Danny stumbled into the kitchen and watched intently as I cleaned up the broken dish.

            "Ouch!" I gasped, wincing as a shard of the plate cut into my index finger. Blood began to run down into my palm and I stared at it, dumbfounded.

            "Oh damn," Danny exclaimed, taking note of my cut and rushing over. He led me to the sink and turned on the water. "We'll just wash this a little bit and wrap it up."

            He took my hand and tenderly placed it under the lukewarm water, his body behind mine and pressed up against it. I caught my breath as his mouth brushed against my ear and I felt his breath on my cheek.

            "This can't be real," I whispered, a tear falling from my eye.

            "It is," he murmured softly, resting his head against mine. "I'm home now."

            I spun around gazed at his chiseled, tanned face. He smiled wide and took my hand in his.

            "Come on," he laughed, pulling me through the house as though we were children. Finally, he settled on the living room and sat me down on the couch, kneeling down in front of me and refusing to let go of my hand.

            "I didn't die in China," he said suddenly, his face turning from a grin to a blank expression. "They…well, they thought I did. And I was unconscious in the hospital. They asked me my name when I woke up and I guess they misheard me."

            Danny looked down at my fingers, entwined with his. He sighed.

"They had some other guy by the name they thought I had given them, dead in the room next to mine. So they figured they had the tags all wrong and switched our charts. It was his body in the coffin."

My eyes widened as I realized the truth…none of us had ever looked inside that big pine box. So that man buried by the barn…that was not the right man at all. My eyes filled with tears as he continued.

"The Chinese, they didn't understand a damn thing. They let me out of that hospital a month later; let me out into a world I'd never seen before. I got lost, and it was horrible."

He rubbed my palm with his thumb, and looked right up at my eyes. He was beginning to cry.

"I didn't know where to go or what to do; nobody seemed to understand who I was. They didn't really care, to be honest with you Susie. So…I tried to scrounge up some money. I did odd jobs; I sat on the street and begged. Sometimes I could afford a room. Sometimes I couldn't. I lived like that for years, and the only thing I could think of was your face, smiling at me out in those fields. The way your hair would blow across your eyes when the winds came. And that's what kept me alive. There were so many times when I wanted to give in and starve to death out on those streets, but then I would hear your voice tellin' me you'd be right here when I got home again."

He smiled up at me, and wiped a tear away from his cheek.

"So I was sittin' out there one day and this Navy officer comes walkin' down the street…from America. He looked at my uniform, dirty as it was, and knew right away that I didn't belong there. So he took me to his superior and they asked me all about how I got to China, and who I was and such. Then they cleaned me up, gave me my medals, changed the records, and sent me back home. Back to you. And you waited, Suze, you really did."

He stood up and pulled me to my feet, his sturdy arms around my waist.

"You should go get changed into somethin' more comfortable," I said with a grin, leading him into Rafe's room. "Throw on something of Rafe's. That uniform has to be stiff as anything."

Danny nodded, unbuttoning his jacket as I bustled around the room, trying to find him a shirt and some pants. I looked at him as he stood there in his undershirt, tight and with no sleeves. There were scars along his arms, deep gray circles, and they were new to me. I walked over to him and ran my finger along them.

            "Are these from…?" I began incredulously.

            "Yea," he responded, shrugging. "I got more over my torso, and one on my neck from some metal."

            I stared into his eyes and, without a word, I reached down and began to lift his shirt. By the time I had it off of him, I could see the deep marks left by bullets on his stomach and chest.

            "My god, Danny, are you alright?" I asked, smoothing my palm over the scars.

            "Of course, Suze, that was a long time ago." He smiled tenderly at me and placed his hand over the side of my waist.

            I looked up at him and breathed deeply.

            "They must have hurt," I sighed, my one hand resting on his chest as my other slid to his neck.

            "Not as much as standing here with you and knowing how much I still love you does," he whispered, his lips hovering near mine.

            "Why would that hurt?" I pressed my body against in and felt the warmth of his bare top against my thin dress.

            "Because I know that I hurt you, I know how it must have felt. And I doubt that you'll ever love me again the way I love you." His eyes began to water and I placed my finger soothingly against his mouth.

            "You're wrong, Danny. I love you the same as I always have. I love you more than anything else in this world. And I will never feel differently. No matter what."

A/N: Okie doke! This chapter is over with, next one will be up tonight or tomorrow ( I have lots more free time now, with winter break and everything!) The next scene will contain some sex…but hey any sex involving josh Hartnett is a GOOD THING. Please read and review…rafe is coming home next and Danny will meet little Danny for the very first time (what, did you think I'd leave out his son?!) hehe, please review, it only takes a second ;-)