By now, most of the Iron Division had returned to the German Reich. It had officially disbanded, and Bruno was among the last to enter the fatherland as a result of the Tsar’s final rewards for him. However, there were a few who remained behind.
Primarily those engaging in humanitarian efforts under Heinrich’s lead. Though the war may be officially over, the scars left behind on the Russian landscape and its people would take a long time to heal.
And Heinrich, in particular, had become a bit too close to the situation. The man was treated as some kind of saint, having gone so far as to build new orphanages with the labor and material aid of the Iron Division.
He couldn’t just up and leave everything behind without building a proper support structure in place to replace him and his men once they had left. By the will of the Tsar, these soldiers of the Iron Division were permitted to stay and continue with humanitarian efforts, and humanitarian efforts alone.
However, after several months of establishing a system to function in his absence, the time eventually came to return home. Heinrich had gathered the orphans together, of whom he had grown close to several of them during his time in Tsaritsyn.
It was a particularly jarring farewell for the man as his occupation of the city, or his support towards that goal had largely been spent helping the people, rather than searching for and eliminating remnants of the Red Army within the Volga region.
Bruno’s campaign in the region had, after all, been pretty damn thorough in this regard. And as Heinrich gazed upon the children who varied in age, but were primarily old enough to work, as Russia had still yet to enact child labor laws. Something which was quite honest at the bottom of priorities for the State Duma after the war that had just ended and all the problems that came with it.
There was a bittersweet smile on Heinrich’s face as he officially said goodbye to those who he had spent roughly a year looking after. He kneeled down and hugged as many of the children as possible; while assuring them things would be alright for them, even after he was gone.
“If it was up to me, I would stay here and help look after you all until you reached adulthood. But I am not Russian, this is not my home. And I have sworn my service to the Kaiser for several more years of my life.
But not to worry, I have worked hard these last few months to ensure that everything you all need to survive and thrive in this world has been set up to function flawlessly, even with the absence of me and my men.
I want you all to focus on your studies and to become successful once you have reached adulthood. You do this for me, okay?”
The kids all said their farewells to Heinrich and promised to behave themselves for the sake of the orphanage he had established and secured proper funding for. Bruno had quite honestly paid out of his own pocket in this regard. He was, after all, absurdly wealthy with all the investments he had made. Funding a few orphanages was not an issue for the man. And it curried favor with Heinrich, who had grown a little too attached to the children he looked after during his time in Russia.
There was one familiar face, however, that did not show up to see Heinrich off. And that was perhaps the most troubling part about this. During his time in Russia, he had grown close to many poor and unfortunate children who had lost their parents.
But no one in particular had always been close to him. It was the little girl he had first saved on the streets that fateful night while he was drunk and looking for some loose woman of a proper age to sleep with. Her name was Alina Zharova, but Heinrich simply called her Alya.
Alya did not appear here today, no doubt being depressed about his departure and because of this, after saying his farewells, Heinrich could simply sigh and shake his head. Wondering if the girl would really be okay without saying a proper goodbye.
However, it was once Heinrich arrived at the train station, lighting up a cigarette to cope with his anxiety of leaving things like this, that he felt a familiar tug on the cuff of his sleeve. Followed by a young voice that he would recognize anywhere.
“Mister…. Care to give me a loaf of bread?”
Heinrich immediately turned around to see Alya staring at him with a wide smile on her face. She was dressed appropriately for the summer weather, but she had a travel bag sitting behind her. When Heinrich saw this, he was quick to ask her just what she was planning.
“Alya, what are you doing here? You should be back at the Orphanage? Don’t tell me you are running away now that I’m no longer in charge!”
Alya immediately crossed her arms and looked away from Heinrich, while opening up one eye to make sure the man was still paying attention to her, before asserting her claim, one which compelled Heinrich to face palm.
“I’m not going back to the Orphanage! I’ve decided that you’re going to adopt me! I refuse to let you leave Russia without me!”
Heinrich stared at the adolescent girl as if this was the most shameless thing he had ever witnessed. And judging by her personality, she was going to break out into a tantrum the moment he said no. He tried to explain things reasonably as he could to her because of this.
“Alya, this isn’t remotely appropriate! There is paperwork involved with adoption, proper procedures that must be had! The orphanage has to sign off on it!”
Alya simply reached into her travel trunk and handed Heinrich a paper without saying a word, before she began to pout and cross her arms while looking away again. As Heinrich stared in disbelief at the paper, he couldn’t believe that the old hag he had left in charge of the place would seriously screw him over like this.
The paper was a signed document showing that from the orphanage’s perspective, every matter had been taken care of, ensuring Heinrich adopted the girl. All he needed to do was sign it, and it was legal as far as the Russian Empire was concerned.
As for the German Reich, well, it wouldn’t be difficult to get immigration papers approved for the girl, considering Heinrich’s connections to the Government. But… There was still the matter of proper accommodations, and the fact that Heinrich was a young bachelor who had no intentions of getting married, let alone looking after children.
He was quick to stare at the girl in complete and total shock as he brought up the next point of contention he had about this.
“Even if the Orphanage signs off, the Reich’s immigration department has to sign off as well, and then there’s the matter of accommodations. I’m a single man. I live alone in the freaking barracks! I can’t just bring a thirteen-year-old girl onto base! And then there’s the matter of what exactly you are going to do the next time they send me to some foreign battlefield! Have you even thought any of this through!?!”
Alya continued to pout and look away with her arms crossed. She said one single thing before getting on the train with her trunk. Leaving Heinrich absolutely speechless as she did so.
“Not my problem. That is your job to figure out! Papa…”
Heinrich stood there, having a sudden urge to drink an entire bottle of vodka by himself. What the hell was he going to do now? One thing was certain, he would need the help of his family and friends to look after this kid now that he had no other option.
Even so, there was not the slightest regret that the man had for how he conducted himself in Russia. Ultimately, he snapped out of his daze as the train began to depart, barely getting on board and sitting down next to Alya, who was smiling happily after accomplishing her goal. As for Heinrich, he would spend the rest of the journey home to the fatherland wondering what the hell he was going to do now? One thing was certain: Heinrich’s days of being a degenerate playboy had finally come to an end. And not in the way he ever expected them to.