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The next few months were pretty regular: Jamie would cook, Weylin would strip, and the others would go about their business as usual. The day was rapidly approaching when the two soldiers would come back for the last time: coming home for good. The two foxes in the house were constantly watching the door; glancing at it several times a day and paying careful attention to the news. The action overseas was heating up, and casualties were high, but Jamie never saw Josiah, nor Weylin Dimitri.

Both foxes did essentially nothing out of the ordinary: ate, slept, worked, worried.

Alto worked with books, same as he always had, but was getting more fit thanks to Allen's dogging him to work out. He was even persuaded to go to the gym every now and then. He still felt very self-conscious, despite Allen's assurances. Cody did the exact same thing as everyone else: Work. Eat. Sleep. Worry.

***

On July the 15th, the knock everyone was waiting for finally came. Weylin dashed for the door, undoing the many locks and chains that kept the door shut (put there on Alto's request) and threw the door open, tackling the tiger on the other side "Dimitri!"

The tiger caught him and placed him on the ground. "Not now... please darling..." He had a sad look on his face. Weylin looked up at him and gasped.

"Oh my god... Dimitri your eye..."

The tiger had an elaborate bandage and a patch over one eye. "Gone." he stated.

Weylin teared up, wrapping his arms around the tiger's neck "Oh my gawd... Im so sorry..." he started to sob, and Dimitri rocked him back and forth.

"Sh... do not cry. I am alive." He wiped Weylin's ever-flowing tears, kissing the fennec on the cheek.

"That looks painful..." Allen said from the doorway, and Jamie covered his maw, tears in his eyes.

"It is. I do not need to be told." Dimitri picked Weylin up and made for the door, walking inside.

Jamie stood by the door, watching the path that lead away from the house. Dimitri looked back and sighed. "Jamie..."

"Yes?" The fox looked back, avoiding the tiger's one-eyed gaze.

"We need to talk."

"Now?"

"Yes, now." Dimitri sat on the couch, turning away the sandwhich Alto offered him. "Everyone needs to hear this."

"Can't we wait for Josiah?" Jamie stated plainly, looking back out the door at the path.

"Jamie... He isn't coming."

The room fell silent, and Cody started to cry. Allen took him upstairs.

"W-what do y-you mean?" Jamie looked back at the tiger "H-he stayed in town? He... he must be shopping."

"No, Jamie-"

"He has to be shopping, or at the gym... or... or something."

"Jamie please-" Dimitri tried to say.

"No... He's coming up the road now. It's j-just taking h-him a little while. He-"

"Jamie, he's not coming back!" Dimitri shouted. The little fox winced, shaking his head.

"N-no... he is coming back i kn-know it..."

Dimitri rushed over and embraced him, turning the fox around and holding him close. "No... No he isn't. He's..." Dimitri choked up, as if unable to say the last word. "He's dead, Jamie."

Jamie broke down sobbing, going limp. "No! No he p-promised!" he grabbed Dimitri's shirt and buried his face in the male's chest. "He... -sob- he's g-gotta..." he couldn't say anymore, crying hard into the tiger's chest.

Dimitri picked Jamie up and sat on the couch, holding the fox close. "Sh... Sh..." he couldn't think of anything to say, simply holding Jamie close.

Weylin sat next to them, leaning on the tiger's shoulder. He was crying as well, though not nearly as hard. He couldn't comprehend the grief Jamie was feeling... He still had his lover; Jamie's was never coming back. He felt Dimitri's strong arms pull him in, and the tiger held both foxes close, tears rolling down only one of his cheeks.

When at last Jamie calmed down enough to speak, he clutched onto Dimitri, looking up at the tiger with big, teary green eyes. "How... How did he die?"

"With honour." Dimitri answered, unable or unwilling to relate the tale. "He... He died saving us."

Jamie started to sob again, and the tiger lifted both foxes up and took them into his room, holding them both close to him. He laid down on the bed and pulled the covers over them, letting the two grief stricken males cry it out.

Downstairs, Alto was sobbing, staring down at a small, wrapped package he pulled out of the closet. It was supposed to be Josiah's coming-home present, welcoming him back to the house for good: but now it seemed he would never return to claim it. He set it on the table; shock had prevented him from crying until now, and he broke down sobbing. He grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it, biting down on the fabric and yelling into the fluff- muffling his screams of anguish. He couldn't be gone... could he? He was so close to home... so close... and now he was dead? No... No... images of the soldier fox flashed through his head and only made him cry harder. No... No...

He found himself hating the military; how could they ask so much? How dare they take the fox from them, and Dimitri's eye? How dare they?! He cried until it hurt, and then cried some more- at last crying himself to sleep.

***

Dimitri stood in the kitchen in the morning, before the sun came up. Usually he would sit here the first dawn, watching the sun rise. It felt different though; this would be the first dawn he watched without his friend.He stared out the window with his one, stone-cold blue eye. The sun was showing it's first signs of coming up: the first rays of golden light peeking up over the horizon, setting the lake ablaze with light. He stared at it, unflinching, and watched until he could no more; the sun hurting his eyes. The dawn was magnificent, but seemed cold to him. How could the world be so... so normal. His friend was dead. Dead! and the world didn't seem to care.

He found himself getting angry at the world. There was a little fox in his room, sleeping deeply, only because he cried himself to sleep. He growled and punched the counter, sending a shock of pain through his hand. He didn't care, instead punching it again. Luckily the counter was granite and made a dull thud when he hit it, not making enough noise to wake anyone up.

He stopped, staring down at his hand. "Damn..." he sighed, and put the hand under the sink and tunring on the nozzle. He'd started bleeding, and washed the blood off with warm water, wrapping the hand in a towell. He looked around for a bandage, and found some gauze and surgical tape in the kitchen closet. He wrapped up the wound and threw the towell in the hamper.

A small whimper came from the doorway. He turned, seeing Weylin standing there; his eyes wet with tears. "He... He isn't really gone... is he?"

Dimitri pulled the fox in, kissing his forehead. He felt guilty; Josiah would never hold his lover again... He squeezed the fennec tighter, kissing his ears. "I... He... is..." Dimitri, felt his own eyes start to water again, and pushed the tears down. He had to be strong... for Weylin. Jamie. And everyone else.

Dimitri stopped crying and Dimitri wiped the tears away, kissing the fox lightly on the lips. "Sh... He... He is in a better place now..."

"H-he p-promised..." Weylin choked up and hugged the tiger closely. "H-he said he'd c-come back..."

"I know... I know..." Dimitri sighed. "But... but some promises cannot be kept..."

"Why?" Weylin asked around his tears.

"Because... because life is unpredictable."

"How d-did he die?" That was the second time Dimitri had been asked that, and the second time he felt he could not say it. "I... I can not tell you. Not yet. Maybe never."

"B-but-"

"Niet. Stop asking." the tiger pulled Weylin in. "Come on, let us make breakfast for Jamie."

"Okay..."

***

Jamie woke up, staring at the ceiling. Could he really be gone? So quickly...

He had imagined them growing old together, adopting kids... loving each other for as long as they lived. Those hopes were dashed now...

He held up a yellow slip of paper; a message from Jamie's commanding officer, the one who led him into battle. It read:

Mr. De Vu Craux

It is my deepest sorrow to have to convey to you this unfortunate news. Your friend Josiah was killed in action; taking a sniper shot to the head the day before he was supposed to ship out. He was an honorable ranger, and a dear friend of mine.

My deepest condolences:

Staff Seargant Duvall

S.S. Duvall

Jamie started to cry, unable to comprehend that his lover was gone, well and truly. He hugged a pillow, burying his face in the soft fabric. He felt himself getting angry, and was frightened by it, pushing the anger away. Never before had he felt such... wrath... and coupled with his sadness...

Grief unmatched filled his heart. He heard his stomach growl but felt nothing. He wasn't hungry; he didn't know how he could ever eat again...

He lost the desire to get out of bed and simply cried.

***

Over the course of the next few days Jamie's condition worsened: He refused to eat, barely slept, and didn't leave the room unless he had too. He'd holed himself up and shut out the rest of the world.

Dimitri grew distant, refusing to talk unless he had too. He found he couldn't smile much anymore, not even with Weylin's best attempts at cheering him up.

"Hun... please... smile, just a little..." Weylin sat in his lover's lap, tears appearing at the corners of his eyes. He'd quit work and stayed at the house with Dimitri, trying to pick up the pieces at the house and pull everyone back together.

"How can I?" Dimitri, hugged the fennec "My best friend is dead..."

Weylin couldn't say anything, just hold on to the tiger and hope that one day he'd see the cat smile again; even if he felt that he couldn't smile anymore either...

Cody, Alto, and Allen were the first to move on; getting back to work and restarting their lives. It had been a week since Dimitri had brought the news to them, and for over a week they grieved for the fox. But they recognised the need to get on with their lives; how were they going to pay rent if they didn't work? They resolved to pay for Weylin, Jamie and

Dimitri; but none of them could really stomach picking up the pieces of Josiah's share.

At some point during the week a man in uniform knocked on the door. Dimitri answered and saluted. "Sir?"

"Please, Dimitri, don't salute me." An older looking lynx raised his hand and handed the russian tiger a slip of paper.

"As... as you wish sir." Dimitri slowly took the paper "Funeral arrangements?"

"Yes." The lynx sighed. "May I come in? There are details we must discuss."

"It... yes sir." Dimitri stepped aside and let the lynx enter. The spotted cat stood tall and erect, just like any other military man.

"It is a nice house-" the officer looked out the window "-with a beautiful view."

"I've never had the pleasure of another like it, sir." Dimitri sat down on the couch.

Weylin walked into the room and stopped, seeing the lynx. "Who's this?" he asked, taking his place next to the tiger, away from the cat's blind side.

"My... Our Staff Seargant," Dimitri explained "The man who lead us into battle. Duvall."

"Thomas, please. I'm not your C.O. anymore." The lynx stood by a chair "May I sit?"

"Please." Weylin said.

The lynx took a seat and adjusted, unused to such a comfortable thing. "Now, funeral arrangements-"

"I-" Weylin glanced at Dimitri "-don''t think we should be doing this without Jamie..."

"Agreed." Dimitri nodded.

Weylin stood up "I'll go get him; i'm the only one he'll listen to." the fennec left to go get the fox.

"Ah. His girlfriend?" the lynx asked Dimitri.

"Boy."

"Hm?"

"Boyfriend."

The lynx looked slightly taken aback "I did not know-"

"You never asked."

"And the fennec-"

"Yes. He is mine." Dimitri leaned forward, a little menace creeping into his voice "Is that a problem?"

"No. I just never could tell." the lynx sighed and took off his hat, laying it on the table. "It doesn't make me think any less of him. He was a good soldier."

"Yes. And a good friend." Dimitri sat back as Weylin returned, towing a bedraggled, tear stained Jamie along with him.

"Come on sweetie we have to get this done..."

"I... I don' wanna... I can't-"

"He wouldn't have anyone else in the world do it for him. C'mon." He sat Jamie on the couch and took a seat next to him so Jamie was sitting between the two lovers.

Duvall offered his hand, but took it slowly back when Jamie just stared at it. "I... I've come to see how you want him buried."

Jamie stared at him, not answering.

"Do you have any preferences?"

Jamie said nothing. Weylin sighed "Oh Jamie, I know this is hard but you have to say something." Jamie looked blankly at the fennec and then to the lynx.

"C... Cremated..." he finally said, his voice sounding strange to him.

"Okay. Any special way?"

"No..."

"Do you want the ashes?"

Jamie thought for a long moment. "N-no... he wanted to... to be sunk in the lake."

"Okay." Duvall sighed. "His body will be cremated overseas, and we will ship the ashes here for you to do with them what you wish."

Jamie nodded dully "Can... can I go back t-to my room?" he asked.

"Okay hun." Weylin helped him up and led him to his room, disappearing for a moment with the other fox.

Duvall stood, smoothing his crisp dress uniform. "I'll be going now."

Dimitri stood and saluted the officer "Goodbye, sir."

The lynx returned the salute "Goodbye, Dimitri. Take care of yourself." and with that he left, the door closing with a click behind him.

Dimitri stood in the living room, unsure of what to do. So he sat down on the couch and sighed. He felt a tremendous sense of melancholy, and a need to break the crushing silence. He turned on the TV, flipping through the several hundred channels, but nothing appealed to him. He resolved to go for a jog when Weylin appeared at the foot of the stairs. "Where are ya going?" he asked in his high, musical voice.

"Jog." Dimitri answered, and was surprised at the coldness in his voice. "Sorry." he sat back down on the couch and patted his leg.

Weylin quickly sat in the tiger's lap, nuzzling the male close. "I worry for Jamie..."

"As do I." Dimitri embraced the fox. "I fear for his safety."

"I... I'm afraid he'll try something-"

"Dont. Dont say it. We all fear that." Everyone in the house had had the thought that Jamie would commit suicide, and kept him under consant watch. They'd hidden all the knives and pills in the house, as well as the cleaning supplies, ropes, anything they thought he would try to use; they kept the gun locked up tight in Dimitri and Weylin's room, knowing the tiger would wake the second the doorknob turned.

Weylin snuggled close to the tiger "Im sorry..."

"For what? The loss of my friend or the threat of losing another?" Dimitri kissed the fox's forehead.

"Both." Weylin sniffled.

"Do not be." Dimitri started to say. "He... he died honorably, saving us... our squad that is." He stroked Weylin's ears, eliciting quiet murrs from the fox. He started to tear up "I... I cannot tell you yet. Maybe never... but-" he stopped, a snowy white finger moving over his lips.

"Dont... Dont tell me." Weylin had tears in his eyes. "Not until we're all ready."

"Very well." Dimitri kissed the fox, adjusted his bandage, and went out for his jog.