Chapter Text
Klaus, wake up!” Klaus felt a hand shaking his shoulder. He squinted, his eyes adjusting slowly to the dim lamplight of the tent. He surveyed the room around him with blurry vision.The other soldiers, those who remained, lay in their bunks, fast asleep. Yep. Still in ‘68. Klaus groaned and propped himself up on his elbow.
“Whah,” he muttered.
“Come on,” urged the voice at his bedside. “If we hurry, we can see it in time.”
Klaus’ eyes shot open with sudden realization, and their bleariness was replaced with a mischievous glimmer. He focused on the broadly smiling man in front of him. He studied the flaxen hair, cut short for war; the forehead, young but already creased with worry-lines; the blue eyes which held as much joy as his own, and certainly as much as anyone could have in a place like this. Klaus shot up.
“Let’s go,” he whispered.
It was on rare occasions that Klaus and Dave had time to enjoy the beauty of the country they fought in—Vietnam was, after all, quite beautiful—but today was one of those occasions. The pair of soldiers stumbled through the dark, hands clasped together in the dim twilight, until they found their destination. They sat on the dewy ground beneath their favorite orange tree, which was presently silhouetted by the moon. Sometimes, they would study the tangling branches, climb up and pick the fruit, and count the leaves. But this morning, they were content with simply sitting beneath it.
“It’s supposed to happen soon,” whispered Dave.
“How do you know? How do you even know what time it is?”
“I read it in yesterday’s paper.”
“Bah. I bet those guys just guess half the time.”
Dave looked at Klaus with his trademark “you’re-an-idiot-but-I-adore-you” look and wrapped his arm around him, ruffling his hair. Klaus leaned into Dave’s shoulder, and together, they watched the sky turn purple, then pink, and then gold.