Lucas

I flew with Pines' casket until we reached US soil. It was the final stretch in a very painful journey. Sanchez was still in the hospital and unable to come with us. I brought back his belongings and a lifetime of memories that were collected in only a few short months.

Being disconnected from Bailey was out of my control. While I knew each night she put her head down on her pillow without hearing from me stole a little piece of her soul, I promised myself I'd have a lifetime to make it up to her. She was strong like I knew she would be, and in the end, I came home to her.

Pines' funeral was the hardest of all the funerals I'd ever attended. Burying my mother nearly killed me; losing my grandma had followed closely behind, but watching Pines' go into the ground cost my heart a heavy toll. Each shot that was fired in his salute lodged an invisible bullet into my gut. It was emotional shrapnel I'd have with me for the rest of my life.

The day before his services, I stood at the airport in a small town, much like the place Bailey and I'd first met. Only a few month's had past, but to me it felt like an entire lifetime. Her plane was on time, and it made me smile wondering if the world was finally trying to make something up to us. The crew readied the door and I stared down the dark ramp that leads to the aircraft.

I was nervous to see if she'd changed at all. It wasn't easy time that had passed since I last left her. My heart pounded with a force that resonated in every cell of my body. It was as if it knew her heart was near. I'd thought about her everyday. When we were stranded and I thought we were all going to die, I wrote her Dear Bailey letters in the sand. Being there to watch her walk back into my life seemed like a dream that was out of my reach.

I saw her immediately. Her hair was up on top of her head and her glasses weren't enough camouflage to cover the days of worry I'd caused her. She froze when our eyes met, like the impact of seeing me again overwhelmed her. She didn't need to move because I was already on my way to her. I had made myself a promise if I survived I'd never let her go again.

I was home. Not just on American soil, but also in the arms of the woman I loved.

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