Belgium 1916

War made up a significant part of human history and has shaped the world to what it is today. Of the many lives he'd lead, more times than not, Kai would find himself caught in the middle of a raging war. And it was these lives he grew to hate the most.

His eyes shot open and the first thing that greeted him was snow. It fell softly and slowly, engulfing the deep trenches that protected him from enemy fire.

Turning to his right, he met his comrade's tired but wistful eyes who in turn smiled warmly back at him.

"It's always nice to have some peace and quiet," he commented, blowing warmth into his hands. "Wonder why the Germans stopped firing all of a sudden."

He raised an eyebrow.

"That's sure odd of them."

"It sure is. But no command's been given out yet so I guess we can enjoy the silence for a bit...while it lasts at least..."

Kai stared at his comrade's weather beaten face, eyes filled with exhaustion and felt a familiar sense of pity he always had towards the soldiers fighting in war.

Glancing around, he saw other soldiers lining the walls of the trenches, all visibly tired but too afraid to even close their eyes. Not when the enemy was just across the field whose silence may have very well been attributed from them plotting their deaths.

He leaned his head back onto the frozen soil, looking up to the cloudy sky that seemed all too familiar.

He wondered when was the last time he had chanced upon the sky like this, in the middle of a battlefield and not knowing whose side he was on or who he was fighting for.

It was lives like these he wished he could avoid. He, too, wished that all these soldiers here -fallen or not- would never have to lead lives thwarted by war again.

But when duty calls, all that answered were the bravest ones. No matter which side they were on. Because at the end of the day, they were only protecting what's dear to them and Kai found that incredibly admirable and enviable.

Because he had no one left to protect. It was just him alone in this unending life.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever as everyone waited in bated breath. All expecting someone to open fire first and for them to be plunged back into the cruel reality of war.

Kai's thoughts seemed to drift further and further as well, till he was interrupted by his comrades' sudden gasps.

"ing hell-"

His head craned to his comrade's side and found that he was peering over the trench, visibly shocked from what he saw.

He got up into a crouching position and slowly levelled his head to the edge of the trench.

His eyes followed his comrade's line of sight and found a tall figure trudging about in the snow, heading towards their direction. His grey uniform and the iron cross swinging from his pocket made it clear that he was a German. As if the blond hair and striking blue eyes weren't clear enough.

"What in the bloody hell is he trying to do? !"

Kai watched as his other comrades took interest one by one and peeked at the German who was literally walking into enemy land.

A few aimed their rifles at him but saw that he was completely unarmed and alone. Sheepish, they gradually lowered their weapons and let the confusion sink in.

Once the man was close enough to see the numerous British soldiers peering warily back at him, he paused in his steps and raised his hands in his defense.

"I have come on behalf of my German troop to call for a ceasefire," he spoke in surprisingly fluent English.

"In the spirit of Christmas, let us be and let be for this day. Your men will be free to roam around the grounds to properly bury your dead or anything you'd wish to do and we will not shoot. As goes the same for us."

He met their disbelieving gazes with a sincere palm to his heart.

"We will not shoot. You have my word and honour for it."

The man stationed beside Kai shot him a skeptical look, silently asking if they could trust the man.

"Then a promise it is. Just for today this will be no man's land."

Their commander had emerged from the other side of the trench, making his way to the German soldier who looked both relieved and grateful for his approval.

Then they did something Kai never thought he'd see in a war. Though the countries they were fighting for were different, and though they were on different sides, the pair shook hands and exchanged curt, but polite greetings.

After, the German soldier hurried back to his troop and returned with dozens of men. They worked in solemn silence as they went to retrieve their dead scattered all over the field before burying them in graves as deep as they could dig in the icy ground.

Despite their great efforts, the bodies were buried in graves so shallow that some of their fingers and legs stuck out in precarious ways. But this was the best that they could do for them in the freezing cold.

"They've suffered more fatalities than us..." His comrade sighed and shook his head. "Poor chaps."

In spite of all the odds, Kai saw how determined the German soldiers were in making sure that all their fallen men were retrieved and given a proper burial which somehow struck a chord in his heart.

"We should help them."

His partner beside him gave him an incredulous look and muttered, "what?"

"It's Christmas. It's the spirit of giving ain't it? Lest we can do is offer our help."

"You're mental. Absolutely ment-"

Without sparing a second to hear him go on, Kai hopped out of the trench and jogged to the German soldier who had reached out to them before.

Wordlessly, he grabbed the legs of the corpse he was carrying and hoisted it up to his waist.

The German man met his eyes with surprise.

"W-What are you doing?"

"Helping you bury your dead."

"You're helping...me? The enemy?"

"We're not enemies for today," Kai replied, giving him a crooked smile. "Be and let be."

"Be and let be..." He repeated after him under his breath, flattered that he would quote after him and then returned a grin. "Thank you my British friend."

"You're welcome buddy. Now let's get this brave soul to his final resting place, alright?"

He nodded and they started making their way to the burial site.

The other German soldiers looked just as stunned as he had been when they saw one of the men from the British troops stepping into their boundary whilst helping to carry one of their comrade's corpses.

Whispers and stares followed Kai all the way though he couldn't understand their language to make out half of what they were saying. And it was only a while later did he realise that they weren't pointing and murmuring about him.

His eyes chanced to the fields behind him and saw the other British soldiers helping out their German comrades.

And even in the twelve inches of snow, Kai felt his heart warming up.

21 hours 29 minutes 2s

It took almost half a day for all the dead to be buried. But without them helping each other out, they would've spent the whole of Christmas laying the dead to rest.

Kai watched as the soldiers mingled with each other, some exchanging Christmas greetings while others bartered for cigarettes.

"We've all been so caught up with this war...that we almost forgot about Christmas."

Kai nodded along as he sat side by side with the German man, who he had found out earlier was named Kris, in the snow, acting as spectators to the other men playing football in the field. They cheered for both countries regardless of who scored. Though, Kai didn't even know how they had gotten their hands on a ball in the first place.

"It's lucky you came up to us like that. If it weren't for you, I don't think any of us would've remembered."

"I merely did it for my comrades. You shouldn't need to make it sound so heroic."

"Well I don't know. If someone told me to walk right into enemy grounds just to remind them that it was Christmas -I think I would've passed," Kai joked.

Kris sniggered and turned his attention back to the football game.

"So what do you think about the war?" Kai asked again, eliciting surprise from the other.

"I...honestly have no thoughts...I'm just so, so tired," he chuckled, hearing the laughter and cheers in two distinct languages around him. "I only hope for it to end soon. So men of different countries can come together to play football like this. Like how we are now."

"Then how about a game?"

Kai stood up and offered a hand to his German counterpart.

Kris smiled and took his hand.

"I haven't been this excited for a game since we played with the Spanish kids back home."

-x-

8 hours 37 minutes 44s

Nightfall came earlier due to their location. As evening drew upon them, the men said their last goodbyes and apologies for what was to come tomorrow before returning back to their own territory.

Kai who had gotten quite friendly with the tall German soldier was quite saddened when Kris announced that it was finally time for them to part ways.

"I guess this is the end of our friendship huh?" Kai muttered, forcing a smile.

"It is."

Kris nodded curtly and held out a hand in which Kai accepted warmly.

"Thank you for the kindness you've shown to me and my men for the past hours. As much as I wish that we don't have to fight each other, our duty to serve our own country comes first. We have to do it. There's no other option."

His lips met to form a thin line as he released Kai's hand.

"So I hope you understand and on behalf of me and my men...please accept our sincerest apology."

Kai didn't answer him, only bringing his fingers up to his forehead in a four finger salute. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to do this or what his actions could mean to the lives of all these people but in that moment, acknowledging the humanity shown to him by the enemy was the only thing he could think of.

And when they both exchanged their last farewells, Kai never hated war so much.

-x-

0 hours 2 minutes 24s

The first break of dawn came with the first sounds of bullets being fired.

All around Kai saw the disappointed faces of his comrades, knowing that some part in all of them had silently hoped for this moment to never come.
But this was war. They had to fight.

Their commander stood at the commanding front, counting down to their attack and when it came down to the last signal, Kai took a deep breath and charged out into the field of gunpowder.

He didn't know where he was running to. The rifle in his hands still unfired. He ran through the onslaught of snow and watched as his comrades fell dead beside him one by one.

He watched as the snow soon grew into a crimson red. And he watched as an all too familiar silhouette appeared a few metres before him, partially concealed by the snowy mist.

It was only when the mist cleared did it reveal his striking blue eyes that aimed at him with a gun.

Kai stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening at their almost ironic reunion.

Kris had his gun aimed at him and he watched as his finger pulled the trigger slightly.

But then released it.

The both stared each other down, ignoring the chaos happening all around them.

Kris's gaze grew more tortured by the second as his gun shook in his hand, still pointing at Kai's frozen form.

And then Kai brought his own gun up and aimed it at him.

Two shots were fired. One from each of them.

0 hours 0 minutes 3s

But Kai didn't know if his bullet ever reached Kris.

A/N: Hi all! Yes I'm not dead and went on an unofficial hiatus from this story. For that I'm genuinely sorry for the long, long wait! Please forgive me? Anyways, I've put off updating this story for a long time not solely because of school stuff but it justs takes a long time for me to find inspiration to write out these chapters. With that, I would also like to add that this chapter was based on events that actually took place in WW1 just look up the Christmas Truce ^^ To all the new readers and old readers, sorry again for taking so long to update and I hope you enjoy this chapter :) Ciao~