Epilogue

In the end, they skirted Munich, heading instead for Austria. There, they set up as occupiers, taking over duties in a POW camp for surrendered German soldiers and watching over the liberated towns. It was a far cry from the urban combat of Berlin, and the war, for them, ended with a quiet announcement one evening over chow.

It was done. The war was over, at least in Germany. Victory in Europe. VE Day.

Cheers rose, and there was screaming and shouting and hugging and jumping up and down. They had made it, when they hadn’t actually thought they would. They’d survived, from that first harrowing jump on D-Day to the very end of the war. To Hitler’s suicide and the fall of the Third Reich. To the end of the camps, the liberation of Europe, and the liberation of all of the death camps they had found. The allies were combing the country, rescuing every soul they could, providing aid in every way they could.

That night, the troops got blitzed, drinking the Germans’ own private liquor stashes. They danced, sang, and cheered the night away, and the gnawing, spine-chewing worry that had eaten them up, that had told them they wouldn’t make it through the war, faded.

Henry danced with Will, over and over, much to the cheers and raucous whistles from most of the guys. Even Phillips laughed, sitting at a table with his arm in a sling. Later, when Will stayed in Henry’s bunk—totally drunk—all night long, no one said a thing.

Well, Giordano said Will snored, but everyone ignored him and shot him down. Giordano was the loudest snorer of them all.

Within a week, they heard they were going to be retrained for the Pacific to help take the islands leading up to Japan. There were grumbles, but also wild-eyed dreams of Polynesian women seducing them with their grass skirts and voluptuous breasts. The stories rolled on, tropical paradise and wide-eyed women overjoyed at their rescuers.

When word came that the war in the Pacific was as good as over, that the entire war was essentially over, the men felt the last four years of their lives slowly settle and form into their past. The war was over. Really over. They’d head home. For good.

Talk turned to what next. Most were getting out, heading home to girlfriends or jobs or wives. A few planned to stay in to try to go career.

“What about you two?” Giordano asked one day, when they were lounging under a shade tree after playing a game of soccer. The rest of the platoon was napping, or smoking, or lazing the day away, but some turned their heads and looked at Will and Henry, waiting for the answer. They always referred to them together now, and no one had asked what they each individually would be doing. It was only what they together would be doing.

Will looked at Henry as Henry looked at Will. They smiled, and the warmth of the sun slowly filled in all of the dark and bleak and empty spaces that had cut through their hearts and their souls during the war. Their love for each other was healing, too, the mortar in the foundation from which they found healing. Nightmares still plagued them both, and they rose in the dead of night reaching for each other, but they always found each other’s warm bodies and soft lips, and they were able to relax into the arms and the love of their partner, safe and secure.

“I think I want to try med school,” Henry said, tilting his helm with a smile. “Use some of those GI benefits.”

“You’d be a great doc.” Giordano smiled. “Well, a real doc, like.” He nodded to Will as Henry laughed and thanked him with a duck of his head.

Will shook his head. “I don’t know yet,” he said. He smiled at Henry, winking. “Whatever I do, I’ll be near a medical school; I know that much.” The guys laughed, and Giordano threw his apple core at Will.

“What about being a teacher?” Giordano nodded down at the rest of Second Platoon, playing a pickup game of volleyball. “You’ve got good leadership instincts. You’re good with the young guys and the newbies.” He squinted back at Will. “I think you’d make a good teacher.”

Pursing his lips, Will thought about it, cocking his head to the side. Henry was smiling and nodding.

Giordano broke the mood, as always, and salvaged his rough reputation all in one go. He couldn’t appear too nice or too soft. “You’ll need to actually get some kind of actual knowledge in that head of yours first— Hey!”

Will heaved the apple core back at Giordano, laughing, and then laughed harder when Giordano rolled and sputtered after the apple hit him in the mouth. Cursing, Giordano sauntered off but winked over his shoulder at the two.

Giordano’s departure was the cue for the rest, and they all slowly peeled away from the warm meadow grasses, heading down to join the volleyball game or find some food or trouble. That left Will and Henry all alone, lying side by side under the tree, lounging in the golden grass.

“You really want to come to med school with me?” Henry smiled at Will, nudging his shoulder.

“Like you could get rid of me.” Will smiled back. “I don’t ever want to leave your side,” he said, suddenly serious. “I’m yours as long as you’ll have me.”

Slowly, Henry smiled, a full, warm, beaming smile that went straight through Will. “I think that’s more like as long as you’ll have me.”

“That would be forever.” Will smiled back at Henry, and then leaned in, closing the distance between them. It was madness, with their entire company spread out around them and in plain sight, where everyone could see them, but Will didn’t care. Not anymore.

Henry didn’t either. He closed the distance, pressing their lips together in a kiss, slow and sweet and sensual. It felt perfect, warm and wonderful and carefree. It was happiness and joy and belonging all rolled into one. It was the future, and to Henry, it felt like heaven.

It felt like finding home.