Lloyd's POV

I went to the train station to see Natalia off. Her eyes were red, but she was smiling broadly. She threw her arms around my neck when she saw me. "I'm really gonna miss you, Lloyd."

"Yeah," I said, my voice muffled by the sleeve of her sweater, "me too."

She took her arms down, grabbing both of my hands. This time, I didn't feel nervous about Natalia holding my hands. It just felt...pleasant. "Call me sometimes," she said, in the voice of someone giving an order.

"I will. I'll call every day if you want me too."

"Oh, geez, no. You are my boyfriend and all, but that's a bit much."

I laughed. Yeah, she was probably right about that. "Every weekend, then."

"Okay," she answered. "Every weekend's good."

"And as soon as we're out of school, I'll come visit you."

"In the Bounty?"

I grinned. "Oh, no, I've got a much better idea."

"What?"

"I'll come on my dragon."

Her face lit up at the thought of me flying on a giant dragon into the city. Actually, people would probably love that, and she seemed to agree. "Everyone would freak out if you came in on your dragon. I've heard the people in this new city are crazy ninja fans, and especially yours. They would lose their minds over a visit from the green ninja." She started chuckling.

I started laughing along with her at the image in my head, of me dramatically riding into the city on my dragon, people cheering...and Natalia rolling her eyes at the wildness of the fangirls. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. "I don't want anyone to lose their mind over me," I said sweetly. "You're the only fan that I need."

She groaned, but smiled at the same time. "Lloyd. You're such a sap," she giggled, her ears turning pink.

An earsplitting whistle exploded from the train. Natalia's father started yelling at her from across the platform to hurry up. She let go of my hands, grabbing her suitcase. "Well," she said, the smile on her face falling, "I guess I have to go now."

"I guess so," I said sadly.

She kissed me again, and my face turned red. Dang it. I guess some things were never going to change. "Goodbye, Lloyd."

"Bye," I replied. "See you later."

Natalia got on the train. Another explosive whistle sounded, the doors shut, and the rhythmic chug...chug of the wheels signaled the train's slow departure from the station. She waved at me through the window, and I waved back, until the train became a dot in the distance.

Time went on. Days, then weeks, then months. Crazier things than I ever could have imagined happened, and the visit I had planned kept being put off. But I never forgot to call.

Every Saturday at exactly two in the afternoon, I picked up the wall phone in the Bounty and punched in the number Natalia had given me. Ring-ring. Ring-ring. It almost never took more than two rings before she answered. "Hi, Lloyd!" she chirped, before I could even say who it was. Even on the days she wasn't home, when her dad answered the phone, he would answer with a, "Hi, Lloyd." Anyone else using the Bounty's phone in the afternoon would hang up at exactly 1:55, joking about not wanting to get in Lloyd's way.

We talked about school (Natalia liked her new teachers, but still missed Darkly's, and had a hard time fitting in with the other girls at her school), and if we were still following Starfarer (she was), and what new missions I was going on (she seemed really excited to hear about them, but really worried at the same time).

Even with all the craziness that happened, I didn't stop thinking about her. I always felt bad when I missed a call, and I never stopped hoping that the visit would eventually happen.

I never stopped believing that, one day, I would see her again.