She looked around the room she'd lived in for the past four years and fought back the tears that wanted to come again. She'd cried so much since the quarantine ended, and every time she'd thought that there were no more tears left to come, they materialized with a vengeance.

Katie sighed as she sat down on the edge of the bed- not her bed any longer. Her bags sat on the floor near the door, chocked full of her Pegasus life. The desk in the room, once daintily decorated with her favorite Pegasus flowers stood bare against the now plain walls.

She sighed again as a look to her watch told her that she still had almost an hour before she had to report to the Daedalus for the trip back home. She'd already said good-bye to her colleagues and friends, those people she had developed genuine affection for.

She'd done a lot of thinking since the quarantine, since Rodney had told her he was going to propose but then didn't, using the universal 'I need me time' speech to break up with her. She hadn't said much to him since, not trusting herself to do so without breaking down. Knowing Rodney he probably thought she was avoiding him because she was mad at him.

She wasn't. She couldn't be. Much of her thought lately had lead to the inescapable conclusion that Rodney was who he was, just as she was who she was. They simply weren't compatible. It wasn't his fault any more than it was hers.

Katie sniffed back the tears that threatened to come again, and held them at bay aided by the realization that she couldn't leave things with Rodney in such a sorry state. She had just gotten up off the bed with the intention of going to find Rodney when her door chime echoed into her room.

She rushed to the door and palmed it open, expecting to see Rodney framed in the doorway but still surprised when she actually did see him.

"Katie," said Rodney, "I'm glad I caught you. I just wanted to, you know, say I'm sorry for, well, everything."

"It's okay, Rodney," Katie said as a smile came to her lips. He looked down to his feet and she said, "Really. We just…we're not meant to be and that's okay."

Rodney looked up and Katie nearly wept at the regret and true sorrow in his bright blue eyes.

They looked into each other's eyes until Katie leaned forward and slipped her arms around Rodney's neck and hugged him. "I wish you well, Rodney," she whispered as he hugged her back. "And I will always- always- be your friend."

She smiled against his shoulder when his arms tightened briefly around her waist. A moment later she let him go and they found themselves looking into each other's eyes again. "If there's ever anything you need that I can help with…"

"I'll call," she promised and Rodney nodded.

"Take care of yourself, Katie," he said.

Katie nodded and Rodney nodded back, then turned around and walked away. When the door closed Katie sat on the edge of her bed again and instead of having to hold back the tears, she smiled.

A/N: "I Wish You Well" was written by Tom Cochrane and released on his 1995 album, Ragged Ass Road.