They met in the woods to say their goodbyes. The station would be crowded, and from day to day Felix wasn't sure how his mother would hold up when the train pulled away. She might need a lot of tending to—and he had things he wanted to say to Izzy that he wasn't ready to say in front of anybody else yet. He wasn't even sure he'd be able to get them out now.
Her eyes were red when she arrived, but she wore a look that defied him to notice it, so he pretended not to. "Hey."
"Hey, yourself," she replied. "When do you leave?"
"You know when I leave."
She shrugged in acknowledgment and sat down on a fallen tree. He observed that it was the same tree they had been sitting on when he told her about his decision to join the Navy. That tree must loom large in their destiny. He shook the thought out of his head, sat beside her, and stared at the moss at his feet for quite some time.
"Funny," he said at last.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just...I don't think we've ever spent this much time without talking before. You'd think we'd have a lot to say, with me leaving in two hours."
"I'm really proud of you, Felix, you know that?"
He grinned at her. "Don't know that I did. Any other nice things you want to say about me while you have the chance?"
"No."
His face fell.
"I feel too sick," she said, hugging her stomach. "It's stupid, I know. We're not even at war."
He moved closer, putting an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, letting out a breath that shook just a bit. "I'm coming back," he said. "It's only for a few years."
"Shut up," she snapped, but when he moved to pull away she threw her arms around his waist and held tight. "It's going to be so boring here without you."
"I'll write," he said. "That is...may I write?"
"I'd like to see you show your face again if you didn't."
"Izzy," he began awkwardly. "Izzy, I...."
"Shut up," she said again. "Save it for when you get home."
"Oh." So much for the things he couldn't say in front of anyone else, he was thinking, and then she kissed him.
They sat in silence for a while afterwards, her head against his shoulder. After all, he was glad they hadn't said their goodbyes at the station.