I smile as I kiss the letter and put it in the box with the others. It’s been almost a year since we started writing, and I’m packing up all of Dara’s letters to take with me back home.

Home.

It’s been so long since I’ve been excited about that word. Now it means more than just a destination or a country. It means getting to see Dara.

I never thought I could care this much about someone I’ve never met. But it feels as if the letters have taken away all of the bull and left us with nothing but simple truth. It feels like I’ve come alive, and for the first time in my life, I’m on the right path.

The path to Dara.

Our letters have turned into so much more than just saying hello and answering questions. I’ve written out quotes from authors I love, and I’ve sent her poems written by greater men than I. It’s the only way I can say ‘I love you’ in a letter to her. Because the first time I say it to her, I want to say it to her in person. I want her in my arms the first time she hears it from me. Because I do. I’m hopelessly in love with her.

Every letter, she asks me about the PS and why I leave it blank. I’m going to tell her, and I’m going to say all the words I’ve been holding back, saving them for when I can say them against her lips.

“Sergeant Major, the squad is ready.” Riggs says as he grabs my bag and carries it out of the room. I place the bundle of Dara’s letters in my daypack and sling it over my shoulder. I’m keeping the essentials with me as we travel back home, the rest of my stuff going into cargo.

I wrote one final letter to her, and I’m mailing it out today. It will take me a couple of days to get back home, but if I time it right, she’ll get it after I arrive.

I’m not allowed to tell her exactly when I’m coming home. Troops can’t divulge any movement in an area, even if it means telling family when we’re leaving. It’s too dangerous and would give away positions, so in order to keep everyone safe, the date is secret.

As luck would have it, I’m touching down in South Carolina first, our ent