Roderich could not sleep. He rarely could anymore. So he got out of his bed, slipped on a pair of comfortable shoes and strolled down the halls of his mansion, his pace ever so slow. He went to his piano room, sat down on the bench and warmed his fingers up.

"Maestro…"

At the sound of the little squeaky voice coming from the door, Roderich turned around and found Vene, rubbing his little eyes, little right hand clutching his teddy bear.

"Veneziano, did you have a bad dream?"

"Si Maestro…"

"Would you like me to play you some music?"

"Si."

Roderich smiled before thinking up of something. He pulled a large, ornate sofa from the corner of the piano room and placed it behind him. He took the pillows off the other chairs and grabbed a small blanket and made a comfortable bed for young Veneziano to sleep in.

"Come, come. Maestro has created a nice bed for you to lay down and listen to music."

Vene walked over very quickly, he almost fell over, but he managed to hop onto the couch and comfortably lie down and close his eyes as Roderich began to play Chopin's Nocturne in E Minor. He didn't know why, it was just the first thing that came to mind. By the time he finished playing, Vene was quietly snoring away.

"Have you seen Vene-"

His eyes jerked to the open door that lead to his piano room. There stood Erzse, dressed in her night gown, panic written all over her face. He hushed her silently, placing a single finger over his lips as the accompanying gesture. She looked around frantically as Roderich pulled the covers onto Vene's tiny body.

"He's here and sleeping, Ersze."

"Oh, thank god, I thought he went missing. He came to my bed because he had a nightmare. But I woke up a little later and he was gone. He likes wandering around the house when he can't sleep…"

"I've noticed."

He managed to smile a little before he looked curiously at Er

"Meine Liebe?"

"Liebling, what wrong?"

"Come now. Let's have a rest…"

Roderich took her by the hand and motioned her to sit next to him and their sleeping surrogate child. There, she held onto him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder, tears soaking his night garments. He slowly returned the embrace, arm gently moving up and down her back to help her relax.

"I-I s-still, c-c-can't believe…. O-Oh…. I-I can't B-believe, h-he's g-gone..."

"I know, Erzsi. I know…"

"I-I… I-I want him back…."

"So do I..."

And several minutes later, Erzsebet cried herself to sleep. Roderich had kept holding her in his arms for some time, contemplating on recent events. Soon enough, her too had begun to drift off into sleep. And there they were, The Edelstein family, all cuddled up on a couch, dreaming away as the rain continued to fall outside their home.

17 days ago.

Roderich was happily making cakes with Vene and Erzsebet for supper when he heard the doorbell ring. He told Erzsi to take care of Vene as he went to check who was at the door. And so, he gently opened the door to greet his visitors.

"Guten Ta-"

Roderich recoiled when he saw Francis and Arthur, both with grim facial expressions, standing outside his door.

"Francis? Arthur?"

"R-Roderich. I-It's very nice to see you."

"O-Oui, c-c'est un plaisir"

Judging by their shy tones of voice, contrary to their personalities. Roderich was convinced that something was very wrong.

"Are you two alright?"

Roderich swore he could see the lump of air in their throats that both men had swallowed down. They looked at each other nervously until Francis closed his eyes and nodded. Only then did Arthur spoke the news. Roderich soon understood why they were so solemn.

"Mein Gott…"

"Mi folyik itt, drágám? Who is that?"

Within seconds, a curious Erzsebet came walking out towards the door, dusting the flower off of her dress.

"Hello Elizabeth."

"Arthur, Francis, how nice of you to drop by."

"What's wrong? You seem a little down."

Her original assumption that it was probably bad news when she noticed Roderich's hands, trembling, possibly in fear. She held it gently, careful not to irritate him, only to have him turn to her, a look of desperation in his eyes, gripping her hand tightly.

"Erzsi. Erzsei meine liebe. Promise me something first. Before we tell you."

"Promise you what? What's the big deal?"

"Liebeling, this is important. Promise me that you will try your very best to stay strong. Okay?"

"Megígérem. Now tell me."

Roderich slowly turned his head towards Arthur and Francis and nodded.

"Elizabeth. I regret to inform both Roderich and yourself that-"

"Arthur and I, nous avons se trouve."

"Te jó Isten, is he alright?"

"Malheureusement…"

Francis could not speak anymore as tears began to well up in the corner of his eyes. He looked away in an attempt to hide it. Arthur placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and gestured Roderich to continue

"Unfortunately, what?"

It was then, Roderich closed his eyes and exhaled, trying to calm himself down before speaking the sentence he dreaded to say.

"Erzsi. He's dead…"

Erzsebet's eyes widened in horror and she instinctively raised her free hand to cover her mouth to hide her gasp. Very slowly, her eyes began to water, she almost began to cry but shook herself back to keep her promise.

"We're very sorry. We tried the best we could to save him. Even Yao did."

"Nous voudrions vous inviter to the funeral. Si vous voulez."

"O-Of course. O-Of course we'll come."

"Sorella?"

Erzsebet felt something tugging at her dress. When she looked behind, she saw little Vene, huge smile shrinking his eyes yet again, hands all covered in flower. She masked her pain with a smiling façade as she patted Vene on the head.

"Vene, why don't you go back inside and prepare the vanilla cream. Maestro and I will be right back."

"Si!"

With that, she swatted him lightly on the bum as Vene waddled back into the kitchen. Arthur and Francis managed a small smile after witnessing the child's surprising innocence. But it soon dissipated after they remembered how attached he was to him.

"This is going to hit Veneziano hard, Roderich."

"I know, Arthur."

"Maybe it's best not to tell him."

"No."

"But he is just a child!"

"Even a child must know what death is. The later he learns. The more heartbreaking it will be. We will tell him tonight."

"If you wish."

"Danke. Gentlemen."

"No, thank you. For being so understanding. Again, we're very sorry."

"Ja, I know. Good day."

"Good day."

Oh man. Finally. I've been trying to write this for... forever.

Don't worry, I haven't abandoned "It's a College Life" I just haven't been in the mood to write it (Fine, it is neglecting it).

I've tried to use as much as I can of my knowledge of European Languages to write this. Forgive me if there are many mistakes.

I might get the next chapter up. Maybe not. We'll see how great christmas break will be.