12AM March 7th, 1588 - Stuttgart, Holy Roman Empire Hopefully you find the information you need to defeat the Beans in this journal. If not, there is nothing more I can do for you.

Barry hesitated, his fist held just in front of the door. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, even harder than it had before he spoke with Bösch. For a brief moment, he considered leaving without knocking.

“Hey Barry,” Rob said behind him. He stood close, staying out of the rain. “It’s alright, dude. We still got time before we have to get to the western wall. Take all the time you need.”

“Thanks,” Barry replied. “I’m just… not really sure what I should say to her.”

“Don’t worry about that, it’ll just stress you out. She’ll open the door and things’ll go from there.”

“What if she’s angry?”

“She won’t be. She’ll probably be surprised, but once she gets over that she’ll be happy that she gets to see her big bro again. How long’s it been since you’ve seen her, anyways?”

Barry sighed. “Years.” He tried again to build up the courage to knock, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. After a moment, he asked, “You said you have a brother and sister, right?”

“Yeah?”

“And you haven’t seen them in a long time.”

Rob paused. His voice was noticeably harder when he replied. “Yeah.”

“How would you feel if they showed up out of the blue?”

Rob laughed softly, his voice melancholy. “Barry, if they showed up here, I’d have a lot more to worry about than how they’ve been.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s a long story.” Rob reached past him, and knocked three times on the door. “Now, stop stallin’ and go apologize to your little sister.”

Barry clenched and unclenched his fists, taking deep breaths to calm his nerves. A moment passed, then another. He couldn’t hear inside over the sound of the rain and occasional thunder, so there was no way to anticipate when the door would open.

Rob knocked on the door again. As he pulled his fist away, the door opened.

A man a little younger than Schmidt was on the other side, his brown hair tousled over his face as though he had just woken up. “Who’re you?” he asked, blocking the door.

“Does Sofia live here?”

“Depends on who’s askin’,” the young man replied.

“Barry Schmidt. I’m her older brother.”

The young man’s face lit up. “Barry? That really you?”

“I can confirm that this is in fact Barry,” Rob said.

“And who’re you?” the young man asked, still smiling.

“My name’s Rob, I’m a friend of Barry’s.”

The young man laughed. “You’re here too?”

“What, are we famous?” Rob asked.

“No, not at all. I know about the two of you from Barry’s letters. Sometimes he’d add somethin’ about you.” His face darkened slightly. “At least when he used to write ‘em.”

Barry felt a cold stab in his heart.

“Come on, come in!” the young man said, moving out of the doorway. “Oh, but please be quiet. Jonathan’ll get mad if we wake him up.”

“You haven’t told us your name yet,” Barry said as he followed the young man into the dark house, though he thought he knew already.

“The name’s Joseph. I’m Sofia’s fiancé.”

“Congrats, man,” Rob said.

Joseph laughed, though he kept himself quiet. “Should’ve been my wife by now, but those damn Beany things got in the way of that.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Barry said as Joseph stopped in front of a bedroom door. Barry held out his hand, and Joseph shook it. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”

“All good things, I hope.” Joseph opened the door and whispered, “Just let me go wake her real quick.”

He entered the room.

“You told your sister about me?” Rob asked.

“A little.”

“Oh God, did you tell her about that time I accidentally—”

From inside the room, Sofia screamed, “Barry is here?”

There was the sound of someone running in the bedroom, then the half-open door opened all the way. By the dim light of a candle inside, Barry saw his sister for the first time in years.

She was taller than he remembered, just tall enough that he couldn’t see over her head anymore. Her hair was shorter, too, reaching just above her shoulders now instead of halfway down her back. She ran into him, wrapping him in a tight hug, and he had to steady himself against the wall; she was big enough now that she nearly knocked him over.

He hugged her back. How long had it been since he had seen her last? He couldn’t remember. All he could remember was the little girl he had cared for, the one that would call out for her parents in the deepest hours of the night. But as Sofia let go of him, he realized that his sister wasn’t the frail little girl that he remembered. No, his sister was the young woman standing in front of him.

He was crying again. Though he didn’t hide it from Sofia, he made sure that Rob and Joseph couldn’t see his tears by the dim light.

“Keep it down, will ya!” a voice called from an adjacent room. “Some’ve us’re tryna sleep!”

“Sorry Jonathan!” Joseph called as he left the bedroom, then in a lower voice added, “You guys catch up in there. And keep it down, please.”

As Joseph closed the door behind them, Rob asked, “So… How’re… the cows?” The door clicked shut, and they were alone in the bedroom.

It was obvious that Sofia was having a hard time keeping her voice down. “Barry! I was losing hope that we would ever see each other again! After everything that has happened I was beginning to fear that you would never return from the front lines. Oh, I simply can not believe it, I am so…” Her face darkened; at least, that’s what she wanted it to look like. Instead, she made an adorable pout. “No, I am not happy, I am mad! Wait, no, not mad, disappointed! I am disappointed in you! What do you have to say for yourself?”

Barry felt terrible, but he couldn’t help but smile. He had forgotten how energetic Sofia was; it was a nice change of pace from soldier duty. “You’re expecting that apology, aren’t you?”

“I am indeed!”

Barry took a deep breath then let it out, trying to collect his nerves before he responded. “I realize that I’ve been a fool…”

“Oh, have you just realized that?” Her tone was joking, but the words still hurt.

“No. I’ve known that I’m a fool for a while now. I know I should’ve responded to your letters, I know I should’ve met you when I was here in January, I know I should’ve apologized to Uncle Humbert instead of—”

“You’re calling him Uncle Humbert again?” She sounded genuinely shocked.

“We spoke earlier tonight—”

“You spoke? Is that it?”

“Stop interrupting me!”

Sofia laughed.

“I told him how I felt about our childhood, and he apologized for what he did.”

“He did not do anything, Barry! He may not have been there, but he feels the weight of mother and father’s deaths just as much as you, if not more! Not only that, but he has to bear the responsibility of leaving us to fend for ourselves for a whole year! He saw how much we had suffered, that is why he tried so hard to support us. It was not out of a sense of pity like you seem to believe, it was because he knew he had made a mistake and he was trying his best to make up for it. But you refused his help every time!”

“You didn’t know him back then!” He could feel the heat of anger rising in his chest. He closed his eyes and focussed on steadying his breathing. “He was different back then. You don’t remember. You were too young.”

Something in his voice made Sofia pause. “I apologize. The Uncle Humbert I know has always been a kind man. I can not speak for the man that he was when we were children.”

“Thank you.”

“I hope that was not your whole apology.”

“I didn’t get to apologize with you interrupting me every five seconds!”

“I will be quiet, then.” She smiled and waved her hands. “Get on with it.”

“You’re insufferable,” Barry replied. He was smiling too.

“That does not sound like an apology.”

“Where did you interrupt me?”

“You were calling yourself a fool.”

“I was. I am. Look, what I’m trying to say is that I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Maybe I’ve made more mistakes than I can make up for, but… I want to try. Seeing the Beans made me realize something. It’s taken me this long to come to terms with it myself, which is why I’ve been acting the way I have for so long. I know that’s no excuse for my actions, but it’s the truth.”

Barry paused, taking another breath. “Seeing the Beans made me realize that I don’t want to die. I had lived for so long hoping to sacrifice myself in a blaze of glory that I lost sight of a future where I didn’t. I lived every day hoping that I wouldn’t have to be alive for the next. You and Uncle Humbert suffered because of it. I see that now… I realize now that I lost sight of myself after mother and father died, and that whatever I was trying to prove by refusing Uncle Humbert’s help only pushed me farther away from the people who were trying so hard to help me…

“I don’t want to die anymore, Sofia. I don’t want to hurt the people I love anymore, either.”

Sofia hugged him again. “Of course you did not want to die, you dummy! No one wants to die! I am sorry it took you so long to come to terms with your emotions, since Uncle Humbert and I would have gladly helped you, but it was obvious that you only wanted to die because of how twisted your sense of self worth had become after mother and father’s deaths! Jeez! You are not worthless Barry, you never were! If you had only let us help you, all of us would have had much less heartbreak.

“Yes, we have suffered because of your actions, but we still love you, Barry!”

Barry hugged her back. He laughed softly to himself. “Was that a good apology?”

“It was adequate,” she replied, hugging him tighter. “Barry, I have missed you so much.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You can make it up to me by being a better brother.” Again, her tone was joking, but he couldn’t help but feel terrible. He knew he wouldn’t be able to change the past, so he was determined to be the brother Sofia needed in the future.

“I promise.”

They hugged for another moment before Sofia let go of him. “So, why are you here?”

“I had to apologize to you—”

“No, not that, dummy! In Stuttgart! You are supposed to be advancing on Bean territory right now in Lieutenant… Kaplan’s platoon, were you not?”

Barry froze. He had been so preoccupied with meeting his sister that his exhausted mind had completely forgotten about the impending Bean attack. He spoke quickly. “That’s a very long story, but we believe the Beans are preparing to attack Stuttgart.”

The joyfulness had left her voice. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Then what are you still doing here! Should you not be preparing for a battle?” She began pushing him towards the door. She was stronger than she looked.

“But—”

“No buts!” She opened the door and shoved Barry out. “You two need to go!”

“What’s goin’ on?” Joseph asked, already moving to Sofia.

“The Beans are preparing to attack and these two dummies are just sitting here twiddling their thumbs!”

“What?” Joseph shouted.

“Keep it down!” Jonathan yelled from his room.

Rob looked at Barry, who smiled back.

“We should get goin’, then,” Rob said. “Captain Bösch’s gonna brief all the soldiers in Stuttgart at midnight, and we should be there. You need to prepare. Block the doors and make sure they can’t get in if they do end up attacking tonight. Do you know how to fight the Beans?”

“Got it!” Sofia nodded, still pushing Barry towards the exit of the house. “Yes, yes, we know! Fire, blades, crushing; the Empire informed everyone about how to fight back in case the Beans attacked! Now go!”

As Sofia pushed him over the threshold, Barry shouted, “Joseph! If the Beans do attack, keep her safe!”

“You got it! You two better stay safe too, you hear?”

Barry and Rob nodded in response as they stepped out into the rain.