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Saying Goodbye

"You're going to college?"

For the past year or so, Robin had been a constant in Inigo's life. Every month, he looked forward to the day when he would get to see her for a few short hours. She and his parents had even made arrangements for her to come over for dinner once in a while, and things had never been better for Inigo. Then his world came crashing down around him when she announced that she would be leaving for this thing called college. All the fears he'd had in the grocery store so long ago were becoming real fears once again as he suddenly realized he wouldn't get to see Robin anymore.

She nodded in confirmation. "That's right. I'll be graduating from high school in May and I'll be leaving for college at the end of August."

He was so shocked that he jumped up out of his seat. The chair legs made a loud scraping noise against the tile floor, but he hardly noticed. "Why so soon!" He shouted.

At the end of August! That was practically tomorrow! Upon checking the calendar, he remembered it was only April, but still! August would happen before he knew it and then he'd be forced to part from the woman he loved! Again! There wouldn't be a next time!

"I'm not leaving just yet," she tried to reassure him, but Inigo was still very visibly agitated, if the anguished look on his face was any indication. "And it's not like I'm leaving forever."

"You're not?" He asked, desperately latching on to that promise. He grasped her hands in his, a plea in his voice as he said, "You'll come back to me?"

"I still live here," she pointed out. "So I'll come home in the summer and winter. And I can still see you sometimes because the school is less than half an hour away by car."

"Ah…" he said, slumping back down onto the chair in relief. "That's good. So you're not leaving forever?"

"Of course not," she said, and those words were music to his ears. Robin had predicted that Inigo would be a little upset when she told him the news, but she didn't think he would be so obviously unhappy. Nevertheless, she was touched that he cared, and she decided that gentle affirmations were what he needed to hear.

"When you said you were leaving, I was afraid it was because you didn't like me anymore," he said in a voice so serious Robin reached out to pat him soothingly on the shoulder. "I guess that was silly of me," he added with a small laugh.

"I promise I'm not leaving forever," she repeated, glad that he was feeling calmer now. "And we still have lots of time to play together before I go to college, okay?"

In a more cheerful voice now that the worst was over, he said, "And we're still friends, right?"

"Right," she said with a smile.

"And you're still my girlfriend, right?"

"Maybe hold off on that one," she said.

"So then later? When I'm older?" He asked eagerly.

"We'll see," she dodged the question with expertise.

"So, college," he said, switching gears in that way only young children were capable of. "What's it like?"

She thought about his question for a minute. "I guess the easiest way to describe it would be like this – you pay money to attend school for four more years. I'll live on campus and take classes for credit in order to get a degree when I graduate. College is supposed to further your education and prepare you for a job in the real world. Make sense?"

He considered this. "Why would you want to go to more school if you don't have to?" He asked. Inigo was in the fifth grade and genuinely enjoyed going to school, but he still could hardly imagine wanting to go to even more school than was required. Twelve grades plus kindergarten, that was what he had to look forward to, and he was barely halfway done. Another four years was crazy talk.

She laughed. "I wouldn't if I didn't think it would help me," she said with a smile. "After school, you get a job, right? Hopefully if I get more schooling, my chances of being hired and getting a good job will be better."

"I see," he said. "So it's like job training?"

"Not quite," she said. "Hopefully I'll learn work and life skills that help me in my future career. But of course that's not the only reason I'm going. I think there's always more to learn in life, and college is one way I can continue to learn things."

"I guess I'll go to college too," he grudgingly admitted. "I'll probably need it."

"I'll let you know what it's like as soon as I get there," she promised. "But for now, how are you doing? How's school? Is dance class alright?"

"School's okay. And I really enjoy dance," he said. He looked at her and smiled shyly. "Thanks for telling me to go."

Inigo still remembered the time that Robin had discovered his passion for dancing. She had gotten up to take a phone call and he decided that he would just dance for two minutes while she was gone. He ended up getting so caught up in it that he didn't realize five minutes had passed until it was too late and she was back and he knew by the look on her face that she had seen the whole thing.

As soon as he'd realized he had an audience, Inigo froze, looking like the classic deer in the headlights. For the first time, Robin understood what Olivia had meant about Inigo being shy. He had blushed down to his toes, truly the spitting image of his mother when she got embarrassed, and immediately tried to cover up the fact that he had been dancing. Robin handled the situation with astonishing skill and tact.

"And my foot fell asleep, so I was trying to make it wake up again," he babbled. "Jumping helps, and if I wave my arms around somehow I feel it in my feet too, and –"

"I thought your dancing was wonderful, Inigo."

That shut him up. Robin thought it was incredibly cute how he turned his chin down and blushed even more. In a quiet voice, he said, "You really think so?"

"I really enjoyed it," she said. "I never knew you liked to dance so much."

"It's embarrassing to show other people," he said. Fiddling with the ends of his shirt, he added in a quiet voice, "They'd laugh at me."

"I think it's beautiful," she said gently. "And if you love it, don't worry what other people say. Although I doubt they would laugh if they saw how good you are." In a carefully neutral tone, she asked, "Do your parents know you like to dance?"

"No. Well, kind of," he amended. "My mom dances, and I think my dad suspects that I like to, too. But he's never mentioned it to her, so…"

Robin understood. Henry was more observant than she gave him credit for. Clearly, he knew his wife and son were shyest when it came to their dancing, and so he hadn't talked about it in an effort to spare Inigo's feelings. Still, she decided that even if it was bold of her to mention it, it didn't feel right to let Inigo's obvious love for dancing go unnoticed.

"I have an idea," she said. "Just hear me out on this one, okay?"

So he listened to her suggestion, and at first he was hesitant about it. If it had been anyone other than Robin, he probably would have refused on the spot. But she was persistent and gentle and eventually he gave her permission to talk to his parents about signing him up for dance lessons. That was two months ago, and now he was proudly dancing for all to see (or at least, for his dance class to see).

His attention returned to the fact that Robin was going to college, and he sighed. "So you're really going, huh?"

"I'm not going off to war, you know," she said. "I'll still be around."

"But you won't have time to come and play. Maybe you can skip school to come see me?" He said in a hopeful tone.

Robin laughed, but not unkindly. "We'll see," she said again. "I don't think my teachers would appreciate that."

"Yeah," he said, still reluctant to part with her. He moved to give her a hug, which Robin welcomed. "Have fun, okay?"

He felt her nod. Inigo had heard that old saying a hundred times, but he felt like he finally understood its meaning better now. If he loved Robin, then he had to let her go.

Next chapter: Inigo learns more about Robin's life (backstory time)!