Voices. Distant, sharp. A woman screaming. A man's barked command.

Footsteps. Running. Fast. Someone was closing the distance between them, boots thudding against the manicured lawn.

She pushed herself up on trembling arms, hair falling in tangled curtains around her face. Longer now. So much longer than it had been.

She lifted her head, squinting against the sunlight, and finally saw him. Tall. So tall now. The boy she'd known was gone, replaced by someone with sharp cheekbones and broad shoulders and eyes that looked like they'd forgotten how to hope.

Those eyes were wet.