I don't own the Book Thief, I just think its an amazing piece of artwork.

Bicycle thieve

This is an AU story of what I think would have happened should Alex Steiner have let Rudy go off to that school. Please read and review, maybe I'll come up with more!

At first, she rarely spoke. Liesel rejected words with the same passion that she had embraced them with before. She lived with what could only be called a form of survivor's guilt. It all seemed like a shell of normalicy. On the day of the funerals, Liesel stood silently beside Frau Hermann covered in the remains of Himmel Street. Through the crowd, her chocolate brown eyes scanned each face. Simultaneously avoiding the ceremony and looking-for him. But his lemon head was no where to be found. Would he ever return?

The thought kept Liesel up at night. Who would want to return to what would be an empty block where everyone was rumored to have died? Did he know she was still alive? Would he come back for her? Months passed, and the longer Liesel waited for Rudy Steiner, the more sure she became he was never coming back. Without him or Tommy to play with, Liesel moved to the Munich school, closer to where she and Max now lived. She was forced to make new friends, girlfriends this time. Slowly the wounds healed. She remained unable to escape the nightmares, but she was stronger, able to ignore them in the heat of the morning. Liesel never forgot Rudy Steiner, and there wasnt a day that went by when she didn't think of him, his lemon hair, and his never ending pestering to kiss him.

There were nights, when Liesel would wake drowning in the sheets as she stared into the vacant eyes of her Papa, drenched in a cold sweat. Tears would form in the back of her eyes, and she would thump back against the bed, staring at the ceiling. Only one thing would come to her mind, much like the previous images of Rudy in the corner in the nude. And as she studied the gentle curves of the design plastered on the ceiling, one word would be uttered from her lips.

"Rudy."