“Vadim inhaled, but couldn’t form words, struggled with translating soldier concepts into something civilians could understand.Dan moved into the breach. “Violence, Duncan. I’m afraid we didn’t meet under a full moon with roses and a bottle of wine. We were set on killing each other. Just … that it didn’t work out like that.”

“Why were we so full of hope in those days? Looking back, I see so clearly that violence was worsening. Living through that time, we didn’t see that. We believed in our capacity to grow a great country. A just society.”

“We didn’t know each other, but that didn’t stop me from ignoring him.”

“During all the time we were together, I don’t think I ever found out. But once I was with her, Ididn’t need to. We were both music-obsessed, each in our own way. If we didn’t entirely understandthe other person’s obsession, it didn’t matter, because we understood our own.”

“We learned we wanted too much. We could only give from the perspective of who we were and what we had. Apart, we were able to see with even greater clarity that we didn’t want to be without each other.”

“Vadim smiled. “I’m not meeting him. We’ll be friends.”Dan still didn’t say anything, just nodded, the smile still there, then turned and walked through the living room and onto the patio, all the way through the French windows. Looking out over the old orchard and the mountains when Vadim got to his side, reaching over to take Dan’s hand. Worth it. A thousand times. Any sacrifice, from the small ones to the big ones, and Dan turns his head, looking fully at him, while the smile grew. He didn’t need to say anything, didn’t have to voice the “I love you”. It was there, unsaid, yet outspoken.Fourteen years, they didn’t come cheap.”