“Hi.” He said softly, before she took the remaining steps and embraced him. She began to laugh and so did he, pulling her tighter into the circle of his arms. After the hug had gone on a little long, he tugged on her curls and sat. She sat across from him, dabbing at her eyes.

“Oh, Tommy. You haven’t changed. I was worried you would but you didn’t.” Her smile remained, and for a moment Tommy couldn’t say anything at all. She most certainly had changed, the path of her life had drastically altered that day and for a moment the stone didn’t seem like such a curse. His face soured slightly as it crossed his mind, turning it into a grimace.

“What?” She asked, the corners of her mouth turning down in concern, “Have I gotten ugly?”

“No!” He practically shouted, drawing some curious stares. “No, not at all. You’re just as beautiful as I remember. It…I still cant believe it’s you is all.” He smiled again, pushing the stone from his mind.

“I’m sorry I was so late. Traffic was so bad, I thought I’d never make it. It was like something didn’t want me to see you today.” She said with a small smile.

“It’s fine. I would have waited all afternoon I think.” Tommy grinned through his partial lie.

“Bullshit. You thought I backed out, I could see it in your face. You were sitting here cussing me.” She accurately accused.

“I was not… well maybe a little.” There was a few seconds of awkward silence that were blessedly interrupted by the waitress.

“Welcome Dragon Gate, what you like to drink?” She asked holding her pen aggressively against the pad.

They answered, Coke and Sweet tea, and the waitress moved on.

“So, you seem to be doing well for yourself. You look happy, Mary, really good.”

“Oh. Hannah please.” She corrected quickly. “It’s Hannah Ellen Mayweather now. And I am. I feel really good. It took a long time to get here.”

That was all it took. They sat at the table for hours sharing sushi and slurping soup, discussing all manner of things. They stayed while the men in tiny paper hats glared at them, so long in fact they decided that it was at least approximately acceptable to order booze.

She had gotten the last name from a TV reporter on the Channel 11 news, but kept her middle name. After almost ten years of treatment Hannah was released, but not before getting her GED at the age of 16 and completing most of her classes for a bachelors in Biology. Once released, she went on to get her doctorate in psychiatric medicine to help those that had been lost, like her doctor had helped her. Convincing her that what she did was a manner of self defense and that her mind protected her from it to remove guilt and shame and that she should take advantage of that.

They didn’t discuss that night in detail, nor the events that followed, but discussed their separation as if it were a TV program that held no personal grief. He told her about his parents and the homes, and his childlike efforts to find her. He described the technical college where he learned to dismantle airplane parts and the laborious joys of working at an air strip.  When the sun began to set, and both began to look guilty and weary of sitting in a Chinese restaurant being glared at by the owners, Tommy nervously asked if she wanted to continue their discussion in his apartment.

She looked at her hands for an interminable amount of time before responding, “I.. I don’t know, Tommy. I’m not sure if that’s such a great idea.”

“That’s fine, that’s fine.” He covered hastily, attempting to bandage his pride. “I just… I really like talking to you M- Hannah. I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Tommy. It’s just a lot for me to handle all at once. Does that make sense?” She answered with a measure of guilt and fear.

“I understand.” He said solemnly. “I hope that you’d like to meet again sometime. You have my number. Give me a call sometime, ok?” He said gently, taking all of his gallantry and focusing it into not being an ass about this. Truth was, he was hurt. He could have continued this conversation with her the rest of his life.

“That sounds nice, Tommy.” She said with a smile. She got up, dropped a fifty on the table and left. As she opened the door she turned to give him a small wave. And that was that.