Hey everyone! It's me, and for the record I am so sorry about the delay! I know, the last time I updated was, what, October? Yeah...now it's January...sorry about that. The Alexander chapter that everyone (and I mean everyone) has been asking for is coming very soon, so just hold tight and enjoy this chapter!

And yes, I know Aaron wouldn't seem like the best choice for someone to mourn John, but he would have his reasons, and they'll be mentioned later on! Anyways, onward with the fanfiction!

Reading to Theodosia was the highlight of Aaron's night.

"...and then, as the pair stood on the terrace balcony, Emily grabbed Charles forward, and the two sealed their love with a kiss. The end." Aaron closed the small maroon book with a sigh, setting it down on the small oak nightstand.

Glancing over at the bed, he saw the little girl of which he had been reading with, who was wide awake when he first started, now laid down, her breath esacapimg her lips in small bursts.

The thick quilt of which her mother, Theodosia had sewn for her was now pulled up to her chin, her deep brown eyes like two chocolate chips shut tight, and her curly black hair worn in two pigtails now sinking into her pillow.

Smiling, Aaron leaned down and kissed Theodosia on the forehead. "Good night Theodosia," he whispered, and Theodosia didn't say anything, only shifted a bit under the covers.

Sighing, Aaron stood up. So far, his life had managed to somehow get better. He 'won the girl' as some people called it, won in the Battle of Yorktown, and now even had a daughter. So far it seemed like everything was going his way.

As softly as possible so not to wake her, Aaron crossed the room, and was about to grab the door, but before he could wrap his fingers around the doorknob, the door swung open itself, and a tall woman entered. She had dark cocoa skin and hair tumbling down her shoulders in fat, black coils.

Her lips were full and thick, and despite the worry lines having a child had caused her, she still looked remarkably beautiful. "Ssh-she's asleep," Aaron whispered to Theodosia, gesturing to the sleeping Theo. Theodosia looked over, but she didn't smile like she usually did when she saw her daughter sleeping.

Her eyebrows had ruffled together, and there was a worried look in her deep brown eyes. Suddenly, Aaron felt uncomfortable. Carefully shutting the door behind him so as Theo would not hear on the slim chance she was awake, Aaron regarded Theodosia's upset look and crossed his arms.

"What is it?" He asked, and Theodosia didn't say anything, only took out a single slip of paper out of the pocket of her apron. It was a thick envelope, pure white, and from the looks of it it had been opened. The flap hung open, and there was only half of a seal, though even still Aaron could tell it was the seal of Nathaniel Greene's army.

"John sent a letter?" Aaron asked, mildly surprised. Of all the people that came to mind, John seemed to be the last person who would send him a letter. "No...no, he didn't," Theodosia replied, and as the words slipped past her lips, Aaron felt a cold stone of doubt settle in his stomach.

It was a sinking feeling, the feeling that something wasn't right, that something terribly wrong had happened. Pressing and unpressing her lips, Theodosia took out the letter and began to read.

"On Tuesday the 27th, Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens was killed in a gunfight against British troops in South Carolina" As Theodosia read the first part of the letter, Aaron's eyebrows raised in surprise, and a small gasp involuntarily escaped his lips. John was dead?

Aaron's hand flew to his mouth as Theodosia continued to read, and to his surprise, when he pulled it away it was wet with droplets of tears. Aaron never cried, let alone unintentionally.

Shocked, Aaron staggered back so that he had to lean against the wall as the weight of the situation took a toll on him. John, as well as Hercules, Lafayette and Alexander had never really been people he considered close friends, but hearing that John was dead...and he was so young...the air was suddenly sucked out of him like it it was being sucked up through a vacuum.

A light hand grasped Aaron on the shoulder, and it took him a moment to register it before he finally looked over and saw Theodosia, her lips pressed into a frown. A mixture of worry and mild sadness brimmed in her eyes as she saw him. "Are you alright, Aaron?" She asked gently.

For a moment, Aaron didn't say anything, only stared at her, feeling himself shaking silently, Still, the young man forced a smile and brushed her hand away. "Don't worry, I'm fine," he lied, shakily walking away, but even still he could feel Theodosia's eyes burning into the back of his skull.

It didn't make any sense; he didn't even know John well. He remembered talking to them in the bar, and always having him be with Alex, but he had never actually become good friends with him. So why, why, did he feel this way? It was like someone had slapped an icy hand across his face, leaving him shaking and vulnerable. Slumping in a large brown armrest, Aaron leaned over, his forehead resting in the palm of his left hand.

Regret. An emotion Aaron thought he had left long behind, Aaron tried to fix his lungs with calming breaths as deep claws of regret raked over him, so strong he felt he had to straighten himself up to catch his breath. He had thought all of that had been long gone. He thought that the regret had ended a year ago, when after countless hours spent fighting in the trench, the war for the country had so silently yet so desperately wanted to see had become a reality.

On that day, on October 19, he finally got to go home. On that day, he finally got to see Theodosia and his new daughter, Theodosia Jr, or Theo for short. While the country had been freed from Britain's rule, he had been freed from his doubts. He would be able to do everything he would be able to do, without Redcoats looking over his shoulder.

For so long, Aaron had bit his tongue, kept silent and kept his true thoughts to himself. Stay quiet, stay alive. Aaron remembered these words very clearly, the same words that the couple that had raised him after the death of their parents had repeated to him every day. Stay quiet, stay alive.

Only look where staying quiet had gotten him. On that fateful day in 1776, at that bar in New York, Aaron had the chance to be a part of something. He had seen it, the spark that had ignited in Alexander, Lafayette, Hercules, and of course John. And yet he did nothing. The simple words stay quiet, stay alive, still rang in his mind, echoing in his thoughts. He had a wife. He had a daughter. He was happier than he had ever been, and he would never give up Theodosia and Theo for anything.

And yet...it still felt like there was a tiny piece missing from his life, a missed opportunity. What would have happened if he had joined in with the group that day? What would have happened if he actually got to sit down and talk with them? The possibility had always been in the back of his mind, but now that John was dead...it was almost as if that opportunity had officially slipped past his grip.

John had the best heart of all of them, no doubt about it. Alexander was the brave, impulsive one, Lafayette was the enthusiastic one, and Hercules was the one that always made the risky choices, but of all of them, John had the purest heart. He could just...see it. For once, he wondered what would have happened if he had actually spoken to them. To John. If he had known he was going to die tonight...he knew by now, that death could not be prevented.

No matter how much you want it to be, no death can be reversed. The death of his parents could not be undone. The death of his sister, Sally, would forever linger. The hole left in his heart, bouncing from home to home, meeting and losing, would forever remain. No matter what you try, death finds a way. So if he could talk to John before he died...if he could actually speak to him before he died, he would have asked him a question. Just a simple question, but a question that had been lingering in his mind for years, despite his overruling thoughts.

"What happens when you don't want to wait?"

What if you don't want to wait for the Redcoats to go away? What if you don't want to wait for the war to end? What if you don't want to wait for life, his fucked up life, to give him what he had been wanting for so long: a chance. A chance to become more than an orphan. A chance to fulfill his parent's legacy. A chance to prove himself, instead of having every chance at greatness so close, yet snatched away out of your grip, like the universe toying with you. What would you do?

Maybe he should have talked to John. To all of them. Maybe he could have become great friends with him. You don't realize how much you admire someone, how much you want to see what goes on inside their heads, how much you want to get to know them, until their gone. And the chance is gone too. He had waited to long.

"When you don't want to wait, you act."

Startled, Aaron looked up, feeling hot tears he didn't even know where shedding splashing on his cheeks. Was there someone else in the room? He could have sworn...

"Aaron, are you alright? Is someone here?" Theodosia's voice rang from down the hall, her thick brown coils spiraling down from her head as she peeked into the den, and gazed at Aaron. Her eyebrows were furrowed into worried crinkles, her fists clenched in front of her as she always did when she was nervous. Holding Theodosia close to his chest, Aaron felt the tears roll down his face. "No, Theodosia. No one's here."

However, no sooner than the words had escaped his lips, Aaron could have sworn a breeze whipped through the room, but it wasn't cold as it should have been on an autumn night. It was warm, full of growth and rebirth, happiness and light, comforting and nice. From behind the door to Theo's room, he thought he could hear his daughter cooing softly. And, near the blowing windows, Aaron thought he saw a single fist, grasping a mug of beer, the cup raised to the sky...