“Already she could feel the stunning weight of a lifetime of regret for letting him go, and she knew that it was enough to bury her alive.”

“She wanted that lifetime. She would never leave him,and even better, he would never let her go.”

“Rosie, it's okay, it's me."She knew that voice. She pulled the hand off her mouth."Pip?"He let her go and she spun around.He smiled, blue eyes glinting. "Surprise."For a second she was too stunned to move, then she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, almost knocking him off balance.”

“She could almost feel him prodding her; urging her to go on. As the wails of pain and torment assulted her ears, she knew that's exactly what she would do until the war was over and she could crawl into a quiet, dark corner and mourn for the part of her that had died with him.”

“The collar represented something of big importance to her. He knew she saw it as losing who she was. He saw it as her trusting him enough to let him be in charge.”

“She couldn’t hide from everyone for the rest of her life… Well she could. That was the direction things were going. But she knew from long-ago experience that when you were uncertain and if you were courageous enough to let her in a real friend could do a world of good.”