"Rose.."
At the sound of her name, the young brunette turned her head towards the origin of the voice. Could that be...? No. No. It had to be a cruel trick of her eyes. He'd have to be long dead and gone.. Right..?
But there he was standing in front of her. In the flesh and blood. He looked exactly the same as the day he shipped out, yet more mature at the same time.
As for her, it was as if she completely changed. The young girl he had known was now much more mature. Well... Huh.. Look at that. She did grow her hair out too..
Rose quietly set down the drinking glass she had been drying and came round, squinting her eyes. Oh, it was him alright.
She sighed through her nose and walked over to him, pulling Eddie into a warm and loving embrace. He didn't even hesitate to return it.
The short woman silently buried her face into his clothed chest, inhaling his scent; Cigarette smoke and beer.
Eddie lowered his head to rest his chin on top of her own head. She smelled of a strange, but lovely mixture of coffee and strawberries. Maybe even a hint of roses.
You see, Rose had expected Eddie to write her at least once.
A month after he had shipped out, she was hopeful.
"Anything for me today?" She had asked the mail woman, a happy smile adorning her face.
"Not today, darlin'. Maybe tomorrow." The woman nodded, moving towards the next stop.
No letter came.
Two months after, she was still hopeful. Rose figured he had written a letter, it just took an awful long time to travel from Vietnam to San Francisco.
No letter came.
At the three month mark, she had figured it had gotten lost in the mail. Maybe it would be here in the next few days.
No letter came.
At the one year mark, she had basically given up. He hadn't written her. Not once.
At the two year mark, she had assumed he was dead. I mean, everyone was dying out there.. She really never had any hope of seeing him again.
Now here he was.. Eddie was with her, in her arms and shaking like a newborn lamb. Rose had her ear pressed up against his chest, listening to the increasing 'thud-thud-thud-thud' of his heartbeat. It was calming, in a way.
Slowly, the corporal moved his head off of hers and looked down at her as she looked up at him. Their eyes met and soon their lips were connected together in a passionate display of affection. After a few moments, they parted to look at each other again.
"I missed you.."