The man was given over to the military police after Speirs returned. Grant would live; he'd have trouble speaking and his left arm would be partially paralyzed, but he'd live longer than either of the Austrian doctors could have predicted. He was sent back to the States so that he could recover completely.

I received a letter from Mary, telling me that she wouldn't blame me if I decided to never come back after hearing about Sally's letter. I told my sister about my plans to live with her for about a month before I went off to California. I gave her the brief history of me and Liebgott, but I still expected her to go crazy when she saw that I was planning to move out west with him. When I told Liebgott that I was giving him a definite yes for California, he had given me that broad smile that I was becoming used to seeing.

In late summer, Malarkey pulled me aside one day with a large grin on his face. "What did you do?" I asked him. Although I said it as a joke, I still felt a twinge of nervousness.

"I'm going to France," Malarkey said. "Winters is sending me out to command some new troops over there."

I stared at him for a solid moment, trying to absorb the meaning of this. And then I smiled widely at him and pulled him into an embrace. Malarkey hugged me back, that massive grin still on his face. "When d'you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning," Malarkey said, pulling away. "Winters didn't give me a lot of time, did he?" I hugged Malarkey again, feeling happy for him. Malarkey had been having it rough ever since Bastogne. He wasn't going to be going to be going to the Pacific. I was ecstatic for him, but I also knew that I was losing my closest friend.

Malarkey and I exchanged addresses to send letters to, in case I ended up going back to Alabama soon. And when it was time to say goodbye to him, I hugged him as tightly as I possibly could and kissed his cheek. Malarkey's face suddenly matched his red hair and he kissed the top of my head in response. I watched him board the Jeep that'll take him to a train station and then to France. As he drove away, I watched the Jeep until it was out of my line of sight.

I ran into Sobel the day after Malarkey left. I was standing with Luz and Perconte as our former dictator walked past. He glanced over, probably recognizing Luz or Perconte, but then his beady eyes locked onto me. I narrowed my eyes at him, and we held each other's stare for a long time. I distinctly remembered him screaming at me for being a woman, for having my hair too long, which now hadn't been cut since we entered Bastogne. It was currently tied up in a ponytail.

But I reached up and took out the rubber band and shook out my long hair that now fell past my shoulders, keeping my eyes locked on Sobel. I raised an eyebrow at him as I pulled my hair over one shoulder, just to show him how long it had gotten. Sobel's jaw tightened and he stalked away.

I couldn't help but imagine what I looked like to him now. When I had joined Easy at Toccoa, I had been nineteen years old and desperate to get away from Sally. I hadn't been overweight, more like average weight. Now I was twenty-two, having dropped most of my body weight, and now my arms and legs were muscular from years of training and dragging men twice my size around. And all of that change was because of Sobel.

I didn't hate him like I used to. But I'd never like him; hell, I'd never even be friendly with him. But he did something to me, to Easy Company, that helped us survive the war. Sobel had made us better by shoving us along the way, screaming degrading comments the entire time. He was an asshole, but he turned us into the soldiers we needed to be. For that, I found myself grateful to him for that.

In August of nineteen-forty-five, Buck Compton returned to Easy to assure us that he was okay. I hugged Buck the second I saw him, and the much taller man responded by picking me up and putting me across his shoulder. Some men whistled while others joked with Buck that he better hope that Liebgott didn't see. Buck was instantly intrigued and demanded to know everything. I didn't get a word in as Luz did a dramatic retelling of my relationship with Liebgott.

A few days later, the entire company had started a game of baseball. I was at first nervous about playing, seeing as I had never played before. But there was no way I was going to back down in front of these men who had become my brothers. That, and they would never let me hear the end of it if I stepped out.

"C'mon, McCall!" Welsh shouted from where he was sitting with Lipton. They applauded loudly as I stepped up to the plate. I caught sight of Liebgott over at second base, smirking at me and looking at me with narrowed eyes. I tried my best to ignore him, but Buck wasn't making it any easier.

"Hey Diana," Buck said. "Diana. Hey-what's your opinion on politics?"

The first ball went right past me, causing some of the guys to laugh good-heartedly. Lipton and Welsh kept cheering from the trucks. Speirs was beside them, silent as always. I smiled to myself and prepared for the next ball. Buck started talking again.

"So, Diana McCall," Buck was saying. "Could you name your first born son after me? Or any of your sons?" The second ball came flying at me and I barely hit it. But I dropped the bat and started running as fast as I could for first. Shouts erupted all around the field as I charged past first, making sure that my feet landed safely on the plate.

Bull was the next one up to bat. I remained bent over, prepared to run to second the exact moment Bull hit it. Because there was no doubt in my mind that Bull was going to hit it. And sure enough, I heard the smack of the wooden bat hitting the ball and I pelted towards second base, towards Liebgott.

Liebgott blocked my way to the plate and caught me in one arm when I tried to pass him. The momentum sent us both towards the plate several steps. I manged to spin my way out of Liebgott's grip and onto the plate. He gave me a mock glare before turning his attention back to the game.

"Easy Company!" Speirs shouted. I joined the group as we jogged over to where Speirs was sitting with Lipton, Welsh, Winters, and Nixon. Winters took a step forward and looked over each and every one of us. "I've got good news, Easy. The Japanese have just given their official surrender to President Truman." He said. I felt my stomach tighten in anticipation. I gripped onto Roe's sleeve, who was standing right next to me. And then Winters said the words that I had been waiting years to hear.

"The war's over. We're going back home."

There was a moment of silence in which no one knew how to react. And then Luz threw his fist into the air and let out a deafening whoop. "We're going home!" Someone else screamed with glee. Everyone cheered, some were hugging each other and lifting their hands to the air. Roe and I hugged each other, knowing that we'd be going home soon. I'd get to meet my nephew, I'd get to see my sisters for the first time in three years...

Liebgott was staring down Major Winters from where he stood. I couldn't see Liebgott's facial expression, but I did see his arms raise slightly when Winters looked over at him. I saw Winters's glance briefly at me before looking back to Liebgott. And then the major nodded with a smile on his face.

The second he saw that nod, Liebgott whipped around to me and stalked over. I barely had time to react before Liebgott grabbed my face with his hands and crashed his mouth against mine. I didn't hesitate before kissing him right back. And it was like mortar explosions were going off inside of my body.

I had kissed only two other boys in my life. The first when I was thirteen and it was Johnny Henderson, a boy from my World History class. But that had been more like trying to make two dolls kiss; just pressing faces together. And then when I was sixteen and went steady with a boy named Howard Aldren for about three months. Howard had been nice but he was always trying to get farther along with me. Either way, both boys hadn't made me feel anything like how Mary described how you were supposed to feel.

Joseph Liebgott was how it was supposed to be. It felt like a battle was going on inside my chest; firepower and mortar explosions. My brain couldn't focus on anything else other than the fact that Liebgott was kissing me.

Some of the men around us wolf-whistled and I heard Luz shout, "It's about damn time!" Liebgott and I separated and he looked like someone had taken that baseball bat and had hit him in the head with it. I felt like the ground was swaying underneath me. Several of the men started leaving the field, giving us some kind of privacy and running to the camp to go spread the good news that the war was finally over.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," I said breathlessly.

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Liebgott answered, just as breathless. I got up onto my tiptoes and kissed him again, putting my hand behind his neck to bring him lower to the ground. He obliged and I could feel his smile pressed against my mouth.

We walked back to the camp together. Every now and then, Liebgott would close the gap between us and pinch my side lightly, causing me to jump away for a second only to come right back.