25th January 1942

It was a dark Sunday when the wind got stronger in London.
For most city dwellers, this was just a change of weather. But in a small apartment it was very different.

Mary Poppins watched Liz pack her bags and run from corner to corner.
The nanny could tell from her facial expressions that the young woman was reluctant to leave London and go back out into the wide and, above all, dangerous world.

Elizabeth hardly said a word that day. Not because she had nothing to say - she just couldn't. She would have preferred to left in the middle of the night while Mary was sleeping.
But Mary Poppins didn't deserve that. She deserved an appropriate farewell.

Farewell. A word that has been echoing in Liz's head for quite some time.

Already on the way to London a few weeks ago she knew that the day of parting would come again soon. And nobody knew whether this would only be a temporary or final farewell. There was no denying that Elizabeth was more or less facing death. But she was not afraid of death. She didn't care if she died or survived during her 'mission'. But she worried about Mary and Bert, because the latter in particular would probably suffer from her loss. And she didn't want to do this to him.

Elizabeth was completely lost in her thoughts as she packed her things, but was catapulted into the here and now when she suddenly stood in front of the uniform jacket.
She stretched out her hand and stroked the bandage with her delicate fingers. This uniform has seen so much suffer and it was written in the stars how much was added.

With a frown, the young medic removed the garment from the hook and put it on before lifting her backpack and bag onto her shoulders. But as she turned to Mary, her facial expression changed. She looked worried now, even a little guilty.

Now they stood there- silent.

There was silence throughout the room.

Only the slight crack of the floorboard and the wooden beams on the ceiling echoed through the apartment.

There it was again: the farewell.

Neither woman knew how to start the conversation. But in the end it was Elizabeth who broke the silence: "Now we stand 'ere and just stare at each other instead of sayin' somethin'...", her eyes shifted to the clock, "but unfortunately I 'ave t' go now ..."

Mary's gaze followed that of the young lady - it was just before ten and shortly after half past ten her train would leave. "Of course."

The nanny felt a hug while her eyes were still on the gold hands.

"Please take care of yerself, okay? Do ya promise me that? "

Mary gently stroked Elizabeth's back: "I promise", she released the hug and looked straight into the dark blue eyes that were full of tears "but you have to take care of yourself even more."

Liz nodded and wiped the tears on her sleeve.

"See ya soon, Mary..."

"See you soon…"

With a nod, Elizabeth went to the door. But when her hand touched the doorknob, she stopped. "Oh, Mary," she turned, "I'm trying to not stay away too long."
No sooner had she said the sentence than she opened the door and quickly disappeared.

Now Mary stood in the apartment. Alone.
She was grateful to Elizabeth for making the farewell so short, because anything else would only have made the situation worse.

But while she was standing there, one thing became clear to her: the wind was also changing for her.

Today I finally had the time to write a new chapter: D

As always, I hope you liked it :)