'SEE YOU MORNING' 087 Lübeck's Decision

“Thank you for your support, thank you, thank you all for standing by me,” Lübeck said, steadying his emotions. He paused for a long moment as the crowd before him gradually fell silent. People noticed the solemn expression on his face and seemed to sense that he was about to announce something of great importance.

“Today, I, as the highest administrative official of Zufluchtsland, hereby grant amnesty to all death row inmates.” Having spoken, Lübeck turned his head, his gaze sweeping over each person standing beneath the noose.

A ripple of murmurs and whispers spread through the onlookers, but Lübeck paid them no mind and continued, “However, you can no longer remain here, for you have violated the laws of this land.”

Another wave of hushed shuffling and whispering arose from below.

“I will send you back to the lands of the German people, along with your families.” As he spoke, Lübeck turned back to face the gathered crowd. “You are to choose voluntarily whether to follow them back. Think carefully: following them means facing many challenges together.” With that, Lübeck raised the newspaper in his hand. “I will post these newspapers here shortly; you may read them.”

Lowering his hand, Lübeck looked out over the bustling sea of people. “My brothers and sisters, those of you who still live in Zufluchtsland, please cherish every person around you.” With that, he turned and slowly walked down from the execution platform. Halfway down, he suddenly remembered something. Standing on the stairs, he turned back to look at the platform where workers were untying the nooses and escorting the prisoners back to the wagons. Lübeck shouted toward them, “Schmidt! Bauer! When you return to German soil, do not fight among yourselves anymore!” Then he walked down the stairs without looking back.

Just then, a woman suddenly ran toward him. The guards checked her and, finding no weapons, let her pass. She was followed by two small children.

She ran up to Lübeck and dropped to her knees with a thud, attempting to kiss his feet. Lübeck quickly reached out with both hands and lifted her up.

“Mayor Lübeck, please take in my two children. My husband is dead, and I am unable to provide for them,” she said, pulling Lübeck’s hand and looking at him with pleading eyes.

Lübeck recalled a conversation he had days ago with Müller, the clerk at City Hall, and suddenly understood the woman’s predicament. She was petite and clearly incapable of heavy farm labor. At that moment, the two children approached—both girls, the older one holding her younger sister’s hand. Lübeck glanced around at the onlookers; those in the front row were watching him. In a corner of the crowd, Müller was also looking his way. Their eyes met, and the slight curl of Lübeck’s lips made him realize that Müller had likely put the woman up to this.

Shifting his gaze back, he saw the woman still staring at him anxiously. Seeing that he was looking at her again, she quickly added, “Please take them in. Let them be your maidservants, let them do anything for you.”

Lübeck found it somewhat amusing. How many years would he have to feed them before they could even do housework? But how could he expose her desperate lie to her face? So he told her, “Do not worry. I will raise them until they come of age and marry.”

“Mayor Lübeck, I do not know how to thank you,” she said, curtsying and then raising his hand to kiss it. The residents of Zufluchtsland behind her cheered at this scene, clearly touched by such a charitable act toward the weak.

“What are their names?”

“Clara and Ada.”

“Very well. I will take them home today. Once you are settled, leave an address at City Hall so you can keep in touch and visit the children. And your name?”

“Doris,” she said, curtsying once more in gratitude.

Upon returning home, Ruth was surprised to see Lübeck bringing back two little girls. She was startled that he had acted on something he had only mentioned casually in conversation. It did not seem like his usual style.

Seeing the look of surprise on her face, Lübeck hurried to explain, “Their father died tragically in the previous rebellion. Today, their mother pleaded with me publicly to take them in.”

“Oh,” Ruth understood upon hearing this and smiled softly. Another difficult request he couldn’t refuse. It seemed the quiet life of these past years would be changed, at least somewhat, by these new additions.

“So, what should we do? Let’s put them in the room prepared for your son for now. I’ll go tidy it up,” Ruth suggested.

“Alright, thank you for your trouble,” Lübeck said. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her close, and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. Leaning close to her ear, he whispered, “Please look after them when you have the time. See if it works out, and gradually let them help you with some chores.”

“Alright, I’ll see how it goes.”

It seemed that new order always formed in the wake of chaos. After dinner, Emma took Ada to play with her son, as she was still very young, only three years old. Clara was called into the kitchen by Ruth to try washing dishes. As they washed, Ruth explained to her the dangers of fire and hot water, telling her never to enter the kitchen alone without Ruth present.

Lübeck seemed momentarily forgotten. Standing in the middle of the living room, he looked toward Emma’s bedroom, then toward the kitchen where Ruth was. Suddenly, he felt that the house seemed livelier, filled with a warmer sense of family. If he had to go away on another mission, they wouldn’t be as lonely as before. At that moment, Lübeck himself felt much more relaxed.

With a lightness of heart he had never known, Lübeck walked out of the house and strolled alone along the path. The night sky was clear, with a few sparse white clouds drifting overhead, tinged pale blue-green by the nebulae in the night sky, faintly illuminating his house and the earth beneath his feet.

The breeze carried a moist, humid scent. Lübeck knew that over half of this planet was ocean. Although he had never mapped it, every time he traveled back and forth by airship, he could see the full panorama of the planet from high above.

In the silence of the night, his thoughts drifted inexplicably back to his first meeting with Ruth when she was just a child. Even though Ruth was right there beside him now, Lübeck found that his heart held an added thread of longing for that tiny figure from the past.

Returning home again, the lights in the living room were already out. Lübeck tiptoed through his ablutions and returned to Ruth’s side. Wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, he found she wasn’t asleep and asked, “Have you just gone to bed?”

“Yes, I was thinking about the boy you went back to visit. Do you think he’ll still be a captain when he grows up?” Ruth said, turning over and leaning into Lübeck’s arms.

“Mm, I don’t know. Anyway, whatever he does, it’s fine as long as we two aren’t separated.”

Ruth smiled and corrected him, “Aren’t we together now? It’s them two.”

“Oh, right. What happens between them seems to be beyond our say.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever leave you,” Ruth said, pressing her face against Lübeck’s chest.

Lübeck stroked her silky hair and asked, “What about in the next life?”

“Not in the next life either.”

“But how will you find me?”

“Hmm,” Ruth thought for a moment and said, “Don’t you have a son? I’ll be your granddaughter, and we’ll still be a family.”

“But by then, I’ll be so old. We’ll be separated again soon. What then?” Lübeck stroked her slender body and said.

“That’s easy. You come back as my son.”

“So, one of us must always send the other off?”

Ruth laughed and said, “Otherwise, what do you want? Are you sure you won’t choose another girl to be your wife? Then there won’t be any part left for me.”

“Well, that’s true. It’s just that with this constant time lag, when can we ever be together like this again?”

“Hmm, there is another way. Like Clara, I could be your adopted daughter and marry you when I grow up.”