And then one day, without warning Marine returned. She was older but not as old as I'd expected. And she was beyond beautiful. My body shook with emotions so diverse I could not even name them. For a split second, I tried to hold my composure, failed, and found myself rushing across the room to embrace her. I wouldn't let her go even when she tried to formally introduce herself to the new vault staff. It must have been a sight.

Marine was more reserved than I'd remembered, cooler maybe, mature definitely. It was the lack of smile that worried me most; just a cold, stern look. That scared me, but I wasn't the same person she'd left behind either. Rather than cower I stepped up and told the Reynolds women they needed to talk. Then I retired to my room.

And I thought Marine's years away seemed long. While the hours ticked by doubt crept in. Would I return to find her gone, this time forever? I'd like to tell you I kept it together, but I was a mess.

Sometime later the door creaked open and Marine came in. She sat down next to me on my bed like she had countless times when we were kids, sneaking into my room late, bringing along her wry smile and the pilfered library books.

And this time too a smile. A SMILE! But it wasn't like when we were kids.

I wanted to tell her so many things, but it was all jumbled up. My heart began to race and all that came out was a shaky “I”. With only a bit of hesitation, far less than mine, Marine recovered my fumbled opening. "I will never leave you again. I promise." And then she kissed me.

We had never kissed. Not playing pretend as kids, not friends saying hello or goodbye. I'm pretty sure Marine had some practice though because once we started kissing, we didn't stop for hours. Marine eventually fell asleep in my arms and I stroked her hair. It was all I could do to keep my heart from exploding or hugging her so tight I’d crushed her. I wanted to be there for her in the morning, but exhaustion eventually took me.

When I awoke, I started to panic. I have a tendency to oversleep and with no evidence to the contrary, I thought it had all been the worst kind of nightmare. Without even changing into something decent I ran through the Vault looking for Marine. When I found her sitting next to Ms. Reynolds I, well, kind of made a scene. We both got a scolding.