, as she laughed at something he said. Catherine couldn't imagine if they suddenly heard them - oh lord.

" Guys, hey, hey, guys, they're coming." Catherine whispered. But before it could touch George's ears, he was already running down to the dock and pulling Hazel and Joe, who looked wholeheartedly confused, into his arms.

" And you're really going to start a family with him?" Johnny said with a smirk and Catherine let out a laugh shaking her head. She was. No one at the edge of the dock could hear the immediate conversation between Hazel, Joe and George, but by the smug look on George's face, and the reddening cheeks of both Joe and Hazel, it was evident that 2 of George's most favorite words at the moment, bet and the fact he had won, were definitely in the air.

The group watched George proudly walk down the dock, swinging his arms at his sides, as he took in the fresh mountain air as if he were some sort of Greek God as Hazel, blushing like a tomato and Joe, looking quite the same but quite possibly actually pissed right behind them.

" I told you all that I KNEW this was coming," George said.

" Yeah it's because you knew about it the longest asshole," Joe said as he approached and George chuckled. Eyes widened around the entire group.

" So this wasn't just a few month thing?" Babe asked with wide eyes, suddenly going back and recounting his money.

" No, it wasn't-" George said but Joe slapped a hand over George's mouth.

" You bet on us?" Joe asked, with a raised brow. George nodded from behind his hand.

" A whole wad of cas-" Lizzie was next to slam a hand over Tab's mouth with a forced smile upon her features.

" You can kindly shut your mouth," she said and Tab narrowed his eyes as Bull chuckled from beside him in the water.

" And you-" Tab said removing her hand," can kindly remove your hand, Elizabeth."

" And you-"

" ALRIGHT YOU TWO!" Catherine snapped at them.

" Don't even fucking tell me this was what I walked into a few months back." Joe said and Hazel's yes widened.

" You weren't planning for my birthday," Hazel said with wide eyes," you were betting on Joe and I!" Joe turned to look at her.

" You walked in on that too?" he asked her and Hazel raised a brow.

" You did too?' she asked with a small smile. And Joe smirked with a nod.

" Oh Christ, 5 seconds into witnessing this lovey dovey crap and I might hurl." Frank said and Hazel giggled.

" Just wait until you have a wife, Frank, won't be saying that much longer." George said and Frank flipped him off.

" Screw you alright," Frank said as George chuckled.

" How high did the bet even go?" Hazel asked, still slightly in shock of the entire thing.

" $150."

" $150?!" Hazel said with wide eyes.

" One hundred fucking fifty dollars?" Joe said, " I mean I'm great, but I feel what I offer is priceless." Hazel giggled and basically everyone could see the little inside jokes filled with love between the two.

" Sure, Joe," she said to him and Lizzie felt her heart melt a bit.

" You know it, Parker." Joe said and Hazel blushed further.

" Jesus Christ, can you two stop being so adorable, i can't take it, save it for the wedding please." Catherine said and both blushed even further.

" And Joseph Liebgott blushing, quite the first." Johnny commented and Joe set his eyes on Johnny.

" I'm not blushing." Joe defended himself as Hazel giggled beside him.

" Yes you are," Hazel said and Joe grumbled to himself, before meeting Hazel's eyes and almost automatically lighting up and softening as well.

" Alright, I'm putting down $200 on the first kid," Babe said, " who's in?"

" I call $250, if they name it Joe Jr," Johnny said with a smug smirk.

" I'll raise you 3, with a tip," Bull conjured.

" Alright slow down, I was about to do that," Tab said holding up his hand, the Jump Wings chain on his wrist sliding down.

" Move a little faster, Tab you would've had your chance." Skinny grumbled, " Seriously am I the only competent one here?"

" Nah, we have a badass Lieutenant right here," George said pointing to Catherine as Catherine smirked.

" Brownie points Mr. Luz," Catherine said as George snickered.

" I thought I was the badass Lieutenant," a voice suddenly said and nearly every member of the company froze, stiff backed. As everyone slowly turned to look over their shoulders, eyes widened, yelps left others mouth, and struggles to get out of the water quicker than the other erupted.

It was Buck Compton.

A smile on his cheery face, a grin the size of California on his features. Catherine had to be the first to reach him with George just behind her.

It was Buck.

Buck Compton.

Lieutenant Buck Compton.

And soon there were other Easy members, piling in for hugs just behind them one after the other and soon enough, it was like one big, slightly crowded group hug with Buck on the dock.

" Y'all are so comfy, damn." Tab suddenly said and the group broke out into chuckles, slowly backing away from Buck who stood, almost as if he looked like an angel.

" What the fuck you doing back here?" George asked.

" Well, for one I had to make sure someone," Buck said looking at George who chuckled, wrapping an arm over Catherine's shoulder," was being kept in line, but it seems Lieutenant McCown has handled that perfectly." And this time it was Catherine's turn to blush, but she furiously tried her best to keep it down the best she could, as she stared at hm with a playful smirk.

" How'd you even know?" she said as George chuckled.

" Your boyfriend wrote me quite a few letters a month or so back." Buck said and Catherine straight up shoved George's arm.

" And to think I've tried keeping you in line," Catherine said as George chuckled rubbing his arm, the group chuckling in response.

" I'm a keeper what can I say," George said, " I think she'll keep me around."

" Oh you're real smooth buddy," Catherine said as Buck laughed, his bright blue eyes glowing under the sunshine.

" Hey, you hear about this though," Tab said stepping forward, " we finally got these two together." Buck glanced at the rather quiet Hazel and the so ungodly quiet Joe Liebgott who stood blushing side by side.

" No shit really, where's my money?" Buck said.

" Hold the fuck up I thought you said this bet was recent?" Joe said stepping forward.

" Recent, Joe as in, September 1944," Tab said sassily, " I got the money back in barracks, boy will the Major be happy to see you."

" Are we going to ignore the fact that the betting has been going on for almost a year and I missed out on a majority of it!" Babe called out as Johnny gave him a smack on the shoulder.

" Keep word, Babe, you were a replacement then," Johnny said and Babe groaned as Bull chuckled beside Frank.

" You three are a load," Babe muttered. Buck smiled then.

" It's nice to see you all though, the company, the friendship, I....I missed that, not like I missed war, but I missed the feeling of friendship, a brotherhood, a sisterhood in war, all of it." Buck said and the group smiled softly.

" I think we missed you more, Buck," George said gently patting his shoulder. Buck smiled, meeting each and every set of eyes.

" Yeah I think I missed you all the most." he said and the group smiled. Buck was back. And almost immediately what he wanted was to play baseball.

And a baseball game was what it would be.

Hazel softly peered into the tent, her eyes traveling to Joe near his cot, pulling on his OD top. Hazel softly looked at her hands before stepping forward, a bunch of the guys running towards the field outside, calling and yelling like children.

" Hey," Hazel said as Joe was pulling on his dog tags, running a hand through his hair.

" Hey, cutie," he said, softly pressing a kiss to her lips and she smiled softly into it as Joe gently pulled back, " what's up?"

" You ready for baseball?" she asked him.

" Oh hell yeah, I've waited a whole war for this," he said and Hazel smiled. Joe's eyes found the paper in her hand.

" What's that?" he asked nodding to her hand.

" Oh!" Hazel said, pulling the letter up into her hands and staring at it," It's, um, it's for you."

" For me?" he said and she nodded.

" From me." she said, softly gazing at the letter, " To you." She softly let Joe take the letter and then smiled up at him.

Joe softly glanced up at her before looking down at her handwriting. His name, written in her slightly messy little droopy handwriting scrawled across the page.

So Hazel.

Joe went to open it but her hands stopped him and he met her eyes with a raised brow.

" What?" he asked. She smiled.

" Read it after I leave, okay?" she whispered softly, her warm hands encasing his with the letter just underneath.

" Why?" Joe asked. Hazel softly smiled and then softly looked up towards him.

" Just...." she whispered, her fingers tapping against his hand, the top of it," you'll know why." Joe watched her, as she softly pressed a kiss to his lips, his eyelids gently fluttering closed in a gentle manner at her touch. When she pulled back she smiled at him, before meeting his eyes.

" I'll see you out there," Hazel said and then shyly put her hands behind her back and turned skipping out. Joe watched her disappear around the corner and then looked at the letter in his hand.

Joe glanced around the empty tent, hearing laughter and light outside before settling himself down on her cot, where the warm vanilla scent slowly stemmed from. Joe softly turned the letter in the envelope over in his fingers and softly pulled open the flap. His fingers gently found the letter and he slowly eased it out of the encasing. Joe softly placed the envelope beside him and then opened the letter up, a gentle rustle of paper on paper inciting from it.

Joe's eyes softly laid across the first few sentences on the page and almost instantly tears welled his eyes.

Joe,

If you're reading this, then maybe I wasn't as scared as I thought I'd be to tell you I loved you :)

Joe could hear the little laugh in her voice as she wrote the line, as if she were right beside him.

Scared as in, scared to share my heart with another, a heart which had been scarred too many times to even believe that loving another was a possibility. That it was capable of a love like what we have. My head and my heart told me that it were impossible, to feel what love was again - I had been so emotionally ripped from what a good, loving relationship was, that the thought of thinking about 'what if I loved so much, but they still left in the end', and all the possibilities, that I'd just make the same mistake, over and over, until there were no mistakes left to make.

It might sound quite stupid, to believe I'm incapable of love, because love seems to be the consistent universal thing that keeps us all together right? But as a young girl, looking up with wide wondrous eyes, full of naivety and innocence, it's all I could believe, it's all I could wonder about. Young girls aren't supposed to feel that much pain at that sort of youth - maybe the pain of breaking your favorite toy, tripping over a log on the sidewalk, not the pain of you father leaving you behind without a single word, your heart going with him. But I felt that pain, every bit of it and for years it beat down on me, without fail - every Christmas, I would cry myself to bed at night thinking about my father, the man who told me he loved me, taught me to dance, told me if any boy broke my heart, he could take them - he didn't know he'd be the first to break it.

My thoughts as a child were that, since my father left, it were rather inevitable that death would follow, because during those times, what was a family without a father? A family without a man of the household, a family without a loving and caring father. I always thought death would follow, without fail, as a way God would punish my family because there was no father there to care for us. I thought God would want to punish me, for not trying to keep him back, to hold him here, to let him know I loved him and told him, that this world is cruel and harsh, that I've now experienced it first hand, that it would be okay. 20 year old Hazel would've told him so, crouching on the floor as he sobbed into her arms - 8 year old Hazel would've stayed in that corner and let God punish her with that inevitable death she thought everyone ended up getting.

Death was always a fear, at home and now even in war - an inevitable end to something you thought was so lovely, so kind, so giving, so substantial. But, in this war I have learned more about the broken pieces that make up a person - and how those broken pieces let the light in. There's light at the end of the tunnel - always. And maybe I had to go through a war to finally feel some of that light in me, some of the love I never knew I was capable of, and maybe that's okay, maybe you have to go through pain to finally see the light, all this darkness, this hate, this grief, this pain, that maybe it was all worth it. That God wouldn't make us continuously suffer unless there was an end goal.

But I know God is kind, always, and his plans are always meant to work out the way he hopes. Maybe as a little girl I didn't believe that, but looking back now I do - in life and death. In life, there's inevitable pain, it's the only way you stay human, the only thing that allows you to feel some sort of emotion, that pit in your chest, but in the end, you always manage to reach out and grasp the light. But I know also, that there's also light in death. Because I've realized that when we die, we are not forgotten like it is thought to be, memories were created for a reason, the thought of loving and remembering one was created by God for that very reason. Because we when die, I know the ones who loves us will miss us. And by missing they are never forgotten. And for 13 years of my life I missed my father, begging God that he would allow him to come home, allow him to come back to this house, to be a father again, my father. But maybe that's not what God's plan was for me or my father or my mother.

Maybe it was for the death of those ties to finally break, that bondage to sever because God knew it was not in his plan and the only way to know it wasn't, was by feeling the pain of those 13 years that I just couldn't cope with. That maybe it's okay to miss someone and not want them back in your life, just to miss the person who helped you grow into the person you became, but never want to see them again. And I feel it was a difficult lesson for me to learn, to comprehend, to understand - that quite possibly it took a whole war for me to grasp such a basic concept, but it was a lesson God never gave up on me with learning to handle - he didn't give up on me for one second. And sitting here, now I know what lesson he was trying to teach me. You lose love in one place and you may find it in another, an even darker, scarier place - but this love can be pure, kind, caring, funny, loving and full of a comfort you never thought you'd have.

It was you.

It was always you.

Joseph Liebgott it was always you in my heart, always you on my mind, wishing for a love with you. Yearning for one. Because you may not think it yourself, but you have a good heart, a wonderful heart, a beautiful heart. And your heart and mine, they never stopped reaching for one another in the darkness, they were the light for one another. The other thought they were in so much darkness, that by reaching for the other, just maybe, they'd grasp onto that light again. And I let my heart do so, take hold of yours, holding it close, letting it be known that I in fact loved your heart. And my heart followed, loving yours endlessly.

And our love, it's not perfect, it's not supposed to be, God was never supposed to make love perfect, but that's what makes it beautiful, truly. We were ourselves, Joe, that's all God would've wanted, no barriers, no borders, none of it, nothing, not any sort of guard created to please the other - we were ourselves and we showed each other our hearts. And when problems arose, neither of us ran, we didn't fear the other would not be capable of what our own minds felt, what sort of pain they felt, we dealt with it, together, we let ourselves deal with it, together. I knew then, we'd never run from our problems, we'd try and fix them, that's what God always, I felt, he preached.

Many people have a hard time coming to a realization of this kind. But people need not wait for the world. They shall never give in to the perfection of what the world encourages. It's the secret no one wishes to discover one day, the one that may break hearts and shatter souls. The world wishes for perfect but deep down it wishes for each and every human to simply be themselves. Be who they want, it's why we're all different and made the way we are. We aren't supposed to be perfect, the same, the same version of another. We're supposed to be ourselves and I feel that's all the Earth had ever wished of us. What God wished of us.

And you and I are not perfect, but in each other's eyes we are as perfect as perfect gets. We don't let our problems divide us like a sea, we yearn closer, we try to fix them, all of them, because problems were made for fixing, even if through it all it may not feel like it.

The connection of our love, is more powerful than anything I feel in this world. I always thought love was the most powerful force and that it was this hard, difficult, frustrating thing to understand, but even in war I realized with you, you made it feel like the easiest thing in the world - simply loving someone for who they were, not bothering with pasts, fears, sadness, grief, for just purely LOVING. And you loved me Joe. And I loved you. And the connection, our love intertwined with another, means more than anything in the world to me. You loved me, because I was me. To be loved like that, sometimes I was so down on myself because of simply who I was. I never thought I was capable of love because of the love my father taught me - that you leave when the first problem arises. But no. That is not love.

Love is sitting by the other person on a good or bad day, making them smile, laugh, holding them close, telling them they are not alone in this dark and stormy world. But it's also sitting side by side, knowing that they don't need to talk, they simply just need to be. And maybe it's simply because I adore you Joseph Liebgott. I adore you for so many things and I always have and I still do. But the first time I met you I respected you; you fought for what was right, and I said I'd do the same, and maybe it was simply those words to one another, a mutual respect, a mutual connection to the other that if you need a buddy to go do something with, I'd be there, because we just understood one another, we saw eye to eye. And maybe it was because I felt our mutual connection could grow into more from simply by the way we looked at one another. And it did, it grew into something so beautiful, so raw, so emotional, and so real, that now I know what true love is like.

It's something you have to work at, you really have to work at it. You have to see this person in sickness and in health, through the good and and times, through tears and smiles, fears and grief and sadness, but also joy, happiness, pride. To simply just love because the other human was themselves. What was only ever dreamed of the human being.

Because life is short. And we should never fear love. We don't know how many birthdays we have. And they say...celebrate on your birthdays - I say we should celebrate everyday, celebrating our lives EVERYDAY for simply just living and loving and laughing and simply just being. Life should be celebrated and we should love to celebrate this life we were given. Life of beautiful.

So, sitting here now, I wish to love you endlessly and boundlessly through all the good and bad stages a life can bring one upon, because sometimes we have to suffer, suffer through a war, to reach that light, and for me, that light was you, Joseph Liebgott. And if it meant every time, that I somehow got you in the end, standing there, telling you love me under the dim lights with the stars shining above, I'd do it every single time, over and over. You're worth it, every single second, you are enough and you are worth it. You deserve love, you deserve so much of it, you deserve to be held and cared for and gently clasped in warmth.

You always deserved it.

The stars knew you deserved it, too. They always watched, even on nights clouded by darkness. You will always be deserving of love.

I hope that maybe soon, if this war ever ends, I can give you all the love you deserve through the good and bad times, highs and lows, sadness and grief and happiness and joy, I hope that you know I will give you everything I have simply because I love you. And love is powerful Joe.

My love for you, simply.

Hopefully this world agrees, but I'm assuming we'll make it agree.

I love you, Joseph Liebgot and I'll never stop loving you.

Love,

Hazel Parker

And finally, Joe let out a cry, putting a hand to his face, as sob after sob racked his body. He didn't know himself the power of Hazel's love, something which had scared her so much but had saved her. Simply by loving another. By loving him. Joe's tear filled eyes, didn't fail to continue to let those tears trail down his cheeks.

" Hey, buddy!" a voice said and Joe looked up, sniffling to see it was George, standing in the doorway of the tent, a smirk on his face. The smirk fell when he noticed the state of his friend, his brother.

" Joe?" George said as he slowly stopped forward as Joe's leg bounced up and down as he nodded, shaking his head a bit as he wiped at is his eyes.

" I've never loved someone more, George." Joe said, as he wiped his eyes, " God, I never have." George softly smiled and sat down on the bunk across from him.

" Hazel." George said and Joe nodded, " Is that what the letter's about?"

" It's from her, to me. Just, it's just, I love her." he said with a teary faced smile. George smiled.

" I know you do," George said as Joe wiped at his eyes again.

" God, she makes me actually feel things," Joe said, as he sniffled, rubbing his eyes again and George softly put a hand on Joe's knee and nodded.

" You know where it's like you can't describe it, that's...that's what this." Joe said, as his heart ached. George squeezed his knee.

" So don't tell me," George said, " just feel it." Joe looked up at George and nodded, a teary-eyed smile on his face.

" C'mere, buddy," George said as the two brothers-in-arms stood encasing one another in each other's arms as Joe held George so tightly, so brotherly, so close to him. George was his brother, all through this war, he'd been his brother. Pulling back George, put his hands on Joe's shoulder and smiled.

" Now, let's go play some ball, alright?" George said and Joe smiled, nodding, his eyes shining.

" One sec," Joe said turning to move towards his bunk to where he kept letters from his mothers. Joe softly knelt beside his nightstand and then softly kissed the letter, letting out a shaky sigh. Sliding it right next to his mother's, Joe slowly closed up the cabinet and sighed to himself with a smile. Slowly walking over George, Joe slung an arm over his shoulder.

" Let's go," George said and Joe grinned with a nod.

The two stepped out of the tent, and for a moment the barracks were silent, listening to the quiet whistle of the wind, the men who had felt so much pain finally having fun, out in the light, out in the brightness out in the sun, under the Austrian Alps in a world that wasn't quite ready for them.

It was glorious.

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i simply cannot describe my emotions with hazel's letter to joe about her life and love and death and celebrating and loving life - it makes me emotional because her character for me was just so complex and had so many layers to herself that were so hard to keep down or not expose a points and to see her really come to an end and meet the character arc of acceptance, happiness, confidence, remaining humble and a soft quiet, just i've loved writing hazel so much and this i feel just signifies her character so well <3 thank you all so so much!! :)