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Chapter 22: Joe

As Joe looked at her, he found the courage to kiss her again. This time he kissed her deeply. All the fear and anxiety he had felt left his body. The years seemed to melt away, and in an instant, the war was gone, the years that had separated them disappeared and it was as if at that moment that they had never left each other. Joe pulled away from the kiss and looked to her. Tears began to stream down her face.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

She pulled her hands up to Joe's chest, rubbing him. She was quiet for a moment and then she broke her silence. "I never understood why you left. I never imagined my life without you, and when you volunteered to go off to that war, I thought-well, I thought I had lost you."

Joe reached up, caressing her cheek. He searched for the words and then sighed heavily. "It wasn't you. It was just something I thought I had to do."