Two weeks had passed since he’d last seen Blaine, and Prince Kurt was quickly becoming a mournful recluse.

Two more weeks passed, and Prince Kurt barely left the sanctuary of the stained glass nook.

A month, Kurt thought to himself, eyes closed, forehead pressed to the painted window. Blaine had told him his mission would last only a month.

So, why had he still not returned home?

Every single day, Kurt woke up and dragged himself through his morning routine, trying not to think too many thoughts. Of course, the act of trying not to think often brought about far too many thoughts.

And all Prince Kurt could think about was Blaine. 

Blaine, sick. Blaine, injured. Blaine, suffering. Blaine, dead.

By the time Kurt had managed to carry his heavy heart out of his bedchamber, he was being dragged to lunch by an overly-hopeful Rachel. She would try to cheer him up with news of how few soldiers Dalton had lost in the war, which Kurt supposed was a good thing. But, what if Blaine had been one of those few who had died?

Most of time, Kurt tuned his sister out and pushed his food around on the plate, ignoring the curious stares of the other Royals. No one seemed to know what had come over Kurt.

After lunch, Kurt would slip away from everybody and tuck himself away in the stained glass nook or on the rooftop of the South Tower. It was getting cold in Dalton, as December was only a couple of weeks away, and Kurt sometimes wished for the year round warmth of McKinley. After a while, Kurt had begun avoiding the South Tower rooftop, because the cold outside was too similar to the cold inside of him. 

One day, a day still devoid of Blaine, Kurt was curled up on the window seat below the stained glass window. His forehead was pressed to the chilled glass, and his eyes were closed against the magnificent colors. His head was swimming again with unpleasant thoughts, and all that could be done was for Kurt to clutch his knees tightly to his chest to keep his heart from falling out of it.

It didn’t take very long for Rachel to find him. Kurt had taken to skipping meals now and merely sitting in the nook for days on end.

“Kurt?” Rachel said, stepping timidly into the circle of dim light. She was afraid that her entrance upon a place that was so sacred to Kurt would cause him to lash out, but the only indication he gave that he had heard her was a quiet sigh.

“Father sent us a letter,” Rachel continued, walking closer and being so bold as to sit on the empty stretch of the window seat beside Kurt. He lifted his forehead from the glass only to let his head fall back against the wall behind him. His eyes remained closed.

“Acting in such a manner will not make me leave.”

“I’m aware,” Kurt murmured, voice hoarse with disuse.

Rachel sighed heavily. “Father wishes for us to return to McKinley until. . . um, until the wedding. Of course, we know that, at this point, mine and Blaine’s marriage is only an idea on paper.”

Kurt was staring at Rachel now.

“He misses us, Kurt. He hasn’t seen us for months. Don’t you want to return home? I don’t know what our futures hold for us anymore, but I know that if everything happens the way we don’t want it to, then I would like to see my country one last time.”

Kurt blinked. “I’m not leaving until Blaine returns home.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “You think I don’t know how this feels?” she snapped, but Kurt did not react to the venom in her voice. “In case you didn’t notice, I haven’t heard a single word of news about the love of my life, either! And yet, all I’ve been doing is trying to make you cheer up while all you can do is block me out. Have you ever thought that maybe I needed my brother to comfort me?”

Swallowing thickly, Kurt looked away from his sister. “You will have the comfort of your friends and our father if you return home, Rachel. But, I cannot leave until I know that Blaine is safe. I hope you, as well as our father, will understand.”

“I’m not a fool, Kurt,” said Rachel, her voice back to its normal tone. She placed a hand on her brother’s knee and she was surprised that he did not flinch away. “I know that the second you hear news of Blaine’s death, you would throw yourself off the South Tower.”

Kurt said nothing.

Rachel stood and brushed down the wrinkles of her bodice. “I will inform father of your decision to remain here. However, I will be leaving late this evening, so I will bid you goodbye now. Happiness onto you, brother,” Rachel whispered, pressing a kiss to Kurt’s hair. 

Kurt watched his sister leave without a word.

Princess Rachel Hummelberry hurried to her bedchamber, ignoring the sheets she could not bear to sleep upon since the night Finn had left because they smelled too much like him. Several servants had already packed her belongings and placed them in the carriage that would take Rachel back to McKinley.

She sighed to herself, glancing in the looking glass hanging on the stone wall.

Kurt and Rachel had never been separated like this before. She couldn’t decide if it was a sign of their growing maturity, or if it was just sad.

As much as she hated to admit it, she understood why Kurt did not want to leave Dalton. As she climbed into the carriage, holding her skirts in one hand so they wouldn’t become tangled around her legs, she looked up at the dark clouds crying above her. Rachel turned her head towards the South Wing of the castle, hoping that her brother could see her wherever he was, and raised a delicate hand in farewell.

She carried Finn with her inside of her heart as the carriage set off rolling down the cobblestone streets of the villages that surrounded the castle of Dalton. He would remain there forever, no matter what happened. She would return home, organize her life, speak to her father about rewriting the alliance, and plan a future for herself. If that future included Finn, then what great happiness it would be. But, if it didn’t, if something horrible happened on the battlefield, Rachel Hummelberry knew she would be able to continue on, for Finn would continue living inside of her heart.

But, Kurt and Blaine. . . Kurt and Blaine are different, she thought.

They were connected, body, mind, and soul. The two boys were practically the same person. They were not merely soul mates, they shared a soul. Their hearts were tied together by some powerful thing, and Rachel knew that to kill one of them was to kill both of them.

Rachel sighed at the tragedy life had become as the thick pine forests of Dalton slowly turned into the sandy streets and waving palm trees of McKinley. The sunshine was brilliant, something she hadn’t even known she had missed.

Here is a place where tragedies are not imagined, Rachel thought. Here is a place where I can pray for happiness to us all.