"You've got a letter," Esther said, as she stood in front of their small oval mirror, tying the scarf that went with her uniform.

"Already?" Mattie said. "I've only just got here. Who's had time to send me anything?"

"I guess he just really likes you?" Esther teased as she smoothed back her blonde ponytail and turned away from the mirror. She gestured to the side table just inside the door of their small flat. And although Mattie's new flatmate was just having a bit of fun, Mattie did feel her stomach do just the slightest flip, betraying the worldly confidence she assumed came with moving halfway around the world on her own. Calm down, Mattie, she told herself. It was probably from her mother, anyway.

But when Mattie glanced at the table, she saw there on the tray an airmail letter from an address she recognized.

"Just an old friend," Mattie said. "Thank you very much!"

Esther shrugged and grabbed her keys. "I'll see you tonight," she said. She moved for the door but before she passed through entirely she shot back, "But I don't think your cheeks would blush like that if it were just from an old friend!"

Mattie waited for Esther to shut the door behind her before she tore the letter open. She sank into one of their two chairs to read it.

"Dear Mattie,

I'm guessing this didn't actually beat you to London, but hopefully you weren't waiting for it long. Sometimes I talk a better game than I can actually deliver on. But you already know that better than anyone and would be the last one to let me forget it.

I'm glad you came by the station before you left the country. You're having such a big adventure, but you and I are maybe the only ones who know how hard it is to leave Ballarat. Well, not Ballarat exactly but no one makes breakfast like Jean, do they? It's more than that, I know. Jean was my mum and dad both for a long while after the war. I'm hoping she can keep the Doc in line for us while we're gone. She seems up to it, honestly.

I don't actually have much to say except that it was really great to see you and I promise to keep you up to date on all the news from home if you write me back. And I guess I wanted to be the first to say "Welcome Home" to your new home.

All best, Danny"

Well.

Mattie felt the tears threatening now at thoughts of home. She was so ready for this, she didn't know why she was so emotional about it all. She'd moved in just days ago and been on her new job long enough to realize she wasn't a country district nurse anymore. There was a lot to learn and no kind doctor to take her under his wing. But she could do it. She would do it.

She read the letter again, because it sounded just like Danny and it felt like home.

Mattie hadn't even known what she was doing that day. When that cab pulled out of Lucien's driveway the tears just wouldn't stop. This move was absolutely what she wanted to do, but she'd really only thought about the adventure, not the leaving, till the last actual minute. And then Lucien's face. She knew it so well. He thought she'd be a train ride away and when she'd no, she was going to London, the stark sadness in his eyes was just absolutely clear. He covered it quickly and was happy for her, and of course she couldn't stay with him and Jean forever. No one thought she would. But even though you dream of what else life will hold and even take steps to make it happen, you never think of the actual moment when it changes. When your present becomes the past and your dreams become your life. Those changes hinge on one exhilarating, gut-wrenching moment, and usually those moments contain a goodbye. Saying goodbye was not something Mattie was good at.

So she cried, and she absolutely couldn't show up at her parents' with a tear-stained face. Her mother would insist she wasn't ready and shouldn't go. She was a hair's breadth away from doing that anyway. So she told the driver to take her to the Melbourne police headquarters first, and to please wait. If anyone would understand how hard it was to leave Ballarat, it was Danny Parks.

She just hoped he'd be there, until she actually pulled the door open and then she hoped he wouldn't. What would he think seeing her show up unexpectedly and such a mess? He'd tease her endlessly, probably.

But he was there. He rose up from a desk when he saw her. His face first confused, then glad, then concerned as he crossed the room and closed the distance between them.

"Mattie, are you all right?" he asked, knitting his brow together and seeming to examine her for injury.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. It's just…" she choked up even then.

"C'mon outside. Let's get some fresh air." Danny waved to someone and indicated he was taking the poor mess of a girl with him. She assumed that's how she looked. And then stepped out onto the street she'd come in from. The taxi idled nearby and she held up a finger. She wasn't quite ready.

"Hi Danny," she said, pulling herself up straight and giving him the closest thing to one of her old smiles as she could manage.

"This is a surprise," Danny said.

"I know it's just. Well, I'm leaving town and I wanted to say goodbye."

"Not living with the Doc anymore? Are you moving back to Melbourne?"

"No, no, I got a job in London and I just moved all my things out. They're still just there," she indicated the waiting car. "I'm going to stay with my parents a couple of days before leaving."

"Oh," Danny said, his concern melting into an understanding smile. "It's not easy leaving, is it?"

Mattie shook her head, "No, it's… I thought I'd be fine. Talking to Jean went well but…"

"You always were his favorite."

Mattie put a hand to her face to keep the tears from coming again, and then a thought occurred to her and she started to smile. "Well," she said, "after Jean."

"Are they? Really? Finally!"

"Yes!" Mattie felt a hint of guilt for gossiping about them but their relationship wasn't something they could hide for long. Most of Ballarat assumed it at this point, anyway. She was surprised Danny didn't.

"Oh, good for them!"

"You don't mind? Because…"

"No, no, Uncle Christopher's been gone for years. And Auntie Jean had a hard time of it for so long. I mean, I grew up with Jack and Christopher and they didn't make it any easier on her. No, she deserves every good thing. And I think the Doc is a good thing – mostly." Danny had a twinkle in his eye and Mattie knew he was teasing but she nudged his arm anyway.

"He is," Mattie insisted. "And I really think he loves her so much."

"Well, who wouldn't," Danny said. "So," he raised his eyebrows and rocked back on his heels as he often did. It made his very long, lean body look even longer and leaner and Mattie looked away so she wouldn't notice quite so much. "London?"

"It's a good job," Mattie said, "At a hospital where Lucien used to work and…" she felt the light come back into her eyes.

"And you'll have an adventure," Danny said. "You always were good at helping the Doc with his… mischief."

"Cases!"

"He always meant well," Danny said.

"And solved the crimes."

"He did. He does, I assume. Just not conventionally or with much thought to how hard he makes it on those around him. But it'll be harder without you."

"I think he'll still have some help," Mattie said, thinking of Jean again. She'd miss sitting at that kitchen table listening to them work out the clues while they bantered. But, finally, she was starting to see more of the future than the past. She felt her life begin to shift under her feet. Already Ballarat was a place she used to live. And Lucien and Jean were people she would always love like family, but part of a former time. Mattie was moving on. And it still hurt, but also felt a little good.

"Thanks, Danny," Mattie said, truly meaning it.

"Hey, give me your address. I want you to have a letter waiting for you."

"I don't think they get there that fast," Mattie said.

"You always did think you were smarter."

Mattie rolled her eyes reprovingly but did not disagree. She dashed off her address on the official notepad he carried with him to take witness statements and handed it back to him. He took her hand along with the address and in that moment he wasn't her annoying almost-brother, but the man who took her hand and asked her to dance in a peach bridesmaid's dress in the Blake living room. The man who had made her feel truly beautiful on a truly difficult day. She needed to get in that cab before that memory showed on her face. Though, judging from Danny's smile, it may already be too late.

Mattie finished reading the letter a third time before she got up and found some stationary of her own.

"Dear Danny,

Your letter very nearly beat me here, but of course, they don't travel that fast. I guess I still am smarter than you.

But still, thank you so much for sending it. It feels like home. I will promise to write if you will promise to tell me how Lucien and Jean are doing. I imagine all good things for them, but I'd feel better knowing for sure.

And of course, I wouldn't mind hearing how you're doing as well –"

Mattie hesitated with the ending. She signed most things "with love," but would that send the wrong message? Was it the wrong message?

Oh hang it all, she was thinking about this far too much. She signed off as she usually did because that was simply how she did things. It didn't necessarily mean anything. Not necessarily.

"With love,

Mattie"